Speaking at a press briefing in the capital city of Suva alongside Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Austin and his counterpart unveiled plans to deepen their militaries’ cooperation in the near term — including negotiations on a new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that would enable American and Fijian personnel to operate jointly on the same bases and train side-by-side on a more routine cadence.

“We discussed the unique and various security challenges in the Pacific Islands region. Maritime security is essential. So, I’m pleased that our first delivery of rigid-hull inflatable boats will arrive in the next several months. Soon after, we’ll deliver a new boat ramp to support maritime patrols of your borders, and we’ll continue expanding our exercises and engagement together,” Austin said. 

His stop in Fiji marked the first time in history that a U.S. defense secretary toured the country. And it was the final leg of Austin’s latest weeklong trip to four nations across the region, after he visited Australia, the Philippines and Laos.

In each location, the Pentagon chief and his counterparts underscored their commitments to collaboratively promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” particularly as China continues to flex its military presence there.

A senior defense official who previewed the Defense Department’s top objectives with Fiji ahead of the main events, said part of the ultimate aim is for the militaries to jointly plan and “be more present together in the region.”

Pointing to recent conversations with their Fijian partners, the official said the forces align on many overarching objectives.

“They certainly want a more capable military. They want a more professionalized military — and they’ve told us this directly. They want ways to train with the United States so they can, again, build that capacity. And they also want to be more able and more efficient and effective in responding to regional needs, from humanitarian assistance projects to disasters. It’s really important,” the senior defense official said. 

During that sidelines briefing with the traveling press corps, and in Austin’s meetings with American and Fijian journalists on the following day, officials shed light on the mechanisms and deliverables through which the countries’ militaries are moving quickly to expand cooperation.

Notably, they revealed that their governments recently kicked off formal negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement that, once signed, will legally permit deeper collaboration through bilateral exercises and other mil-to-mil engagements.

Ahead of that announcement, senior defense officials told reporters that working more closely with the Fiji Military Forces will offer U.S. troops the strategic benefit of diversifying their own force posture in and around the Indo-Pacific region. 

“The SOFA will enable us to deploy and redeploy forces in support of Fiji and help us train with the Fijians on a very routine basis. I look forward to routine rotations, training rotations — where possible — to be conducted. There is no notion of any permanent basing to be established here in Fiji. We did not have any discussions like that, but we do enjoy training with our great partners here in Fiji and look forward to more of that in the future,” Austin told reporters. 

The defense secretary also announced that the two nations signed an Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement to speed up their transfer of resources and logistics capacity, and allow each military to access the other’s maintenance facilities during emergencies. 

According to the senior defense official, ACSAs are “a default” between the U.S. and its closest partners — and this one with Fiji is the result of nearly a decade of negotiations.

Austin’s other major announcement at the briefing was that America will provide $4.9 million in foreign military financing for small-arms recapitalization to the Fijian forces, if lawmakers approve it.  

“This will go really straight to what they’re asking for and what their needs are,” a senior defense official said.

In response to questions from reporters from both nations, military and political leaders expressed confidence that the U.S. commitments to Fiji would continue under the incoming Trump administration. 

They also emphasized their countries’ shared intent to prioritize safety and security across the Indo-Pacific.

“We all pray [this deepened partnership is] not an indication that we are looking at some dangerous years ahead. We’re here to talk about peace and how we guard, and protect, and promote that peace,” Fiji’s PM Rabuka said.

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On Saturday, Austin will join his top counterparts from that country to announce the initiation of negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which is designed to advance U.S. military efforts and joint operations in the region.

The nations will also be signing an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) to enable deeper bilateral logistics cooperation — including by enabling the transfer of fuel and medical supplies, and access to maintenance facilities during emergencies. The U.S. is also set to commit $4.9 million in new security assistance to accelerate Fiji’s defense modernization through enhanced Foreign Military Financing, pending congressional approval.

But before that, when Austin and his team touched down at the Fiji military’s headquarters for Joint Task Force Command at Black Rock Camp, he was greeted with a traditional welcoming ceremony that demonstrated the historic weight of his visit.

Fiji’s military band, which has been playing for more than a century, welcomed Austin and his delegation with the United States’ national anthem. After a full performance a bit later, they also played American music hits including “Eye of the Tiger.”

