Department of Defense Appropriations for 2022, Part 2 — House Hearing, 117 Congress
Summary
Part 2 of the Subcommittee on Defense hearings on Department of Defense appropriations for 2022, chaired by Betty McCollum, covers United States European Command, Africa Command, Central Command, the Navy and Marine Corps, the National Guard and Reserves, and the Army. The first hearing, on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, takes testimony from EUCOM Commander General Tod Wolters; on Ranking Member Calvert's motion, the portion involving sensitive material goes into executive session. Chair McCollum says the Obama administration requested $1 billion in OCO funds after Russia invaded Crimea, for a total of approximately $27 billion over 7 years. The closing remarks raise the Defense Health Agency's medical reforms, congressionally directed medical research programs and COVID testing before the hearing is adjourned.
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“Department of Defense Appropriations for 2022, Part 2 — House Hearing, 117 Congress.”
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[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS
FOR 2022
_______________________________________________________________________
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
____________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEFENSE
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota, Chair
TIM RYAN, Ohio KEN CALVERT, California
C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio TOM COLE, Oklahoma
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas
DEREK KILMER, Washington ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
PETE AGUILAR, California JOHN R. CARTER, Texas
CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
NOTE: Under committee rules, Ms. DeLauro, as chair of the full
committee, and Ms. Granger, as ranking minority member of the full
committee, are authorized to sit as members of all subcommittees.
Chris Bigelow, Walter Hearne, Brooke Barnard, Ariana Sarar, Jackie
Ripke,
David Bortnick, Matthew Bower, William Adkins, Jennifer Chartrand,
Hayden Milberg, Paul Kilbride, Shannon Richter, and Kyle McFarland
Subcommittee Staff
___________
PART 2
Page
United States European Command........
1
United States Africa Command..........
27
United States Central Command.........
47
United States Navy and Marine Corps...
79
National Guard and Reserves...........
197
United States Army....................
347
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
___________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
46-585 WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
----------
ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut, Chair
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina
LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia
BARBARA LEE, California
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
TIM RYAN, Ohio
C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas
CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine
MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois
DEREK KILMER, Washington
MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania
GRACE MENG, New York
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin
KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts
PETE AGUILAR, California
LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois
BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey
BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan
NORMA J. TORRES, California
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
ED CASE, Hawaii
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
JOSH HARDER, California
JENNIFER WEXTON, Virginia
DAVID J. TRONE, Maryland
LAUREN UNDERWOOD, Illinois
SUSIE LEE, Nevada
KAY GRANGER, Texas
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas
KEN CALVERT, California
TOM COLE, Oklahoma
MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida
STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
CHUCK FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee
JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington
DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio
ANDY HARRIS, Maryland
MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada
CHRIS STEWART, Utah
STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi
DAVID G. VALADAO, California
DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington
JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan
JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida
BEN CLINE, Virginia
GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
MIKE GARCIA, California
ASHLEY HINSON, Iowa
TONY GONZALES, Texas
Robin Juliano, Clerk and Staff Director
(ii)
Tuesday, April 20, 2021.
UNITED STATES EUROPEAN COMMAND
WITNESS
GENERAL TOD D. WOLTERS, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE,
COMMANDER, UNITED STATES EUROPEAN COMMAND
Opening Statement of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. The hearing will come to order.
This morning the subcommittee will receive testimony and an
update on U.S. military activities in the European theater.
Before we go any farther, I would like to recognize Ranking
Member Calvert for a motion.
Mr. Calvert. Chair, I move that this portion of the hearing
today, which involves sensitive material, be held in executive
session because of the sensitivity of the material to be
discussed.
Ms. McCollum. So ordered. Thank you, Mr. Calvert.
This morning, the subcommittee will receive testimony from
U.S. European Command. Our witness today is EUCOM Commander
General Tod Wolters.
General Wolters, welcome back to the subcommittee, and we
look forward to hearing your testimony.
The President's initial budget outlines priorities and the
need to counter threats from destabilizing actions in Russia
and in China. The emphasis: the need to return to work with our
allies and partners, particularly those in NATO, to defend our
democratic values and the rule of law. Each of these
priorities, I believe, reinforces the other. This too should be
our focus, and our witness will describe for us the tools which
EUCOM utilizes to attain these goals.
Russia continues to be the primary driver of destabilizing
activities in Europe. After the Russians invaded Crimea and
attacked Ukraine in 2014, the Obama administration requested $1
billion in OCO funds to address the threat Russia posed, and
each successive administration has continued to request funds,
for a total of approximately $27 billion over the past 7 years.
These funds have increased U.S. military presence, expanded
training activities, improved and created new infrastructures,
prepositioned equipment, and built the capabilities of our
allies, including Poland and the Baltic States.
Our witness will detail if these efforts have improved
Ukraine's ability to defend itself, enhance readiness of
European troops in Europe, and bolster our relationships with
our partners.
Russia's most recent action on the Ukrainian border
continues to threaten not only Ukraine but the entire
continent.
I look forward to hearing how the administration and the
Department of Defense will work with our allies and our
partners to resolve the situation diplomatically with Russia.
We will also ask the witness to describe for us the threat
China poses to the continent, particularly through economic
pressures.
As we have discussed in previous hearings, the Arctic plays
a vital role not only in the defense of our Nation but in the
security of Europe and the Arctic nations. Both Russia and
China are staking adversarial positions against the United
States and our allies in the Arctic, and I look forward to your
views on the tools we can use to limit their attempts to
control this region.
And finally, we know that the European continent continues
to be hit hard by COVID-19. The committee will want to know if
the virus limited your ability to conduct operations, the
status of vaccine implementation efforts, and how service
personnel and their families are doing a year after the
pandemic has started.
Now, with that, I want to thank everyone for participating
in today's hearing. And I now want to recognize our
distinguished ranking member, Mr. Calvert, for his remarks
before I recognize the full ranking member chair of the
Appropriations Committee.
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chair McCollum.
General Wolters, welcome back to this subcommittee. We
appreciate your service to our country. Your appearance before
us is important. As we move through the budget process, this
subcommittee will do its best to work with you on your key
requirements and to support the men and women in your command.
Seven years after Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed
Crimea, Moscow is visibly massing military forces along the
common border. I hope you will speak to whether Putin is
primarily deploying this force to put political pressure on
Ukraine, what he might be trying to signal to Washington, our
European allies, or whether these deployments are, in fact, a
prelude to a renewed Russia aggression.
I also look forward to your assessment of the health of our
NATO alliance, prospects for greater transatlantic coordination
on China, and whether we are maintaining momentum toward
greater allied burden sharing and investments in defense
modernization.
While we don't know the results of Secretary Austin's
Global Posture Review, it is critical that the U.S. sustain our
contribution to NATO's deterrence and defense posture through a
robust forward and rotational presence.
With proposed redeployments to Germany, I trust this
administration will consult closely with this committee and
with our allies on any U.S. force posture adjustments in
Europe.
I also hope you will address ways in which EUCOM and this
committee can help support our partners along NATO's eastern
flank, deter and respond to the Kremlin's cyber and information
warfare, and develop a strong consensus on countering Russia
with our allies.
I look forward to your testimony.
And with that, I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Calvert.
And it is my honor to recognize the full ranking member of
the Appropriations Committee, former chair of this
subcommittee, Ms. Granger.
Remarks of Ms. Granger
Ms. Granger. Thank you, Madam Chair.
General Wolters, it is good to see you again.
As recent events have made clear, the transatlantic
alliance remains critical to U.S. interests and to the security
and defense of Europe. This committee and the Congress have
repeatedly made our commitment to NATO and our longest standing
military partnership a priority.
I hope you will tell us how we are working with our allies
to set a forward-looking agenda for the alliance. In
particular, we need to know how we are going to counter Russian
aggression and keep China's actions in the region in check.
I know my colleagues and I share concerns about the current
situation in Ukraine, and we need to hear your assessment of
Russia's intentions.
I also continue to have serious concerns about China's
investments as well as their aggressive and coercive behavior
in European countries. Please update us on what discussions are
going on in NATO.
I look forward to hearing your testimony and learning what
you need from Congress.
Thank you again for your service. We look forward to your
testimony.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you so much for your comments.
General Wolters, we have your full written testimony and it
will be placed in the record and members all have copies. I
encourage you to summarize your statement in 5 minutes and to
be complete but succinct when we go to answering questions so
we can get as any rounds in as possible.
Sir, the time is yours.
[The written statement of General Tod D. Wolters follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Clerk's note.--The complete hearing transcript could not
be printed due to the classification of the material
discussed.]
Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
UNITED STATES AFRICA COMMAND
WITNESS
GENERAL STEPHEN J. TOWNSEND, COMMANDER, UNITED STATES AFRICA COMMAND
Opening Statement of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. The subcommittee will come to order. This
morning, the subcommittee will hold a hearing on the posture of
U.S. AFRICOM.
Before we get started, I would like to recognize the
Ranking Member Calvert for a motion.
Mr. Calvert. Madam Chair, I move a portion of this hearing
today, which involves classified material, be held in executive
session because of the sensitivity of the material to be
discussed.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. I would remind members that any
materials placed in front of you marked classified--most of it
is not marked classified that is in on the front of you right
now--should be left at your chair at the conclusion of this
hearing.
Today, we will receive testimony from our witness AFRICOM
Commander Stephen Townsend. General, we welcome you back to the
subcommittee. In fact, your last hearing was here in person,
the subcommittee held on March 11. So, you are coming in the
wave of COVID at the beginning and, hopefully, now the end.
General Townsend. Hopefully.
Ms. McCollum. That was the same day, to really put it in
perspective, that the World Health Organization made the
assessment that COVID-19 could be characterized as a global
pandemic and paused all in-person events around the world. So,
it is good to see you back here today, good to see you healthy,
and we look forward to your testimony.
This hearing takes place in an important time for U.S.
foreign policy and our global defense posture. As we are all
aware, the 2018 National Defense Strategy emphasized
competition between great powers as a greater long-term
challenge to U.S. national security and the threat of
terrorism.
Over the past two decades, China has deepened its reach in
Africa, financing large infrastructure projects, opening
military bases in Djibouti, deploying peacekeepers, and
spreading its culture and its language by funding Confucius
Institutes around the continent. Further, Russia has
aggressively increased activities in Africa and is the
continent's top arm dealer.
But, as our intelligence officials point out, threats to
our national security from terrorism and violent extremism from
the African continent continues to be substantial. We need only
to look at last month's horrific ISIS-claimed terrorist attack
in Mozambique, with the killing of more than 55 people, to
witness the threat of unchallenged violent extremism remains.
Additionally, I would like to highlight a quote from Africa
Annual Threat Assessment that was released by the Office of
Director of National Intelligence last week, and I read from
it: ``East Africa will struggle with ethnic conflict in
Ethiopia, power struggles within transitional government in
Sudan, continued instability in Somalia, while a volatile
mixture of ``intercommunal violence and terrorism will threaten
West Africa's stability. Conflicts, undergoverned spaces, the
marginalization of some communities, and persistent
communication connectivity are likely to fuel terrorism during
the next year, particularly in Sahel, parts of Eastern and
Southern Africa. And throughout the Sub-Saharan Africa, strings
of contentious elections will elevate the risk of political
instability and violence.'' And that is the end of the quote
from there.
To meet these growing challenges, the United States, on a
whole-of-government level, must be more engaged in Africa and
not less. We need to ensure that we are working well with our
partner agencies towards both diplomacy and development and
economic bridges in the continent.
So I would like to hear about your relationship with our
most significant partner in the Department of State, how it
plays an essential part in joint activities in your area of
responsibility. But the military, certainly, has a meaningful
role. And as someone who has traveled to Africa many times, I
have to say how dismayed I was that the previous administration
chose to reduce American Forces from the continent despite
increasing threats that pose--you know, pose great threats to
ourselves and our partners.
I assume AFRICOM has been making the case that this needs
to be reversed, and that its bases and its missions that are
run from them are critical to U.S. interests. And we would
appreciate hearing those details from you today.
And this brings us to our oversight responsibilities.
First, as long as we have troops in the region in harm's way,
we should make sure they receive the best training, the best
equipment, and they are not left exposed or behind. Second, we
need to make sure that the funds we appropriate to carry out
the programs in the region are executed efficiently and
effectively.
And, finally, if the administration is going to challenge
our posture--if the administration is going to change our
posture in the region, we need to look at the tradeoffs and how
long such changes would affect our national security in the
fiscal year 2022 budget.
It is in this context that I hope we can discuss several of
these important issues today, so, General, we look forward to
hearing your testimony.
But, first, I would like to recognize Ranking Member
Calvert for his opening comments.
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chair McCollum.
General Townsend, it is good to see you again before the
subcommittee. Last year, at this time, we were focused on the
potential impact of Secretary Esper's Global Posture Review,
which sought to realign our military resources with the
priorities of the last National Defense Strategy. Now,
Secretary Austin has embarked on a similar task with uncertain
consequences for how the review will impact your mission, and
the men and women under your command.
Notwithstanding the review, there is a broad recognition
that Africa is increasingly important to the United States'
interest and to our national security. Our modest military
presence there not only helps protect our homeland security,
but to effectively compete against the corrupting influence of
China and Russia.
Despite the impact of ongoing ethnic and communal
conflicts, terrorism and violent extremism appear to remain
Africa's greatest security threat. As noticed in the latest DNI
threat assessment, internal conflicts and governance challenges
remain likely to fuel terrorist threats, particularly in the
West and parts of the Eastern and Southern Africa.
AFRICOM and its unique interagency construct has a critical
role to play in addressing causes of instability. Beyond these
missions, growing competition with China and Russia makes it
important that AFRICOM be enabled to become the security
partner of choice for countries across the region.
We want to assist you where we can with appropriate
resources, such funding for security cooperation, and
requirements for additional ISR across your vast AOR in spite
of our budget challenges. I want to conclude my brief statement
by thanking you and the men and women under your command for
your service, and I look forward to your testimony.
With that, Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
So with that, please proceed with your testimony. As you
know, your full written statement will be placed in the record.
Members all have copies at their seats, and I would like to
have as much time possible for questions. I think you will find
us very engaging, so I would encourage you to summarize your
statement and to be complete, but yet succinct, in answering
questions.
[The written statement of General Townsend follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Clerk's note.--The complete hearing transcript could not
be printed due to the classification of the material
discussed.]
Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
WITNESS
GENERAL KENNETH F. MCKENZIE, JR., COMMANDER, UNITED STATES CENTRAL
COMMAND
Opening Statement of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. The hearing will come to order. The
subcommittee will receive testimony on the posture of U.S.
Central Command. Mr. Rogers is always having to tell me to put
on my microphone. Thank you.
Our witness is CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth McKenzie.
General McKenzie, welcome back to the subcommittee. We look
forward to your testimony.
Before I recognize Ranking Member Calvert for a motion,
Members, when you are speaking, if you have been vaccinated,
you can remove your mask. Please put it on when you are done
speaking, because we have our recorder team in here, and we are
happy to see them. But we did that this morning, and it worked
out better, and I think people could hear better.
So, I would like to recognize the ranking member, Mr.
Calvert, for a motion.
Mr. Calvert. Madam Chair, I move this portion of the
hearing today which involves classified material be held in
executive session because of the sensitivity of the material to
be discussed.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. I would also like to remind
members that any material placed in front of them that is
marked classified, and it will be clearly marked, must be left
at your seat at the conclusion of the hearing. If you have any
questions on that, please ask any of the staff here whether or
not it is classified. So let's get started.
Today's hearing comes at an important time for U.S. policy
and involvement in the region. Last week, President Biden
announced U.S. troops are coming home after two decades of war
in Afghanistan. I support the President's decision. 20 years
after September 11, 2001, it is time for the Afghan people to
take ownership of their own country's future. I am pleased that
U.S. diplomatic and development support will be continued. The
President also stated that U.S. support for the Afghan security
forces would continue, and that our counterterrorism
capabilities in the region would be reorganized to prevent the
reemergence of terrorists.
This subcommittee has an important role in funding and
oversight to plan these transitions, and we look forward to
working with the Department on these issues. And many of us,
sir, attended a classified briefing on this topic just
yesterday.
Iran is another country where we see policy change. It has
been 3 years since the Trump administration pulled the United
States out of the Iran nuclear deal without another deal in
place. The Biden administration has begun indirect talks with
Iran to bring them back into compliance, and is exploring how
the U.S. may also rejoin the agreement. We look forward to
hearing today how CENTCOM is postured to meet the threat of
Iran, and how that might change in the event of an agreement.
The war in Yemen is yet another area where we see a shift.
After many years, the U.S. is ending support for offensive
operations in Yemen. We know that there is no military solution
to the conflict in Yemen, and I strongly support President
Biden's renewed efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution to the
conflict.
And then Syria. It is hard to believe that the war has now
been going on for 10 years, with hundreds of thousands killed,
and millions of people displaced. The subcommittee would like
an update on the fighting and the humanitarian situation there.
We also understand from the President's budget outline that
the United States is shifting its focus from the Middle East
towards Asia. At the same time, we continue to face several
national security challenges, threats to the stability of the
region, including ISIS and other terrorist groups.
Escalating tensions between Pakistan and India. We must
remain engaged and work with our allies and our partners on our
common interests. So we look forward to hearing how CENTCOM is
postured to do that, and is resourced to address these
challenges to support the 500,000 military personnel serving
the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
I want to thank everyone for participating in today's
hearing. And now, I will recognize our distinguished ranking
member for his opening remarks.
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chair McCollum.
General McKenzie, we are pleased to have you back before
the subcommittee. Thank you for your service.
The backdrop for this hearing is Secretary Austin's global
posture review and the publication of the administration's
interim national security guidance in March. There is a
widespread belief that the administration views conditions in
your AOR as ripe for rethinking of our military footprint in
the Middle East. For example, the interim national security
guidance promises to take, or to right-size the U.S. military
presence in the region. It also emphasizes the need to
responsibly end the war in Afghanistan, an issue will I will
turn to in a moment.
We need your best advice as to what the mix of U.S.
military assets are required to deter a hostile and aggressive
Iran. It is critical that we not leave a security vacuum in the
region, only to be filled by China, or, perhaps, Russia. The
administration may want to stress development and diplomacy
around the world, but it would be naive to believe that our
foreign policy can succeed without the backing of a strong
American military.
In Afghanistan, it is fair to say that all choices are
agonizing. The strategic question regarding the President's
decision to withdraw is whether a remote counterterrorism
posture can advance U.S. national interests at a lower cost and
less risk than our present level of commitment. I am deeply
skeptical of prospects for a power-sharing deal with the
Taliban break with Al Qaeda, but I look forward to your
assessment of the situation, and your recommendation as to what
is our least bad option.
From an appropriations perspective, I will say that the
proposed withdrawal creates a number of uncertainties as to how
to legislate responsibly, not the least of which is how to
balance the desire to provide continuous support to the Afghan
security forces without trainers on the ground, contract
maintenance support, or effective U.S. oversight.
In closing, I certainly hope the subcommittee will support
efforts to ensure that you continue to have the critical
capabilities to advance our interests and protect our men and
women in uniform, and including persistent ISR. Thank you again
for your service, and I look forward to your testimony. I yield
back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
We are pleased today to have the ranking member of the full
Appropriations Committee, Ms. Granger here.
Remarks of Ms. Granger
Ms. Granger, your opening statement, please.
Ms. Granger. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank
you, General McKenzie. Welcome back to the subcommittee. We are
reminded every day how important your area of responsibility to
the American national security.
I am concerned today about the announcement the President
made. He decided to withdraw forces from Afghanistan on
September 11. I have many questions about this decision. We
will never forget the events, of course, of 9/11, and must be
sure an attack on the United States and our interests abroad
can never come from Afghanistan in the future. We also need to
know how we will protect the diplomats serving in our embassy
after our forces leave.
Iran remains a very real threat to the United States and
our allies. As the administration continues its diplomatic
efforts, this must be backed by military strength. I would like
for you to describe the resources you need to prevent Iran from
achieving its nuclear ambitions.
I know we are all concerned about the growing presence of
China and Russia in the Middle East, and how their plans may
work against our interests. We also have many close
partnerships in the region, including with our close allies in
Jordan and with the Kurds in Iraq. I hope you can address the
recent instability in Jordan, and how we can help preserve the
Kingdom's strength so it can remain one of our most reliable
partners. I would also like to know what support we propose to
provide to the Kurds and other Iraqi security forces that are
fighting to keep ISIS in check.
That is a lot of questions. There is a lot on your plate. I
hope you can get to that. If not, we will welcome you back
again. Thank you, again, for your service, and we look forward
to your testimony.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Ranking Member Granger. A lot of
the questions on there are, I think, questions on everyone's
mind, so thank you.
General McKenzie, your full written testimony will be
placed in the record. Members have copies at their seat. In the
interest of time, I encourage you to summarize your statement
in 5 minutes or less, but feel free to take the full 5, because
we want to get as many questions as we can in. And so, when you
respond to our questions, if you choose to be succinct, that
just means we will have more questions. So we will see how many
questions you want by how long it takes you to answer. Please
proceed.
[The written statement of General McKenzie follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Clerk's note.--The complete hearing transcript could not
be printed due to the classification of the material
discussed.]
[Answers to submitted questions for the record follow:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Thursday, April 29, 2021.
UNITED STATES NAVY AND MARINE CORPS
WITNESSES
GENERAL DAVID H. BERGER, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS
ADMIRAL MICHAEL GILDAY, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS
HON. THOMAS W. HARKER, ACTING SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Ms. McCollum. This hearing will come to order.
This afternoon the committee will receive testimony on the
posture of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Our three
witnesses are the Honorable Thomas Harker, Acting Secretary of
the Navy; Admiral Michael Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations;
and General David Berger, Commandant of the Marine Corps.
All three witnesses have a long and distinguished career
serving our country.
Secretary Harker, this is your first time testifying before
the committee, and we welcome you, and we thank you for your
service.
Admiral and General, you have both testified before this
committee before, last year. We welcome you back, and we thank
you for being here.
Now, while today's hearing will cover multiple topics, I
just want to quickly highlight a few.
Earlier this year, the committee held a hearing on climate
change and its effects on national security. There can be no
doubt that our climate is changing, and the Department of
Defense must be prepared or suffer the consequences.
No military service is going to feel the effects of climate
change as uniquely as the Navy and the Marine Corps with
missions that rely on being able to navigate our waters and
also find safe harbors.
Additionally, we must ensure that we understand and prepare
for how the changing climate will affect the Arctic region and
its security.
Turning to shipbuilding for a minute, over the past several
years the Department of Defense has maintained a requirement
for a 355-ship Navy. However, past budgets have not fully
supported this requirement, and then the committee has been
left to find additional resources.
I would like to better understand the thought process of
the Department regarding this year's shipbuilding plan.
Additionally, we understand that the Marine Corps is
embarking upon a modernization effort, Force Design 2030. This
will require investments in research, development, as well as
divestment of legacy platforms that may no longer have a role
in this new method of operation. The committee looks forward to
receiving more details on Force Design 2030 in the fiscal year
2022 budget request.
Now, it must not be lost on our discussion on issues of
procurement or force design that people should be the
Department's number one priority. And the committee is
interested in hearing about the programs that prioritize the
welfare of our sailors, marines, and their families, including
ensuring that prompt medical care, childcare, and family
programs are available worldwide.
We also need to hear how the Navy and Marine Corps are
combating sexual assault and extremism in your ranks. The
number of incidents, are they increasing or declining? And are
you doing everything to ensure that they are moving in the
right direction? And are you properly resourced to handle this
task?
We understand that this is a challenging time for the Navy
and the Marine Corps, and we want to work in coordination with
you to ensure you are receiving the required resources to
maintain readiness, support personnel, and modernize for the
future.
At the same time, we must conduct a thorough oversight of
every dollar requested to ensure that taxpayer funds are being
spent wisely. We will continue to ask the difficult questions
to ensure that the right programs are being fully funded.
And finally, we are holding this hearing before the release
of the full budget. We understand that this might limit your
ability to answer certain questions.
Given the tight timeframe we will have to write the bill, I
ask you to be prepared to respond to members and the committee
on any specific budget questions that you are asked here today
immediately after the full budget request is submitted.
And with that, I want to thank you again for appearing
before the committee to discuss these important issues.
I will also ask you to summarize your statement in a
moment. But first I would like to recognize our ranking member,
Mr. Calvert, for his opening comments.
Mr. Calvert.
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chair McCollum.
Acting Secretary Harker, Admiral Gilday, General Berger, we
are pleased to have you here with us today.
As our Nation's sailors and marines continue to serve on
the leading edge of our operations in the era of great power
competition, it is critical that we hear from you about all the
challenges facing the United States Navy and the Marine Corps.
I wish we were able to have this hearing with your budget
request for fiscal year 2022, but I am sure we can have a
productive conversation, nevertheless.
In prior fiscal years, this Congress, in coordination with
our services, have made great strides in moving towards the
right balance of modernization and readiness. Yet I continue to
be concerned about the impact that the overall budget pressures
in these coming years may have on our current and future
forces.
I believe this is most evident in our Navy and Marine
Corps.
Faced with increased capabilities from China, Russia, and
other adversaries, the three of you here today have started the
hard work preparing our services for the conflicts of tomorrow.
This includes investing in integrated unmanned systems and
other advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence,
rightsizing our force, and developing next-generation combat
capability.
You are also committed to ensuring that critical
acquisition programs, like the Columbia-class submarine,
frigates, and the Joint Strike Fighter, all stay on schedule
and deliver capabilities to the fleet that are needed now.
In addition to these resource challenges, the Navy and the
Marine Corps are also responding to many issues facing the
force. These include, of course, impacts from COVID-19, the
physical and mental effects of 20 years at war, readiness and
training, shortfalls that ultimately resulted in the death of
Corporal Villaneuva and Private First Class Baltierra in July
of 2020.
As we discussed yesterday, we should never lose a sailor, a
soldier, airman, marine, or guardian in training. Congress must
ensure that the U.S. military can meet its training needs in
the safest and most effective way possible, even if the budget
falls short of doing so.
All these issues are critical for us to understand and
properly plan as we prepare our sailors and marines to defend
the Nation.
Thank you again for your service, and I look forward to
your testimony.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Calvert.
And now it is my honor to recognize the ranking member of
the full Appropriations Subcommittee, Ms. Granger, for her
opening comments.
Ms. Granger.
Remarks of Ms. Granger
Ms. Granger. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Admiral Gilday, I want to say first it is good to see you
again after your visit to Fort Worth. I enjoyed it very much
and appreciate your coming.
Today it is important that our sailors and marines continue
to play a central role in protecting American military power.
As countries like China continue to build up their naval fleets
and threaten our allies, it is critical that we provide
sufficient funding for our Navy and our Marine Corps.
This includes increasing the number of battleships in our
fleet, rapidly developing new technologies, and expanding our
forward posture, particularly in the Pacific.
Furthermore, there is no question that the COVID-19 has had
an impact on our military. I am interested to hear how you have
responded to those challenges.
I look forward to your testimony on these and other
important issues facing the Navy and the Marine Corps, and I
thank you for your time.
And I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Ms. Granger.
Gentlemen, we do have your full written statements and they
will be placed in the record and members have copies available
to them. They were made available earlier. So I would like to
have as much time as possible for members to ask questions, so
I would encourage each and every one of you to summarize your
statements. Be complete but also succinct when you are
responding to questions.
And with that, Mr. Secretary, Admiral, General, get over to
you for your opening remarks.
Summary Statement of Secretary Harker
Secretary Harker. Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert,
distinguished members of the committee, thank you for your
bipartisan efforts on behalf of the sailors, marines, and
civilians in the Department of the Navy.
It is an honor to be here with Admiral Gilday and General
Berger. I support and appreciate their efforts to build a more
integrated [inaudible] Force Design 2030. We are unified in our
determination to deliver the most capable, lethal, and ready
force possible within the confines you provide.
We will stay ahead of the pacing threat of China and other
global challenges with hard choices to divest the less capable
platforms and systems, to invest in a superior future force.
The top priority for each of us is to invest in our sailor,
marines, and civilians to ensure they are prepared and equipped
to execute the missions and return home safely to their
families.
We are fighting the scourge of sexual harassment and sexual
assault through efforts like The Watch List, a tool that uses
Navy and Marine Corps data to alert commanders to conditions in
their units that might lead to these toxic behaviors.
We have also prioritized the mental health of our force,
speaking out at the senior level about the importance of
counseling and the availability of mental health professionals,
chaplains, family counselors, and other support group
[inaudible].
We are investing in this area this year, and you will soon
see a reprogramming request for that funding to provide
additional mental health practitioners to our sailors and
marines at operational [inaudible].
In order to ensure every dollar is maximized to equip and
prepare our warfighters, we are building on our financial
statement audit successes, to improve our business systems,
account for every asset, and leverage data as a strategic
asset.
Through the Performance to Plan initiative, we are making
data-driven decisions through rigorous self-assessments, backed
by accountability and the demand to improve effectiveness and
efficiency.
We are committed to building strong partnerships with our
vital industrial base and suppliers. I have visited all four of
our public Navy shipyards, and I am fully committed to the
Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program and other vital
physical and IT infrastructure investments.
These will increase the capability and resiliency of these
100-plus-year-old installations by increasing the size and
capability of our dry docks, while also providing our 40,000-
plus person workforce with the modern tools they need to
maintain our force [inaudible] and more lethal assets.
Around the world and around the clock, the sailors,
marines, and civilians of our integrated Naval force are
keeping the watch and executing the mission. On behalf of each
of them and their families, thank you for your time, effort,
and your appropriations.
I look forward to your questions, Madam Chair.
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Ms. McCollum. Thank you so much.
Admiral Gilday, please begin.
Summary Statement of Admiral Gilday
Admiral Gilday. Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert,
distinguished members of the committee, thank you for your
enduring support for our Navy and Marine Corps team and the
opportunity to discuss both our posture and future priorities
this morning with Secretary Harker and Commandant Berger.
Today, more than 40,000 sailors and marines are at sea on
more than a hundred ships. Most of them are forward-deployed.
They are deterring conflicts, they are safeguarding
opportunity, and I think they are keeping America and our
allies safe.
In the last year, our sailors and marines operated above,
on, and under the seas from the Arctic to the Cape of Good
Hope, from the Caribbean to the South China Sea, to the
Atlantic, the Indian, and the Pacific Oceans, and our routine
presence includes major economic arteries like the Suez and the
Panama Canals, the Straits of Hormuz, Malacca, and Gibraltar.
Our cyber teams stood watch and are standing constant watch
over our networks.
Your ballistic missile submarines are maintaining their
steady, silent patrols.
Expeditionary medical teams and hospital ships deployed to
COVID hotspots across our country, and we continue to assist
with vaccinations today.
We demonstrated our first successful standard missile
intercept of an ICBM. We disabled a target aircraft using
shipboard laser technology. And we just finished this week our
largest exercise to date using the full range of unmanned ships
and aircraft.
Your sailors, your Navy civilians, and our families made
all of this possible, along with patriots in our shipyards, in
our aircraft maintenance facilities, and our mobilized Navy
Reservists, and our partners in industry, companies large and
small who kept the production lines moving and sustainment of
our Navy with a very high OPTEMPO possible.
All of this in a global pandemic.
Those people really are the foundation of our strength, and
I could not be more proud to serve alongside them.
And their strength is needed now more than ever.
Competition on, under, and above the seas is intensifying.
China and Russia are rapidly mobilizing their militaries,
attempting to undermine our alliances, and degrading the free
and the open international order we have worked so hard to
sustain.
Our joint force relies on the Navy and the Marine Corps to
control the seas in conflict and project power ashore. Those
missions are timeless. And while our fleet can deliver on those
missions today, we will be increasingly challenged to do so in
the future.
We have studied the threats, we have refined our
operational concepts, and we have analyzed what the joint force
needs from your Navy and your Marine Corps.
The results of analysis over analysis in the past 5 years
has been consistent and crystal clear: America needs a larger
and more capable Navy, we need greater numbers of submarines,
smaller and more numerous surface combatants, and more lethal
offensive capabilities, a host of unmanned platforms under, on,
and above the seas, and a modern strategic deterrence. We also
need and are working hard on a more robust, resilient network
infrastructure.
But importantly, Naval power is not a function of ship
numbers alone, nor is it simply a result of the lethal systems
on our ships. It also comes in the concepts that shape how we
fight and the means to maintain, train, and equip our forces to
win in combat.
And fundamentally, and most importantly, it comes down to
our sailors and to our Navy civilians. And we are committed to
developing sailors who can outthink and outfight any adversary.
Let there be no doubt, the world's oceans are crucial for
America's security and our prosperity. With your continued
support, we will field--your Navy is committed, your sailors
are committed and determined to field a lethal Navy today and
deliver the Naval power America needs tomorrow.
