Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan— Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday, amid an ongoing drawdown of U.S. troops.

Miller came to visit with troops ahead of the holidays and senior U.S. and Afghan leaders, as well as get a ground view of the security situation and how the drawdown was going.

It was also a closing of a circle for Miller, a former Green Beret who had been one of the first several hundred of American forces on the ground in Afghanistan in December 2001, nearly 20 years ago.

He last served in Afghanistan in 2007.

“I’ll be interested to see how my emotions are. In 2007, I was a tactical commander and now we’re back on the ground as the Acting Secretary of Defense,” he said in an interview with four reporters traveling with him, including one from Breitbart News.

Miller met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and U.S. Commander on the ground Gen. Scott Miller.

“I especially want to see and hear the plan for our continued air support role. Our competitive advantage as the United States military is our control of the air and I think we can do a lot in this regards even if we don’t have a large physical presence on the ground,” the acting defense secretary said.

As Breitbart News reported, the U.S. is currently on track to meet President Donald Trump’s drawdown in Afghanistan to 2,500 Americans forces by January 15.

Although there are about 4,000 U.S. troops in the country currently, the official expressed confidence that the timeline will be met.