Austin was offered and consumed the island drink Kava — and he was presented with multiple traditional Fijian gifts, including a roasted hog and a whale’s tooth. The latter is significant in that whale teeth were an original form of Fiji’s currency.

At the military base near Fiji’s capital of Suva, Austin also enjoyed a rugby match among the military and a local team — after which he presented them with signed rugby balls, U.S. Department of Defense baseball caps, and a medal for each team. Austin — who played rugby during his days at West Point — told reporters he particularly enjoyed that game.

He also thanked the Fijian military a number of times for their hospitality and generosity. 

The stop in Fiji marks Austin’s final stop on a week-long trip to four nations in the Indo-Pacific as the Pentagon looks to enhance defense ties with countries in the region amid strategic competition with China. 

In a press briefing ahead of the visit, a senior defense official told DefenseScoop that part of the U.S. move to partner more deeply with Fiji is because it’s one of three Pacific Island countries with a professional, standing military.

“We need partners who have that capability to work with us,” the official said.

They added that the stop in Fiji will be a “very impactful, packed series of programming we have.”

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“During this trip, we will deliver results to advance cooperation, strengthen our relationships, and build an enduring network of allies and partners. I am proud of the historic progress we’ve made over the last four years and the depth of continuing U.S. commitment to the region,” Austin said in a statement ahead of takeoff.

Earlier this week, senior defense officials previewed plans for the trip on the condition of anonymity during a briefing at the Pentagon with a small group of reporters invited to accompany Austin on his journey. They spotlighted aims to promote deeper research and technology-driving partnerships and further the U.S. military’s interoperability with partners in the region.

First, the secretary and his entourage will land in Darwin, Australia. There, he’ll participate in a trilateral defense ministerial meeting with his Australian and Japanese counterparts. 

Senior U.S. defense officials said those involved plan to make “significant strides” to evolve their joint air and missile defense and information-sharing capabilities.

“On the interoperability front, you will see the three ministers … announcing that Japan is committing to integrate its forces into Marine Rotational Force Darwin rotations to train alongside the United States and Australia in Darwin starting next year in 2025. So that’s going to be a very critical … deliverable rounding out those trilateral discussions,” one of the background briefers said. 

After that first stop, Austin and his crew will continue on to the Philippines, where they’ll spend a full first day in Manila and then a half day on the island of Palawan.

He’ll visit Camp Aguinaldo, the Philippines’ military base where their Department of National Defense is housed, to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new bilateral Combined Coordination Center, or CCC, where forces from both nations’ militaries will sit side-by-side to conduct operational planning.

Next up, in Palawan, Austin will visit Philippines Western Command headquarters, which is a key node for ongoing naval operations in the South China Sea.

“Then Secretary Austin will head to the C2 fusion center, a site built by [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] for military information sharing — for a Philippine Navy tech demonstration of a T-12 unmanned surface vessel,” a senior defense official told reporters in the briefing.

In response to questions from DefenseScoop, the official said there will not be any announcements associated with the U.S. pre-positioning uncrewed assets in these Pacific nations to deter China, but the demo will involve military personnel from the Philippines operating some of the drone systems that the Pentagon has provided to them.

“Those types of systems will be a strong theme throughout the effort, for sure,” they told DefenseScoop.

From there, Austin and the team will go to Laos for the ASEAN defense ministers meeting. 

On the sidelines, the Pentagon leader is expected to unveil multiple new partnership initiatives and announce what officials called the “first-ever U.S. DOD vision statement for a prosperous and secure Southeast Asia.”

Austin’s last stop on this journey will be in Fiji — notably marking the first time an American leader serving in that capacity visits the nation. 

“Significantly, this is the big announcement. He will announce that our countries will begin negotiations on a U.S.-Fiji SOFA, the Status of Forces Agreement … You know this is important, because it really spells out how the United States, our forces, can operate in the country, and it will empower us to do more together with them,” a senior defense official told reporters. 

Austin is also set to sign a new “acquisition and cross-servicing agreement,” which the official said will enable America to send logistical support to the island nation “very quickly in any kind of emergency.”

“I am proud of the historic progress we’ve made over the last four years and the depth of continuing U.S. commitment to the region,” Austin said in the statement.

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