Again, we are grateful for your support to our Navy and
Marine Corps teams. I look forward to answering your questions.
Thank you.
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Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
And now we will hear from the Commandant of the Marine
Corps, General Berger.
Summary Statement of General Berger
General Berger. Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert,
distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify on the posture of your Marine Corps, our
priorities, and the resource requirements necessary to fund it
all.
As Secretary Harker and Admiral Gilday noted, we greatly
appreciate both your efforts to provide the timely funding, as
well as your enduring commitment to our marines, sailors, and
our families. Your bipartisan support is critical to creating
and sustaining our strategic advantage now and into the future,
particularly as competing national priorities increase pressure
on defense budgets.
I recognize the difficult decisions this Congress faces,
especially in the broader budget context of resources required
to address things like COVID-19, aging infrastructure, climate
change, systemic social inequality, and the competitiveness of
our domestic economy.
I also recognize the tough choices this committee must make
as it evaluates the budget priorities of the citizens, our
combatant commands, and the agencies across the Department.
In a recent hearing, Chair McCollum asked: What kind of
defense budget do we want to see, not only in fiscal year 2022,
but as we shape our national priorities 5 and 10 years out? How
can we take a harder look at or even cut strategically
unnecessary or outdated programs that just aren't working?
These questions get at the heart of the difficult decisions
before Congress and leaders in this Department. We must look
over the horizon, a decade ahead, when shaping our national
defense priorities.
At the same time, we must move beyond programs designed in
another era that are strategically unnecessary, outdated, and
just aren't working.
In his recent testimony, the INDOPACOM commander, Admiral
Davidson, stated that the greatest thing for the United States
in this competition is the emergence of conventional
deterrence. Combat-credible, conventional deterrent posture is
necessary to prevent conflict, protect U.S. interests, and to
assure our allies and partners.
I could not agree more. This is what has been driving our
Force Design 2030 efforts over the past [inaudible].
Recognizing the challenges of the current budget environment,
we pursued a cost-neutral approach, self-funding all Force
Design 2030 programs by divesting of legacy capabilities.
With this committee's support we have attempted to make
difficult decisions by cutting outdated programs, reinvesting
those resources into the cutting-edge capabilities that will
create an advantage and deter our competitors [inaudible].
Additionally, with the counsel of the ranking member, we
have looked for savings in other non-programmatic areas to
include our personnel accounts. For example, we are in the
process now of reducing our headquarters staff by 15 percent.
These reductions will help fund investments for necessary
personnel talent management and sustainment programs.
To be clear, Force Design 2030 is about modernizing
capabilities, not just our equipment sets, also our personnel
systems, our training, and sustainment programs as well.
After all of our internal self-funding over the past few
years, I believe we have maximized every dollar you have
provided.
However, further modernization with internal resources will
incur what I believe to be unacceptable risk. We will need the
help of this committee to generate the resources for cutting-
edge capabilities your Naval forces need to compete with China
and Russia.
We welcome the opportunity to work with this committee.
Look forward to your questions both in this hearing and in the
weeks that follow.
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ARTIC STRATEGY
Ms. McCollum. Well, thank you, gentlemen.
I am going to ask a question that I know you will get back
to me on.
First off out here, I want to know how climate change is
impacting your installations, and then I want to see how the
President's budget is addressing those and what kind of
priority is put in that. So that is the first--I am a former
social studies teacher--that is your first piece of homework
after you get the budget in.
And kind of going off of that, I would like to talk about
the Navy Arctic strategy. On January 21, the Navy released its
new Arctic strategy, entitled, ``A Blue Arctic.'' The document
provides some strategic guidance on how the Department will
apply Naval power in the Arctic and talked about how to
integrate with allies and other partners.
The ``Blue Arctic'' provides an idea that the Arctic is
gradually turning from white to blue, in other words, from ice
to water, right? That reduced ice coverage is making the Arctic
more available and more navigable.
We know that there are things that we have to be looking at
doing to keep those waters navigable, as well as protect our
shoreline, Alaska, and work with our other democracies in the
area.
So, Secretary, my question is--my first question for you
is, how do you envision the Navy and the Marine Corps' presence
in the Arctic?
And then, General Berger, is a cold-water weather
modernization, has that been included in your Force Design in
2030?
And, Admiral, what challenges and resources do you foresee
needing with the increasing opening of the Arctic waterways?
Thank you.
Secretary Harker. Thank you, ma'am.
As we discussed yesterday, we have a strong relationship
with allies and partners in the Arctic. Several of the
countries up in the Scandinavian region are our strong allies
and partners and provide a lot of capability.
We have also had a strong presence in the Arctic, both
under the sea, up in the air, and then partnered with the Coast
Guard. The Coast Guard is also in the process of recapitalizing
their polar icebreakers. We are busy underneath the sea with
submarines, and we also have aviation assets on top of the
Arctic, and we work closely with our allies and partners.
General Berger.
General Berger. The Arctic Strategy that the CNO and I have
worked on is nesting and built on the same foundational
principles as the National Defense Strategy, which was, we need
a strategy for the north that deters, first of all, provides
deterrence, because that is the underpinnings of our overall
National Defense Strategy, but puts us in a position where we
can respond if there is a crisis.
For us, your question is, is it included in Force Design
2030, the modernization aspect? Yes, ma'am, it is, from a
couple different angles, and I will just touch on that quickly.
One is training. We need to make sure that we fund the
training that we have to do in that region, and as you point
out, critically, with partners and allies.
In our case, it starts with the allies like Norway, where
we have prepositioned supplies for decades now, which allow us
to train up there and also enable us to defend the region.
The second part, of course, is the equipment itself, which
has to be modernized.
So on both fronts, it is a part of Force Design 2030.
Admiral Gilday. Ma'am, I will get to your question in a
second. I would like to tell you what we have invested in with
the money you have given us so far over the last couple of
years. We have stood up 2nd Fleet in Norfolk, and we stood up a
submarine command in Norfolk as well.
And so those are expeditionary headquarters that we have
deployed not only to exercise with the Marines down in North
Carolina, but we also deploy them to places like Iceland, where
they are in command and control in there with NATO during major
operations and exercises.
We have just come off of a 4-month anti-submarine warfare
operation with our key partners in the north, so the
Norwegians, the Dutch, and the Brits in particular. We are on
the cusp of two more exercises, one in the high north in the
Norwegian Sea with an amphibious ready group.
So the United States Marine Corps, along with a carrier
strike group if we can get it up there, out of the Middle East,
and with our allies and partners, including the British
aircraft carrier the Queen Elizabeth with Marine Corps F-35s
deployed on it.
In the past 18 months, we have done about 20 different
exercises and operations in the high north and the Arctic, and
nearly all of those have been with allies and partners along
with the Marine Corps.
In terms of challenges in the future, I would tell you, I
think it comes down to not technology, per se, but numbers of
ships. And it is more--that is becoming a more and more
competitive space for the reasons that you outlined, going from
white to blue.
And so right now, as I mentioned in my opening statement,
about a third of your Navy is at sea right now. We have got 296
ships. We are well short of the legal requirement for 355.
We know through our analysis that, based on our current top
line, we can sustain a Navy of about 300 to 305 ships. So as I
said in my opening statement, I see in the future it is going
to be more difficult for us to maintain that kind of forward
presence that we know we need in places like the Western
Pacific, in the Middle East, in the Mediterranean, and now in
the high north, in order to compete and be in a position to
deter both China and Russia.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert, please.
TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Admiral, this is for you. Obviously, we have some budget
challenges. As we were discussing yesterday, the Chinese are
significantly ahead of us in the number of ships, and their
capability is pretty good since they stole most of our
technology. And that is a significant problem.
But speaking of technology, I want to speak to something
that is a concern to me.
On April 12, I read an article about a new Navy software
factory called The Forge, and about how the Navy wants to
reshape how ships get upgraded. The article states: The sea
service envisions a new way of doing business where it can
field software fixes and entirely new software-based
capabilities as soon as they are developed by a small business.
I must say I am concerned. The Navy has been pursuing this
capability under a Navy SBIR initiative that became a program
of record in 2012 called ATRT, an Automated Test and Retest.
Two years ago, the Office of Naval Research expanded ATRT to an
initiative called Cloud to Edge, or CTE.
The Navy has validated ATRT and CTE concepts and technology
with over 100 successful demonstrations and has shown
significant productivity improvements for both time and cost,
nearly 90 percent over current methods.
One such high-profile demonstration was successful, AEGIS/
ATRT Virtual Twin in April 2019. Despite the many
demonstrations that dramatically improve outdated legacy
process, the Navy is not aggressively letting this effort
scale. In fact, it intends to stand up its own enterprise to
replicate what is already being done.
My concern is, rather than follow SBIR law, which states
that an agency shall use a SBIR awardee to the greatest extent
practicable when pursuing their technology, all too often the
Navy brings the capability in-house and gives it to an
incumbent prime.
This is why we don't see rapid business growth or
innovation companies in defense markets. They just don't trust
you.
As you can imagine, the behavior has a depressing effect on
the number of entrepreneurs who want to do business with the
DOD, and it slows down our ability to maintain a competitive
edge against our near-peer adversaries.
I believe that the Department's resistance to permitting
SBIR awardees to scale their technologies neglects the vital
importance of entrepreneurial innovation and risks our national
security.
The only two people I can think of--the only two people--
that I can think of that have been able to disrupt the
Department and force change are two billionaires, Elon Musk and
Peter Thiel. It must not take a billion dollars and a team of
lawyers to bring viable disruption to the Department.
When a SBIR company develops something as innovative as
AEGIS Virtual Twin and then the Navy brings it in-house, we are
sending a signal to all entrepreneurs that their products and
technology will not be protected. I expect the Navy to assist
entrepreneurs in applying their technologies to Navy
challenges, not to take those opportunities away.
We are facing a race for digital superiority, and we are
not going to get there by discouraging entrepreneurs or
limiting their opportunities.
To say I am frustrated is an understatement. I believe the
Navy has conflicts of interest with its labs and the Warfare
Center. I don't see how they can oversee entrepreneurial
initiatives if they are allowed to then bring them in-house.
ATRT is just one example of how the Navy treats
revolutionary technology that would transform how the Navy
operates to make it more efficient, more capable, and more
deployable.
My question is to you. How are you going to ensure that the
Navy removes those conflicts of interest, creates a culture
that invites disruption and productivity, and engages and
advocates for the entrepreneurs? Sorry for such a long
question, but it is something that has been bothering me for
years.
Thank you, Admiral. Please.
Admiral Gilday. Certainly. The short answer is, we are
leveraging industry best standards now.
You mentioned Naval Forge and we have NavalX, which puts us
into touch primarily with small businesses across the country
so that we can leverage and put their technology to use to
scale it as quickly as possible. And there are a number of
success stories with respect to that.
I think, sir, some of the criticism from industry is
warranted. I think some of it is outdated. And I also think
that the direction that we are moving in to apply industry best
standards makes it more competitive and forces us, and forces
industry, forces the cream--forces us to take a closer look at
the cream that should rise to the top, instead of just anybody
that comes to the plate with a new technology.
There is plenty of different mouse traps up there. We are
trying to set the environment so that we can pick from among
the very best in a competitive environment and put it to use
and scale it.
With respect to where we are moving with software, right
now it takes us sometimes over a month to get a software update
completely out to the fleet, to test it against all of our
systems, make sure it is not going to break anything, and then
push it out to the fleet.
Right now, we are applying industry best standards to do
that in hours instead of days and weeks.
And so, sir, I am fully committed, I accept your criticism.
I think we are turning a corner on it. I have talked to members
of industry.
In fact, the past two months, most of the travel I have
done have been with industry folk, small business and large, to
get a better sense of their criticism, where the opportunities
lie for us, to really leverage the latest technology,
particularly from small companies.
I do think we are headed in the right direction. I am not
satisfied yet that we completely have it right, though. And I
would like to spend more time with you, sir, to lay out where
we are and where we are going to go.
Mr. Calvert. Well, I appreciate that.
In closing, Madam Chair, I just want to say, I hope the
Admiral and the Commandant--I am sure you both read the book
``The Kill Chain.'' And the problems that we are having and the
so-called Valley of Death on these entrepreneurs when they--you
know, and the problem is right now.
I talk to these guys all the time. They are all in
California, it seems, but a lot of them are around the country.
But they don't want to do business with you because they start
out, and they get promised certain things, and then the rug is
pulled out from underneath them.
Let's talk about that. We got to change that, or these
folks aren't going to do business with you. Simple as that.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Calvert, I thought that was a very
important question and something that you and I should figure
out how to follow up on after the budget is done and out. I
hear from Minnesota businesses about other branches of the
service and how it is not very transparent. Thank you for your
question.
We have been joined by the full committee Appropriations
chair, Ms. DeLauro.
Ms. DeLauro, I turn the floor over to you.
CH-53K PROGRAM
The Chair. Thank you so much, Madam Chair and the Ranking
Member. Appreciate the opportunity to be with you.
I am going to be very parochial in my question, which has
to do with the Third Congressional District of Connecticut.
And, General Berger, great to see you here today. I am so
sorry I missed you when you came to Sikorsky.
Let me ask a couple of questions as they have to do with
the CH-53K. It provides the Marine Corps with a 21st century
capability, increased lift, range, survivability,
maintainability. And my constituents build this aircraft and
proud to support the Marines.
And a question, really two questions. I know that on
programs like this, there are always unit cost concerns. This
one is no exception.
Please tell me and us, has the unit cost with the CH-53K
been coming down year over year? And do I understand correctly
that the two aircraft this committee added last year produced
an even greater unit cost reduction?
Please, General Berger.
General Berger. Okay. My trip up to Sikorsky, ma'am, was
timely. It was really informative for me. I had never been
there before to look at that production line. As you point out,
the workers there, the folks there are really dedicated to
giving us the capability that we need. And they are great
patriots.
Then I went down to North Carolina where they are actually
flying the aircraft, because it is really difficult to assess,
you know, a program, a capability, unless you get in the back
of it and see where it is at. Both of those two together were
very helpful for me.
There are two aspects which you highlight that I am focused
on, that I think we need to focus on. One is the procurement
cost, the unit cost, certainly, absolutely key. The second one
is the sustainment cost.
And both of which I spoke with the Sikorsky and Lockheed
Martin executives while we were in Connecticut. The cost,
ma'am, has gone down from the initial lots of procurement. It
is in a better spot now than it was a couple years ago.
But I emphasized to them that they have to do everything
possible to drive the cost out of the program as we go forward.
This second part is just as important, because this is an
aircraft that we are going to fly for 25, 30, 35 years. So that
the long-term costs, the cost per flight hour, the reliability
of the components, we talked through all of that when we were
in Connecticut.
I asked them to really focus on not just driving the
initial purchase price, but also the sustainment costs all the
way through the supply chain, to the vendors. Every component
has to last the number of hours that they advertise or else the
ratings goes down as you well know.
The Chair. Thank you very much. And it is also my
understanding that given the capabilities and how fly-by-wire
eases the actual burden of flying an aircraft, that really lets
the Marines focus on what the mission is.
I thank you. I thank you for the visit. And I understand
the need to bring the cost down, as I am sure that Sikorsky and
Lockheed Martin understand that as well.
HEAVY-LIFT CAPABILITY
To Admiral Gilday and to Secretary Harker, I will just want
to say, Secretary Harker, it was great to see you again. We had
the opportunity to meet in Connecticut and tour the plant.
And my question for the two of you is, your thoughts on the
heavy-lift capability needs of the Navy. Because I understand
that you are getting ready to retire your fleet of MH-53s,
which perform this airborne mine countermeasure mission.
Let me just get your sense of what your capability needs
are and--anyway, let me ask you to go forward with that first,
okay?
Secretary Harker. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the opportunity
to comment. It was great meeting up in Connecticut--it was
great meeting you up in Connecticut and going to the Sikorsky
plant and being able to take a tour of the plant, and listening
to all the things being done to pull the cost out of the 53K.
We definitely have need for heavy-lift capability. The
warfighter is probably the best suited to answer that question.
Admiral Gilday. Yes, ma'am. Thanks for the question.
A couple of points on the 53, which, as you know, is an old
platform. And we are moving the smaller ships, particularly as
we operate in high density areas like the Strait of Hormuz in
the Arabian Gulf or in the South China Sea.
And the systems that we are employing--actually, in a
recent visit to California I watched them being tested. They
are robotic, remotely operated vehicles that operate under the
sea.
And so instead of towing an immense contraption from a
helicopter, we are now controlling small robotic vehicles that
do a much better job at finding mines and neutralizing them
actually using AI.
And I would love to be able to share the demonstration
where we use artificial intelligence among robotic vehicles
under the water to basically search, find mines, and neutralize
them. It is very, very neat.
The second thing we are doing is we are putting a new mine
countermeasures capability on our littoral combat ships. And
what that allows us to do is deploy a system off the back of
that ship that is highly reliable, and at the same time deploy
a smaller robotic system from that, from a smaller helicopter,
that allows us, with longer range, to move out and to search
areas more effectively.
What we are doing, ma'am, is we are essentially divesting
of a legacy platform to a much more capable high-tech, reliable
platform.
The Chair. Thank you. And, you know, I know this is just a
very, very brief description, but it would be interesting to
me, I think, hopefully to the committee, if you could tell us,
you know, the Navy plans of how you plan to proceed once the
MH-53s are retired. You know, what happens there. And if you
could give us that information it would be helpful. And again,
wondering if the 53K is something that you all are thinking
about as well.
Admiral Gilday. Yes, ma'am. We will come back to you with
more detail. But the short answer is, there is a transition
point here. We are not going to have a gap in capability.
The new capabilities are really coming online within the
next 18 months. We will be fielding them on our ships. We are
still testing right now, but we will be fielding them later on
this year and into 2022. And until those systems are certified,
we don't bring the older systems--we don't retire the older
systems.
The Chair. I thank you. I thank you all. I thank you for
the work that you do.
And I want to just yield back and thank the chair and the
ranking member for the opportunity to participate this morning.
Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Great questions. I learned a lot.
To the full ranking member of the Appropriations Committee,
Ms. Granger.
SOUTHCOM
Ms. Granger. Thank you.
Two weeks ago, we heard from U.S. Southern Command about
the positive impact that increased Navy deployments are having
on the region. Recently, two littoral combat ships deployed to
SOUTHCOM to put significant pressure on transnational criminal
organizations and conduct exercises with regional partners. As
Admiral Faller put it, these deployments made a difference.
Many of us on this subcommittee continue to be concerned
about the challenges in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,
especially as we continue to watch the crisis on our southern
border unfold.
Do you share these concerns? And can the Navy better
resource SOUTHCOM by keeping the LCS ships in service?
And I would address that to whoever can answer that
question.
Secretary Harker. Thank you, ma'am. I think in my 20 years'
experience in the Coast Guard, I have spent a lot of time
operating in that SOUTHCOM AOR countering the transnational
drug threat. I have spent a lot of time interdicting drugs at
sea, made several drug seizures.
And so I definitely appreciate the importance of that
mission, and I believe that the LCS, as currently configured,
is a good asset to use for that mission CNO has more experience
in that Warfighting area.
Admiral Gilday. Ma'am, the littoral combat ships do an
excellent job down there in the SOUTHCOM AOR, as well as in the
Western Pacific.
There are two issues with that ship that we are trying to
get after. The first is reliability on the odd-numbered hulls.
And so as most of you probably know, there is a problem
inside a foreign-built combining gear that has been a big
problem with these type of--reliability of those. A few months
ago, we had to tow one back into Florida because it broke down
at sea.
And we have halted our acceptance of any of those ships
from the shipbuilder, number one.
Number two, we are forcing the vendor who designed and
delivered those combining gears to go back to the drawing board
to redesign, to do testing, which they are doing the testing
right now, and then come back with that fix to back fit our
ships.
We have got to get the reliability piece resolved,
particularly if we are going to put those ships in the
Caribbean for long, sustained times.
The other piece of it is lethality. And so we are putting
missile systems on 31 of our 35 littoral combat ships, as well
as both an anti-submarine warfare capability on about 15 of
them and a mine capability on about a similar of number of
ships. And those last two capabilities will come online in the
next 18, about 18 months.
So, ma'am, in a nutshell, we are very bullish on LCS and
where we are headed.
DECOMMISSION OF SHIPS
Ms. Granger. Good. I am glad to hear that. Let me just
follow up on that.
The Navy proposed many ships before the end of their
projected lives to be mothballed. This committee pushed back on
that proposal. We are now hearing that the Navy will propose
additional decommissions this year in spite of the concerns we
raised.
So why would we want to get rid of these ships well before
the end of their useful lives and jeopardize our ability to
counter China when it has so many more ships?
Secretary Harker. Thank you, ma'am. That is a good
question.
You know, we are still in the process of having those
discussions about the 2022 budget and what will be in it and
what won't be in it. I can't go into detail on that. But it is
definitely something that we are in the process of discussing
with [inaudible] And with OMB, and we hope to be able to give
you more information.
Ms. Granger. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Ms. Granger.
LATIN AND SOUTH AMERICA
Mr. Cuellar. Thank you so much.
I also want to follow up on what the ranking member, Ms.
Granger, mentioned a few minutes ago because I am also
concerned what is happening in our own backyard. I am talking
about not only Central America but South America.
And if you look at the presence of what especially the
Chinese have done in South America, it is a little concerning.
It is not only the international criminal organizations, but it
is also the presence of the Chinese, the Russians, and of
course the Iranians to an extent also in a couple of countries
down there.
I know that we are waiting--I think it is on July 31--we
are waiting for a report on an inventory of what the Department
of Defense, our Department of Defense, USAID, and the
Department of State should be doing down in those countries,
what I call our own backyard.
Could you give us what your vision is, or your thoughts are
as to what we can do to counter the Russian, but especially the
Chinese presence in our own backyard? Because I don't want to
see the 1980s again where the U.S. wakes up and says, ``Oh my
God, look what has happened in Nicaragua,'' and then we wake
up, but in the middle of the night. I would like to be
prepared.
Can you all give us your vision and your thoughts on our
own backyard, just to follow up on what Ms. Granger asked?
Secretary Harker. Thank you, sir. That is a good question.
I know that, as we discussed, the great power competition
with China and Russia. Admiral Faller down at SOUTHCOM has been
very focused on the impact of those nations in our backyard
down in Central America and South America. It is something that
we are definitely watching and paying attention to and that he
has focused a lot of his resources on.
As Ms. Granger mentioned, we do have several large ships
that are deploying down there, both for counternarcotic
missions, and we also do training and other missions with many
of the countries that are in that region. And we work closely
with their embassies and their Defense Attaches. The
warfighting aspects of that the CNO might have additional
comments.
Admiral Gilday. Sure. If I could give you a couple of
examples of where, sir, I think that we can make impact--or
have made impact.
Part of this working with Admiral Faller as an example is,
what is the right tool to bring to bear in that area of
responsibility that is going to make a difference in the
competitive space.
About a year and a half ago, he asked us to deploy a
hospital ship down there, and we did. And that hospital ship
saw almost 60,000 patients. More than 2,000 surgeries changed
the lives of people, children that never had eyeglasses before
as an example, dental work, and orthopedic work.
Across the board, our medical teams did phenomenal work
down there and, I would argue, made friends for life.
And at the same time, the Chinese hospital ship, the Peace
Ark, also deployed. But while the Peace Ark was providing
support to Venezuelan elites, the U.S. Navy and the Marine
Corps were providing help to Venezuelan refugees in countries
like Colombia.
So that is an area where we are not bringing a jet down
there with bombs, we are not shooting guns, but we are bringing
the right kinds of capabilities that we have to bear to really
make stronger partners and allies in the region.
Another good example would be deploying combat engineers,
setting up field hospitals, doing those types of things, which
might be more impactful in that region and gain us a better
long-term investment than, let's say, perhaps a carrier strike
group.
I hope I answered your question sufficiently, sir.
Mr. Cuellar. Yes. And I agree. I mean, it doesn't have to
be that type of hard power. I think what you are talking about
will develop a lot of good will among those countries. I mean,
just showing up to a place brings a lot of good will. I mean,
they want to associate with America.
I look forward to working with you all, and then hopefully
after this report that will come out July 31 we can follow up
on this. But I appreciate what you all do down there and across
the world.
And I know that you all are stretched out pretty thin. I
know what is happening in the Indo-Pacific. I understand all
that. But I am one of those believers that I just don't want to
wake up in the middle of the night and realize that we got
folks in the backyard.
But I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
I yield back the balance of my time, Chairwoman.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you very much, Mr. Cuellar.
Next up is Mr. Rogers, and then after that, Mr. Kilmer.
Mr. Rogers.
CYBERSECURITY
Mr. Rogers. Admiral Gilday, about our cybersecurity
capabilities. China, Russia, increasingly aggressive in the
cyber domain. And with so much of today's technology at risk to
cyber-attacks, I am concerned about the vulnerabilities we have
across the spectrum in defense.
Could you please tell us about your approach to cyber-
attacks?
Admiral Gilday. Yes, sir.
Firstly, in support of U.S. Cyber Command, the U.S. Navy
currently has 40 cyber teams. We are increasing that number; I
think by four or five. I would have to go back and check the
exact number. But we are providing additional cyber forces to
General Nakasone at USCYBERCOM.
In terms of the U.S. Navy approach, and as Secretary Harker
said in his opening remarks, in terms of his priorities for
investments, we are moving to the cloud off of legacy
infrastructure, which, as you know, is vulnerable.
And so we are trying to transfer our data and our
applications to an environment that is much more homogeneous,
better protected with the latest technology that industry can
bring to bear, and essentially using industry best practices,
instead of relying on a system of legacy networks that have
just been cobbled together over time.
The Navy and the Marine Corps had the largest single
transfer of an application to the cloud over the past year, and
that was a financial tool that we used with 70,000 users. And
so that is a big approach for us, including using integrated
cyber tools that allow us to defend our data better.
Mr. Rogers. As I am sure you are aware, one of the key
elements of advancing our cyber capabilities is through
partnership with the private sector.
How are you working with industry leaders to not only
ensure we have the best technology available but also have the
type of talent necessary to be dominant in the cyber domain?
Admiral Gilday. Sir, I would make two points with respect
to that.
As I mentioned earlier, when answering the question for
Ranking Member Calvert, we are applying industry best
standards. And so those tools and applications that are the
latest and greatest and most effective with respect to
defending our networks is what we are investing in.
But we are not just doing it alone. We are doing it in
conjunction with the other services because it makes sense. It
makes sense to go after those contracts as kind of an omnibus
instead of singularly a number of different contracts going
after different--going after a number of different
technologies.
I think the second thing I would offer you with respect to
talent is that we are casting a wider net, and I will give you
an example.
So typically, we would go after those with 4-year degrees
to fill specific jobs, cyber jobs that we have. Four-year
degrees are not really perhaps the number one requirement or
something that, let's say, coders, hackers, are typically
interested in acquiring.
And we spend a lot of time now engaging community colleges,
as an example, to tap into that talent, to attract them in a
very competitive space.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Sir, you have about a minute left, and I
think the Commandant might want to add something if you would
like to hear from him.
Mr. Rogers. Yes.
Commandant.
General Berger. If I could just pick up where the CNO left
off.
Mr. Rogers. Yes.
General Berger. We are looking also, to your point about
the people themselves, at more creative ways to keep the talent
within the Navy and Marine Corps that we have.
In other words, the old days of you grew up in uniform and
served for 20 years and retired, or whatever, are not going to
allow us to keep the people that are trained, that want to
serve.
So we have to find creative ways where Lieutenant Berger or
Staff Sergeant Harker can serve in uniform, then go serve in
industry, then come back into the service again, back and
forth, so that we can enable them to have a career on both
tracks.
But that is a creative approach to the way we manage the
program we haven't needed to take in the past, but we are
convinced we are going to need to be that sort of creative
going forward.
Mr. Rogers. Well, thank you very much, and thanks,
gentlemen, for all your service.
I yield.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. That was interesting to see how
they are trying to keep career paths going.
I have Mr. Kilmer and then Mr. Womack.
SHIPYARD MODERNIZATION
Mr. Kilmer. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And, Mr. Secretary, I want to just start by saying thank
you for coming out and visiting Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in
my neck of the woods earlier this week. It was a pleasure to
chat with you and show you around the shipyard that is such an
important part of ensuring our sailors are ready to protect our
country.
As you are likely aware, Admiral Lescher, the VCNO, and
Vice Admiral Galinis, the Commander of NAVSEA, also visited the
shipyard within the last week, and I very much appreciated the
opportunity to meet with all of you and talk about the role our
public shipyards, including Puget, play in our Nation's
security and our mission readiness. PSNS is our Nation's
largest public shipyard and repairs and retrofits our carriers
and our submarines and plays a critical role in our Nation's
defense posture in the Pacific.
I know you mentioned it in your opening remarks, but I
would like you just to expand on the role our four public
shipyards play and the importance of ensuring that they are
modernized and optimized in accordance with the Shipyard
Innovation and Optimization Plan that was laid out in 2018. And
if you can speak to what risks to fleet readiness and to force
posture do you foresee if we do not make these shipyard
investments now?
Secretary Harker. Thank you, sir.
Our Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan provides a
much-needed investment in our 100-plus year-old public
shipyards that will bring modern technology into the hands of
our 40,000-plus American shipyard workers. It will increase the
size and capability of our aging dry docks, enabling them to
serve the larger and more capable advanced weapon systems that
are created with our industry partner. This is a generational
investment that will increase the resiliency of our shipyards,
creating a more productive and environment-friendly footprint
that leads our national security for decades into the future.
It is vital for our success.
Mr. Kilmer. I found it very compelling as we looked at--you
know, obviously, the shipyard in our neck of the woods is a
130-year old shipyard, so there is a fair amount of
modernization that needs to happen, including, you know, things
like making sure that we have dry docks that can maintain the
new generation of carriers.
I just value any insights you have on how this committee
can help ensure that this vital work gets done.
Secretary Harker. Thank you, sir.
I believe that the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization
Plan right now is a 20-year plan that is upward of $20 billion
is something that we could look at accelerating if additional
funds were available.
So I know there has been talk by different folks on the
Hill about putting that into the infrastructure bill, and it is
something that we would appreciate the opportunity to
accelerate that program, because it is very critical for our
success going forward.
Admiral Gilday. Could I?
Secretary Harker. Yes.
Admiral Gilday. If I could for the committee, just broadly,
I know we have mentioned shipbuilding, but just through
strategic investment areas for the Navy right now that are
pressurizing our budget; one is the Columbia-class ballistic
missile submarine. So that will account for 25 to 33 percent of
our shipbuilding budget. That is a must-deliver-on-time
capability given now the 40-year-old Ohio-class submarines that
we currently have at sea performing that no-fail mission. So
that is one pressure.
The second pressure is strategic sealift, and so, Congress
has been gracious in allowing us to look at and do some market
analysis, instead of buying new seaman ships for $300 to $500
million, to buy new ships that have 20 years of life left on
them and to buy them at a tenth of the cost, say, $20 to $25
million, and, so, we are moving out purchasing vessels like
that could close the capability gap that is only widening with
China and Russia.
The last place is the shipyards. The four public shipyards,
21 dry docks, we have not, as the Secretary said, this is a
once-in-a-century opportunity to upgrade these facilities, and
we have to. We are putting new submarines in the water,
Virginia-class Block IIIs and Block IVs. They are larger
submarines. We need to be able to get them in dry docks to work
on.
And as you probably know, those four public shipyards are
the only ones that really do the lion's share of the work on
all of our nuclear-powered ships, our aircraft carriers, our
ballistic missile submarines, our data missile submarines, our
SSGNs, as well as our attack submarines.
And, so, our infrastructure on those four shipyards is over
60 years old. So, we are capitalizing those buildings as well
as the dry docks. Based on that support of Congress, we have
nine ongoing MILCON projects across those four shipyards right
now.
Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Kilmer. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Womack, and then Mr. Crist.
FORCE DESIGN 2030
Mr. Womack. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to the
gentlemen for your service.
Before I begin with my questions, Madam Chair, I just want
to note that this is our first service posture hearing since
the skinny budget was put out. And just for the record, I want
to note my strong opposition to the top line number for
defense. It doesn't even make up for inflation, which, to me,
means it is a cut, and isn't the increase we need to compete,
to deter, and to win against our pacing threats. So, I consider
it to be dangerous, and I hope we can come together and inject
some common sense into the situation and increase it more
appropriately, in the words of Ronald Reagan, so that we can
continue to have peace through strength.
So that said, General Berger, good to see you, albeit
virtually.
I want to focus on the Force Design 2030, specifically on
your belief that the Marine Corps needs to have advanced
capable ground-based anti-ship missiles. Now, I have had the
opportunity to speak with you and your staff about it, and I
understand why you feel so strongly that you need this
capability to compete with our pacing threat, China. You have
been adamant about getting this capability into the fleet by
2023.
Help me understand the capability and the need, why this
particular time frame is so important to you and the Corps.
General Berger. Sir, thanks.
I will start where the CNO left off a couple of questions
ago, about the needs, the essential role of the Naval force to
control the seas, to make sure commerce is open and flowing and
how critical that is to our economy. You need an able force to
do that. Our role in contributing to that, sir, is to make sure
that where denial, where control has to happen from a tactical
to operational perspective that we can contribute. We can do
that by moving the capability around that holds an adversary's
navy at risk, both, from ship and from shore.
Timely, the question, because this morning, I saw an
article, kind of surprised me, but an article this morning
about--this has a picture of it. I have blown up a picture of
it so you can see it. A picture of, looks like a vehicle with a
missile on the back of it, and it turns out absolutely that is
true. This is our joint light tactical vehicle with a missile
system on the back in a live fire shoot.
And the reason I mention that, sir, is this is the speed at
which we have to develop a capability like that. This joint
light tactical vehicle is our new vehicle. We are probably 20
percent into the fielding of it. The missile on the back is
already on Naval ships right now.
So, this is the brilliance of a couple of young officers
and Oshkosh and a few other people putting together
capabilities long before they are even thought all the way
through. This joint, light tactical vehicle is unmanned, but
the people in Oshkosh thought, and a couple of majors, we can
do this. So they took the cab off the back and they put a
missile in the back and a fire control system.
Now we can move this around on vessels, bring it ashore,
and hold an adversary's navy at risk in order to ensure that
the lines on the sea are kept open. This is the speed at which
we have to move.
Our job, I think, is to support the fleet commander. The
fleet's job is to support the joint force commander, and this
is one way.
Mr. Womack. Fascinating technology that exists, and the
ingenuity of the people that we have developing, so, I am with
you on it.
Madam Chair, with a half minute to go, I yield back my
time.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you very much.
Ms. Kirkpatrick and then Mr. Diaz-Balart.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES SPENDING
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman.
First, I want to associate myself with the statement on the
top line number that Mr. Womack made. I think we are, frankly,
not dealing with reality with that top line number. Number two
is, our honorable chairwoman has been, I think, a strong leader
on climate change issues, and she has recognized that. I want
to, if you could--I know you are not going to have the answer
now--if you could get me how much the military is currently
spending on climate change issues, on environmental issues,
because I know there is different silos of this, so kind of
like a total of how much we are spending in the military on
environmental climate change issues currently; and, also, what
is the forecast as to how much we may be spending for the
next--you are foreseeing to be spending, you are recommending
to be spent on those issues again in the next year.
AVIATION
Gentlemen, you have heard a lot about Southern Command. I
think there is a lot of concern about how we kind of sometimes
neglect what is going on in our own hemisphere, and as you all
know, every dollar spent there actually saves, directly saves
American lives. And so, I just hope you take to heart the
concern of this subcommittee on making sure that SOUTHCOM has
what it needs as far as assets, and that is really gray ships,
to do the job that they need to do. I am not going to get into
specifics and details, because I think a lot of that has
already been said.
Let me ask you a little bit about tactical aviation. What
is the Navy's tactical aviation shortfall this year, and what
effects could that have on the safety and the readiness of both
our aircraft and our pilots?
Secretary Harker. Sir, if we can start with the climate,
one thing we are doing is we are mapping the resources that
were in the fiscal year 2021 budget that weren't specifically
tied towards climate to figure out how that would translate
into the 2022 budget. So we are going into the financial system
and looking at all of our different investments and identifying
which ones would be, you know, in 2022 that we have spent how
they would be tagged similar to what you will see in the fiscal
year 2022 request, so we would be able to compare apples to
apples.
The second thing, SOUTHCOM forces, it is something we
believe in. I personally lived in south Florida for 9 years. I
spent a lot of time working in that area during my Active Duty
Coast Guard time, interdicting drugs, working to stem all of
the challenges that come in that SOUTHCOM air war, and we
believe it reinforces a requirement that we support.
On the tac-care side, I will defer to the work warfighting
expert, Admiral Gilday.
Admiral Gilday. Sir, just real little quick on climate
change. I just took a look at the projects related to climate
change. Particularly, this should come as no surprise from the
Navy, with our bases along the coast and the problem with sea
level rise, 49 projects over the past 3 years since 2018, and
that includes projects that are ongoing right now. I think
everything from pier work and installations along the
waterfront to investments in solar energy and green energy
capabilities. And, of course, we are working the 2022 budget
proposal right now.
With respect to tactical aviation, so the Navy right now,
along with the Marine Corps, is making a transition to a
mixture of fourth and fifth generation aircraft. So, in other
words, for the Navy, we will have a mix of about 50 percent F-
18 Super Hornets, and then 50 percent F-35 joint strike
sliders. We are deploying our first F-35 squadron oversea right
now. By 2025, I don't see a--based on the current budget line,
and we are still working our way through it, but our goal is to
have six aviation wings out of 10 that have the F-35 capability
by 2025.
And so, that is--right now that is our plan. We hope to
remain on glide slope. We will see what happens as we work
through the budget numbers here in a couple of weeks.
Mr. Diaz-Balart. I appreciate that, gentlemen. Yes, on the
climate change, again, because it is hard to kind of track it
down, so exactly what you just said is what--if you could get
us those numbers once you have them, it would be helpful.
My time is up. Madam Chairwoman, thank you very much, and I
yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. I couldn't agree more to see how
the climate change is going to affect this budget.
Ms. Kirkpatrick, then Mr. Cole, and then Ms. Kaptur, and
that will end this first round.
Ms. Kirkpatrick.
HYPERSONICS
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very
much.
Admiral, you discussed in your testimony the Navy's need
for long-range, high-speed weapons that can survive an
adversary's defense system. The district I represent is home to
cutting-edge research and development in the area of
hypersonics and optics, and these capabilities are of
particular interest to me. I have two questions regarding that.
How is the United States Navy prioritizing investment in
hypersonic research to include the manufacturing of high-
temperature materials and optical components? And what efforts
is the Navy taking to secure the supply chain associated with
this research and development?
Admiral Gilday. Ma'am, so with respect to our research and
development budget, hypersonics is our top priority, and so, we
are working very closely with the Marine Corps, with the Army,
and with the Air Force to reach a capability that we can
deliver to the fleet in 2025. And we intend to do that on the
latest and greatest destroyers that we have to zoom all class
destroyers, so those are our Stealth destroyers. Our intentions
are to first put the weapon on those destroyers, and then on
our Virginia-class Block V submarines. And right now, our
projection is that capability would be on our submarines by
2028.
As you are probably aware, we had successful fielding of a
weapon or testing of a weapon this past year with the Army, and
this was a weapon that was fired thousands of miles with very,
very, obviously, very large beam, but also very high precision.
We are very excited about the path that we are on right now
with hypersonics. We are confident in the delivery timeline
that I just outlined with respect to that being reliable.
I am not sure, ma'am, if our vendor base includes companies
in your specific district. I wouldn't be surprised if it
doesn't. That work is ongoing services across a wide swath of
small businesses and large prime vendors across the country.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you.
General Berger, in your testimony, you addressed your
vision of the future of the Marine Corps, and identified the
ground-based anti-ship missile as one of the highest ground
modernization priorities for the coming year. I understand you
can't comment specifically on the fiscal year 2022 request, but
could you give us some insight into how procurement funding in
fiscal year 2022 would support initial deliveries for this
system and help build inventory?
General Berger. Last year, we learned a lot with the
coordination and coaching of folks on this committee and their
staff about how to explain, when we are doing the research and
development and fielding in a more rapid manner, using other
transaction authorities and acquisition authorities, how do we
make sure that we communicate clearly, what path we are on, and
that the civilian oversight within the Department of the Navy
is on top overlooking what we are doing?
Fiscal year 2022 is critical. We need this capability in
the field. The Fleet Commanders need this capability forward,
so that they can control, deny the regions that they need to.
But we learned a lot last year in the process of building the
budget and explaining it. This year is critical. We need the
funding in order to get this capability in the field in 2023.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you.
I have one more question. How is the Marine Corps
leveraging current acquisition programs, like the Naval strike
missile, to maximize limited dollars?
General Berger. Two things, ma'am. First is the benefit of
having a Naval strike missile is that it is a common munition
so that we can move coordinates between the missile itself, the
contender between the ship and its coordinates, it is the same
missile. So as needed, the commander can move the ordnance
where it is needed most.
The second one is it speeds up our ability to field it. It
is a proven missile. Like the picture that I held up, this is
not a new missile system. We know how it performs. So we are
riding on the backs of something that is already developed,
putting it on a platform that we are very confident in, giving
the commander the capability.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Cole and then Ms. Kaptur.
ADDITIONAL FUNDS
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and,
gentlemen thank you for being here with us today.
You know, my district has Fort Sill Army Post and Tinker
Air Force Base, so people think I really care about the Navy
and Air Force, and I do. But we have 1,800 sailors at Tinker
that fly the Navy E-6 wing and, of course, we are privileged to
host marine artillery at Fort Sill where they train. What you
gentlemen do is extraordinarily important to people in my
district.
I want to begin by associating myself with the remarks of
Mr. Womack and Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart, two good friends of mine,
on the overall top line budget, and I say this with no
criticism of anybody involved. I think in the end, though, if
we are going to get to a deal--and I know everybody in this
committee wants to avoid a CR--we will end up bringing up the
defense number, probably bringing down the domestic number a
little bit. That is just the nature of a deal.
I think what you--I mean, and I respect the Secretary and
the CNO and the Commandant certainly need to support the
administration budget. That is your obligation. On the other
hand, I think what you put in your unmet needs request is going
to be extraordinarily important to what this committee looks
at, if it does arrive at a deal and does get more money.
So I am curious--and I have asked this same question in
private discussions with the other service chiefs--if you got
more money than you asked for, what would you spend it on?
Secretary Harker. This is one where the law requires the
service chiefs provide that to Congress so I will let them
answer that.
Mr. Cole. I am sorry, Mr. Harker, I had a hard time hearing
you. Could you repeat that?
Secretary Harker. I am sorry, sir. I believe the law for
the unfunded priority list (UPL) is that if you fund the
service chiefs direct to the Congress. I will allow the CNO to
answer that.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much.
General Berger. Okay. I will start, and then the CNO can
pick up for the meeting.
For us, it is the parts of Force Design 2030, sir, which we
need to move faster on or move at speed, driven by our pacing
threat. So, it is things like ground-based anti-ship missile,
the ISR platforms that will give the Naval force a picture
forward. It is the elements of Force Design 2030 that we need
to move quickly on in order to give our capability to the force
forward.
But it is also more than hardware, of course. It is beyond
equipment. It is the people part, and it is the training part,
both of which are largely, you know, 30, 40 years old, sort of
industrial models for how we recruit, train, and keep our
people. All of which has to be modernized, because it doesn't
do any good to have an idea of where you want the force 10
years from now if you can't man it and you can't train it. So,
we have to bring those into the current day and the future as
well.
Admiral Gilday. The last time we were in a situation like
this, we were trying to recapitalize the strategic deterrent
and grow the conventional force, was 1981 and 1985. During that
time, DOD budget rose at an annual rate of about 7.5 percent.
Right now, our buying power has been flat since 2010. We know
that based on our current--based on our 2021 top line, that we
can afford a Navy of about 300 to 305 ships. That is not just
the hulls. It is the people. It is to fill the magazines with
munitions. Right? It is to train the people. It is all of those
things that give you a whole fleet that can fight.
So if we go back, as I said in my opening statement, sir,
if we go back to 2015, the cascading assessments have been
done, whether inside the Pentagon, by industry, by think tanks,
have called for a larger, more capable Navy north of 355.
Right? 355 is the law.
So, the short answer from me is more ships, but they have
got to be manned, they have got to be filled with weapons, so
it is a wholeness piece that goes along with it.
Mr. Cole. Thank you. That is very helpful.
ANTI-SHIP CAPABILITIES
One quick question--I don't have a lot of time--Admiral, to
you. In my discussions with the Army, they talked about their
discussions with the Navy, and one of the things that the Navy
wanted was the development of capability to take out ships.
Probably haven't done much like that from the Army since the
old coastal defense days, so a big new mission, very important
mission. I am curious if you could give some insight as to what
you are looking for in terms of that additional capability to
work with you.
Admiral Gilday. Yes, sir. So General Berger's Force Design
speaks directly to that. Right? It is an expeditionary basis,
and you can move around very quickly with the capability that
he showed you on the screen. This is from the land the ability
to not only control the seas but to deny it to an adversary,
right, in a way that you could move around. Marines are used to
moving fast anyway, and so--the Army not so, but if they are
interested, they could shoulder in. But it is really the Marine
Corps concept that I would point to that has such value in the
way that we have been practicing, to not only operate, but
fight potential adversaries, that, I think, has tremendous
value.
Mr. Cole. Terrific. Very helpful. Thank you, gentlemen.
Yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Cole.
Ms. Kaptur.
FOREIGN INFLUENCE ON ENERGY
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Secretary, Admiral,
and General, thank you for your patriotic service to our
country.
I come from Ohio. I am up on the fourth seacoast, and I
have no major production companies related to the Navy across
our coast, from Cleveland to Toledo. However, we have a very
high recruitment in our region, certainly for the Marine Corps.
And I do represent the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines that lost,
about a decade-and-a-half years ago, 14 of their members. I
just point that out as you begin to shift units, and so forth,
please don't forget the fourth seacoast and please don't forget
this region that is very patriotic. And many, hundreds and
hundreds of individuals are under your command from our region.
The Kaptur name is in the Marine Corps annals, going all
the way back to World War I, so you have a friend here.
I want to ask a couple of questions. Number one, we were
shown a map the other day of the Americas and the Chinese and
Russian nuclear installations. You are experts in that. I would
be interested in your view of the expanding presence of
installed equipment in several countries that come from Russia
and China, and also servicing contracts that go along with
that. It is a concern of mine, and I just want to hear what you
think about it.
ENERGY INNOVATION
Number two, the Marine Corps has led in terms of energy
innovation within the entire Department of Defense, and it is
my understanding that right now, DOD currently segregates
energy into two categories. One is installation energy, which
accounts for about 30 percent of the total, and operational
energy, which accounts for about 70 percent.
I am very interested in what more the Marine Corps is doing
to lead the Department of Defense to help America advance in
the energy sector more quickly, and I am particularly
interested in hydrogen systems and any research that you might
have going on there. I am interested in them all. I am
interested in base energy, dependent, solar, geothermal,
thermal heat exchange, all of it.
But I am interested in hydrogen and what you might be able
to bring to the table to propel us to use that technology more
quickly. If we were to have all electric vehicles in our
country right now, the grid cannot take it. The grid is about
50 percent under capacity for what we have to do. We have to
have a variety of vehicles, and I am interested in your
research on hydrogen. If you cannot answer me today, a letter
would suffice. And, again, I just thank you for your service
and would welcome any comments.
RUSSIA AND CHINA NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY
Admiral Gilday. Ma'am, on your first comment about Russia
and China kind of invading the market with respect to the
Americas and their nuclear technology, I will tell you that
more broadly one area of competition for the United States
where we really have to focus on is foreign military sales--and
other areas, high technology areas.
But I will give you an example. The S-400 Russian missile
system that was purchased by a NATO ally, Turkey. We should
never be in a position where we lose a sale like that, let's
say, of a Patriot missile system, to a NATO ally against a
competitor like the Russians. The same thing with India that is
also looking at missile systems from China.
And so that is competitive space that we ought to be after
in a big kind of way with respect to industry, not just foreign
military sales but, obviously, other high technology areas,
ma'am. Just my opinion.
Ms. Kaptur. Well, Admiral and Mr. Secretary, I would very
much appreciate your looking around the Department and seeing
what they can provide us, with a more refined set of materials,
on what the Russians and Chinese are investing in, in the
Americas, including servicing contracts, and what that means
for us long term.
They are also investing, obviously, all over the world with
the Belt and Road Initiative. But I am interested on the energy
front. How much is that? It was actually astounding to me to
see the maps. I am just interested in further clarification
there.
What about hydrogen systems? What about research? What
about DARPA? How do we help our country advance more quickly in
the energy sector?
Ms. McCollum. Excellent questions, and you have got 8
seconds left. But I think, Ms. Kaptur, your suggestion of
putting it in writing and getting it back to the committee is a
wise one because I think those are things we would all be very
interested in. I thank you for your questions.
We are going to go to another round of questions, but we
are going to keep it to 3 minutes because we have several
people still on, and I will go at the end. So we are going to
do Mr. Cuellar, then Mr. Calvert.
MILITARY EQUIPMENT STREAMLINING
Mr. Cuellar. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Real quickly, talking about the military equipment that we
sell, I think we all know that the situation with the Russians
and the Chinese, they have a very streamlined process. I know
the equipment is not as good as ours. I understand all of that.
But can you all submit to the committee a way that we can
streamline our process so we can sell equipment faster to our
partners that want to buy our equipment, but if it is going to
take too long, they are going to go somewhere else even if it
might be cheaper or not as good equipment?
Just your quick thoughts, but I would rather have it in
writing and submit it to the committee.
And thank you.
Secretary Harker. Thank you, sir.
I know we have been working to try to increase our speed of
relevance with regards to foreign military sales. When I was
down at OSD before coming back as the Navy Secretary there was
a lot of efforts taken last fall to increase the sale of some
MQ-9s to India, working with some of the weapon systems there,
and it was a whole of government effort to try to get that
through, and it is something we are definitely focused on.
Gentlemen, do you have any additional thoughts?
General Berger. I think--I don't want to speak for the CNO,
but you are absolutely--there is a competition right now on the
market. We have to move faster. We know what they need because
we work with those partners all the time, and they are
frustrated if they can't get it fast enough or we hold the
intellectual rights. They want the intellectual property to
build their own parts, et cetera.
We are going to have to relook how we market the systems
that are very interoperable with ours in a different way
because there is definitely competition for the market right
now.
And I pass to you.
Admiral Gilday. The only--I couldn't agree more with both
the Secretary and the Commandant's remarks.
The last thing I would add is one of the things that the
U.S. brings to the market that I think is very attractive is
kind of a holistic approach with respect to support.
It is not just providing the hardware. It is providing the
training. It is providing the parts support from the time that
you actually purchase all through the life cycle in the system.
And the Russians and the Chinese don't do that. If they do it,
they don't do it as effectively as we do.
Mr. Cuellar. Yes. And, again, less than 30 seconds. I
understand all of that. I agree with you. But can you put
something in writing and give us some ideas how we can
streamline the process to all of you?
But with that, thank you so much for your service. God
bless.
And I yield back. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Cuellar.
Mr. Calvert, and then Mr. Kilmer.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I just want to carry on with what Mr. Womack, Mr. Cole, and
I think everyone on our side, is that the allocation that the
administration has come up with for our defense budget is not
adequate. And I know our Senate colleagues on my side feel
exactly the same.
I believe that the number that General Mattis came up with
in order to meet the National Defense Strategy of this country
should be at least a 3 percent-plus number net of inflation or
other initiatives that may be put into the budget. At that,
that would be about a $739 billion number in order for us to
meet that requirement.
And I bring that up because, as we listen to this
testimony, and we want to stay on track with the Columbia-based
submarine and the hypersonics, the number of ships we have, as
we know, the Chinese already have 60 more ships than the United
States, and they are very capable ships. As we looked at that
chart the other day of our assets within the South China Sea,
we are significantly behind.
And that is not to mention the other requirements that we
have outside of the Navy and the Marine Corps, the B-21 bomber
and the KC-46, the nuclear triad which has to be rebuilt, not
to mention our nuclear weapon system which needs to be redone.
I bring that up as a statement because I don't know if I
will be able to have time in the next round. But I do want to
ask the Secretary, how are you going to meet the National
Defense Strategy with the budget allocation that you have been
given?
Secretary Harker. Sir, we are going to build the most
capable and most ready Navy, Marine Corps that we can within
the top line that we have been given. Right now, that top line
is us being able to provide around 300 ships and the
Commandant's Force Design 2030. We are able to execute that at
the pace----
Mr. Calvert. You are making a statement here today that we
are not going to be able to get to the 355 ships based upon
this number?
Secretary Harker. We have not been able to get to 355 ships
over the last several years, and the trajectgory to get there
would require additional topline.
Mr. Calvert. Admiral, would you agree that you are not
going to be able to get to the--which the Navy, as I understand
it, thought that was the minimum number necessary, 355 ships,
based on the budget allocation we presently have?
Admiral Gilday. Yes, sir. I go back to the shipbuilding
plan that the Department of Defense submitted under the
Secretary in January of this year. And so that plan put us on a
path to 355 ships by 2031 to 2033, but it was predicated on the
assumption that we would have 4.1 percent growth. So at least
2.1 percent for inflation and another 2 percent for real
growth.
If you don't have that growth above the 2021 top line that
we had, then you can't responsibly grow the fleet in a way
that, as I spoke to earlier, making sure you are taking care of
people, making sure you are taking care of all of the other
things that give you a fleet that is whole.
Mr. Calvert. Right.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
I would like to go to Mr. Rogers.
STRIKE FIGHTER INVENTORY
Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Gentlemen, when I chaired the full committee, I remember
the Navy staring down the barrel of a perilous shortfall in its
Strike Fighter inventory. Luckily, the Congress intervened to
protect the F/A-18 line and continued support for the service
life program, both of which were necessary to support the
tactical aviation needs.
But I have got to tell you, it feels a little bit like dj
vu all over again. Despite a known of shortfalls in its
inventory and carriers embarking on double pump deployments to
combat a magnitude of threats from Iran, China, Russia, the
Navy has, once again, signaled its intent to stop buying new F/
A-18s, scrapping previous plans to buy three squadrons' worth
of new aircraft.
Admiral Gilday, can you tell us about the Navy's Strike
Fighter inventory? Is there a risk associated with the decision
to stop buying new Super Hornets?
Admiral Gilday. Sir, based on the top line that we have
right now, as the Secretary just mentioned a moment ago, what
we are trying to do is we are trying to balance modernization
with current readiness.
And so we are trying to upgrade our capabilities with the
Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35, at the same time we are
taking--and I was just out at the production line last week out
in St. Louis on the F/A-18s looking at the upgrades that we are
giving our existing fighters to give them another 4,000 to
5,000 hours of service life.
So they are coming in right now at the very end of their
service life at 6,000 hours, and we are taking that aircraft
and we are breathing new life into it, making that investment
to maintain a whole fleet with respect to our air wings.
And, again, that fourth, fifth gen mix, along with longer
range weapons that we are buying as well, are making it a much
more effective--making those much more effective air wings than
our carriers.
I think we are on the right path, sir. I think the real
issue is maintaining the proper funding in order to keep that
aircraft mix healthy.
Mr. Rogers. Given that we don't know what the White House
budget in detail is yet, would taking the F/A-18 back into
play, would that be possible under the current budget that you
are going to get?
Admiral Gilday. Sir, I can't answer that until we see what
that real top line is and those tough trades that we are likely
going to have to make not only within the Navy, I think, but
across the Department of Defense and then when our proposal
finally comes up to the Hill.
I don't mean to be evasive, sir. I just think those are
tough decisions to make here in the next few weeks.
Mr. Rogers. I understand.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. We are waiting for that budget,
aren't we, Mr. Rogers?
Mr. Kilmer.
MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM REFORM
Mr. Kilmer. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And I am not sure if I should address this to Secretary
Harker or Admiral Gilday. I would like to ask you briefly about
the Military Health System reform. As you know, the DOD has
been [inaudible] Working to realign medical treatment
facilities.
In my district, the realignment has affected Naval Hospital
Bremerton by reducing about 100 billets from their manning
document over the past year. So, when hospital personnel retire
or separate or move to another location, the billets aren't
being backfilled.
And I have heard concerns from the folks that I represent,
including Active Duty service members and veterans and their
families, that the realignment has impacted their access to
quality care. And I am concerned about that. I am concerned
about the availability and quality of civilian providers to
compensate for the drawdown at the Navy hospital.
So, what is the status of the MHS reform? And what steps do
you recommend are taken before realignment is fully implemented
to ensure that service members and their families have access
to quality providers?
Secretary Harker. Thank you, sir.
That is a very important question for all of us here.
Taking care of our service members is one of the most important
things that we are entrusted to do as a Service Secretary.
People are our greatest assets, and I am very familiar with
the challenges that come with personnel reductions of medical
servicemembers. It is a very tough balancing act for us.
The overall force structure and the composition of our
military is one of the areas which are increased by our top
line. As we look at how can we increase the investment in
shipbuilding and readiness, this is one of the things that,
from our perceived feedback from folks that are traveling down,
like I was last week, that this is a challenge here,
[inaudible] Taking care of their residents, so it something
that we are looking at.
Admiral Gilday may want to comment on that as well.
Admiral Gilday. I think we learned a lot during COVID. It
gave us a lot of insights into where are likely friction points
with respect to military healthcare reform. I think it probably
deserves a deeper look, sir, to be honest with you.
As an example, the Navy and Marine Corps deployed a number
of our personnel forward at COVID hotspots, and also, we are
doing still vaccinations, and so that has put a strain on our
military hospitals, as you would expect.
What we did to balance that deployment of personnel is we
actually reduced the services that those military healthcare
facilities, not emergency care, but elective processes during
the height of the pandemic over the past year.
That is probably not satisfactory over the long run in
terms of how we manage it. And I think that any transition is
going to have--it is going to be brittle in some areas.
I just don't think that we have full insights yet on how to
resolve all of those issues. We can see the leading edge of it,
though, on some problems that presented during the pandemic.
I know that my answer is not completely satisfactory, but
just be honest, it is something we do owe ourselves and our
families to take a closer look at.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Kilmer.
Mr. Kilmer. Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. We are going to have a hearing just focused
on healthcare, and so we need you to be making sure that you
work with the staff so we have the right people after we have
the President's budget to address that.
Thank you so much.
Mr. Womack, you are next. Thank you.
TOMAHAWK MISSILE
Mr. Womack. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Admiral Gilday, as I promised, I am going to come back to
long-range precision munitions, and it is strictly a Tomahawk
question.
I know you can't discuss fiscal year 2022 budget request
quantities, but could you discuss the Navy's plans for Block V
Tomahawk and the Maritime Strike Tomahawk as we head into the
future? And then I have got a follow-up question.
Admiral Gilday. Yes, sir. I will just say that we are very
fortunate [inaudible].
So, as you are well aware, in the 1990s the Navy backed off
offensive capabilities in a big kind of way. The Chinese now
breathing down our neck, we have put a lot of money into that
program. Depending upon what the top line looks like, it is
still a priority for us in terms of making investments in
offensive weapons with range and speed.
The Maritime Strike Tomahawk fills a critical gap for us, I
will just say that, sir, and it remains a priority for us for
all of the reasons that I think----
Mr. Womack. I am glad to hear that.
Can you just briefly articulate the need for us to have a
stockpile of these expected use weapons, like the Tomahawk, in
the event of a conflict? I mean, you have got to have them when
you need them.
Admiral Gilday. I think--using what is going on with Iran
in the past year-and-a-half is a really good example.
So we need to be able to provide national command
authorities with the flexibility to flex our muscles or perhaps
even the next strikes if required in every AOR, and so you have
got to have those weapons stockpiled all over the globe in
order to give you flexibility.
Particularly, as outlined in the National Defense Strategy,
these threats are not just located in the Pacific or in the
Central Command in the Middle East. They cross, they are trans-
regional, and they are multi-domain. You have got to treat them
like that, and you can't just seduce yourself into thinking
that if you put all your eggs into one basket you are going to
be okay.
Because, as I think Ranking Member Calvert talked about
earlier, the Chinese are moving all over the place, and we have
got to keep up with them and the Russians.
FUNDING AND MESSAGING
Mr. Womack. Yes. And my last question is just a general
one, maybe more of a statement. As we talk about this budget
top line number, one of my concerns is that the message that we
may be sending--we have got an all-volunteer force. It is part
of our genius as a country. It doesn't have a peer in terms of
the talent pool that we pick from.
The message we send when we start cutting budgets like
this, hollowing out our military, our ability to execute our
National Defense Strategy, what message does that send to the
pipeline of people that we are going to need in the future,
real quickly?
General Berger. I am happy to start.
First of all, sir, we are not going to have a hollow force.
We will have the size force that is well trained and well
equipped. And if the top line doesn't support it, we will have
a smaller force, but we will not have a hollow force.
So, to your point, we have obligations around the globe. A
smaller top line or a flat top line equals increased risk for
the Nation. But we are not going to have a hollow force that
has equipment without people or people that are not trained. We
are committed not to have that.
Mr. Womack. I know my time has expired. And, Admiral
Gilday, I would love to hear your response.
But, Madam Chair, this is just one of those really
intangible areas that I think are in the crosshairs if we can't
adequately fund National Defense Strategy in our budget
process. And I sure hope, as Mr. Cole said, that domestic
number can come down and that defense number can come higher.
And I appreciate the time I have gone over, but remember I
gave you 30 seconds back a few minutes ago. So, thank you so
much for the time.
Ms. McCollum. Yes, you did. And I am going to save my
remark on the President's budget for when I do my question.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to pick up where my friend from Arkansas left off,
and I am going to give you the time to respond, Admiral, to the
question that he put to you in terms of hollowing out the force
with the current budget.
Admiral Gilday. So, the priority is going to be people,
ideas, and technology, and things in that order.
So, our advantage over the Chinese and the Russians are our
people. The investments that we are making in things like the
Naval Community College that develops critical thinkers among
our enlisted force you can't match in any military in the world
in terms of the talent that we bring in, the leaders that we
are trying to develop that can outthink and outfight any
adversary.
I will just tell you, sir, I am just doubling down what the
Commandant said. It has to be, it has to be our top priority.
We can buy the best stuff out there, but we need to man it.
We need to man it with the best force that we have, including
in areas like cyber and space. And that is what we are trying
to do.
Mr. Cole. Well, I agree 100 percent with what you are
saying, but in another life, I used to be a British historian.
I can tell you, the British in 1940, thinking about the
Japanese, said the superiority would be British seamanship.
They were outnumbered and outgunned and they paid the price for
it.
So mass ships numbers matter. I do believe our people are
the best in the world. I don't have any doubt about it. But I
don't want to put you in a fight where that is what we are
counting on and you are outnumbered and outgunned. That is just
not fair to the men and women we ask to do the job. I really
think that is what this debate on this budget is going to be
about.
SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY
I have some specific questions I am going to submit for the
record, if I may, on Marine base protection and on the E-2D
Advanced Hawkeye. But I have one last question, with the time I
have, Mr. Secretary, for you.
You have got an extraordinary difficult job in managing
really complex supply chains for multiple weapon systems. And
we have really seen this last year, everything from COVID-19,
to ships getting caught in the Suez Canal, you name it, we have
seen how supply chains can be disrupted.
I am curious what you are doing in terms of managing that
risk. Do you need additional capabilities and platforms to do
that? Because I worry about we have a lot of just-in-time stuff
that needs to come on line as quickly as they can bring it, and
I know we are asking you to do a very tough job. I want to make
sure you have got the tools that you need.
Secretary Harker. Yes, sir. That is a great question.
We have a lot of effort going into improving our supply
chain. Our financial statement audit has identified some
challenging areas, as well as other things that we have looked
at where we have to increase our investment. Some of the
business systems to track our supplies; also, some of the
various support trips to carry supplies for the [inaudible]. We
run exercises as a common challenge. I definitely view that as
an area where we can [inaudible].
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yield back.
SUBMARINE MAINTENANCE
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
I have a couple of questions here, and then I will close
her up.
I want to talk about submarine maintenance for a few
minutes here. So, Secretary Harker, Admiral Gilday, I
understand recommendations are being provided to you from the
CBO to address the significant delays in submarine maintenance
activities. Could you show the committee what you feel might be
best to get underway to get these repairs done?
And I am going to talk about one repair in particular. The
committee has been closely monitoring the repair of the USS
Boise, which was originally scheduled to enter shipyard in
2013, but still, 8 years later, is waiting.
So just on that ship alone, could you tell us what the
estimated cost to repair the submarine and when you think those
maintenance efforts will be underway, or are we going to wait
another 8 years?
Secretary Harker. We are definitely not going to wait
another 8 years.
I will turn it over to Admiral Gilday.
Admiral Gilday. Boise right now, we are doing what we call
a fast start on her maintenance before she goes into the
shipyard. We are waiting to get a ship out of maintenance so we
can get Boise in. Her maintenance is fully funded, ma'am, and
that maintenance will begin in 2021 once we get that second
ship out.
With respect to more broadly, as you mentioned, delays with
respect to the submarine maintenance, that is primarily done in
our four public shipyards, although we are doing some
maintenance availabilities with supplier vendors.
With respect to the public yards, the key thing we are
trying to get after is we are trying to eliminate delay days.
We are trying to ensure that we can perform all the maintenance
in accordance with specifications in the timeframe allotted.
So, in the past 18 months, we have gone from 7,000 delay
days down to 1,200. So, we have knocked it down about 80
percent. We are not satisfied yet in terms of where we are, but
we think we are headed in the right direction. That is inside
the lifelines of the Navy to fix most of that.
With respect to private vendors, I will tell you that they
are not delivering on time. And it has been disappointing for
us. I have been down to Hampton Roads to meet with the vendor
down there that does the work for us, the same thing up in
Groton, Connecticut.
It is an area that industry just has to step up, as well as
the Navy stepping up, to deliver these ships on time.
And so with Boise, Boise is an example of a ship that fell
behind because we just didn't have--we just fell behind in
terms of moving ships through the maintenance phase at the
right cadence that they are supposed to.
Secretary Harker. And I will add to that, one comment to
that.
One of the things that I mentioned in my opening comments
was our business systems. Some of the business systems we rely
on at our shipyards are antiquated. We use COBOL, which is a
programming language that was antiquated back when I was in
college 30-plus years ago.
We have got to invest in updating those systems. We don't
have an electronic time and attendance system at our public
shipyards. We have got a lot of problems that need to be fixed.
Ms. McCollum. Well, we will be looking at the CBO report,
looking at the budget, talking to you more about implementation
to get that back on track. And climate change also plays a
little bit of a factor in that with you being able to move
ships and shut down some of the shipyards when we have some of
these super storms going through.
I am going to ask you to--you know, once again, we are
looking forward to the information on the Marine Corps Force
Design 2030, rollout on that. And also, in the President's
speech last night, he talked about buy American. So we would be
looking to see in your budget how the Navy begins to invest in
development for the next generation, whether it is submarines
or other large combat ships and amphibious ships, what we do to
make sure that we keep our industrial base and our domestic
supply base healthy as we move forward.
The last comment I would make before I adjourn. And I
didn't interrupt; I let things keep going as my colleagues on
the other side of the aisle were talking about the budget.
I want to be clear, though, President Biden's proposed
budget is an increase for DOD of $11 billion. And that is
substantially more than the $2.5 billion proposed increase in
the defense spending from fiscal year 2020 to 2021 that was
what President Trump had in his last appropriation cycle.
Gentleman, I want to thank you so much for your testimony,
for your courtesy of reaching out to the offices ahead of time.
We look forward to seeing the budget. You already have some
homework assignments to get back to the committee and to
members on some of the questions that you were not able to
answer, through no fault of your own, because the budget was
not in front of us.
So, thank you for your service. I hope you and your
families and all those who serve alongside of you and under you
stay healthy during this time of COVID and all of your missions
are completed safely.
With that, I will conclude today's hearing, and this
subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Clerk's note.--Questions submitted by Mr. Ryan and the
answers thereto follow:]
Air Combat Training Capability
Background. From recent INDOPACOM briefings to the Committee and
public statements from Navy Flag officers, we understand the
requirement for a realistic training environment to properly prepare
our warfighters to win decisively on night one of a peer/near-peer
fight. Fielding a Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) training solution
that enables our aviation, surface, and sub-surface teams to conduct
Fleet Training that is secure and interoperable with DoD and Coalition
partners seems to be a priority. I am very encouraged to see the
significant strides the Navy is making at Pax River through the
continued technology maturation of SLATE--the Secure LVC Advanced
Training Environment--that started in 2015 as a Joint effort and was
successfully demonstrated in September 2018. But, we can't drag our
heels on this technology yet another year--clearly we need this
capability now to train our operators in the most realistic threat
representative environment. I look forward to seeing the flight
demonstration this fall at Pax River and hope to see you gentleman
there.
Question. Acting Secretary Harker and Admiral Gilday, my question
for the Navy is simply this: With a successful flight demonstration
event this fall, what is the Navy's plan to accelerate the fielding of
this game-changing LVC air combat training capability?
Answer. DON and USAF remain committed to TCTS II/P6 and plan to
incorporate additional LVC training and LVC testing capabilities/
attributes, such as those being demonstrated by SLATE Advanced
Technology Demonstration and others, into the Program of Record as the
most adaptable and executable path forward. The complex LVC environment
must not only ultimately provide high end training across multiple
platforms, domains, and services, but must also have ties to the flight
test environment to enable affordable development of future
capabilities needed to outpace our adversaries. The DON and USAF will
continue to collaborate on the necessary requirements, infrastructures,
investments, and acquisition strategies.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Mr. Ryan.
Questions submitted by Mr. Ruppersberger and the answers
thereto follow:]
Guam and Triton Production
Question. Acting Secretary Harker and Admiral Gilday, last year the
U.S. Navy deployed two MQ-4C Tritons to Guam. I have heard positive
reports on Triton's Guam operations, and we also consistently hear
about the rising threats in and the increasing global significance of
the INDOPACOM AOR. Can you discuss any benefits that Triton has been
providing in its Guam operations and its alignment to the future
maritime surveillance needs in INDOPACOM more broadly? Given that we,
on the Subcommittee, consistently hear from Combatant Commanders about
the need for ISR--can you discuss the Navy's plans to ensure that there
isn't a damaging break in Triton production and detail the current
deployment plan for Triton?
Answer. The MQ-4C Triton UAS, operating from Andersen AFB, Guam
since February 2020, has regularly contributed to expanding Fleet
Commander maritime domain awareness by providing persistent
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Triton has participated in several exercises as well as recurring
fleet-support operations, where this much needed maritime surveillance
information is shared real-time/near real-time with other on-station
U.S. forces as well as Maritime Operations Center watch floors,
ultimately enhancing decision making through a clearer understanding of
the operational environment. INDOPACOM, the largest Combatant Commander
geographically and with an expansive maritime domain, will continue to
need Triton and its persistent maritime surveillance capabilities to
meet ISR requirements in theater.
The Navy is assessing program requirements to ensure resources and
risk are balanced appropriately. The current Fiscal Year (FY) 2021
enacted budget continues the production pause in FY 2022; however, some
mitigation steps are already in place. The enacted Department of
Defense Appropriations Act, 2021, which is included in Division C of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, included funds for one (1)
Congressional Add aircraft that enabled the Navy to achieve the Minimum
Sustaining Rate (MSR) of three (3) aircraft per year when this aircraft
was combined with the two (2) FY 2021 Royal Australian Air Force
aircraft already on order. This allowed the Navy to work with Northrop
Grumman to manage production flow and shortened the production gap
caused by the budgeted FY 2021 and FY 2022 production pause from
approximately 25 months to 20 months.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Mr.
Ruppersberger. Questions submitted by Mr. Cuellar and the
answers thereto follow:]
Military Equipment Selling Process
Question. Acting Secretary Harker and Admiral Gilday, we all know
that the Russian and Chinese have a very streamlined process of selling
military equipment. Can you submit to the committee for the record a
way we can streamline our military equipment selling process to where
it will be faster to talk to our partners encouraging them to buy our
equipment?
Answer. Cognizant of the ever-increasing competitive nature of
defense equipment transfers to support our Allies and Partners, the USN
has taken proactive steps to reduce bureaucratic processes to increase
responsiveness to help maintain our position as partner of choice. We
have eliminated non-value added process steps, delegated authority to
the lowest level possible, and initiated parallel processing during
policy generation and Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) development.
Speed of delivery of LOAs to our partners has increased by 19% since
2018. Areas for consideration towards increasing speed of our FMS
efforts:
-Continued focus on early, parallel, proactive, and whole of
government prioritized foreign disclosure policy. Prior to discussing
Price and Availability (P&A) and classified capabilities with our
partners associated with military equipment procurement, we must ensure
a reasonable likelihood exists that release of the capability requested
is achievable. To make that determination, an analysis of the system/
capability requested must be undertaken by numerous agencies slowing
initial response to the partner.
-Additional financial tools to offer prospective Security
Cooperation partners to better directly compete with major global
competitors. The Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program is
predominantly focused on grants. Use of the FMF loan authority requires
direct effort by Congress and the interagency, and the process is slow.
Many middle-income partners--newer NATO members and those in
INDOPACOM--face budget gaps when pursuing defense modernization and
investments. The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (EXIM) is the USG's
export credit agency with the operational capability to fill this
financing gap. EXIM's current legislative authority prohibits financing
defense exports. A legislative change as advocated by Defense Security
Cooperation Agency (DSCA) could provide benefit in this area.
-Continued improvements made to USG acquisition execution and
ensured capacity to address increasing FMS demands will serve to
benefit speed of U.S. FMS execution.
-Proactive Exportability Development. Consideration of a revolving
fund to incorporate exportability features into a system earlier in the
acquisition process as advocated by DSCA. Exportability features are
not generally developed and tested until after a system is in
production for U.S. customers. A reimbursable fund that allows for
development of technology protection features up front allows partners
to be briefed on capabilities sooner and ultimately acquire the systems
at lower cost and in less time.
Additionally, Navy has been proactively supporting the National
Defense Strategy's Line of Effort (strengthening alliances and
attracting new partners) and the Defense Trade Modernization memo
requiring early exportability decisions, agile tech release,
prioritization of countries and capabilities to capture key markets,
and to forecast international demand. Navy has aligned efforts with
OSD's ``Guidance for Development of Allies and Partnerships'' to
increase market share and interoperability with key allies and partners
and will continue to improve responsiveness. Recommendations made above
are all focused on increasing our competitive position, streamlining
processes and procedures, and reducing our response times as our Allies
consider procurement of military equipment.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Mr. Cuellar.
Questions submitted by Ms. Bustos and the answers thereto
follow:]
Deep Drawn Munition Components
Question. Acting Secretary Harker, Cornerstone OTA offered a
solicitation in Nov 2020 due to a requirement from Naval Surface
Warfare Center, Indian Head. The objective of this effort was to
develop manufacturing processes, validate operations, and run pilot
trials and pilot production of DoD unique deep drawn munition
components and case products at the Quad City Cartridge Case Facility
(QCCCF) at Rock Island Arsenal. Can you provide a status update on this
effort or if a prototype has been developed as a result of this
opportunity? Can you provide more information on this effort and what
is ultimately envisioned by this effort?
Answer. The Quad City Cartridge Case Facility (QCCCF) Other
Transaction Agreement (OTA) at Rock Island Arsenal was awarded on
February 19, 2021 to Defined PRO Machining LLC. The OTA is for
prototype efforts for large caliber deep drawn steel cartridge cases,
such as the MK 109 for the Navy 5-inch gun weapon system and the
M148A1B1 steel cartridge case for the Stryker mobile gun system, as
well as future DoD identified deep drawn cartridge case requirements.
The period of performance for this prototype effort is four years.
Fleet Architecture Integration Tool
Question. Acting Secretary Harker, a September 2019 memo from ADM
James Kilby clearly outlines how the N9 views development and
implementation of the Fleet Architecture Integration Tool (FAIT). The
memo specifically spells out goals and requirements to meet the Navy's
intended purpose. How is the Navy N9 using that memo to solidify its
requirements for the build out of the tool?
Answer. The VADM Kilby memo was utilized to initiate the Rapid
Investment Strategy Evaluation (RISE) and CORAS Rhapsody Pilot Solution
(CRPS) pilot efforts. However, in Jan 2021 OPNAV expressed efforts to
stand up a Digital War Room, which encompasses the Combat Simulation,
War Gaming, and Future Fleet Architecture components of RISE and CRPS.
Combined, these requirements comprise all but one capability of FAIT.
As the final capability, Warfighting Readiness assessments, aligns with
Force Level INTegration (FLINT), the FAIT program was de-scoped with
the warfighting readiness assessment functionality realigned under the
FLINT program.
Question. Acting Secretary Harker, has the Navy issued a work
stoppage for entities engaged in the development of the FAIT tool, and
if yes, why and what is the current timeline for completing the FAIT
tool and deploying it to be used by relevant Navy entities?
Answer. Due to the de-prioritization of RISE and CRPS, the FAIT
program's sole focus turned to the final component, warfighting
readiness assessments. As this program component aligns with FAIT's
counterpart, FLINT, OPNAV opted to issue a FAIT work stoppage and
realign its efforts under the FLINT contract. The timeline for FLINT
release with initial warfighting readiness assessment capabilities is
FY23Q2.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Ms. Bustos.
Questions submitted by Mr. Cole and the answers thereto
follow:]
Background. Acting Secretary Harker, I understand that the Navy
Program Executive Offices Integrated Warfare Systems currently uses a
platform to monitor supply chains for the development of 80 different
weapon systems, and in fact has a contract for commercial-off-the-shelf
supply chain risk management tools to help the office improve its
supply chain resiliency for these critical systems. These tools have
the ability to map, monitor, and even model supply chain relationships,
risks, and potential disruptions. In light of recent events, such as
Solar winds, the Suez Canal blockage, and COVID-19, monitoring our
supply chains has become an increasingly important component of risk
management.
Question. Can you provide an update on how the Navy Program
Executive Offices Integrated Warfare Systems is utilizing supply chain
risk management tools to better protect critical programs from supply
chain disruptions? How long has the Navy Program Executive Offices
Integrated Warfare Systems contracted for this service? And does the
Navy have any plan to continue or expand contracting for this important
service to ensure resiliency in our supply chains for critical national
security programs?
Answer. PEO IWS is involved in multiple Supply Chain Risk
Management (SCRM) efforts across the Navy and broader DoD enterprise
that leverage multiple, government and contractor organizations, due
diligence processes, procedures, and tools that enable SCRM data
sharing and collaboration across the United States Government. SCRM
data is used to ``illuminate'' the relationships between programs,
primes, and lower tier vendors across the Defense Industrial Base, then
Artificial Intelligence and analytics are used to generate supplier
risk assessments based on a variety of factors and to develop and/or
validate mitigation strategies.
PEO IWS has contracted for these services and tools for
approximately one year. PEO IWS is working in coordination with the
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and
Acquisition (ASN RDA) Supply Chain Management Team and Office of the
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD A&S),
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM)
team to integrate within the Department of Defense and Department of
the Navy enterprise SCRM solution that includes the Intelligence
community.
E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Aircraft
Background. Admiral Gilday, it appears that the ongoing E-2D
Advanced Hawkeye aircraft production and fleet introduction is
successful and on track so far. However, it's notable that the system
design is over twenty years old, and some of the technologies included
are much older. For example, it uses a mechanically-scanned antenna
that has significant limitations--primarily that each plane can only
lock onto and track one target at a time.
Question. How significant would it be to meet current needs to
upgrade the system with an electronically scanned antenna array that
can provide high volume tracking while scanning and other features that
are needed but not present in the E-2D system? Congress has funded
research into this issue for a number of years and the proposed system
is nearing full-scale testing. In what ways would use of and ESA
enhance ISR and better serve the warfighter?
Answer. The Navy greatly appreciates Congress' support and
investments in modernizing the radar and antenna of the E-2D. Congress'
steadfast appropriations of funds for investments in advanced radar
capabilities are the foundation of E-2D program, resulting in the
fielding of the APY-9 as a two-generational improvement over the
retiring E-2C's APS-145 radar. To date, five (5) of the nine (9) E-2
squadrons are equipped with E-2D and its newer radar, accounting for
65% of the existing aircraft inventory. Continued investments in
advanced radar and antenna technologies are vital to sustain the Navy's
ability to modernize our sensor technology. The E-2D program, Northrop
Grumman, Lockheed Martin and numerous mission partners have achieved
significant progress towards this objective in the past few years.
The current APY-9 radar and ADS-18 antenna on the E-2D is the most
advanced airborne radar in the Navy, and it is capable of both
mechanical and electronic scanning options. This hybrid configuration
provides the E-2D an unmatched capacity to simultaneously detect,
track, and identify thousands of air and surface targets, paired with
the agility to dynamically adjust surveillance coverage over areas of
more than 250,000 square miles.
Development of an improved ESA would indeed enhance detection,
tracking, and identification capabilities, and would allow the E-2D to
remain ahead of emerging threats in a highly contested electronic
attack environment. In turn, this would improve the capacity of Naval
forces to counter anti-access and area denial (A2AD) strategies and
offer new tactics and options to our operational commanders.
The advanced antenna technology in development continues to show
great potential for current and future Naval missions, the E-2D
program, and future airborne command & control aircraft. Continued and
focused investments in E-2D, APY-9 radar modernization and new antenna
technology is vital to our national security and maritime strategy.
These investments deliver targeted efforts to identify and address
future capability gaps and supported by the Navy's and industry's
ability to deliver results, will ultimately ensure the developed
capabilities are effective.
Expeditionary Force Protection
Background. General Berger, the Marine Corps is seeking to
modernize its counter intrusion and force protection capabilities to
address shortfalls in fixed site security at both permanent and
expeditionary sites. Recent intrusions onto installations at home and
abroad have further highlighted increasing vulnerabilities and the need
to modernize/automate these capabilities to reduce manpower
requirements.
Corps leadership has recently stated that Marines must learn to
trust artificial intelligence to fully utilize the power of AI
technology and the efficiencies it brings. The Marine Corps has been
experimenting with and employing advanced capabilities for force
protection that can be infrastructure independent, minimally
environmentally invasive, and energy resilient. Incorporating both
artificial intelligence and sensor fusion, these systems automate many
processes that are manpower and resource intensive, including ground
vehicle patrols and maritime surface vessel patrols.
Question. Understanding that the Marine Corps has identified
requirements to modernize their base force protection capabilities at
permanent and expeditionary sites, what is the status of the Corps'
experimentation with these systems, and what is the acquisition
strategy to go beyond experimentation to acquisition and deployment?
Answer. The Marine Corps conducted a limited objective assessment
with Anduril Industries systems at multiple installations across the
Continental United States (CONUS). These systems are representative of
the capability we are assessing for potential fielding. This
experimentation will provide valuable data as we refine a formal
requirement for all-domain counter-intrusion at permanent and
expeditionary sites. The Marine Corps is also experimenting with a
variety of vendors at both CONUS and outside of CONUS (OCONUS) sites.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Enabled Force Protection software
capabilities are also rapidly being integrated into exercises for user
validation and model refinement, and will be baselined across legacy
platforms in the current fiscal year (FY) for continued development.
Question. The committee understands that an assessment of
capabilities currently deployed at multiple Marine Corps installations
is expected to end in FY2021. Are there plans to seek funding as part
of the FY22 budget process to retain these capabilities and begin to
scale beyond this footprint?
Answer. The Marine Corps does intend to seek funding for these
capabilities in FY22 and beyond. With consideration towards future
investment, our Warfighting Laboratory's Rapid Capabilities Office
recently executed an assessment of an installation force protection
capability under project ``Expeditionary Counter-Intrusion System
(ECIS).'' The ECIS assessment was based on Anduril Industries
technology and focused on a subset of counter-intrusion. The assessment
was conducted at six Marine Corps (CONUS and OCONUS) installations and
included identifying and mitigating surface, terrestrial, and limited
air-based small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), and personnel threats
utilizing AI and machine learning while also incorporating Anduril
Limited Objective Assessments. Additionally, Program Manager, Ground
Based Air Defense (GBAD) is continuing with Anduril's contractor-owned/
Government-operated service contracting approach to support a limited
number of CONUS installation Counter-UAS (C-UAS) activities. The Marine
Corps will continue to assess the reliability of these systems in
various operational scenarios, the limitations on scalability, and
their ability to be compromised by both cybersecurity threats and more
sophisticated attacks to the decision boundaries of the AI algorithms
themselves (these attack strategies are sometimes referred to as
``model drift'').
Question. How will modernizing these systems reduce manpower costs
associated with the Corps' legacy installation force protection
systems? Does modernizing these systems and reducing the manpower
requirements for them provide you with added flexibility in your force
structure requirements?
Answer. The ECIS project assessed AI enabled counter-intrusion
capabilities at multiple Marine Corps facilities, and demonstrated the
ability to enhance observation, while reducing the manpower necessary
to monitor a given space. Through these tests, the Marine Corps
observed that AI-enabled detection and tracking capabilities are
notably superior to the visual range, indications, and early warning
capabilities of manned posts. AI enabled observation systems also
provide increased perimeter observation, enhanced situational
awareness, enabled faster decision making, and delivered enduring
coverage. These observations serve to facilitate a reduction of
manpower requirements, while improving force protection; AI enabled
counter-intrusion will significantly decrease the need for mobile
patrols, lessen the requirement for operators to monitor and track
systems, and reduce operator cognitive overload. However, AI capability
retrofitted onto existing systems is often underwhelming due to the
graphics cards based computational requirements of AI and hardware
design for typical security post surveillance. In sum, AI and advanced
sensor integration will revolutionize and markedly improve early
warning and force protection, while reducing organizational and
individual manpower demands; however, this must be balanced with
appropriate advances in infrastructure investments to ensure full
employment of this capability.
Question. What is the Marine Corps' plan to adjust its future
requirements and budgets to support this modernization amidst personnel
and resource reductions?
Answer. Through research, testing, evaluating, and incorporation of
both internal and external R&D resources to the maximum extent, the
Marine Corps is identifying AI enabled observation systems that enhance
awareness, protection, and security with an associated imperative for
reducing associated manpower requirements. As noted above, the FY22
plan is pre-decisional and is contingent upon funding availability and
institutional modernization priorities.
Question. As the Marine Corps acquires new systems, are you
planning to first employ these systems in relatively benign
environments first at CONUS facilities prior to future deployments in
denied environments? Please describe the advantages of this approach?
Answer. The existing test, evaluation, and assessments paradigm is
being executed across both CONUS and OCONUS facilities, providing a
baseline of data to support proof of concept, while providing valuable
lessons and insights for future development, training, testing, and
eventual operational employment. Additionally, operational insights and
data are being harvested to inform future program objectives to ensure
the best possible capability in support of future operations. As we
forward deploy the threat landscape becomes more complex. The type of
AI systems presented here make assumptions that we have previously
characterized normal from anomalous events and/or objects of interest.
This will present new challenges as the AI system is forward deployed
into new environments that are less understood. We may have a need to
reassess the amount of algorithm training that may be required and the
amount of overlap between what is considered normal and abnormal as
operational environments change. In addition, as our tools become more
sophisticated, so do our adversaries efforts to subvert them. We are
tracking work at DARPA on deception with AI and are planning to
maintain a heightened awareness of the pros and cons of the systems we
deploy.
Question. What challenges do you face in establishing the
organizational acceptance, experience, and muscle memory of
incorporating AI and advanced technologies at scale as you prepare to
deploy to more challenging forward deployed environments?
Answer. The challenges to incorporation of AI and advanced
technologies can be generally associated to technical, training, and
legal/policy concerns. Technical concerns are focused upon massive data
storage requirements (expected to be in excess of 125 terabytes, per
system, per year), which necessitate a yet to be identified Cloud
storage solution. This massive data-volume requirement necessitates a
robust and reliable network infrastructure sufficient to push data for
real-time situational awareness and targeting. New training and Rules
of Engagement must also be considered, developed, and tested. Finally,
we anticipate AI enabled capabilities will face steep domestic and
international policy considerations and limitations. As an example, 10
USC Section 130-I, governs and restricts the use of AI enabled systems
upon military installations in a Counter-sUAS role but is not expansive
enough as written to cover a like capability for perimeter, gate, or
maritime Counter Intrusion.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Mr. Cole.
Questions submitted by Mr. Womack and the answers thereto
follow:]
``Constellation'' Class
Question. Admiral Gilday, The Constellation class unit cost is
currently quoted at 15% less per thousand tons than the LCS Freedom
class variant and 36% less per thousand tons than the DDG-51 Flight
III. How specifically will the Navy meet its unit cost goals for the
Constellation class given the class's departure from the historical
Navy shipbuilding norm of cost per thousand ton?
Answer. The Navy remains confident in its cost estimate for the FFG
program. The Navy typically does not use weight as the only basis for
cost estimates. There are distinct differences in equipment density and
operational capability between ship classes that are oversimplified if
only using weight to develop cost estimates. Specifically, for ship
construction costs the Navy uses shipyard-specific labor rates,
learning curves based on current performance, and discrete material
costs (where available) which are not weight-based. Commodity material
costs (such as steel plate and piping) are weight-based.
There are also cost differences between FFG-62 and DDG-51 due to
business and industrial base factors such as acquisition strategy and
number of shipyards constructing the ships. The FFG 62 contract was
competed as a full & open for a single winner while the DDG 51 contract
was a limited competition between two shipyards using a Multiyear
Procurement contracting strategy.
Navy Requirements
Question. Given the contract structure (Firm-Fixed Price), will the
Navy accept a ship not meeting the stated requirements in order to meet
cost goals?
Answer. No. The Navy will not compromise on requirements to meet
cost goals.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Mr. Womack.
Questions submitted by Mr. Aderholt and the answers thereto
follow:]
Navy and Missle Development
Background. Acting Secretary Harker, the Navy is developing a
hypersonic strike missile called the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS)
weapon, which the Army will also use for their Long Range Hypersonic
Weapon (LRHW). With China and Russia already deploying similar
hypersonic weapons, it is imperative that the development of these
weapons proceed without unnecessary hindrance or bureaucratic delay.
However, my understanding is that the Navy recently decided not to
provide indemnification for unusually hazardous risk to the contractors
developing CPS which is creating problems in the development of these
weapons that will serve two of our military services. Under laws passed
decades ago (10 USC 2354 was passed in 1951 and PL 85-804 was enacted
in 1958), Congress has authorized the DoD to provide indemnification
above commercially available insurance for weapons development that
present potentially extremely hazardous risks should an accident occur.
The solid propellant mass for CPS has twice the TNT equivalency of the
1993 World Trade Center bombing, which resulted in 8 deaths, 1000+
injuries, and over $3.0B insurance claim in today's dollars. That is
objectively an unusually hazardous risk as defined by the relevant
statutes.
Question. Please explain why the Navy's interpretation of these
statutes differs from the other military services, NASA, and other U.S.
Government agencies. Has the Navy provided indemnification to similar
size and power missiles in the past? If so, please explain why this
policy has changed? Launch vehicles of similar size and power to the
CPS missile are indemnified by the U.S. Government under PL 85-804.
Please explain why the Navy believes the CPS program should be treated
differently.
Answer. Indemnification under Public Law 85-804 and 10 U.S.C.
Sec. 2354 is a discretionary authority granted to each of the
Secretaries of the military departments and other Government agencies
as extraordinary contractual relief. Acting through the Secretary of
the Navy, the Department of the Navy (DON) takes a case-by-case
approach to indemnify contractor performance. With respect to the risk
associated with conventional weapons, historically, those risks have
been covered by commercial insurance or self-insurance obtained or
provided by contractors. The same is true for the risks associated with
Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS). Such is not the case with nuclear
weapons, and the Secretary of the Navy exercises his discretion to
indemnify contractors who serve as the contractor for nuclear-powered
vessel and nuclear-capable missile contracts.
The Secretary of the Navy has exercised his discretion in
accordance with the statutes that provide him this authority. Neither
statute requires indemnification for any risk for which another agency
has granted indemnification. The DON does not judge the hazardousness
of a missile based solely on its size and/or its power.
CPS is a conventional weapon for which the contractor has been able
to obtain commercial insurance or provide self-insurance as other Navy
contractors of conventional weapons have routinely done. In other
words, the Navy's decision to not indemnify CPS is consistent with its
decision to not indemnify other conventional weapons. It is also
consistent with the DON's approach to indemnification, that the
Department does indemnify unusually hazardous high energy propellant
when that propellant is used to propel a nuclear-capable missile where
the risks associated with that weapon system cannot be covered by
commercial insurance.
Indemnification is an extraordinary action, and the DON takes its
exercise of this authority seriously. The DON does not believe its
position in the case of the CPS weapon creates any unnecessary
hindrance or bureaucratic delay or a problem in the development of the
weapon. To the contrary, the current CPS contract, which was recently
signed by the contractor in March 2021 without indemnification, is
proceeding without delay in accordance with the terms of the contract.
Task Force Navy One
Question. In 2020, the Navy stood up Task Force Navy One--a task
force ``designed to identify and make recommendations to dismantle
barriers to equality while creating sustainable opportunities.'' As we
all know, one of the recommendations in the report from the Task Force
recommended a pledge ``to advocate for and acknowledge all lived
experiences and intersectional identities of every Sailor in the
Navy.'' The pledge immediately sparked controversy because there is not
consensus on what some of this terminology means, nor on what is the
best way to address problems. Admiral Gilday, can you confirm that
Sailors will not be forced/expected to take that pledge?
Answer. Sailors were not and will not be asked, forced, or expected
to take the pledge. The 56 recommendations from the Task Force One Navy
Final Report do not reference nor do they require Sailors to take the
pledge.
Space Command
Question. The U.S. Naval Institute recently published a report that
provided an update on the Marine Corps' Force Structure 2030 plan. A
lot has been accomplished in the past eighteen months, and I commend
the Marine Corps for the progress you have made. One interesting
accomplishment on the list was the creation of Marine Corps Forces
Space Command. To the extent that you can provide information that is
not classified, can you comment on how that command fits into the
bigger picture of what you are hoping to achieve with your force
design?
Answer. Operations in and through the space domain are critical to
global Fleet Marine Force (FMF) operations across the warfighting
functions. The Marine Corps relies heavily on space-based capabilities
for weapons systems navigation and guidance; network timing; force
protection; command and control; missile warning; environmental
monitoring; and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Space
operations are a critical enabler in building a naval expeditionary
force that contributes to and enables Naval and Joint campaigning
across the continuum, in all domains.
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act directed the
reestablishment of U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM). On 1 October 2020,
the Marine Corps activated Marine Corps Forces Space Command
(MARFORSPACE), the Marine Corps' Service Component representation to
USSPACECOM. This command advocates for Marine Corps equities and
advises USSPACECOM on employment of and support to Marine Forces.
Additionally, the Service component supports the development of Joint
concepts, education, training, and doctrine; advocates for space-based
capabilities; and integrates those capabilities into the Marine Corps.
In April 2021, the Commandant of the Marine Corps published the
Force Design 2030 Annual Update which presented key findings and
priorities for capability development, directed actions, and
investments. A key finding was that in order for the forward deployed
naval expeditionary forces to create positional and temporal advantage
for the fleet and joint force, command and control arrangements must be
characterized by structures, systems, and nodes that remain functional
as Stand-in forces move along the competition continuum. Space
operations are decisive for achieving the Force Design 2030 findings
and priorities. MARFORSPACE is the critical FMF enabler for space
operations and synchronization.
In Fiscal Year 2022, the Marine Corps will be embedding MARFORSPACE
Marines across the USSPACECOM and U.S. Space Force (USSF) formations: a
detachment of five Marines with the USSF's 527th Space Aggressor
Squadron to provide Positioning, Navigation, and Timing and Satellite
Communications in denied environments in support of Marine Corps and
Joint training and exercise events; eight Marines to Combined Forces
Space Component Command (CFSCC) to integrate with execution of
operations at the Combined Space Operations Center; nine Marines to
Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) to grow tactical space support
teams; and eleven Marines to HQ USSPACECOM to support planning,
capability development, joint targeting, exercises, and operations.
[Clerk's note.--End of questions submitted by Mr.
Aderholt.]
Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
FISCAL YEAR 2022 NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES
WITNESSES
GENERAL DANIEL R. HOKANSON, CHIEF OF THE NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU
LIEUTENANT GENERAL DAVID G. BELLON, COMMANDER, MARINE FORCES RESERVE
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JODY J. DANIELS, CHIEF OF THE ARMY RESERVE
VICE ADMIRAL JOHN B. MUSTIN, CHIEF OF THE NAVY RESERVE
LIEUTENANT GENERAL RICHARD W. SCOBEE, CHIEF OF THE AIR FORCE RESERVE
Opening Statement of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. This hearing will come to order.
This hearing is fully virtual and we are going to go over
our housekeeping matters, again. For today's meeting, the chair
or the staff designated by the chair may mute participants'
microphones when they are not under recognition for the purpose
of eliminating background noise.
Members are responsible for muting and unmuting themselves.
If you notice that you have not unmuted yourself, please do so
when you are called upon for a question. If I notice that you
haven't unmuted yourself, I would ask if you need the staff to
help you. Please indicate by nodding and the staff will unmute
your microphone.
All members and witnesses, the 5-minute clock is up on the
corner. It should be displayed, and we will be using the 5-
minute clock for questions. If there is a technical issue, I
will move to the next member until the issue is resolved and
you will retain the balance of your time. So you won't lose any
time due to a technical issue.
You will notice the clock on the screen how much time is
remaining. At 1 minute, the clock will turn yellow. At 30
seconds remaining, I will gently tap the gavel to remind
members that their time has almost expired. When your time has
expired, the clock will turn red, and I will begin recognizing
the next member.
In terms of speaking order, we will follow the order set
forth in the House rules beginning with the chair; the ranking
member; and then members at the time the hearing was called to
order, they will be recognized in order of seniority; and,
finally, members not present at the time the hearing is called
to order.
Finally, House rules require me to remind you that we have
set up an email address to which members can send anything that
they wish to submit in writing to any of our hearings or
markups, and that email address has been provided to your
staff.
The Subcommittee on Defense is now in order, and this
morning the committee will receive testimony on the posture of
the National Guard and the Reserve components for the Federal
fiscal year 2022 budget. It will be a two-panel hearing. Panel
one recognizes the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Panel
two will recognize the Reserve component chiefs--the Army,
Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force Reserves. And I encourage all
members to participate in both panels.
We have five witnesses across the two panels testifying, so
I am going to be brief, very brief in my opening remarks. The
subcommittee provides funding for the National Guard and
Reserve, personnel costs, operation and maintenance, and
equipment funding, including the National Guard Reserve and
Equipment Account, and that is an appropriation which is not
included in the President's budget and will probably be
referred to the rest of this hearing as NGREA. Funding is also
provided for activities such as counterdrug operations, Humvee
modernization, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and more. And
I am particularly interested in hearing how that funding
supports your missions and what capability gaps exist today. I
would also like to receive your input on the current pace of
operations.
Our National Guard Forces are called upon to support a
variety of missions, including humanitarian missions and civil
unrest. And many of us have had the National Guard in our
communities helping with civil unrest. They support the
Southwest border, overseas operations, and, of course, the
latest, the support of our Capitol security. I want you to know
that each member of this committee and all Members of Congress
are extremely grateful for the tireless efforts from the
National Guard.
I am interested to hear about how these seemingly endless
calls to duty are affecting our troop morale, readiness, and
retention efforts. It is also vitally important that you are
providing a high level of quality care for our soldiers.
Incidents of sexual assault, harassment, and extremism are all
too common among the ranks.
Your leadership in addressing these disturbing acts has
never been more important, and I would like to know exactly
what you are doing to reverse these harmful and dangerous
trends.
Now, with that, I would like to recognize our distinguished
ranking member, Mr. Calvert from California, for his opening
remarks.
Mr. Calvert.
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you, Chair McCollum.
I would like to welcome General Hokanson to this
subcommittee for the first time. You had a lot on your plate in
the first 8 months on your job, so I appreciate your taking the
time to meet with us today.
Over the past year, our Nation has become even more reliant
on your nearly 450,000 citizen airmen and soldiers. From
responding to COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest to continuing
operations abroad, I would like to thank all the guardsmen for
their ongoing and steadfast commitment to our Nation.
I struggle to think of another time in American history
that we have asked the Guard to do the range of missions and at
the tempo in which they have been operating over the past year,
and I share the chair's concern about the morale and retention
of our Guard.
As we continue to hopefully move past the worst of the
COVID-19 pandemic and look to the light at the end of the
tunnel, it is important that we hear from our witnesses today
about the current and future requirements of our Guard and
Reserve components. This includes evaluating readiness,
modernization shortfalls, understanding where the support of
the National Guard is most needed, and preparing for the
conflict in the era of great power competition, particularly in
the cyber and space domain.
It is critical that we ensure that the Guard and Reserve
components are adequately trained, equipped, and connected with
our Active Duty partners to meet our national security
objectives. As a Representative from a border State, I look
forward to hearing about the Guard's role in responding to the
ongoing crisis at our southern border. I was out there
yesterday. It is a challenge. I will give you that.
And so, I look forward to hearing from you about that. I
want to conclude by thanking you for your service. I look
forward to your testimony.
And, with that, Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Calvert.
It appears that the full committee chair and ranking member
are not joining us at this hearing. I will move to witnesses
unless one of them joins us later; we will, of course, allow
them.
Mr. Calvert. Point of clarification, Madam Chair. I was
going to do an opening statement for the second panel. Are we
going to have time for that, or were you doing that all in one
time?
Ms. McCollum. I was just giving one, but if you want to
give it now, feel free to do so, Mr. Calvert. If you would like
to do it in front of the second panel, I am fine with that too.
Mr. Calvert. You are the chair. I will do whatever you
like. I will just wait till the second panel.
Ms. McCollum. Perfect. All right.
I would now like to recognize our witness for the first
panel, and that is General Daniel Hokanson, Chief of the
National Guard Bureau, member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Welcome.
And, as Mr. Calvert pointed out, this is your very first
time testifying in front of the subcommittee, and we are so
pleased to have you here.
General, your full written statement will be placed in the
record, and members do have copies available at their offices.
I would like to give you as much time as possible for you to
interact with members so they can ask questions. I encourage
you to summarize your statement to be complete but succinct
also in responding to our questions.
General, we look forward to your opening statement. Please
proceed.
Summary Statement of General Hokanson
General Hokanson. Chairwoman McCollum, Ranking Member
Calvert, and members of the subcommittee, it is an honor to
join you virtually today on behalf the soldiers and airmen of
your National Guard. For nearly 385 years, the National Guard
has taken on our Nation's greatest challenges. As a primary
combat reserve of the Army of the Air Force, we are manned,
trained, and equipped to fight our Nation's wars. In times of
emergency, our people, training, and equipment help us respond
to our communities. This is our job, and we are proud to do it.
In 2020, however, our motto of ``Always Ready, Always There''
was put to the test.
Last June, more National Guard troops were mobilized than
at any time since World War II. Nearly 120,000 soldiers and
airmen were deployed supporting the warfight overseas or
involved in domestic operations here at home. This included
responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in a wide variety of roles,
responding to civil unrest in our cities, and responding to
historic wildfires and hurricanes across the country. We also
continued our military training in 2020, and despite the COVID
environment, the National Guard met every overseas deployment
requirement. And it was the Minnesota National Guard's First
Armored Brigade Combat Team who completed the first National
Training Center rotation in a COVID environment in July of last
year.
In January, in response to the attack on the Capitol, we
mobilized and deployed over 26,000 National Guardsmen to
Washington, D.C., in less than 2 weeks. Using organic National
Guard air support and logistics, soldiers and airmen from every
State and territory arrived to help secure our 59th
presidential inauguration.
While the past year has provided countless examples of the
National Guard's extraordinary work, today I would like to
highlight just a single weekend, Labor Day of 2020. That
weekend, while many Americans were on holiday, more than 64,000
National Guardsmen were on duty around the world. Roughly
20,000 of these soldiers and airmen were deployed across 34
nations in support of our combatant commanders. More than
18,000 were helping their communities fight COVID-19 or manning
testing sites to cleaning long-term care facilities to working
in food banks so our fellow Americans wouldn't go hungry.
More than 1,500 were protecting the rights of peaceful
protesters and safeguarding communities against violence in
Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. More than 3,500 were
helping their communities recover from Hurricane Laura in Texas
and Louisiana. In Alaska, a team of Guardian Angel Airmen
rescued two hikers, one who fell more than a hundred feet off a
cliff and was seriously injured. For their actions, they were
awarded the Wilderness Rescue of the year by the American Red
Cross of Alaska.
And out West, specially modified C-130s from the California
Nevada Air National Guard teamed up with National Guard MQ-9
unmanned aerial systems and helicopters from multiple States to
fight record wildfires. This included the dramatic rescue of
240 people trapped by wildfires in the Sierra National Forest
by the California National Guard's 40th combat aviation
brigade. This daring night rescue in heavy smoke was possible
because our crews had modernized helicopters and the latest
generation night vision goggles. For their heroism and
extraordinary achievement, those air crews were awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross. This one weekend tells the National
Guard's story. Our country and our communities needed us, so
the men and women of the National Guard left their civilian
jobs, their families, and proudly served as soldiers and
airmen. Their selfless service is both important and inspiring
and is reflected in our recruiting and retention.
Today's National Guard is an operational force, and we are
full partners with the Army and Air Force in our Nation's
defense. This would not have been possible without your
investments over the last 20 years to transform the National
Guard from a strategic reserve to today's operational force. I
am grateful for the committee's support in helping us provide
our soldiers and airmen with the facilities, equipment, and
training resources they need to be interoperable on the
battlefield and responsive in our communities.
Combined with our commitment to partnerships at every level
from local first responders to FEMA to our 82 international
State partnerships, we our posturing for the future; however,
there are still places we fall short. Our equipment must be
deployable, sustainable, and interoperable. Our facilities must
be repaired or replaced if they are no longer functional and
our level of full-time support must increase so we can become
more efficient and effective.
There are also distractions our soldiers and airmen face
every day. If they don't have healthcare, what happens if they
get sick or injured when they come off orders? If they are
doing the same job as their Active or Reserve counterparts, why
are they treated differently? And if they have invested their
career in the space mission, will there still be a home for
them in a Space National Guard?
Every day our team is working to address these issues, and
there are solutions, and I am committed to working with the
Army, the Air Force, and you to find them. Among my most
pressing concerns are premium free healthcare for every
guardsmen who serves in uniform, the establishment of a Space
National Guard, and elevating the rank of six of our general
officers commensurate to level, responsibility, and authority
they are given.
These are not only strategically important issues; they are
just the right thing to do. The National Guard is about 20
percent of our joint force and anything that impacts our
readiness, reduces are Nation's ability to deter, and makes the
total joint force less competitive, less capable, and less
lethal.
Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity
to be here today, and I look forward to your questions.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
HEALTHCARE
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
So, General, I am going to pick up on healthcare coverage.
You spoke to the staff a little bit after our meeting and you
had mentioned 600,000 Guard personnel do not have health
insurance and that the lack of coverage and copays for those
with coverage had made it difficult to ensure that everyone has
access, and at that time, you were focusing primarily on mental
health.
I would like to learn more, and we are going to have a
panel that addresses on healthcare and health services. I think
some of the things that we need to understand is a breakdown
that the staff will be asking you--so you don't have to provide
it today--by State who lacks health insurance, whether or not
it is available for folks and they have chosen not to sign up
for it. I know, in Minnesota, between MNsure and some of the
things to the Affordable Care Act, we have very high insurance
rates and great premiums for the coverage in Minnesota. I want
to see how this breaks down by State because if States aren't
offering policies that are affordable, that can become a
different issue that we will need to address.
But I would like to know how you, especially when it comes
to mental health that you mentioned, on not having a soldiers--
airmen, marines, and guardians--without healthcare coverage,
how you see this full impact on here? I also need to
understand, when we do our health panel, how TRICARE fits into
this? Are people refusing to take TRICARE in some cases? Is it
unavailable in some locations?
I want to ferret out the health insurance issue a little
more with you. The staff will be following up with questions. I
look forward to working with you to resolve that.
COUNTERING EXTREMISM
So I am going to go to a question that I would like you to
answer a little more today, and that is, in January, as you
know, Secretary Austin ordered a Department-wide stand down to
address extremism, and earlier this month, he established a
Countering Extremism Working Group to examine how the services
would implement the immediate and long-range goals.
So could you tell me where the Guard is in its short-term
and long-range goals in addressing extremism within the ranks,
and how pervasive have you found, just kind of doing your
short-term goal and assessment, that it is for extremism to be
found in the National Guard? Do you think it is similar? Have
you had conversations, because you are part of the Joint Chiefs
of Staffs, is it similar to your Active Duty counterparts? And
then, you know, what things that you are looking at doing? Some
of them is going to be funding; some of it is not going to be
funding. So just kind of help this committee understand short
term what we are doing on extremism and some of the things you
think we need to do long term to have people realize standing
up, taking an oath of office to protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States is something that they need
to implement not only in their life as a guardsperson but, you
know, how that doing things privately can affect their ability
to serve based on the way that we are going to be examining
extremism within our ranks.
General Hokanson. Thank you, Chairwoman.
So, when I look at the fact we are component of both the
Army and the Air Force, within the Air National Guard and the
Army National Guard, they are following the training that has
been put out by the services. And I have actually attended the
Army one as well. Due to the nature of the fact we just drill
one weekend a month in our summer training, we have until June
to complete that. And so, on our weekly calls with the
adjutants general, I remind them of that--the importance of
getting that done in the scheduled timeframe.
When we look at the pervasiveness across the force, I do
not see it as very pervasive from all the information that I
have been given. However, any case at all, as far as I am
concerned, is not acceptable not only within the National
Guard, but within the Department of Defense. And as you
mentioned, every one of the members of the National Guard do
swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States and they
also swear an oath to the Constitution of the State in which
they serve. And I have been close in touch with our senior
leaders within the organization to really reemphasize across
the force that if our soldiers or airmen see something, that
they say something. And then that allows our chain of command
to deal with it, or if it exceeds their responsibilities, it
goes on to work with local law enforcement to make sure that
everything goes addressed and nothing gets overlooked.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert.
UNFUNDED PRIORITIES
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Just on that subject, General, if you could get us a
definition of how you define extremism, I would like to know.
If you could get that for the committee, how the military in
general is looking at that, that would be helpful to me.
But I am going to go unfunded priorities.
General, the fiscal year 2021 National Defense
Authorization Act added the chief of National Guard Bureau to
the list of officers required to provide an unfunded priorities
list of Congress. We will be receiving the unfunded priorities
list from you, I guess, sometime this fiscal year following the
transmission of the budget request. Hopefully that is soon. Any
comment on that?
General Hokanson. Sir, thank you for the opportunity. I
think that is very important to recognize for us also our
unfunded priorities list because, in many cases, our stuff is
dual-use equipment that we could use not only in the warfight
but also here domestically. And I think recognition of that and
the ability to provide that is greatly appreciated by the
entire National Guard.
SPACE NATIONAL GUARD
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Well, we will be looking forward to
getting a hold of that list.
General, you know, as you know, I have been very supportive
of the creation of a Space Guard, especially for States that
have existing significant space missions, such as California.
Can you update the subcommittee on the progress the Department
of Defense is making in providing recommendations on the
creation of a Space Guard?
General Hokanson. Yes, sir. In fact, I believe we are
fairly close on that. I will meet with the Secretary of the Air
Force tomorrow and the chief of space operations. And we have
had an opportunity to brief the Deputy Secretary of Defense
already, and I think our final meeting will be in preparation
of meeting with the Secretary of Defense. And, right now, both
the Secretary of the Air Force and the chief of space
operations are in agreement with us of a two-component
construct, that of an Active and Reserve combination, the
combined component, and then a Space National Guard.
GUARD AND RESERVE EQUIPMENT ACCOUNT
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Look forward to seeing that. One
other question in this series, Mr. Womack, as you know, is
former guardsman and, as you know, both of you know that you
are both painfully aware of, the Guard often ends up being the
bill payer for when defense budgets are tight, and I suspect
this year is going to be a real tight bill it seems. Given the
lack of growth in this year's proposed defense budget and the
critical importance of maintaining readiness, lethality,
equipment, weapon systems, what are the foreseeable
circumstances or consequences if Congress does not prioritize
the Guard and Reserve Equipment Account?
General Hokanson. When I look at that, I am not sure
exactly what those consequences we will be. That is something
we will look at very closely when the budget rolls out, but any
flat lining or reduction at all will obviously have an impact
on our readiness and potentially our equipment maintenance and
also our facilities maintenance. But as we look to the future,
there is also other possibilities there where we look our
Nation's need to retain certain capability and capacity, that
there might be a time to really look at our Active/Reserve
component mix to now identify if some of our forces maybe/
should be moved into Reserve component where we can maintain
that capability at a lower cost.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. I will look forward to working with you
on that.
And I will yield back and look forward to the second round.
Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. And when you are reporting,
General, Mr. Calvert asked great questions. I am looking
forward to a breakdown on how much this is going to cost to set
up a Reserve and a Guard Space Force, as you are referring to,
what would it look like in all 50 States, and if it is kind of
a hybrid where you are using facilities that are already in
existence with the Air Force where they are in States. We will
follow up with some questions, but I think Mr. Calvert has
launched some particularly good questions.
Mr. Cuellar, you were dealing with a flat tire. Are you in
a position now in your office where you can ask a question, or
I can go to Mrs. Bustos and let you catch your breath?
ASSISTANCE AT THE BORDER
Mr. Cuellar. No. I am ready. I was looking for Pete Aguilar
to help me change the tire, but he wasn't around.
Ms. McCollum. Oh, we can barely hear you, Henry.
And, Pete, you should help colleagues with their tires. So
you want to try it, again, Henry, Mr. Cuellar, so we can hear
you.
Mr. Cuellar. Yes. Yes.
And, first of all, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you--
--
Mr. Cuellar [continuing]. To our witnesses. Let me just ask
you this question about the issue of the National Guard on the
border. I really appreciate what you are all doing on the
border, but is there any way--because I have seen the National
Guard, you know, be at the detention centers or the shelters.
Is there any way you can help the Border Patrol with a
strategy on securing the border? I mean, I know that you all
are in communication with them, and you work closely with them,
but I still think that your military training can help us and
help the Border Patrol secure the border for better. And I am
not talking about the unaccompanied kids or the family units.
Those are not danger to our communities. I am talking about the
single adults that are trying to come in into the U.S. that
have a different motive.
Can you all come up with a different strategy instead of
being at shelters taking care of babies? And I have seen them
do several things. Any way you all can come up with a different
strategy with Border Patrol?
General Hokanson. Congressman, that is a great question,
and the primary responsibility for that falls under U.S.
Northern Command under General VanHerck, and I know the Joint
Task Force North is commanded by a National Guard officer,
actually Randall Simmons. I know that they worked closely with
the Border Patrol, but I am not sure if they have asked for
assistance to do that, but if asked and approved, I am sure
that is something that we would love to help with if asked.
Mr. Cuellar. And just to finish up on this, look, I have
seen your men and women, they do a great job. The support
services, I have seen them man cameras. I have seen them at the
shelters with the logistics of the food, but I think your
capacity or your abilities are not being utilized effectively,
and if you all could just direct us, the committee, as to where
we ought to be looking at to get you to be--so we can fully
utilize your capabilities at the border instead of, with all
due respect, babysitting cameras, babysitting, you know, the
unaccompanied kids. It is very important; I understand that.
But I think with the training that the men and women, the
professionals that they are, I think you all could be better
utilized at the border, with all due respect.
And I always tell my friend Ken Calvert, I don't come
visit; I live on the border. I, actually, am going to the
border in about an hour and a half on a particular side, but I
just want to utilize the abilities of the professionals, men
and women, at the Guard.
General Hokanson. Yes, sir. And we look forward to the
opportunity to follow up with you and also with U.S. Northern
Command.
Mr. Cuellar. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank
you, Madam Chair.
I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Rogers and then Mrs. Bustos.
MISSION IMPACT
Mr. Rogers. Let me say that if the gentleman needs an extra
tire, I will find it. I will find him one. But I knew he would
one of these days run the wheels off that car. I want to thank
you for being with us today, but, more importantly, thank you
for the service to your country that you have performed for
many, many years.
And we want to thank you, again, as the chair indicated
earlier, for you and your soldiers, for the security that you
gave to Members of Congress, to the Congress itself, as well as
the whole country. Many thousands of soldiers left their
families and their hometown jobs to render service to us, and
we thank you for that.
And as of April 30, you still had 298 guardsmen and airmen
from 18 States and D.C. supporting civilian authorities,
including the Capitol Police and Secret Service, in the
national capital region related to January 6 and post-inaugural
security. You are still with us, and we thank you for that
service. That is fewer personnel than had been deployed last
summer when 41,500 were supporting State and local law
enforcement in support of civil unrest operations.
Let me ask you just how taxing has all of this been,
including the border, not to mention civil unrest all across
the country, how taxing has this mission been for the Guard
over the last year?
General Hokanson. So, Congressman, I keep in very close
touch with the adjutants general, and I actually speak with
them once a week. And in my visits there, we have been
fortunate to meet every single mission requirement we were
given over the past 16 months really going back prior to COVID,
but as you highlight, a lot of these missions have become more
enduring. It adds a little bit more stress on each of our
soldiers and airmen, and everything we try and do is balance
their ability to manage their civilian career, their military
career, and their family. And we never want to put them in a
situation where they have got to choose one for the other.
When we look at the economic impact to our Nation over the
past year, in many cases, this employment provided relief to
some of those soldiers, but as our economy continues to
improve, the employers are asking for their soldiers to come
back to work, and so we are watching that very closely, looking
at every tasking. And if you look at the State's willingness to
support, of course, we are heavily involved in vaccinations
right now, but as that stabilizes, we are hoping to off-ramp
some of that mission set to reduce the operational tempo.
UAV TRAINING
Mr. Rogers. Let's switch gears. As a former guardsmen, I
know firsthand the importance of interoperability between the
Guard and the Active Components of our military. Because of
that, I am concerned that the Army Guard doesn't operate and
train with any MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones vital to within the
Active Component.
What are your plans to ensure maximum interoperability,
especially regarding UAV capabilities?
General Hokanson. Well, sir, thank you for that question
and thank you, sir, for your service in the National Guard as
well. When we look at the Army Guard, in particularly, last
year, we were able to start realigning the eight divisions in
the National Guard with the subordinate brigades, brigade
combat teams, combat aviation brigades, and maneuver
enhancement brigades.
And so, what we are trying to do is to provide our Nation
not only 10 Active Duty Army divisions, but also eight National
Guard divisions. And that is where this specific case comes
into place. Or when you look at a division level asset, we know
that we need to modernize our formations and we work very
closely to make sure whatever the Army modernizes, we have the
same equipment in the National Guard so that we are
interoperable on the battlefield.
And so, when we look with the Army on their long-term work
with their program, sir, we want to be part of that to make
sure we look, act, and operate the same.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Rogers, I don't know if we are having a
technical issue. You had about 20 seconds left. It looks like
we are having a technical difficulty and if your staff gets a
hold of our staff, we will add that on to your next question.
Mrs. Bustos and then Mr. Cole.
DECREASE OF THE C-130
Mrs. Bustos. All right. Thank you very much, Chairwoman
McCollum, and also, I want to thank Ranking Member Calvert for
holding this very important hearing.
General Hokanson, thank you for your service, your
leadership of our citizenship soldiers and our airmen. I know
how proud you are. We are equally proud. As you noted in your
opening testimony and answers today, the effectiveness and the
efficiency of our National Guard depends greatly on their
flexibility--on logistics, on transportation. And you know that
I am also proud to represent the great airmen of the 182nd
Airlift Wing in Peoria. We have talked about that many times.
They regularly maintain the highest mission capability rate
in the Air National Guard C-130 community. They are doing this
with Vietnam era aircraft, yet they are to the motto always
ready and always there, providing tactical air mobility when we
need them whether it is for homeland or overseas operations.
What I would like to ask you, General, the 182nd at Peoria,
like many other Air National Guard C-130H units, is at risk of
losing their aircraft as the Air Force continues to push to
decrease the overall number of C-130s in the Nation.
I am wondering, does it make sense to you to decrease our
tactical airlift capabilities? That is question one. And 1B of
that would be, how would this affect your ability to respond to
homeland emergencies while also providing airlift for Federal
missions overseas?
General Hokanson. Congresswoman, thank you for that
question. And so, when I look at the number of C-130 Wings, in
fact, I would really look at all of our flying squadrons in the
Air National Guard, I think it is absolutely important that we
retain every single one of those flying squadrons because of
what they bring for our Nation. And one of the concerns I do
have is when you look at the mobility capabilities study that
is done annually when they look at that, they often times don't
take into account the domestic use or domestic operations that
our C-130s particularly do. And if you look at last year, it
was over 600 missions done by 75 different aircraft in 16
different States. And when you don't account for that, I think
it gives you a different picture that would make you think that
you could reduce that capability. But when we look at the fact
that the homeland is no longer a sanctuary and is an area that
we need to be very concerned about any future operations, we
need to account for that and make sure that we have the
capabilities resident within the Nation to respond to those.
Mrs. Bustos. General, how important is the 182nd in Peoria
when you look at the domestic missions and the C-130Hs? Can you
talk specifically to that?
General Hokanson. Ma'am, if you look--I will just use the
D.C. mission as an example. We were able to bring 26,000
guardsmen here in less than 2 weeks, and 14--or just under
14,000 of them were transported by Air National Guard aircraft.
And had we not had the ability to draw on those aircraft
literally at no notice, it would have really compounded the
timeframe it would have taken us to get everybody here. But,
ma'am, those are absolutely critical to all of our communities
and everything that we do. Not only that but also to our
warfight overseas. The tactical capability that they provide,
which is the reason we have them in the National Guard, is
critical to our Nation's defense.
Mrs. Bustos. So, if you play that out in the 182nd at
Peoria with the C-130Hs, let's say, under the circumstances
that we have all just lived through, where you had these
missions and you got the 26,000 men and women in uniform out to
Washington, D.C., you take the 182nd out, how does that play
out under the circumstances that we have all just lived
through?
General Hokanson. So I don't know the specifics related to
that squadron, ma'am, but I think the overall intent we would
like to do is see every one of our squadrons modernized so that
they remain relevant well into the future for whatever our
Nation needs them to do.
Mrs. Bustos. Okay. Consider me a partner in this. I have
got a question about healthcare, but with 35 seconds left, I
know the chairwoman is strict about her time, and I am glad she
is. So, General, again, thank you for your service, and I
appreciate your perspective on this. Very helpful.
With that, Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Bustos.
And Minnesota and Illinois National Guard delivered people
on time.
Mr. Cole and Mrs. Kirkpatrick.
IMPACT FROM GUARD DEPLOYMENT
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Following my
good friend from Illinois, I would be remiss not to say we
serve on this committee and on the Labor-H Committee together,
how much I am going to miss her. And certainly, respect her
decision--we all leave when we want to, but my friend from
Illinois and I have dealt with legislation together. She has
been a very productive member of the Appropriations Committee
and the United States Congress, and we will miss you, my
friend.
I will also just add, for the record, we are normally in my
committee, I sit between Mr. Rogers, who is not only a former
member of the Kentucky Guard but was the Kentucky guardsmen of
the year in 1960 and belongs to the Kentucky Guard hall of
fame, and then, on my left, I have got Steve Womack, who did 30
years in the Arkansas Guard and left as a full colonel. So, I
feel like I really should be quiet and listen to these two. But
I have got a couple of questions.
First of all, General, like everybody on this panel, I am
going to tell you how much I appreciate your personal service
and the service of the men and women of the Guard and what a
difference it makes in all of our States and what a difference
it makes to our country. You are coming off a really tough
year. You have been deployed in multiple circumstances. None of
us like you to see us deployed in civil disturbances, but you
have had to do that obviously in Washington, D.C. We have all
seen the tremendous job your men and women did here, and we are
all grateful for that. We have also seen multiple times in
other States around the country when you have been called upon
by local authorities, by the Governor of States.
I am curious, I know these sorts of situations aren't
remotely predictable, and there is considerable expense
obviously involved in all of these kinds of deployments. So,
number one, can you give us some idea of the scope of the
expense to the Guard of the activities dealing with civil
unrest over the last year, all of them across the country? And,
second, what, you know--how will you be compensated?
I know you have had to sort of rob Peter to pay Paul out of
multiple accounts here to get these things done. We need to be
very cognizant of that and recognize that you have ongoing
operations and maintenance and things like that that we know.
I am just trying to get a handle on the number we would
need to think about to make sure that you are whole after this
unusual series of deployments?
General Hokanson. Yes, sir. When we look at the mission
schedule to go through the 23rd of May and the current funding
that we have identified that the cost is basically $521.9
million or just under $522 million. The key there is that we
will really need assistance with that by the middle of May. And
if we don't receive the funding by the first of August, it
could add a significant impact on our readiness and maintenance
across the force.
Thank you for bringing that and made the department here
well aware of the importance of that funding.
Mr. Cole. Are there other missions around the country that
are similarly civil run that are additional costs there, or has
that been covered adequately up to this point?
General Hokanson. Yes, sir. So, if we go back to the height
in June when we had 43,000 guardsmen mobilized across the
Nation in support of civil disturbance operations, a lot of
those costs were basically taken by the States under State
Active Duty. And I don't know the full amount by State how much
was spent, unlike COVID-19, where that was reimbursed through
FEMA.
Mr. Cole. Okay. Thank you very much. One other area I want
to pick up on a topic that my friend the ranking member raised.
I do think these unmet needs, you know, document is going to be
very important to this committee. My personal belief, and I
speak only for myself, is that just looking at the President's
standing budget, it is too much domestic spending, too little
spending on defense. My guess is if we are going to get to a
deal, one number is going to go up, the defense number, and the
other number is probably going to come down, and there is
probably a deal to be had there somewhere, but I think it is
really important that we get a feel for exactly what you need
if that occurs so that we are not just throwing money willy-
nilly out there.
I would just--I know this is the first time that we are
going to see this kind of document, but I think it is
extraordinarily important that we prioritize because if we did
have extra money, we spend it in a way that was most useful to
you and the men and women under your plan.
General Hokanson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cole. Okay.
With that, Madam Chair, I don't have a lot of time left and
I am going to follow the example of my good friend from
Illinois, recognize the power of the chair and yield back
before I offend her.
Ms. McCollum. The chair thinks you asked an excellent
question to get a real good detailed look.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick and Mr. Diaz-Balart.
GUARD COUNTERDRUG OPERATIONS
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam
Chair.
I appreciate so much the General's testimony. I represent a
border district, and the National Guard has been so important,
and I have been very, very impressed at how quickly they
mobilize when we need them, and these are men and women who
have other jobs, you know. A lot of them do the National Guard
part time, and they respond immediately.
And so, my question is, you know, we really, really count
on your, especially in the border communities, to keep us safe
from drug trafficking and crime. That is our top priority. So,
the National Guard counter for drug programs are vital force
multipliers if we are getting narcotics from entering and
spreading throughout our country.
In your testimony, you shared that the National Guard
counterdrug operations supported over 1,300 law enforcement
agencies and 439 community-based organizations to include
training nearly 60,000--60,000--law enforcement personnel. The
impact of the program is clear, and it needs to continue.
However, since fiscal year 2013, the budget requests for these
efforts have decreased, and Congress has consistently added
money.
Do you anticipate an expansion of these programs in fiscal
year 2022? Will the budget request reflect the importance and
impact of these programs?
Thank you so much.
General Hokanson. Congresswoman, I know we have not seen
the budget yet, so I am not sure of the exact figures, but I
looked at the historical, we really relied on congressional
adds to fill the full requirement, and we greatly appreciate
that support.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Mrs. Kirkpatrick, do you have a follow up?
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you.
I yield back. No. Thank you.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Great.
Mr. Diaz-Balart and then Mr. Aguilar.
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman.
General, again, I would just add my words of gratitude to you
and to all of the guards, heroes who do an amazing job. So
thank you.
EXPENSES ON NON-TRADITIONAL ISSUES
A lot of the things that I was going to ask, Madam
Chairwoman, have already been covered, which is good, but I do
want to ask a couple things. I am concerned, as was said before
by the ranking member, that the Guard usually pays the bills if
there are reductions to be had.
One of the areas that I think it would be interesting just
to know if and how much you are spending is on nontraditional-
related Guard issues? And what I mean by that, for example,
environmental expenses. If you are on alternative fuels, on
climate change, that kind of stuff? It would be great to have
an accounting of how much you all are spending on that kind of
thing just to know. Because there is so many different buckets
of that and how much you are foreseen to spend in the next
year. That is point number one.
EXTREMISM
Point number two, on the issue of extremism, which I think
is a crucial issue. I would argue that, obviously, you know,
Communism, Marxism whether it is the North Korean model, the
Chinese model, the former Soviet model, the Cuban model, the
Venezuelan model, is obviously an extremist ideology, and I
don't think anybody would disagree with that.
So the question I think it was--I don't know who it was who
asked you how the military is now defining extremism. Is a
group that claims to be--their leadership claims to be trained
by Marxists, would that be considered an extremist
organization? I just am curious to know if Marxism is one of
those groups, one of those ideologies, which obviously is a
dangerous anti-American ideology that you are also looking at
and considering to be extremists. If so, great. If not, why
not?
And so, as I said, Madam Chairwoman, a lot of my questions
were already asked on the budgetary issues. So, we are all
being really well behaved, Madam Chairwoman, and we are all
returning time, which is kind of unusual. And I will lead by
doing that as well.
I yield back. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
And Mr. Diaz-Balart, I think you ask a really good question
as did Mr. Calvert. The definition needs to be universal, well
understood, and meet the needs of protecting our Constitution
and protecting our democracy. So, what does extremism mean? I
really appreciate the discussion that we are starting to have
about that, and I hope the authorizers are having it as well.
Mr. Aguilar, and then, Mr. Ryan, if you are still
available, could your staff let us know?
And then, after Mr. Ryan, it would be Ms. Kaptur.
Mr. Aguilar.
WILDFIRES
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Madam Chair and Mr. Ranking Member
and General Hokanson.
Just following up on my friend from Florida and my
colleague from California, the ranking member, I think that
those are fair questions to ask the Secretary when he comes
before us as well as he details and as the Pentagon details the
definition for extremism.
General Hokanson, in your testimony, you highlighted that
Guard members have fought fires over 9 million acres in 2020.
In my home State of California, the National Guard has become a
key player in fighting wildfires, and this has been especially
true during this fire season that is very untraditional now and
is extended basically throughout the year.
What resources does the National Guard require in the
upcoming fiscal year to continue to support efforts to combat
wildfires in the West and respond to other natural disasters?
General Hokanson. Congressman, when I look at the fires and
having grown up in that area, when we look at the scope and
scale, it is really almost unprecedented. We look back in
history; I think it was over 10 million acres were burned this
past year. And so, one of the most important things we look at
is the use of our C-130s with the MAFFS or the Mobile Airborne
Fire Fighting System. And we really appreciate the add last
year to allow us to buy the first two of what we determined as
eight is a requirement to be upgraded, and there are six
additional systems at a cost of $60 million that would allow us
to equip all of our C-130 MAFFS aircraft to continue to fight
forest fires.
Aside from the MAFFS aircraft, we also use our MQ-9s or
unmanned aerial systems for fire mapping, which is extremely
helpful, not only for our folks but also in terms of the Forest
Service and also the State forest managers.
We also use a lot of our helicopters as well, and so we
often use our NGREA funding to buy additional buckets or
firefighting equipment related to that. We also do train ground
crews as well, and we equip those locally within the State.
Those are also assets that we can provide. And as you
mentioned, we look at it more now as a fire year no longer a
fire season, and one initiative that we did start this year is
we had a firefighting symposium earlier this year, and we are
starting to look at it more like hurricanes where we meet and
do an all-hazards conference in New Orleans every year. This
year we did it virtually, but we recognized all the States that
may be impacted and potential capability shortfalls within
their State either because units may be deployed, or they just
don't have that capability. And now we are looking at doing the
same in the Western and all those States that suffer from
forest fires to help identify if those helicopters are being
mobilized, like Washington and California this year, to
identify and train those air crews prior to season so if there
is an additional need in any of the States, they know exactly
where they will draw those from and hopefully minimize the
impact of those fires.
Mr. Aguilar. Thanks, General.
COVID-19 VACCINES
One last question. Early in the pandemic, we all know that
the Guard was instrumental in the supply chain logistics to
ensure that front-line workers had the supplies that they
needed, and recently the Guard has helped administer over 6
million COVID-19 vaccines to Americans across the country.
Here in the West, we know that the Guard has played a key
role at Cal State Los Angeles at vaccination sites as well. As
we continue to vaccinate millions of Americans, what do you
foresee the role of the Guard in supporting and combating the
pandemic and as that changes?
General Hokanson. So, Congressman, I am actually happy to
announce, we went over 10 million shots this morning, and that
is a great testament to our cooperation with all of the local
communities and the support that we get. And it is a very
interesting question, so I want to go back to the first time
that the adjutant general from Washington State mentioned that
they had an outbreak in one of their long-term care facilities.
What we have done and how we have supported our communities
continues to evolve, and I think it is the great relationship
and partnership we have with our local communities that help
identify those needs that we can fill in the short term until a
community can develop the capability to meet that.
So, going forward, I am sure that we will continue to help
with vaccination efforts as long as needed. And then, you know,
just depending on what the future holds, we will be ready there
to meet whatever our committees ask of us.
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, General.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. Great questions.
Mr. Ryan.
IMPROVING THE GUARD
Mr. Ryan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I appreciate, General, great to see you. After a ton of
phone calls, it is good to at least see you live and in person.
I appreciate your leadership. Thank you for everything post-Jan
6. You were showing an enormous amount of leadership. So I
think, on behalf of everyone, we just want to say thanks to you
and all the men and women who were here from around the country
to help to make sure that the Inauguration and we were able to
get our house in order here a little bit. So I want a special
thanks to you for all of your leadership.
Two quick questions. A lot has been covered that I wanted
to ask as well. Representative Palazzo and I, we have
introduced legislation that provided a tax credit to small
businesses that employ members of the Guard. We are getting
ready to introduce a bill that would provide special and
incentive paid parity to both the Guard and the Reserve, and I
also believe that the restoration and maintenance backlog is
extremely important.
Is there anything else we can do, this subcommittee can do,
to help the Guard perform its mission? I know you touched on
healthcare piece as well with recruitment and retention and all
of that.
General Hokanson. When I look at that, I know we have
touched on a lot of these already. The TRICARE Reserves Select
or healthcare I think for all of our servicemembers who serve
in uniform would be critically important. Also, and I know you
touched on it, the FSRM, additional funding for our facilities.
Many of those are extremely old. In fact, I think over 30
percent of our Army National Guard armories are over 60 years
old. So additional help there.
And then, lastly, I would say full-time support. We are in
a very good place with the Air National Guard. We are about 30
percent of our force is full time. On the Army National Guard,
our full-time support is about 16 percent, but more concerning
is it is only about 64 percent of what the established
requirement is. And so, any additional funding we could get to
support our full-time support within the Army National Guard
would really help us become more efficient and I think
effective with the resources we are given.
MENTAL HEALTHCARE
Mr. Ryan. Okay. Quickly too, General, and I know you
touched upon this, and I hope you can get in a little bit more
detail. I know you implemented several initiatives related to
issues around mental healthcare and the Guard. Can you explain
a little bit more about these programs and speak as to whether
or not you have the resources you need to make sure our members
of the Guard are taken care of from a mental health side and a
mental health promotion side? Are we doing enough in training
to promote the kind of resiliency and, you know, the other
issues around mental health that maybe we can take care of with
regard to some of the training?
And I know some of these, you know, it is hard to unpack,
some of these from issues around finance and stress and
personal life and a lot of the other things that are going on,
but if you can expand on that a little bit.
General Hokanson. Yes, sir.
If you go back to my priorities as the chief, my number one
priority is people, followed by readiness, modernization, and
reform. And throughout that you will see we have really, as I
came on board, we have taken our warrior resilience and fitness
throughout the organization and consolidated it into a
directorate.
Because what we found was really silos of excellence but
not a lot of crosstalk. And we felt that there were things in
certain areas that could apply to other when it comes to any of
these concerns that our people face.
But one specific program I can talk about is a SPRING
program, and what it does is it takes data analytics from
across the country, I think down to county level, and looks at
the various risk factors.
And we are trying to get it, to use it as a predictive
analysis of certain areas of the country that may be stressed
more than others, and to make the chain of command aware so
that they can look for any symptoms within their organization
that we could address in advance or preemptively before it is
too late.
Mr. Ryan. I would love to see that data once you get it.
That would be very interesting for us to know.
One of the things we are working on, too, is to try, across
the board in the military, is get a better sense of the adverse
childhood experiences. The data on this is incredible as a
predictor of behavior, probably of things like post-traumatic
stress and other things that happen based on how many adverse
childhood experiences you have had.
And so, we have that knowledge now. Why wouldn't we want to
understand more about that with the men and women who are
serving?
I appreciate it. Yes, when you get that data let us know.
And thank you so much for all your leadership. We appreciate
you, General. Thank you.
General Hokanson. Thank you, sir.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Ms. Kaptur.
STATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you, Madam Chair, very much.
General Hokanson, it is great to see you again. And I hail
from northern Ohio, Toledo to Cleveland. Thank you for
everything that you have done to help us with this pandemic
situation and also on January 6.
I want to draw attention to a few areas. Number one, your
State Partnership Program, which I fully support. I would
appreciate a 1- or 2-page summary on what we could do to expand
and improve that program based on your vast experience. Our
region is connected to Hungary and to Serbia, and we have
issues in Hungary. I would be very interested in
recommendations you might have.
I helped found and co-chair the Hungarian Caucus in the
Congress, and we would look for recommendations there, if
possible.
YOUTH CHALLENGE
Number two, in the area of Youth Challenge. Thank you so
very much for expanding that reach across our country. Again, I
would like a report there.
In Ohio, we have tried to stand up a Youth Challenge, the
only one that is being anticipated of being established in
Ohio. I have talked to General Harris. We can't seem to lift
that off the ground. Could somebody in your staff please tell
me what is missing, why we can't do that?
And also, thank you for your help on STARBASE. I support
your efforts there very much.
MILITARY MEDICINE
I wanted to ask your recommendations in two areas on a
cross-government approach to two challenges. One, Congressman
Ryan and others have talked about military medicine.
I am very interested in a cross-government approach from
the military in a region like I represent where I have many
Guard and Reserve units who either have their command
structures in the State capital or an adjoining State.
I have pieces of the dream in the region, and as I try to
address issues like trauma and psychiatric care, it becomes
very difficult.
For example, we worked for years to place a Guard unit next
to the only teaching hospital in the entire northern quarter of
Ohio, northwest quarter of Ohio. And it was all set to go, and
we ended up with an MP unit next to this medical hospital.
It is like, if I am trying to help military medicine as
well as civilian medicine, how did that happen? I wish somebody
in your command structure could explain that to me.
I very much would like to have a medical unit there because
we are very, very, I think, short in the military in terms of
medical backup, and it has been almost impossible to achieve.
TRANSPORTATION MANUFACTURING AND NEW ENERGY AGE
The other thing I wanted to ask about was a cross-
government approach using the Guard, but not only the Guard, on
what we are about to endure in this region with the
transformation of our transportation manufacturing and the move
to a new energy age. If we don't do this right, we could end up
like Appalachia.
And I support and chair an energy committee in the
Congress, but I am very concerned about the way this is going
to play out.
And I think the military, with the units that are here
through the Guard, we have an air base with F-16s, we have a
Reserve base with transport companies, we have an MP unit with
transport, I think the Guard could become a showcase for new
age energy vehicles.
And I would like to challenge you, as we face this across
the industrial heartland, to think about a way of becoming a
star show, where you are able to showcase vehicles, invite the
community, show what is happening in the military with a lot of
the new inventions that are occurring.
And I just wanted to throw those at you. I don't expect you
to answer this. You can comment today. But on our State
Partnership Program, on Youth Challenge, on medical backup in
the military, and then an enlarged role for the Guard, and then
on a cross-government approach to new vehicular manufacturing
and the development of innovation, what role might you play?
Thank you.
General Hokanson. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. McCollum. General, does that mean you are going to get
back to Ms. Kaptur, everything in writing, or do you want to
take a minute?
General Hokanson. Ma'am, we actually have that all written
down by staff. I have got one person here helping me do that.
And we will definitely follow up on all of those, ma'am. Thank
you for those questions.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you very much.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Ms. Kaptur.
Ms. Kaptur. I yield back my additional time.
COVID-19
Ms. McCollum. So, General, before we turn to the second
panel, there are a couple things that we are going to be
submitting to the committee for you to answer.
One of them is a little more information on COVID-19. We
would be interested in knowing who has received the vaccine,
what have been the impacts of some of your training efforts
over the past year, and then whether or not the pandemichas
made it more difficult to execute funding, particularly since
military personnel and operation and maintenance dollars are 1-
year funding.
WORKFORCE AND CYBERSECURITY
And then workforce. It has been a big issue that is going
to come up in the service and in the private sector when it
comes to cyber. So we are going to follow up with some
questions about asking what you are doing to recruit people
from Active-Duty service when they leave to maybe join the
Guard and providing some of the cybersecurity units that we are
looking at, how the training has been going, do you have enough
trainers available.
C-130 PLAN
And then a final question that we have. The Air Force, as
you know, is planning on divesting its C-130 National Guard
wings, the aged C-130s, and replacing them with National Guard
cyber units known as Information Warfare Wings, primarily on a
Title 10 mission. So we have been trying to get some more
information as to what that looks like, what the costs are
going to be. And so we are going to follow up and ask you again
for that in more detail.
So, General, thank you for your time and your attention to
the committee's service. We wish you and those who serve under
you and their families all the best health and well-being and
thank them so much for their service.
Members, before we start the second panel, we are going to
do a short recess. You don't have to do anything. The technical
folks on the end are going to make sure that the next panel is
ready to go. So hang tight. It will only be maybe a minute or
less.
So for right now, we stand in recess until the call of the
chair.
[Recess.]
Opening Statement of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. We now moved to panel two, consisting of the
leaders of the Reserve Components: Lieutenant General Jody
Daniels, Chief of the Army Reserve; Vice Admiral John Mustin,
Chief of the Navy Reserve; Lieutenant General David Bellon,
Commander of the Marine Corps Reserve; and Lieutenant General
Richard Scobee of the Air Force Reserve.
I welcome all of you distinguished general officers to be
witnesses today and thank each of you for your service.
And before I turn over to the testimony, I would like to
recognize the ranking member, Mr. Calvert, for a brief remark.
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chair McCollum. In the interest of
time, I will keep my remarks brief. But I would like to welcome
our second panel of esteemed witnesses, particularly those who
are appearing before us for the first time.
Just as with the Guard, our Reserve Components have been
quite busy this year, especially as they serve tirelessly to
contribute to COVID-19.
I am interested to hear more about the needs facing each of
your services and what we as a subcommittee can do to help.
With that, Madam Chair, I will yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you so much, Mr. Calvert.
So I am going to ask you to please go through your
testimony in the order in which I introduced, and we will start
with the Chief of the Army Reserve.
Summary Statement of General Daniels
General Daniels. Chairwoman McCollum, Ranking Member
Calvert, distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of
the 200,000 soldiers and civilian employees of America's Army
Reserve, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
today and for your continued support for our soldiers,
families, and communities.
In an era of great power competition, the Army needs forces
able to compete with adversaries, respond to crises, win in
conflicts, and prepare for the future. That mission requires a
dedicated Federal Reserve force that is ready now and prepared
to meet the challenges of tomorrow. That force is the Army
Reserve.
Although the Army Reserve accounts for only 20 percent of
Army personnel, we contain nearly half of the Army's maneuver
support and a quarter of its force mobilization capacity at a
cost of just 6 percent of the total Army budget.
Over the last 3 years, the Army Reserve has focused on
rebuilding collective readiness to contend with a near-peer in
Large-Scale Combat Operations as we transform form multi-domain
operations. However, last year, like the rest of the world, we
encountered an unforeseen threat.
Our readiness paid dividends in unexpected ways. Within 24
hours of the President invoking involuntary mobilization
authority in response to COVID-19, the Army Reserve aggregated
critical medical capabilities and initiated one of the largest
domestic mobilizations in our history.
Within days, we assembled over 2,800 soldiers, including
1,200 healthcare professionals, and deployed them to crisis
zones around the country. To date, over 4,500 Army Reserve
soldiers have mobilized to support the Nation's COVID-19
response.
The Army Reserve continues to support COVID-19 response
operations while ensuring the readiness and training of our
soldiers and formations.
Early in the pandemic, we focused on individual readiness
and began using cloud-based tools to conduct virtual battle
assemblies, and we implemented control measures to decrease
risk during in-person gatherings.
Despite an uncertain training environment, the Army Reserve
has also continued to support combatant commanders. Since March
1, 2020, we have mobilized almost 18,000 soldiers in 268 units
to support operations around the globe.
We have also developed a readiness concept known as the
Army Reserve Mission Force, or ARM Force, to prepare our
formations for competition, crisis, conflict, and change, or
the four C's. The ARM Force nests under the Army's Regionally
Aligned Readiness and Modernization Model, or ReARMM, and
provides a commonsense framework to align resources across the
component and unit readiness skills.
The Army Reserve has created the 75th Innovation Command
[inaudible] And to leverage the vast subject matter expertise
gained through our civilian careers to assist Army Futures
Command in its mission.
Readiness and modernization, however, mean nothing without
the soldiers in our formations. Ready and resilient soldiers,
capable leaders, cohesive teams, strong families, and
supportive employers are the key to a ready and capable
Reserve.
We are aggressively addressing corrosives such as sexual
assault, sexual harassment, extremism, racism, and stressors
that are contributing to suicide that threaten to undermine our
ability to build cohesive, fit, and disciplined teams and are
counter to Army values and a culture of dignity and respect. We
are embracing and operationalizing the philosophy of ``This is
My Squad.''
Sustaining critical operational capabilities requires
consistent, adequate, and predictable funding to ensure the
Army Reserve can meet the needs of our Army and our combatant
commands across the full range of military operations. We are
grateful for consistent appropriations that positively impact
Army Reserve readiness and modernization efforts, including
support of the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account.
The future holds many challenges, but today's Army Reserve
is the best trained, best equipped, and striving every day to
be the most ready Army Reserve in our Nation's history.
With your continued support, we will continue to build our
strong foundation to meet the needs of the Nation and shape the
Army Reserve of tomorrow.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
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Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Summary Statement of Admiral Mustin
Admiral Mustin. Good afternoon, Chair McCollum, Ranking
Member Calvert, and distinguished members of the subcommittee.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is
my distinct honor to report to you on the status and the vision
of America's Navy Reserve.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize my wife
Kim, whose steadfast support through my three-decade Navy
career exemplifies the sacrifices and the service typical of
our military spouses.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Navy Reserve
Force Master Chief Chris Kotz, my partner and confidante, who
tirelessly advocates every day for our enlisted sailors across
the force.
Finally, I would like to recognize the 109,000 sailors our
nearly 500 dedicated civilians, and the families who support
them, as well as the thousands of employers who value and
enable the service of our citizen-sailors worldwide. They are
all stakeholders in the success of our Navy Reserve.
Your Navy Reserve sailors are flexible and responsive. This
past year, in response to the coronavirus-19 pandemic, the Navy
Reserve activated over 7,000 sailors in direct support of the
Nation's emergency response. I remain humbled by their agility,
their capability, and their sacrifices, as well as the enduring
support of their families.
The Navy Reserve is strategic. Aligned with the National
Defense Strategy, the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy, and the
Chief of Naval Operations' Navigation Plan, the Navy Reserve is
at an inflection point, pivoting to develop the essential
strategic depth necessary to support integrated, all-domain
Naval power.
This renewed focus will be critical to address the
aggressive behavior we experience daily from a rising China, a
resurgent Russia, and other authoritarian States who seek to
disturb the rules-based international order.
To this end, the singular priority of the Navy Reserve is
simple: warfighting readiness. Modernization of our equipment,
training systems, and mobilization processes will generate
efficiencies that enhance our contribution to the total force
at an attractive, resource-informed cost.
Your Navy Reserve sailors are operational. To ensure our
sailors are operating relevant, modern equipment, procurement
of the Juliet Variant to replace legacy C-130 aircraft is the
Navy Reserve's number one equipment priority. Given the Air
Force and the Marine Corps have already transitioned to the
Juliet, we are the sole service still flying the Tango
airframe, which pressurizes our supply chain.
With an average age approaching three decades and a
mission-capable rate of 25 percent, the current C-130 Tango
fleet is challenged to meet sustained fleet logistics
requirements.
The C-130 Juliet, on the other hand, with a mission-capable
rate of 75 percent, would provide an additional $200 million
per year in transportation cost savings to the Navy.
Similarly, modernization of the Navy Reserve's high end
Adversary aircraft is aligned with the Navy's divestment of
legacy F/A-18 Hornets. Increasing Navy Reserve capability and
capacity to support Navy Adversary requirements will extend
Active Component Strike Fighter service life while concurrently
enabling the dedication of precious fleet aircraft and flight
hours to fleet-specific operational missions.
The Reserve force prioritizes outcomes over activities. The
totality of the Navy Reserve modernization also includes
enhancing the processes and systems employed to mobilize our
sailors.
The first structural modernization since 9/11, Adaptive
Mobilization, will increase current activation capacity
fifteen-fold while reducing the mobilization timeline by 80
percent, effectively activating our entire force in 30 days.
Integral to this process is the implementation of the Navy
Personnel and Pay system, NP2, the most significant, important
administrative enhancement in decades, which will be fully
operational in January of 2022.
Navy Reserve sailors are one team. Central and vital to the
generation of critical enduring advantage are our people. The
Navy Reserve continues to forge a culture of excellence based
on the Navy's core values of honor, courage, and commitment,
and our core attributes, integrity, accountability, toughness,
and initiative.
We are dedicated to fostering the diverse, inclusive
culture that generates our decisive warfighting advantage. They
are a warfighting, winning team, and they are ready.
That said, delivering surge and warfighting-ready maritime
forces to the total force would be impossible without your
continued support. Timely delivery of a fiscal year 2022
appropriations bill will provide predictability to our sailors,
to their families, and to our global combatant commanders.
Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert, I remain humbled
every day by the commitment and contribution that I see in our
sailors, our dedicated civilians, and the supporting families
that collectively are your Navy Reserve. They all serve our
Nation with distinction every day, in every theater around the
globe, 24/7, 365. They are the sentinels of our security.
I thank you for your support and your attention, and I look
forward to your questions.
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Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
I know that the Air Force screen has gone blank again. I
know they are working on things. But we are going to hear from
the Marines next. Thank you.
Summary Statement of General Bellon
General Bellon. Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you today and to testify on behalf
of the Commandant of the Marine Corps about your Marine Corps
Reserve.
I am honored to appear with my fellow Reserve Component
service chiefs and my senior enlisted advisers, Force Sergeant
Major Carlos Ruiz, who is here with me today, and Force Command
Master Chief Carrie Weser.
The mission of the Marine Corps Reserve is to augment,
reinforce, and sustain the Active Component. We have Reserve
forces forward deployed alongside and integrated into their
Active Component counterparts, supporting numerous combatant
commander requirements on a daily basis.
Over the past year, more than 1,000 marines and sailors
from the Reserve Component activated and deployed to support 20
operational requirements across six geographic combatant
commands.
Despite the ongoing global pandemic, the Marine Corps
Reserve has continued to train, equip, and prepare for the next
fight, ensuring the safety of marines, sailors, and their
families during each in-person drill and exercise that was
conducted.
I want to thank each of the members for your support to the
Marine Corps' Force Design Initiative over the past year. While
this has necessitated the closure of our Reserve tank units and
bridging companies, we could not have begun our transition to a
more nimble and lethal force without your assistance.
I want to thank my fellow service chiefs, particularly the
National Guard, for their support. They have been tireless in
helping Reserve warriors find new places to serve during our
force design transition period.
I would also like to acknowledge Admiral Mustin and the
United States Navy Reserve For being an outstanding partner in
our ongoing effort to better integrate our Navy and Marine
Corps Reserve teams to ensure we are postured for the future
fight.
Despite the tremendous pressures and obstacles of COVID-19
that has presented, I am pleased to inform you that the morale
in your Marine Corps Reserve remains high, as evidenced by our
Reserve Component end strength maintaining 99 percent of our
total requirement. Not only are we attracting new Marines, but
they are also committing to service beyond their contractual
obligation.
On any drill weekend, an average of 25 percent of the
marines standing in formation are not contractually obligated
to be there. Every month, these marines have a decision to
make, and they choose to continue to serve with and lead their
fellow marines and sailors.
I am always impressed by the professionalism, competence,
dedication to duty, and motivation of our Reserve marines. The
way they balance family responsibilities, civilian careers, and
school with their military service is nothing short of
extraordinary. Like their Active-Duty brothers and sisters,
they serve selflessly to protect our great Nation. They
continue to answer their irrational call to serve.
As Secretary Austin highlighted, our most critical asset is
our people. The Marine Corps Reserve must promote and retain
the very best marines and sailors, regardless of race, gender,
ethnicity, or background. Through the diversity of thoughts and
actions, we can find more creative and innovative solutions to
future problems.
We are actively developing new initiatives and strategies
to help achieve a more diverse and, ultimately, a more talented
Marine Corps Reserve. We will need all the marines and sailors
to contribute to solving the increasingly complex problems that
we will face in the future.
I want to thank this committee for your continued support
to the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Appropriation. As
you may recall, last year I requested your support for my
effort to use NGREA funds to remedy the deficiency of
individual combat clothing and equipment with the Marine Corps
Reserve. As ICCE becomes more expensive in the future, a more
flexible NGREA is a key tool Congress can help employ to help
protect our warfighters.
In closing, I want to extend my gratitude for your ongoing
efforts to provide timely appropriations each year. This does
have a direct impact on your Reserve marines and sailors and
their limited number of training days.
Your continued support will help to ensure the Marine Corps
Reserve will have predictable and uninterrupted training
schedules to maximize personnel, materiel, and training
readiness.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here today, and I look
forward to your questions.
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Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert, it appears that Lieutenant General Scobee is
having problems getting his video up. If his audio is working,
are you comfortable with him just giving his presentation
without a video?
Mr. Calvert. Sure. He can do it on the--on that. That is
great.
Ms. McCollum. Kyle, let's see if Lieutenant General Scobee
can hear and start his testimony.
General Scobee. Chair McCollum, I am having no trouble
hearing you. And I apologize. My video is frozen here. But
everybody else's appears to be working.
Ms. McCollum. We can hear you just fine, so please go
ahead, sir.
Summary Statement of General Scobee
General Scobee. Chair McCollum and Ranking Member Calvert
and distinguished members of the subcommittee, it is an honor
for me to be here today with my other service counterparts and
to represent the airmen of the Air Force Reserve. I am joined
virtually by Chief Master Sergeant Tim White, my senior
enlisted adviser.
As a command team leader, I am continually amazed at the
accomplishment of our Reserve citizen-airmen despite every
challenge that has emerged over the past year.
The Air Force Reserve is a cost-effective, accessible, and
ready force. We provide strategic depth with rapid surge
capability across every Air Force core mission set, and we do
so cost effectively because we are predominantly a part-time
force.
We are accessible as a force, contributing globally to the
joint force operations daily.
And finally, we are a ready force. When the Nation needed
rapid pandemic response, we had medical personnel on the ground
in New York and New Jersey within 48 hours.
We provide strategic depth for national defense while
operating on only 3 percent of the total Department of the Air
Force budget.
We are committed to attracting top talent by fostering a
culture of inclusion in which every airman is valued and can
thrive.
With Congress' assistance, we preserved pre-pandemic gains
in both individual and unit level readiness across the force
through innovations such as virtual training.
We have modernized key weapon systems, and we lessened the
critical manpower shortfalls we had been suffering through
previous years.
We increased our organizational effectiveness and enhanced
our ability to provide excellent care for our citizen-airmen
and their families through internal reforms and process
improvements.
The Air Force Reserve invests every congressionally enacted
dollar for maximum return. We are grateful for the $19.5
million we received in CARES Act funding which allowed us to
rapidly scale our telework capability to protect our workforce
during this pandemic.
We are also grateful for the continued direct hiring
authority for critical career fields. Last year, with this
authority, we significantly increased our Air Reserve
technician pilot manning from where it was at 75 percent to
today to 97 percent.
Our requested fiscal year 2022 budget will ensure the Air
Force Reserve meets the National Defense Strategy's objectives
with the multi-domain force that we need. We are in lockstep
with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's vision to
``accelerate, change, or lose.'' And, in order to do that, we
have to be able to compete with our Nation's adversaries across
the spectrums of conflict.
We must continue to capitalize on our readiness gains. We
diligently request only those funds we can execute. Our Reserve
Personnel Appropriations and operations and maintenance funds
drive our readiness. These accounts fund our training, our
flying hours, our mobilization requirements, our equipment
maintenance, and our salaries.
In particular, our flying hours and civilian pay programs
have taken considerable reductions in recent years, rightfully,
due to insufficient justification and an overestimation of the
funding requests that we needed. We have made significant
internal strides in adjusting these accounts. I look forward to
working with you to enhance readiness and reduce risk within
our fiscal year 2022 budget.
I also want to thank you for enabling access to TRICARE
Reserve Select, which we have heard a lot about today. We are
all in agreement this major legislative accomplishment will
offer affordable continuity of care for our members and their
families. However, the legislation currently does not go into
effect until 2030.
To improve our readiness and improve our Reserve force's
quality of life, I request your support for accelerated
implementation of funding of this healthcare access.
And one final area I would like to touch on is equipment
parity. We accomplish this primarily through the National Guard
and Reserve Equipment Appropriation, NGREA. It enables us to
modernize equipment, sustain our capability, and replace
obsolete equipment to maintain parity with our Active Component
when recapitalization is not feasible.
Parity is critical to seamless total force integration. We
remain grateful for these appropriations. I cannot overemphasis
how vital they are to our readiness. I appreciate your support
for NGREA now and in the future.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today
and for your steadfast support as we ensure the Air Force
Reserve remains prepared to defend our great Nation and the
American people. I look forward to answering your questions.
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Ms. McCollum. Thank you. You came in loud and clear.
It is my intention to save my question and kind of some of
the homework assignments that I gave the first panel at the
end. So, the order in which I am proceeding with, Mr. Calvert,
you help me if there are other members on your side who are
going to want to log back in. This is the order I would have it
be: Ms. Kirkpatrick, yourself, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Aguilar, Mr.
Cole, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Diaz-Balart, and then I would save my
summary questions for the end.
Okay. So, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, are you able to join us?
If not, the next Democrat, because I am going to go at the
end, would be Mr. Aguilar.
Ms. Kaptur, Would you like to start?
AIR FORCE AND CYBER RESERVISTS
Ms. Kaptur. In terms of the Air Force, General Scobee, I
wanted to ask you, relative to cyber reservists, do you look at
cyber as a growth area for the Air Force Reserve?
General Scobee. Congresswoman, that is absolutely what we
look at is in a growth area. The areas that we have really been
focusing on for the last almost decade now is cyber, ISR, and
space.
Cyber has been one of those growth areas. And, along in
concert with my other service chiefs that are here today, we
have been looking hard with General Nakasone on how we would
make sure that we are bringing in not only airmen and DOD
personnel that are great at cyber, but also those that we can
capture from the civil work that they are doing in their
communities as well.
I would say it is absolutely that way. And what we want to
do is make sure that we are meeting what General Nakasone needs
from us by bringing in the right skill sets at the right time.
DIVERSITY IN RECRUITMENT
Ms. Kaptur. All right. Are you looking in communities that
are diverse to recruit?
General Scobee. Yes, ma'am. Diversity is one of the
strengths of the things that we do in the Air Force Reserve. We
look across all communities.
What we try to do is bring in not only in the areas where
there is high potential for attracting cyber folks, and the Bay
area would be a good example of that, but also in communities
across our Nation where there are folks that have that talent
and the skill set that we need.
And then working with the rest of the services and the Air
National Guard, ensuring that we have cells of expertise where
we can bring in these folks so they don't have to travel so far
to be able to work with the military.
Ms. Kaptur. I would encourage you to take a look at the
180th Fighter Wing in Ohio and see what kind of a marriage you
might develop there. I appreciate your answer.
RUSSIA AND CHINA THREAT
And we don't have much time, so I have to go to Naval
Reserve here for a second and ask Vice Admiral Mustin.
In terms of the Naval Reserve, do you have to change
structurally because of the threats from Russia and China? And
I am particularly interested in Russia, not that I don't care
about China, but Russia is in my focus clearly with what is
happening right now.
And so, what resources will you require to meet the needs
of a new day on the sea?
Admiral Mustin. Thank you, ma'am, for the great question.
The short answer is, yes, we are changing. And it is not
just about Russia. I know that is your focus. But I would say
at a broader level, the transition from the global war on
terror to the great power competition environment requires us
to build new capabilities, often in areas that don't exist now,
as well as to build additional capability in those that exist
already.
Your great question to my colleague, Rich Scobee, about
cyber is, indeed, a growth area for us. That is an area that is
directly applicable across the Atlantic and looking at our
adversary, Russia.
We are also working very closely with our fleet commanders,
however, to determine what they need specifically from their
Reserve force. In general, it is surge capability and enduring
capability for command and control, as well as afloat and
expeditionary maintenance and restoring seagoing ratings to the
fleet.
The short answer is, yes, we are going to continue to
evolve, and that is, frankly, part of our initiative that
transitions us for GPC readiness.
As it relates to what we will require, I have presented to
our Vice Chief and our Chief of Naval Operations already a
multi-phase transformation which takes existing end strength
within the Reserve and divests legacy capabilities in lieu of
underwriting new capabilities. So, I can do this with the
existing end strength.
But there may be opportunities for us to grow the Reserve
force. That, however, is not a decision that is solely within
the Reserve. That is a Navy decision and a joint force
decision.
Together with my counterparts in the Reserve and the Active
Component, we will define the requirements wherein the Navy
Reserve can offer the best solution, and where so, we will
build new capabilities, and that----
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you. I have to interrupt you.
Admiral Mustin. Yes, ma'am.
MEDICAL NEEDS OF RESERVIST
Ms. Kaptur. Because I do have less than a minute left, and
I wanted to go to Army Reserve for a second, to General
Daniels, and to mention the 983rd Transport Company in Ohio.
By letter, could you let me know what I can do to build on
the capability there and to better serve those who served in it
medically?
General Daniels. Absolutely, ma'am.
Ms. Kaptur. Because the command structure is in Illinois,
the reservists are here in Ohio in the general Great Lakes
region. I am very interested in their medical needs, what more
you can tell me, what we can do to help them.
General Daniels. Yes, Congresswoman. We will take a look at
that and report back to you.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you very much.
And we have got 5 seconds we can yield back. Thank you,
Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert, and then Mrs. Kirkpatrick.
EXTREME WEATHER
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Madam Chair.
This is for General Scobee.
First, I want to thank the General and the 53rd Weather
Squadron. The Air Force Reserve Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
has been and continues to be looking into the atmospheric river
issue in California.
As you know, we are in a severe drought, and looking at the
forecast for those events is extremely important. And as you
observe and hopefully see weather storms coming our direction
that may form over the Pacific, it is critical for the State of
California. So I thank you for that mission.
ISR AND MQ-9
Going back to--you mentioned ISR. And I know the chair and
I listen to every combatant commander that comes before us, and
they always mention the need and the inadequacy of the existing
ISR that they have.
What is your current and steady state surge capacity with
the MQ-9 combat lines, and is that sufficient?
General Scobee. Ranking Member Calvert, thank you for your
appreciation of what we bring in our special missions from the
Air Force Reserve.
And to talk about what we are doing in particular with ISR
and the MQ-9 mission, right now we are purely in associations
where we supply manpower to the Active Component missions. We
have the surge capacity, both in special operations down at
Hurlburt Field, and also what we are doing out at Creech Air
Force Base in Nevada with missions across the spectrum.
We are currently manned to do everything that we need to do
to be able to produce currently four combat lines out of
Nellis--excuse me, out of Creech. We have the manpower there,
and we are doing really well with it. But we are folding in on
what the Active Component is in that association.
Mr. Calvert. Well, I know that at March Air Force Base, I
have been told that there have been delays at the operations
center there. Do you have the pilots you need? Do you need any
contracting support? Or do you think you have adequate----
General Scobee. So, at March Air Reserve Base, it is
actually the Air National Guard MQ-9s that are stationed there.
We are the support unit for that organization.
Mr. Calvert. Right, but you coordinate with them.
General Scobee. Yes, sir, we do.
And so, right now I am unaware of any limitations that are
occurring at March. And what we will do is we will take it for
the record, and I will get my staff to look at what support is
needed and if we are not providing what will get them the lines
that they need to be able to accomplish.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. I look forward to hearing from you on
that.
DEMAND FOR CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONALS
On the cyber issue, I am going to come back to that.
Obviously, that is one of our biggest challenges. And I just
recently cosponsored a bill, as you may know, to establish the
Civilian Cybersecurity Reserve Program to provide the
Department of Defense with cybersecurity-trained civilian
personnel to ensure the U.S. Government has the talent needed
to address cyber.
Obviously, I know that it is a challenge to get people who
are trained in that because there are so many opportunities in
the private sector, and obviously it pays well. We have to be
extra vigilant to try to find young people who want to serve
this country.
I guess this is for everybody, Generals, Admiral. The
demand for cybersecurity professionals, I know, well outpaces
the current inventory. Could you share with the subcommittee
some of the initiatives that you are pursuing to recruit some
of the most talented individuals, obviously with the skill sets
you are going to need in the future?
General Daniels. This is General Daniels. I can start, if
that is that okay.
Mr. Calvert. Sure.
General Daniels. Which is we have two initiatives. One is
to look at direct commissioning, so individuals can come in at
higher grades and have to go through lesser ranks to get
commensurate with where they are already performing on the
civilian side.
And then another initiative that we are taking is looking
at credentialing and giving credit for those things that they
already do on the civilian side, so they don't have to redo
that to be a part of the military force.
We are using those to leverage existing talents rather than
having to rebuild them.
Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
General Bellon. This is General Bellon. I can answer.
We are taking a little bit of a different model. So, what
we have, our access is to 100,000 young people who have already
screened and become marines. They have already earned the
title. They usually demonstrate an exceptional growth and
aptitude, personal discipline, and personal development while
they are with us.
We look at those 100,000 souls, and we see potential. And
we are looking at a program that will help us build--I think it
was another member of the panel that asked the question about
how do you diversify that group of cyber professionals.
Well, we take a warrior first. And then, if they have the
aptitude over an arc of 10 to 20 years, we can build the skills
to fight in that particular domain.
Candidly, it is much easier for us to make a cyber
professional than it is to make a bona fide marine.
So we are taking young people that have demonstrated the
aptitude to be marines first, enabling a greater opportunity to
diversify our warrior population, and build that capability
over a period of decades instead of a 3- or 4-year hitch and
then they are out to the next contract.
Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, General.
Admiral, anything?
Admiral Mustin. Similar to Lieutenant General Daniels, and,
frankly, with Lieutenant General Bellon, we are pursuing a
number of traditional and nontraditional approaches to tap into
this absolutely critically important talent pool.
Another way that we are trying to tap into the investments
that we have made as a service is through the creation of a
full-time support community wherein Active-Duty sailors can
transition to Reserve support but maintain their credentials
and provide that benefit directly to the cyber forces.
We work closely with our Recruiting Command, but also
within our own service to tap into that talent.
MODERNIZATION
Mr. Calvert. Yeah. Good. Thank you.
Another subject and a comment, and I will be talking to the
chair about this. Obviously, modernization. For a number of
years, the subcommittee has made efforts to ensure that the
Reserve Components are not forgotten as we work to modernize
our military forces. And I know that all of you want to be on
par with the Active force. And so please let us know in advance
what your needs are so we can stay up with that as we go
through this budget process.
IMPACTS OF EVENTS TO THE GUARDS AND RESERVIST BUDGET
One last thing. As you know, we have had a lot of
challenges this year. Obviously, the biggest is COVID, and not
to mention with the Guard's commitment to security at the
Capitol and what is going on with the border, et cetera, et
cetera. And we don't want to be taking that out of your budget
for this year.
And so I don't know, Chair, if we are going to be--what the
mechanism is going to be with this, but, obviously, we are not
going to be doing an appropriation bill, I suspect, any time
soon. I hope there is some plan maybe to do a supplemental of
some sort to pay back these extraordinary costs that are going
into these various functions that weren't planned for in the
beginning.
Ms. McCollum. Great point. And that is one of the cleanup
things I am going to be asking for at the end, Mr. Calvert,
their status on COVID, as I did with the National Guard and you
and I have both been doing with the Active Duty. Thank you for
your questions.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Mrs. Kirkpatrick, and then Mr. Cole.
FUTURE PLANS FOR AIRCRAFT
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so
much.
My question is for General Scobee.
I was happy to hear that the Air Force Reserve was standing
up a new Reserve wing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. I know
Davis-Monthan and its 1,300 Reserve airmen are glad to have the
administrative support on the base, and they look forward to
welcoming the new organization.
Focusing on your efforts to maintain and improve your
fleet, our subcommittee's fiscal year 2021 bill restored funds
for the A-10 and the KC-135 for the Air Force Reserve. After
they were scheduled for divestiture by the Air Force, you
discussed the need to synchronize both modernization efforts
and divestment with the Active-Duty Component.
Can you advise the committee on the impact of these funds
and what future plans the Air Force has advised for
transitioning to other air frames?
General Scobee. Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, thank you for
your question, because it is so vital to us that we do set up
an organization to make sure that our airmen and their families
are cared for. So, Davis-Monthan is very important to us.
The second part of your question, which has to do with the
A-10s and with the KC-135. Right now we have the funding, and
across our Air Force it is about the balance between what are
some of the legacy systems that we have to ensure that we have
the capability and capacity to fight the wars the American
people will need us to fight, and then also, what is our
ability to modernize and bring in new systems that are going to
be able to take us through the really high end fights that we
need to be able to be capable of doing.
The funds that we have for the A-10 and the KC-135 are
critical to ensure that as we transition this, which will be in
the 2030 timeframe based on what the Air Force's plan is
currently, is that we will need to make sure that the wings
that haven't been upgraded continue to be upgraded. And then
the weapon systems on the A-10 in particular will continue to
evolve and do everything they need to be able to do.
On a KC-135, our oldest tanker, that is the same thing, and
really what it comes to with real-time information in the
cockpit so that the situational awareness of our tanker crews
has increased dramatically. And that is the thing that we are
modernizing within our tanker fleet.
Make no mistake, we will have to keep these weapon systems
on point until the replacements come. Right now, there is
robust planning for both strategically with our tankers to
transition from older KC-135s and KC-10s into the KC-46, but it
will be a combination of 135s and KC-10s in order to take us
forward.
And the same thing as we move from older weapons systems to
newer ones. The Air Force is keeping the Reserve in lockstep
with what we are doing to go forward to improve and replace the
older equipment with new equipment.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you, General. Thank you for your
answer. This is really important to me and important to my
district, of course. And so we are tracking this, just so you
know. And if there is anything we can do to help you, please
let me know.
And with that, Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Next up is Mr. Cole, then Mr. Aguilar, then Mr. Diaz-
Balart. And it appears that Mr. Ryan has joined us again.
So, Mr. Cole.
CHALLENGES FOR RESERVIST
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
This question is really to all of our witnesses.
As the members of this committee know, I also sit on the
Labor-H Subcommittee of Appropriations. And it has been amazing
to me as we have dealt with everything from teachers to
researchers to you name it, everybody has been under enormous
stress because of COVID over this last year. And what we have
seen in profession after profession is an increase of
depression, mental illness, an increase of drug addiction,
alcoholism, all kinds of problems.
I am just curious if we have seen the same sort of
challenge to the respective Reserve forces that you deal with.
And if we have, what are the measures that you are taking to
try and help those people in your force that, again, have
fallen victim to what has really been a very difficult disease
for us to deal--a virus, excuse me--for us to deal with in this
country?
I can start with any of them, Madam Chair.
So if someone wants to take a crack at it, I would be very
interested in any response.
Ms. McCollum. That is a fabulous question.
Please, all of you, answer in whatever order you wish.
General Bellon. Sir, this is General Bellon. I will start.
For us, we have a disproportionately young force. What we
realized at the end of last spring was that the continued
isolation that our young marines and sailors were dealing with
as a result of COVID and the lack of training, that aggregate
of risk was greater to us than actually the return to training.
By that, I mean we have professional responsibilities to
generate specific combat power for the Nation in time of
crisis. But also, if you put yourself in the boots of those
young marines and sailors, they thrive on the community that
they have elected to join.
And so we began to return to in-person drills and full
training as early as last May. And what we have found is the
units that had been the most aggressive with that and the most
engaged, kneecap to kneecap, intimate leadership, have done the
best in regards to mental resiliency and morale, which I guess
is no surprise, right?
And so we have really done the best we can to collect
information as the environment has evolved around us and to
empower our subordinate leaders. And for those units, the young
warriors are thriving.
Hope that answers your question, sir.
Admiral Mustin. I will build on this, too, to say, not
surprisingly, that like the rest of society, the Navy Reserve
has dealt with the impacts of COVID and what that means for
travel and engagement and interaction and connectedness.
That said, the Navy has a number of programs that are built
specifically to address our mental resiliency. Our Sailor
Assistance and Intercept for Life, we call it SAIL, is one.
But even within the Reserve force, our team within a team
here, we developed a Psychological Health Outreach Program we
call PHOP that is unique to the Reserve force to reach out and
have one-on-one interactions to ensure that our sailors are
getting support and access to the services they need if they
have questions or note behavior that differs from the norm,
either in themselves or in others.
We are really trying to demystify the notion of reaching
out for help in that outreach, and I think that what I can tell
you is our sailors are very resilient.
Over.
Mr. Cole. Terrific. Thank you, Admiral.
General Daniels. From the Army side, in the Army Reserve,
we did see a slight increase in suicides last year. We are not
seeing that same trend this year. We are back to the prior year
values.
We did find that because we converted so quickly to an
online platform, which then allowed junior leaders to that
outreach to their squad and team members, that actually we
covered 6,000 of our nonparticipants by having that good
leader-soldier interaction with them.
So, of course, we want to get back to in person as soon as
possible, but this gave us another person-to-person contact
point that we had been lacking before.
The other thing that we did was we enabled--we put out a
policy that allowed the buddy to be able to go on a set of
orders to get paid if they saw their friend in crisis. So they
could go into a duty status to get them to the help they needed
as that good Samaritan assistance.
We gave the leader that tool to say, yes, your soldier is
helping another one, let's go ahead and make it financially
viable as well for their time. And we are also looking at
resilience, like the others, what else can we do, what more can
we enable.
So that is what we are up to.
Mr. Cole. Wow.
General Scobee. From the Air Force side, as you would
imagine and you would want, the four of us actually meet on a
regular basis, and this is one of the things that we talked
about in our last meeting.
I would say from my perspective, I am in lockstep with the
rest of my witnesses here. And in the Air Force Reserve, what
we have really focused on is the resiliency piece and how we
stay connected with our airmen.
As you can imagine, a predominantly part-time force, 75
percent of us being part-time, the rest of the job market that
is out there and the strain that is put on the airman has
actually compounded some of our problems.
What we have done, along with our command chief, is focused
on the resiliency piece, and we put together a resiliency
package. We put 45 full-time first sergeants, one in each one
of our wings, and that was in order to ensure that the airmen
always had a place to be connected to so they never felt like
they were by themselves.
The other thing that we did was add 10 full-time chaplains
to our formation, and that really gets after a lot of the
counseling and things that help our airmen cope with some of
the problems they are having. And then we capture that so that
we can give wing commanders feedback on what their formations
may be suffering from so they can be more proactive.
That is what we have done in the Air Force.
Mr. Cole. Well, thank you very much.
And thank you for the extra time, Madam Chair. I yield
back.
Ms. McCollum. No. Fabulous question.
Mr. Aguilar, then Mr. Diaz-Balart, followed by Mr. Ryan.
RECRUITMENT FOR CYBERSECURITY
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I just wanted to follow up a little bit on Ms. Kaptur's
question related to cyber.
Reservists are critical members of our military who supply
the DOD with valuable and reliable technical expertise,
including those who work in this field of cybersecurity. I have
consistently advocated for provisions that will diversify DOD's
cyber professionals and servicemembers.
I will ask the entire panel, and if we could start with
Lieutenant General Daniels. What efforts are conducted to
recruit those of diverse backgrounds to fulfill these cyber
missions?
General Daniels. Thank you, Congressman.
We go out to a number of different universities to make
sure that we are getting across the population. We are looking
at ROTC and other special scholarships similar to ROTC
scholarships out at some of these habitually underrepresented
populations to see if we can start in their ROTC pipeline, then
to bring them into the Reserve Component afterwards.
Mr. Aguilar. Vice Admiral.
Admiral Mustin. Well, similarly, our liaison with our
Recruiting Command leads us to find new and creative ways to
tap into this vein of expertise.
So, in some cases, the direct commission opportunities are
exposing us to folks without any military experience that we
can bring in at relatively senior levels so that they don't
have to start as an E-1 or O-1. So that is number one.
Secondly, we certainly are trying to create the incentive
packages that would drive those with the expertise in the
civilian sector into a career in uniform.
But then, as I mentioned before, thirdly, the most
beneficial way for us is to access Active-Duty sailors who are
transitioning into the Reserve Force so we make an appealing
and attractive offer to them as well.
Mr. Aguilar. Appreciate that.
Lieutenant General Scobee.
General Scobee. Thank you, Congressman.
I would say that all of our cyber airmen, both enlisted and
officer, are on our critical skills list. That makes them
eligible for bonuses and reimbursement for travel.
So, we go out to schools and places that may be harder to
get to, and we can recruit because we can bring them to where
we need to in order for them to serve their Nation.
The other thing is, in the 2018 National Defense
Authorization Act we were authorized to participate in being
able to give our airmen constructive credit for what they have
already done on their civilian side. So, we can do that in a
combination of education and experience that qualifies them to
commission into a rank up to 0-6, which was just discussed.
That is what we are doing in the Air Force.
Mr. Aguilar. Yes. I think that is critical. The direct
commissioning is, obviously, a tool that I think can be
enhanced and can help you. And, obviously, nothing is better
than getting folks in this field over to minority-serving
institutions and let those young people see what practitioners
do in the career fields that you folks have. So, to the extent
that you can continue to do that, that would be great.
I am sorry. Lieutenant General.
General Bellon. Yes. The first thing we did in 2018 was
build the Reserve structure of cyber defense companies within
the Marine Forces Reserve.
And that gave us an opportunity to first lateral move into
those structures currently serving reservists who have the
civilian expertise and begin to migrate them over to the unique
permissions and security clearances that are required to serve
within the Department of Defense.
It also gives us a chance to directly assess, as was
already mentioned, from the Active Component.
From my personal perspective, to get to the heart of the
question, is how do you provide this opportunity to a wider,
more diverse population? And that goes to my comments earlier.
We attract a lot of people into the Marine Corps that are
trying to overcome the circumstances that they were born into.
And what we discover is, if they have the heart and the
aptitude, they are exceptionally trainable.
And so, we look at it with a decades-long approach about
how do we empower them with the training and the specific skill
set that matches the character that they have already uncovered
in service as a marine.
And so that combination, I am quite certain by 2030, it is
a pillar of our force design, and that is how we are
approaching this, by looking at the talent that we already have
and providing them opportunity as we harvest the expertise that
already resides within the civilian professions in the service.
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you so much. Appreciate your answers to
that question.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
END STRENGTH NUMBERS FOR RESERVIST
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. Another great workforce question.
Mr. Diaz-Balart, and then Mr. Ryan, if he is still
available.
Mr. Diaz-Balart, you disappeared, or maybe he pushed the
wrong button, Mr. Calvert. Should I see if Mr. Ryan's available
and then go back?
Mr. Calvert. Sure. Go ahead.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Ryan, if you are available.
Is the staff checking with Mr. Diaz-Balart's office?
We are checking that right now.
While we are waiting, so I don't keep things going any
farther, let me ask my general question.
The combatant commanders and the Active Duty rely on the
Reserve Components to provide technical support and
capabilities--I mean, just everything--engineering, medical,
signals, maneuver support, help with military police, military
intelligence, civilian affairs capabilities. And it is not only
for here, but it is for abroad, too. So, it is a vast set of
skills that you are looking for.
In order to increase the overall Reserves' end strength,
that means we need to be increasing the capacity to generate
deployable soldiers, providing all these different enabling
capabilities to the total force.
Reserve units are primarily filled by traditional
reservists, members of the Selected Reserve who are usually
required to work one weekend a month, 2 weeks a year.
However, Reserve units are also staffed by full-time
civilian and/or military employees. These employees, known as
full-time support personnel, are assigned to organize,
administer, instruct, recruit, train, maintain supplies,
equipment, and aircraft, perform other functions as required on
a daily basis, and the execution of operational missions and
readiness preparations.
So, to all of you, what is your outlook for the overall end
strength numbers this year and next, and how will your troops
be utilized? Could you describe the importance of having the
full-time support as part of your mission? And do you have the
adequate level of full-time support you need in order to be
ready to fulfill a mission assigned to you?
And whoever would like to start first. I would like to hear
from all four of you.
Admiral Mustin. I will start then, ma'am. Thank you for the
great question.
The Navy Reserve has 10,000 full-time support sailors. We
currently are going through what I refer to as a rebalance to
determine where they are assigned and how they are being used,
given the definition that you described was my initial filter
on: That is why we have them, what are they doing.
In some cases I am beginning to maneuver where those full-
time support sailors are detailed in order to get after the
Reserve capabilities and depth that I described earlier, ala
distributed mobilization and activation.
Critically important for me to use those FTS sailors to
enable that function. And that is why I am distributing them
now to large Navy operation centers and regions and our
operational units to enable that. So that is number one.
Back to your question about do we have adequate numbers.
There is a standard POM rigor, the annual budget rigor that
looks at requirements related to Active-Duty and Reserve force,
and then we come up with what is the optimal way to solve
against the requirement.
I would tell you that right now our end strength is where
we want it to be. However, I would offer that in 2023 and
beyond there is a likelihood that we could see an increase as
we divest legacy Active end strength and then recapitalize
those at a fraction of the dollar for the Reserve force.
Over.
General Daniels. Sir, this is General Daniels. I will
follow on if that is okay.
So, again, we are looking at what forces do we need for the
future fight, what sort of capabilities will we need in 2028
and 2035, how will that mesh with the Active-Duty resources and
capabilities, what percentage should be in the Reserve versus
Active, as the others have mentioned.
Our end strength is looking fairly good. We are probably a
little light and we are taking some aggressive measures through
the rest of this year to get us at full strength.
Like the others, we would probably appreciate additional
full-time personnel to help with that readiness, help with that
myriad of activities that you mentioned, particularly as we get
into more and more technical fights in the future.
We are at about 13, 14 percent full-time support and a
proportion of that is our military technicians. We continue to
look at our resources, make sure we are replacing them, like
the Navy, in all the right places to have the maximum
effectiveness and efficiency.
Ms. McCollum. Air Force and Marines want to add anything?
General Scobee. Chair McCollum, it is General Scobee from
the Air Force.
And very similar to my counterparts, we are in the same
way. Our end strength is looking very good this year. Our
recruiting and retention efforts have been going really well.
Our loss rate for our component is about 10 percent and
normally historically it runs about 11 percent. So, we have
seen a boost, basically, from what has been going on with
COVID.
Our full-time support is based on two things, and you
articulated it correctly. It is requirements based on our
mission that we are going to do and our care for our airmen and
to make sure that we do that.
In general, as we go through the programming cycle, we will
need some more full-time support, but what we are trying to do
is balance that full-time support with what we have in our
part-time force because that is the savings.
You know, we are the best value approach to defense. We are
so much less expensive than a full standing force because of
those part-time people that we have that we need to take a very
measured approach to be able to give the American people the
greatest combat capability we can at the least burden to our
taxpayers.
We study that on a regular basis and do manpower studies to
see what that full-time support is needed. But I can tell you,
because of what has been going on especially over the last 4 or
5 years, we definitely could use some more full-time support in
order to make sure that we are getting after the administration
that we need for our airmen.
And that is all from the Air Force.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Last, but never least, the Marines.
General Bellon. Our model is a little different, probably
no surprise. We don't have full-time support. We actually
rotate Active-Duty Marines into the Reserve Component. We refer
to them as inspector instructors.
And the idea there is that they bring in the most current
tactics, techniques, and procedures that are learned as the
Marines are operating globally back into the Reserve Component,
and they teach and instruct. And they also provide the
sustained care and feeding of any Reserve unit.
And that is true in every single unit of employment we
have. That model has worked well for us for decades and it
still continues to work well.
I think to get to some of your questions, as we acknowledge
that we are moving deeper and deeper into the information era,
how will we structure our units to maybe more efficiently blend
Active and Reserve for sustained operations.
And I think that in this particular domain, in the
information era, whether it is space or cyber, there are things
that are required globally 24/7, like [inaudible], ISR, and
other things.
Our Fourth Marine Air Wing has operated for years with a
significant percentage of Active-Duty structure within the
Reserve structure, and that gives us a responsiveness and a
capability that is unique and very cost-effective.
I think my hunch is professionally that those same models
will apply in space and cyber in the years to come, and we are
already looking at some of the designs to do that.
Ms. McCollum. Well, thank you. And as the Marine Corps
rolls out its 2030, that will also be part of a discussion I
think, too, about the Reserves.
Mr. Diaz-Balart, my understanding, Mr. Calvert, is having
computer issues. I am going to go to Mr. Ryan. And if Mr. Diaz-
Balart comes back, we will definitely include anything he might
want to add himself or we will submit it for the record.
Mr. Ryan.
IMPROVEMENTS TO RESERVE STATIONS
Mr. Ryan. Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate it. Cue the
dogs up. They haven't barked all afternoon until I turned off
my mute.
Thank you. It has been a great hearing.
General Scobee, I appreciate you being so attentive to us
in Ohio. I wanted to ask you how important it is that we have
continued improvements, including the widening of an assault
strip and the construction of an unpaved assault runway, these
improvements to occur at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
Are these improvements necessary to ensure that the station
is able to execute the aerial spray mission, the only such unit
in the military capable of performing what we believe is a
critical mission for us?
General Scobee. Thank you, Congressman Ryan.
A very interesting mission. Aerial spray has been critical
to the things we have done, especially after hurricane relief.
But, in particular, widening the runway and the assault
strip that we are putting in at Youngstown Air Reserve Station
are critically important for two reasons.
One is, the mission that Youngstown does with tactical
airlift outside of aerial spray as well is critically
important. And not only that, but it is a regional center of
excellence for being able to do those things. And it is not
just the C-130, it is also our C-17 assets as well.
So this, widening the assault strip and adding the assault
strip, are going to be two major things that we are going to
improve in order to bring better readiness and better
capability across the Air Force, not just the Air Force
Reserve.
MENTAL HEALTHCARE
Mr. Ryan. Great. Appreciate that.
We talked when you were in town a lot about mental health
and mental health promotion. Can you talk a little bit about
some of the efforts General Hokanson talked a little bit about,
the efforts that he is implementing that are specific to the
National Guard? What specific efforts have you engaged in, in
the Air Force Reserve, to address this critical issue?
General Scobee. Congressman Ryan, we are taking a holistic
look at comprehensive airman fitness, and this is a critical
piece of what that entails, because it is not just what has
occurred with our airmen since they have been part of our
formation, since they entered the Air Force, it is also what
has happened to them throughout their lives.
And so, what we are trying to do is make sure that we are
bringing all these things into looking at what we can do for
our airmen. We just hired an additional ten therapists that
will help us get after that resiliency piece, and they are
full-time people that sit in our organizations in order to help
assess our airmen when they are having difficulty.
I would say we are in lockstep with where the Air Force is
going. But as you also saw, the Guard has been very
instrumental in this as well.
So all of us are working together in order to make sure
that we are bringing in the right people, the right resources,
and looking at our airmen not just while we have them, but it
is everything, while they are in their civilian employment,
what they did as children growing up, all those things that
make them who they are.
Mr. Ryan. Yeah. I appreciate that. And we are having lots
of discussions across the military now.
And you mentioned just growing up. The research behind
adverse childhood experiences and that effect on kids long-term
and really being a predictor of addiction or post-traumatic
stress or other kinds of sicknesses, we could almost find out
who is more susceptible if we take a little bit of time on the
front end to understand what maybe they have gone through as
kids.
I am working to try to get a comprehensive assessment done
as people come into the military to really try to understand.
And that can help with placement, too. There will maybe be
certain people you don't want to place into combat, but can
serve the country and the military in another substantial way.
I am glad you are talking about it. I appreciate your
leadership. You know I love you and everything you are doing.
So just keep it going and let us know how we can continue to
help you and just keep up the great work.
General Scobee. Thank you, Congressman Ryan.
Closing Remarks of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. Well, thank you so much.
So, Mr. Calvert, it does not appear that Mr. Diaz-Balart
will be able to join us back again. But I just want to point
out, he is one of the early birds, always on right away when
these start. So I am extremely disappointed for him that we
don't have his question, but we will get it to the committee
members.
So some followup. We are going to follow up as we did with
the first panel on COVID, workforce development, with cyber,
and also with being able to retain pilots.
Healthcare. We are going to be having a hearing on
healthcare, and you will be able to maybe help our committee as
we prepare for that hearing.
And then extremism, as it has come up. What is the
definition of that? What does it mean? And we need to have
uniformity as to what that means in the Reserve, in the Guard,
and in our Active Duty. So it is very important that we get
that right, we get that right the first time.
I want to thank everybody. Everybody had some technical
difficulties this time, from tires to video not working to
computers--I won't say blowing up, but not cooperating at the
end. So I thank the panelists and I thank all the committee
members for their patience during that.
To the four of you who testified today, thank you all so
very much for your service. Thank you for the support of your
families while you go through serving our country. We know that
it is a family effort, it is a team effort to make it an
American effort to protect our national security.
And so with that, I am going to adjourn the meeting. Thank
you again.
The meeting is adjourned.
[Answers to submitted questions for the record follow:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Wednesday, May 5, 2021.
FISCAL YEAR 2022 UNITED STATES ARMY BUDGET
WITNESSES
HON. JOHN E. WHITLEY, ACTING SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
GENERAL JAMES C. MCCONVILLE, CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE ARMY
Opening Statement of Chair McCollum
Ms. McCollum. This hearing will come to order.
This hearing is fully virtual, and we must once again
address some housekeeping issues.
For today's meeting, the chair or staff designated by the
chair may unmute participants' microphones when they are not
under recognition, for the purpose of eliminating background
noise.
Members are responsible for muting and unmuting themselves.
If I notice that you have not unmuted yourself, I will ask you
if you would like the staff to unmute you. If you indicate this
approval by nodding, the staff will unmute your microphone.
I remind all members and witnesses that the 5-minute clock
applies. If there is a technology issue, we will move to the
next member until this issue is resolved, and you will retain
the balance of your time.
And, Mr. Calvert and to the committee members, when we get
to questions, I am going to ask for your indulgence. We had a
member who had their screen on the whole time--the whole time--
and then, when it was that individual's time to ask a question,
there was a total failure of the system, virtually and
audially, to let that person participate. So I want to do
something special for them today, but I will get to that with
questions. Just to put you on notice.
You will notice a clock on your screen that will show you
how much time is remaining. At 1 minute remaining, the clock
will turn yellow. At 30 seconds remaining, I will gently tap
the gavel to remind members that their time has almost expired.
When your time has expired, the clock will turn red, and I will
begin to recognize the next member.
In terms of speaking order, we will follow the order set
forward in the rules of the House, beginning with the chair and
the ranking member. Members present at the time when the
hearing is called to order will be recognized in order of their
seniority; and, finally, members not present at the time that
the hearing is called to order.
Finally, House rules require me to remind you that we have
set up an email address to which members can send anything that
they wish to submit in writing at any of our hearings or
markups. That email address has been provided to your staff.
So, with that, we will begin the hearing.
The Subcommittee on Defense is in order, and this afternoon
the committee will receive testimony on the posture of the
United States Army.
Our two witnesses are the Honorable John E. Whitley, Acting
Secretary of the Army, and General James McConville, Chief of
Staff of the Army. Both witnesses have long and distinguished
careers.
Secretary Whitley, this is your first time testifying
before the committee. The General has testified before the
committee before. We welcome both of you to be with us today.
And while we enjoy the strong working relationship we have
with both of you, I would be remiss if I didn't commend
President Biden for his recent nomination of Christine Wormuth
to be the first female Secretary of the Army. It is long
overdue, and we welcome the opportunity to work with Ms.
Wormuth.
Gentlemen, your message to the public is, and I quote,
``People first.'' Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that
the health and welfare of our soldiers and their families is
truly our number-one priority. We have soldiers deployed in 140
countries around the world, and our Army National Guard has
been called upon to execute unprecedented numbers of missions.
The committee expects continued investment in the health
and safety and wellness of our soldiers and their families.
This includes that Army leadership is being proactive in
eliminating instances of sexual assault, harassment, and
ideological extremism in the ranks.
I am also concerned about the constant pace of the Army
National Guard deployments. Our Guardsmen and -women are
currently engaged in missions addressing issues such as civil
disobedience, the Capitol complex security, southern border
missions, and overseas operations.
I am concerned about deployment fatigue, what it does to
the morale of our soldiers, and how you are addressing
retention issues as a result of that. I look forward to hearing
how your request for resources are going to attack these
issues.
Simultaneously, the Army is embarking upon a modernization
effort, the likes of which we have not seen over the past four
decades. The initiative requires significant investments in
research and development to be successful, and I think you will
agree that this committee has been very supportive of your past
efforts.
We have also supported the Army's Future Command as a way
for the Army to consolidate its modernization strategy under
one roof, and I look forward to your honest assessment of how
your newest command is performing.
While we have not yet received the fiscal 2022 budget
request, I hope we can discuss the priorities in the coming
year.
I am particularly interested in your continued ``night
court'' process that reviews legacy programs to identify
duplication and excess in order to fund higher-priority
programs. It is vitally important that all the services
continue to perform a budgetary review process to ensure
appropriate funds are invested wisely, and I think everyone on
this subcommittee would like to hear more about the, quote/
unquote, ``night court'' and your definition of it.
We want to continue to be a partner in executing the
National Defense Strategy, but we need a high level of fidelity
in your proposals to reduce or eliminate certain programs in
order to fund higher-risk R&D efforts.
Given the benefits of your modernization pursuits,
including working with small businesses and the public sector,
I want to be sure that we give every opportunity to understand
how your acquisition approach works.
We understand that this is a challenging time for the Army,
your soldiers, and their families, and this committee is
responsible to provide you with a sufficient level of resources
to support readiness, improve facilities, and modernize the
force. But, to be clear, this committee is an equal partner
with the President in achieving our national security goals.
And it is our responsibility to achieve those goals efficiently
for the taxpayers, as well as conduct oversight of programs
that we fund.
Fiscal year 2022 could be a challenging year for the Army,
and I would like to hear how you are prioritizing the programs
across the Army.
With that, I thank you gentlemen for appearing before the
committee today to discuss and address these important issues.
We will ask you to present your summarized statements in a
moment, but, first, I would like to recognize our ranking
member, Mr. Calvert, for his opening remarks.
Mr. Calvert?
Opening Remarks of Mr. Calvert
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Acting Secretary John Whitley, General McConville, welcome,
and thank you for taking the time to meet with us virtually
today.
Normally this hearing would be an opportunity, as you know,
to review the Army's funding needs. This is, after all, a
budget hearing. But, unfortunately, to quote my good friend
Adam Smith, the Biden administration has been dragging their
feet. So, we don't have a budget to review. So, this delay is
very concerning to me; I know it is to the chair. And it
increases the risk of a continuing resolution that nobody would
like to have.
What we do know about the defense budget is that the
President has proposed, I believe, an irresponsible top line,
one that doesn't even keep up with inflation. Last year,
Secretary McCarthy warned that without a net 3- to 5-percent
funding growth in 2022, which was the line which General Mattis
had laid out for the National Defense Strategy, the Army would
face difficult choices as it balanced current demands with
modernization. Clearly, those difficult choices are now upon
us. So, I will be interested in hearing how you plan to address
them.
I would also like to hear more about the Army's new
multidomain operations construct and how it supports the Joint
Force. Given the woefully inadequate defense funding proposed
by the President, it will be critical that we literally get the
biggest bang for the buck across the services. This means
focusing on each service's core competencies and avoiding
duplication of effort.
Finally, there is the issue of the size of the Army.
General McConville, you are on record stating that the Army
needs to be larger, but you don't have the resources to fund
it. So it will be helpful for us to understand the risks
associated with the current size of the force and the potential
shrinking of the Army.
Thank you again for joining us, gentlemen. Thank you, both
of you, for your service. And I look forward to your testimony.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you so much.
And we do not have the full committee chair or ranking
member with us, so we will go right into testimony.
Secretary Whitley, thank you.
General McConville, thank you for being here.
And, Mr. Secretary, please proceed with your opening
statement.
Summary Statement of Secretary Whitley
Secretary Whitley. Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert,
distinguished members of the committee, thank you for your
continued support for the Army and our people. It is an honor
and a privilege to appear before you today.
I would like to take a moment to thank my wife and
children. And I would like to thank my teammate, General
McConville, for your lifetime of service to our Army and to our
Nation. And I would like to thank Secretary Austin and Deputy
Secretary Hicks for their return to public service and
providing their leadership to the Department of Defense.
I have continued to be amazed and impressed with the state
of our Army and with the professionalism and hard work of our
soldiers and leaders. When crises happen, our Nation calls upon
our Army, and we respond--in support of COVID-19 pandemic,
natural disasters, civil unrest, the southwest border, and
deterrence in the Middle East and across the globe.
I would like to use my remarks to highlight four key
observations on the state of our Army that I have made in my
3\1/2\ months in this position.
First, the Army is now a DOD leader in technology and
concepts. From AFC to the cross-functional teams, to our Rapid
Capabilities Office, to individual unit commanders, the Army is
prototyping and experimenting with new capabilities and
formations. The Army is at the forefront of developing and
fielding new technologies in areas such as counter-UAS, assured
PNT, directed energy, hypersonics, next-generation soldier
equipment like IVAS, pushing software coding to the edge, and
many other areas.
Second, the Army is at the center of opening doors in the
Indo-Pacific and Europe. The Army is key to engaging Indo-
Pacific and European allies and partners to win in competition,
establish credible deterrence, and set conditions for success
in conflict. Deterrence requires boots on the ground, and DOD
must be present to succeed in conflict. The Army is recognized
as an enduring, reliable partner that can directly contribute
to improving their defenses by bringing resources, training,
and expertise. This partnership can lay the groundwork for
contingency access and cooperation in a crisis.
Third, the next fight will be an all-domain fight. Conflict
in the Indo-Pacific or Europe will be in and across all
domains, with ground forces to secure terrain, penetrate A2/AD
defenses, and achieve objectives. The Army's transformation is
directly aimed at supporting joint warfighting that will depend
upon JADC2, expeditionary joint logistics, and joint maneuver
across domains. If the Army does not modernize, we will lose
overmatch with near-peer adversaries, making conflict more
likely and making its consequences more severe.
Fourth, the Army's readiness gains and modernization
procurement requirements need consistent budget support to
survive. Several years ago, we recognized that readiness had
declined precipitously after years of reduced funding and
uncertain budgets. And we also recognized that we needed to
modernize concepts, capabilities, and posture to be competitive
in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
Working in coordination with Congress, we rebuilt
readiness. We established night courts that internally
realigned funding to invest in modernization. The Army
established a deliberate, achievable path to deliver a ready,
modernized Army.
We have made tremendous progress, but success is not
guaranteed. Consistent, predictable, and sustained funding
enables us to sustain readiness today and modernize for
tomorrow. The Army has taken manageable risk to deliver the
speed and capability needed to match our adversaries, but
unforecasted operations and inconsistent funding are paid for
from readiness, infrastructure, and modernization accounts.
Finally, the Army must also contend with threats from
within. The harmful behaviors of sexual assault, sexual
harassment, racism, and extremism cannot and will not be
tolerated. People are the Army. Our responsibility is to ensure
every soldier has the right leadership, policies, and resources
to thrive in trained, disciplined, and fit cohesive teams. That
responsibility also extends to an inherent right to safety and
our ability to effectively mitigate crimes and relentlessly
prosecute criminals to ensure we maintain our focus on placing
people first.
Our Army is in a great place, but we still have significant
work to do. We remain one of the most trusted institutions in
the world, and we will continue to support the Nation.
I would now like to turn the floor over to General
McConville, and I look forward to taking your questions in our
discussion.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Sir, you are recognized.
Summary Statement of General McConville
General McConville. Thank you, Chair.
And, Chair McCollum, Ranking Member Calvert, distinguished
members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be
here today and for your continued support to the Army and our
people, our soldiers, our families, our civilians, and our
soldiers for life--our retirees and veterans.
The Army currently has 485,000 soldiers in the regular Army
and a little more than 1 million in the total force. That is
roughly the size of Army that we had on 9/11. And today Army
soldiers, as you said, are presently supporting combatant
commanders around the world in more than 140 countries. They
form the most lethal and decisive land force in the world, and
they stand ready to fight and win the Nation's wars as part of
the Joint Force. As their chief, I could not be more proud of
each and every one of them.
Since last October, the Army's priorities have been people,
readiness, and modernization, making us well-aligned with the
emerging national security guidance.
Putting people first means recruiting and retaining the
best talent our Nation has to offer, maximizing their
potential, and taking care of them. We are building a culture
of cohesive teams that are highly trained, disciplined in
fight, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. That
is how we prevent the harmful behaviors that hurt our soldiers
and break trust with the American people--these being sexual
assault and sexual harassment, acts of racism or extremism, and
death by suicide.
All three of my children--two sons and a daughter--plus my
son-in-law, are currently serving in the Army. Providing a safe
and secure environment for our soldiers is not only my
responsibility as Chief of Staff of the Army, it is also a
deeply held personal commitment.
We win through our people. The best fighting forces in the
world ensure that their soldiers and their units are masters of
their craft. That is why we are shifting to a foundational
readiness model that prioritizes training at the company level
and below first.
The Army has rebuilt a high level of readiness with the
support of Congress, but that readiness level is fragile. We
must sustain that high-level readiness while continuing our
most comprehensive transformation and modernization efforts in
over 40 years. That is the only way we will maintain our
overmatch against near-peer competitors and potential
adversaries.
This year, we are turning our multidomain operations
concepts into real doctrine. We are not only developing but
delivering on our six modernization priorities, including our
31-plus-4 signature systems. With new doctrine, organizations,
and equipment, the Army is offering multiple options to
combatant commanders and multiple dilemmas to our competitors
and adversaries.
And we are doing so alongside our sister services and
alongside our allies and partners. The U.S. Army never fights
alone. We are the strongest land force in the world, and a
great source of that strength comes from our alliances, our
allies, and partnerships. As a people-based organization, we
are uniquely qualified to foster these relationships.
Thank you for your continued support to America's sons and
daughters in uniform. I look forward to your questions.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
ORDER OF QUESTIONING
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, gentlemen.
So, Mr. Calvert, before we go to questions--and I know that
you are aware of what I am going to do here. Yesterday we had a
technical problem. Mr. Diaz-Balart is usually the first on and
the last off, with his camera on all the time. Yesterday was no
exception. When it was his turn to be up to bat, the screen
went dark.
So, Mr. Calvert, and with the committee's--because people
are supposed to reserve their time if there is a technical
issue. Mr. Calvert, with the committee, unless anyone objects,
I would like to have Mr. Diaz-Balart ask the first question.
Mr. Calvert.
Mr. Calvert. No problem, Madam Chairman.
Ms. McCollum. Committee members?
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Diaz-Balart, you are now recognized to
ask the very first question.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Well, Madam Chairwoman, that was highly,
highly--well, very kind of you. Again, it doesn't surprise me.
Your kindness never surprises me. But I am touched. Thank you
very much. My computer just died. It just turned off. So I
apologize for that. It was on my side.
Again, thank you, gentlemen, for your service.
A couple of questions. Actually, referring to--I echo the
opening statement of the ranking member as to the top line,
which I think is highly irresponsible.
But I would also like to know how much you are currently
spending and how much you are projected to spend on things that
are not directly focused on readiness, on lethality, on
modernization, you know, on the traditional military issues,
including on things that I obviously may support, like
remediation for sea-level rise, et cetera.
So how much are you spending on nontraditional issues, such
as environmental concerns, global warming, and that kind of
thing now, and what do you expect to spend?
I don't expect an answer right now.
But I am also concerned that you don't have the necessary
funding--you will not have the necessary funding to execute the
National Defense Strategy. Obviously, every service is expected
to readjust priorities based on what I believe are really
inadequate funds. And, oftentimes, as the largest of the
services, the Army seems to, frankly, pay the bills for defense
cuts to minimize defense cuts everywhere else.
So, specifically, how do you think you will be able to--if
the top-line number remains, what will that do to, potentially,
your end-strength numbers?
General, you have talked about that in the past. And so any
idea as to--we don't have the President's budget yet, but any
idea as to what you are looking at may be your end-strength
numbers, with the numbers that are out there as far as the top
line?
Secretary Whitley. You want to go with end strength?
General McConville. Yeah, I will go.
And, Congressman, thanks for the question.
On the end strength, as I said in the opening statement,
the size of the Army right now is 485,000 regular Army and a
little over 500,000 Reserves. And, basically, it is about a
million-person Army, total force. That is the same size of the
Army that we had on 9/11.
You know, at least--and I am on record for saying I would
like to see a larger Army if the demands remain the same. You
know, some of you have discussed about the stress on the force.
And our force has been heavily committed over the last 20 years
in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Syria, and, quite frankly, around
the world. Many of our units are on what we call a one-to-one
or one-to-two type dwell, where they are not home very much,
and they have been doing it for 20 years.
And so my concern is--two reasons. One is, we want to make
sure we can reduce the OPTEMPO on our troops. That includes our
National Guard and Reserves, who have also been very heavily
employed over the last 20 years, whether it is home in the
country or it is overseas.
And so, when we take a look at end strength, I would like
to grow the Army. We have done analysis. My previous chief
talked about 540,000 to 550,000 as about the right size of the
Army. I recognize that, quite frankly, we just can't afford
that, at least with what I see as budgets.
But what we must do is keep that force we have, the force
we have ready. And that is the second, kind of, bucket of
money. We must keep the force ready.
But, even more importantly, as I look around the world and
I see competitors there--and we want peace through strength--we
must transform the Army. And that is modernizing it in the
multidomain operations concepts; that is bringing on new
organizations and also the six modernization priorities and
working very closely with the Joint Force to do that.
READINESS OF THE ARMY
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Now, General, you mention readiness, and,
you know, that is usually an area that gets hit first, right,
when the budgets are tight.
Talk to us about reducing readiness, what that does to our
soldiers and to your mission and to--you know, what does that
do, when you start cutting readiness numbers, as far as budget
numbers?
Secretary Whitley. So the first is, we have data from what
happened the last time, in the sequester cuts. It becomes--it
can happen quickly, it can go deeply, and it takes a long time
to rebuild.
And what I would say--actually, I would combine readiness
and modernization--is, if we let readiness slip or if we don't
continue our modernization to maintain our overmatch, what they
do, Congressman, is, they become provocative and they make a
conflict more likely, and they make the consequences of a
conflict more severe if it were to occur.
So that is really the bottom line, Congressman.
General McConville. Yeah, I would say, you know, kind of by
way of example, if you are, you know, a professional sports
team and you never practiced and then you were expected to go
in the Super Bowl and actually play the game, we would never
consider doing that.
And it is the same thing with our troops. They have to
train. And, really, what that is is deliberate practice and
rehearsals and making sure that they are masters of their
craft. Our ground troops have to do that. Our aviators have to
do that.
And the other thing that tends to happen is you start
cutting. You start not spending maybe the money you need for
spare parts. You don't necessarily, you know, maintain. You
will wait for maybe 6 months to do the services that you need.
And then you start building up a readiness gap that you just
don't quite want to happen.
You have been very supportive over the last couple years.
And, as the Secretary said, our readiness is in a good place,
but that readiness can become fragile.
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Well, thank you, gentlemen.
And, Madam Chairwoman, thank you for recognizing me first.
I was not ready for that. Luckily, I had just finished
swallowing my peanut-butter-and-jelly lunch. So thank you,
Madam Chairwoman. I yield back.
NIGHT COURTS
Ms. McCollum. An all-American lunch.
Gentlemen, picking up a little bit on readiness, it would
be interesting for me to have you speak to, just for a minute--
I had another question--but I think it is important to talk
about Congress's failure to do a BRAC--and that is, close
installations and shut down facilities that no longer serve
mission--and our inability--because I did ask you to speak a
little bit to this night court, and could you explain what the
night court is? I know what it is, but we do have Americans
participating at home who are listening to this--what night
court is--and Congress's failure not to remove legacy
equipment. Because that is certainly, if you want to talk about
a foot-drag, that is a big foot-drag on your budget.
Secretary Whitley. Yes, Chair McCollum. That is an
excellent question, and I would be happy to talk about our
night court process.
So, we really started about 3 years ago--and the Chief
mentioned it, and I have mentioned it--and that was the
imperative of modernization. And we knew that resources were
going to be scarce even at that point in time.
So, what we started to do is, we combed through every line
item of the budget, and what we looked for were programs that
were lower priority than our modernization priorities. And it
was not to say that any of those programs were unimportant or
did not contribute, but what we were looking for was the
prioritization of programs.
And so, what we did in that first round was, we either
eliminated or reduced about 180 programs. We continued that
in--that was in the 2020 budget-build process. We continued
that in the 2021 budget-build process. And we will continue
that and you will see the results of that in the 2022 budget
process.
What it is is prioritizing and making sure that we are
putting our dollars to dollars you have entrusted to us, that
the taxpayers have entrusted to us, to our highest priorities,
which are, as we have said, people, readiness, and
modernization.
General McConville. If I could add one thing from, like,
strategy. You know, the last major time that we modernized the
Army was really in the 1980s, late 1970s, and that is when we
came with our big five modernization priorities: the Abrams
tank, the Bradley, the Black Hawk, the Apache, and the Patriot.
And there were some other systems.
And what we have done over the last 40 years is
incrementally improve those systems. And those systems are much
better than they were when they started, and they have gotten
progressively better. But we find ourselves in a place where we
need to transform those systems, take advantage of the
technologies available today, and replace those systems over
the next 10 years, so for the next 40 years we have the ability
to incrementally improve the new systems that we have.
And we realize that we have to do that ourselves, as far as
manage the money within the Army. We can't do everything. And,
as the Secretary said, that is why we prioritize where those
recommended cuts would be.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, gentlemen. I have other questions,
but, at this point, I would look to turn to our ranking member,
Mr. Calvert, for his. And then it will be Mr. Kilmer.
AFGHANISTAN
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Madam Chair.
On April 14, President Biden said, while we will not stay
involved in Afghanistan militarily, our diplomatic and
humanitarian work will continue.
On May 1, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff said, in
the worst-case analysis, you have a potential collapse of the
government, a potential collapse of the military, you have a
civil war, and you have all the humanitarian catastrophe that
goes with it.
General, the Army currently has a majority of the troops
still in Afghanistan. From the Army perspective, how do you
avoid the worst-case scenario and continue the diplomatic and
humanitarian mission in Afghanistan with no troops on the
ground?
General McConville. Well, you know, we are going to be
dependent on the Afghan Security Forces.
And I, myself, commanded the 101st Airborne Division in
Afghanistan. I was there as a deputy commanding general. When
we first got there, American soldiers did almost all the
fighting. And then we moved into a phase where, we called it
``shana bashana,'' we were fighting side-by-side with the
Afghan Security Forces.
When I arrived there as the commander of the 101st Airborne
Division, my job was to get the Afghan Security Forces in the
lead, and we were able to do that. And we drew down--I had
25,000 soldiers in Regional Command East, and we went down to
about 7,800 and turned it over to then Steve Townsend, and he
did the elections and took it from then.
And, right now, as you have seen, we are at a much, much
lower level, around 2,500 soldiers. But, as our soldiers leave,
the Afghan Security Forces are going to have to pick up that
security capability. And, right now, we have to wait and see
how that is going to play out.
There is other diplomacy going on, because there is going
to be some type of political solution. I think as General
Milley has talked about, there are a lot of alternatives that
could be. And we are in a position right now where we are
executing the President's decision, and we have to wait and see
how that turns out.
Mr. Calvert. Secretary, we all know that withdrawing troops
has a price. Salaries, other expenses for the Afghan National
Security Forces will endure as long as they are around. There
are contracts for a lot of property, buildings, equipment, a
network of private entities.
Afghanistan is obviously landlocked, so moving items by
truck is much trickier, given its location, availability of
seaports and airports nearby. Yet air and sea lift would cost
anywhere from two to five times as much as using a wheeled
vehicle for transport.
Finally, moving troops out of Afghanistan is really just
dealing with the problem from far away, which adds to expense.
So, when you talk about saving money on the withdrawal, has
the Department even begun to calculate these long-term costs
that are associated with the withdrawal?
Secretary Whitley. Yes, sir, we are working on that, but as
I think you were pointing out in your question, it is a very
difficult estimate to make.
So, right now, the bulk of the costs for the change in
posture are 2021 budgetary costs, and we will see how that goes
and if we are able to cover that with the available resources
or if we have to readjust or realign.
The next challenge after that will then become the 2022
funding level. We are still working out what the policy will
be. We still have to see what the results of the change in
posture will be. So, what you will see when we do submit our
2022 budget to you is you will see a reduction in funding but
you will see some funding remain.
And the risk that we face and the conversation, the
dialogue we will have to have with you is, as we get more
information and as events unfold on the ground, we will learn,
is that amount of money that has been left appropriate, is it
too much, is it too little, and we will make adjustments as we
need to, working with you and your colleagues.
Mr. Calvert. Yes, Secretary, it is my experience with these
estimates that they are never accurate, and it always costs
more than we assume that it will be. So we will see how that
goes.
One last----
Secretary Whitley. That has been our experience as well,
Congressman.
Mr. Calvert. Yes.
Secretary Whitley. I am very much with you, sir.
Mr. Calvert. Add to this, are there going to be contingency
plans if things go terribly wrong? I would hate to see another
ISIS-type situation, you know, mass executions in Afghanistan.
Are there any contingency plans you are setting up in case
something like that occurs?
General McConville. Well, I will take that. As far as
General McKenzie and General Miller, in coordination with the
Secretary, there are contingency plans.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Appreciate it.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Kilmer and then Mr. Rogers, please.
Mr. Kilmer.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Mr. Kilmer. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Secretary Whitley, I was happy to see in your written
testimony you mentioned the Army's commitment to prioritizing
mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The DOD certainly can be a leader in combating climate
change, particularly through using innovative building
materials. Renewable materials and composites, including cross-
laminated timber, look to be a critical tool in the Army's
efforts to combat climate change.
I often say that we have more trees than people in my neck
of the woods. Growing up in the Olympic Peninsula, I certainly
saw firsthand how important timber and wood products are to
supporting good-paying jobs in our communities. Not only is
cross-laminated timber a job-creator, but it is resilient, and
it has a smaller carbon footprint.
So, Secretary Whitley, I know that the Army has been a
leader in using CLT, with six Army lodging facilities that have
been constructed using the material. I was pleased to hear that
the latest CLT construction project at Fort Jackson resulted in
an over-40-percent reduction in crew size and man hours when
compared to the construction of a conventional Army lodging
facility. In fact, estimates are that CLT lodging facilities
will be completed 37-percent faster than conventionally framed
facilities.
I think these benefits underscore the importance of
collaboration between the Army and Congress to expand the use
of these innovative and sustainable building materials.
So, here is my question: Have you encountered any barriers
to using CLT or other innovative materials that Congress can
help remove? And has the Army identified other projects where
the use of CLT could be beneficial?
Secretary Whitley. So I asked that question after I learned
of your interest and support in this, Congressman. And what I
can say right now is, there has been extensive use, the use
that you cited. That has primarily been with Army partners. And
so, what we are exploring right now is the Army's direct use of
those. And my understanding is, there are some regulatory
challenges we are working through.
I am not personally conversant in those at the moment, so
we are working through that. They are educating me. And what I
would commit to you, Congressman, is, as we finish that and we
understand what those challenges are, we would like to sit down
with your team and work through those and figure out what the
right way forward is.
NEXT-GENERATION CAPABILITIES
Mr. Kilmer. I sure appreciate that. Thank you.
And let me shift gears. General McConville, I know the Army
is focused on delivering next-generation capabilities to the
force at the speed of relevance. The Integrated Visual
Augmentation System is a prime example of a technology system
which was recently approved to move from rapid prototyping to
production and rapid fielding, allowing the technology to get
into soldiers' hands faster.
In your written testimony, you mention that soldier-
centered design was a key component and best practice in the
IVAS prototype and production process.
So here are my questions: One, what lessons learned from
the IVAS process and the soldier-centered design could be
applied to other materiel modernization efforts? And can the
IVAS technology of a sensing, decision-making, target
acquisition, and target engagement situational awareness tool
translate to other larger Army platforms and weapons systems?
General McConville. You know, I think IVAS is a good
example of where we are trying to go with acquisition as a
whole.
You know, we had an idea of a transformational capability.
It was really an improvement on our night-vision goggle
capability. But I always use as an example the phone. The phone
was incrementally improved, and then the iPhone came in with
that kind of transformational capability. We were incrementally
improving our night-vision goggle capability, and then all of a
sudden IVAS came in.
You know, we are still using soldier touchpoints. So we
have had soldiers working with engineers as we have gone
through the process. We are learning a lot about that. And, you
know, the company orchestrating that was someone we didn't even
know they had that capability. But we had put a problem set out
there, we put characteristics out there, and then were able to
go through the process of developing that capability.
But that capability, I think, is going to transform how our
soldiers operate. We have some more work to do on it. I don't
want to overpromise, you know, where we are at. But we have a
lot of visionaries that can see that thing being used in a
whole bunch of ways that we never even conceived of: the
ability to provide information to soldiers, but also the
ability to put our soldiers on the battlefield, where they
don't necessarily need to be in harm's way, because they can
take advantage of the augmented reality or diverse reality and
actually be in a place, with senses, where they are not at. You
know, you can be under an armored weapon system and be able to
see outside and what we are doing with our troops.
But, again, we have more work to do on that. We are not
done yet. But we are moving very, very quickly because we are
working really closely with the engineers.
Mr. Kilmer. Thank you.
Madam Chair, I probably don't have time to slip in one more
question, so I will yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Well, we know that your district is
beautiful, your people are wonderful, and your wood is strong.
So you are right on message. And thank you for the time I was
in your district.
Mr. Rogers and then Mr. Aguilar.
BUDGET REQUEST
Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Chair.
General McConville, good to see you again.
And welcome to both of you for being here today.
I want to ask the General about the future of the Chinook
helicopter in a moment, but let me first join many others who
are frustrated that we have yet to receive the President's
budget request for the next fiscal year. We have had a so-
called skinny budget application, which would not even keep the
military up with inflation. It would actually be a cut in
spending.
So what do you think? Can you manage the confrontations we
are facing around the world with less than you had this year?
Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Whitley. So I think there is a lot of risk in the
budget, Congressman. What I can say is--and I said this a
little bit in my opening remarks--you know, we have rebuilt
readiness. That was hard. We realized, once it got down to the
low level it got, how hard rebuilding it was. And we have
started and we are in the early stages of what we think is and
what we hope to be one of the most successful modernization
efforts in the Army's history.
So, on one hand, the Army is in a very good place today.
But, on the other hand, to get there, we have built risk into
the budget. We know that readiness can turn on a dime. And as
we have talked about, through the night-court process, we have
self-funded, we realigned resources to fund a lot of that
modernization effort.
The Army's budget has actually been flat for the last 2 to
3 years. So our concern is, to keep these efforts going, we
need to have consistent, sustained, and predictable funding.
And we are in very good shape today, but what we have learned
and what we know is that there is risk and you can lose those
gains very quickly.
FUTURE OF CHINOOK HELICOPTER
Mr. Rogers. Thank you.
General McConville, let me take you back to your old
stomping grounds at Fort Campbell, where you commanded the
101st, and is the home base of the Chinook. And there has been
some debate about the future of that great machine.
Where are we on it now, and what are the plans?
General McConville. Well, as you know, Congressman, the
101st Airborne Division is the premier air assault division in
the world. It is highly dependent on helicopters. And, quite
frankly, the CH-47 has been the workhorse really around the
world but specifically in Afghanistan. There is also another
unit there, you know. The 160th Special Operations Aviation
Regiment also flies the CH-47. It is a great aircraft.
It is our newest aircraft right now in the United States
Army. I think we are right around between 470 and 500 of those
models. And, you know, a decision that is going to need to be
made is, what do we do with those aircraft as we move into the
future?
You probably know that we have a Block II model, which is
in the process of being developed, that is going to give us the
capability to lift things like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle
and give us a much greater payload. And the decision the Army
is going to have to make, based on the resources, while trying
to understand the importance of maintaining the industrial
base, is--you know, where we are at, from my point, we want to
get the Block II. You know, if you don't get the Block II, then
you have a different discussion. But you need to get that
aircraft with the Block II. That is where we are supporting to
make sure you have that capability. That will put that aircraft
in a much better place.
And then, based on the resources that we have and the
prioritization, that will drive the decision made on where we
go with the CH-47.
Mr. Rogers. Well, you are testing the Block II now, aren't
you?
General McConville. We are. And, again, I don't want to get
into where we are, but, you know, the intent is to work that.
And we have invested in that capability, and we want to make
sure we can get that through the operational test to make sure
we have that capability. But that is a capability that we want,
and that will drive the decision-making in the future.
Mr. Rogers. Will you be requesting money for the Block II?
General McConville. Well, right now--I would defer to the
Secretary.
Secretary Whitley. I mean, unfortunately, I really can't
talk about--I mean, one, it is still being finalized, and, two,
I can't really talk about the fiscal year 2022 request. You
know, we do have the fiscal year 2021 funding. We are executing
that funding now. And we will come in at the appropriate time
and walk you through everything that is in the 2022 request,
Congressman.
Mr. Rogers. All right. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Rogers.
Just for the record, I too am disappointed we don't have a
full budget in front of us. It would be a much different and
more robust discussion that we would be having. But President
Trump, in his first year of administration, his full budget
wasn't out until May 22. We need to remember that we had COVID.
You know, it is still among us, affecting some of our
productivity. And we had a transition that did not go smoothly.
We are all very aware of that, as well as the disturbance on
January 6.
So, as of right now, I agree it would be great to have a
budget in front of us, but the Biden administration--I think we
need to be mindful of when the Trump budget came out, on the
23rd of May, and the three challenges--COVID, the transition,
and January 6.
Mr. Aguilar and then Mr. Womack, please.
HYPERSONICS
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And thank you to the Acting Secretary and the General.
I was pleased to see that your written testimony
highlighted the Army's development of a ground-based, long-
range hypersonic weapon. In the prior fiscal year, this
committee provided the Army with $60 million above the
President's request to support these efforts.
So why don't we start with Acting Secretary Whitley. How
will this funding help the Army achieve its mission to win
against any adversary?
Secretary Whitley. Well, hypersonics is a critical
capability to maintain overmatch with, with our adversaries,
with near-peer adversaries.
I actually, in my previous job, I was the Acting CAPE
Director, and we led a large effort, analytic effort, looking
at long-range precision fires, and developed what is now the
Department's portfolio-based approach to that, with the Army
having the ground component of that.
So, when you look at Europe, when you look at the Pacific,
and particularly in the Pacific, where you see the ranges that
you see and the anti-access/area-denial environment in which we
would be operating, hypersonics is a critical capability for
our overmatch.
And your funding and the funding you will see in the 2022
request and in future requests is going to start fielding real
capability. We hope to have a real capability fielded in fiscal
year 2023, the first battery, and then to be fielding
additional capability in the years following that.
Mr. Aguilar. But we will continue to make progress with the
fiscal year 2022 request?
Secretary Whitley. Yes, sir.
WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND EXTREMIST IDEOLOGIES
Mr. Aguilar. I appreciate that.
Like a lot of my colleagues, I have been concerned about
White supremacists and extremist ideologies in our Armed
Forces. In fact, I introduced some legislation which would have
required DOD to act upon some recommendations based on NDAA
language that we secured a few years ago, and not just at time
of enlistment. We know that that responsibility to identify
individuals with extremist ideologies doesn't end after
recruitment.
Acting Secretary, what steps are you taking to align with
Secretary Austin's DOD-wide stand-down to prevent and address
extremism?
Secretary Whitley. We executed the stand-down that the
Secretary directed. We had 100-percent compliance by the date
with the Active Duty, and the Reserve folks should be finishing
up very shortly.
We are 100-percent aligned with the Secretary. It is an
issue that we had seen and that we had been following and that
we had been taking action on already.
And, you know, the Chief and I have both made very clear to
our soldiers that extremism, racism, these types of behaviors
are just unacceptable in the Army. They are inconsistent with
the Army's values. We have talked to our soldiers, I have
talked to soldiers about, you know, advocating for violence,
about things that are disruptive, you know, racist behavior
that would be disruptive to a unit. That is a readiness--that
is a directly--you know, it is an attack on our soldiers, and
it is a direct hit to the readiness of the military.
We have been very actively involved with the Secretary's
initiatives.
Mr. Aguilar. Anything to add, General?
General McConville. I just think it is these--we talked a
little in my opening statement about harmful behaviors. You
know, we are very blessed that the American people trust their
Army, they trust their military. And if we have harmful
behaviors like extremism, racism, sexual harassment, and sexual
assault, parents aren't going to send their sons and daughters
to the Army. And so, we take that very, very seriously.
You all have to trust us that we are going to do the right
thing the right way. And so, these behaviors cannot be in our
Army. And even if they are small numbers, they taint the
heroism of all those soldiers who serve honorably. We just
can't have that.
Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Secretary, do you anticipate any
additional resources being needed to accomplish some of the
objectives with respect to this?
Secretary Whitley. Well, that is being worked out within
the Department, and I don't want to get ahead of the processes
that Secretary Austin has directed and is leading. So I would
say that is being worked out.
But what I would say overall, though, is this is not
primarily a resource issue. This is a cultural issue, and this
is a leadership issue. And that is the primary approach that we
are taking.
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you both. Appreciate it.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Aguilar. Great question. Good
discussion.
Mr. Womack and then Mrs. Bustos.
SERVICE ACADEMIES
Mr. Womack. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Secretary and the Chief. Great to see both of
you again. Appreciate your service.
Most of you already know that a little over a week ago I
took Ranking Member Calvert, Mr. Cuellar, a couple of others up
to West Point, where I have the honor and privilege as serving
as the Board of Visitors chair. I want to give a shout-out to
Darryl Williams, the supe up there, for the great hospitality
that they gave.
And to my fellow colleagues here on the Defense
Subcommittee, any time that you would like to go up to the U.S.
Military Academy--and I know the same would go for Air Force
and Navy as well, but particularly as it concerns West Point--
let me know, and I would love to be able to help arrange that
trip and accommodate you in whatever capacity we can.
I think having an opportunity to sit down or visit a
classroom of some of these young men and women that have
pledged themselves to becoming military officers in the
greatest Army in the world, it charges my batteries, and I know
it would do the same for you. So, if you ever have an
opportunity to do that, please coordinate with me, and we will
make that happen.
READINESS
I want to get back to the readiness question for a minute,
because, you know, I join Ranking Member Calvert and all my
other colleagues that have talked about the inability to have a
budget right now and to be able to talk about it. I am afraid
that when we do have a budget that we can talk about we are not
going to be pleased with the results, because it is going to
force us into making some terrible decisions, some very
unfortunate decisions.
We make our decisions, though, based on threats, known and
perceived, around the world, and where we may have to be
required. But I want to talk about the requirements piece of
what eats away at the budget. And these are not necessarily
issues regarding our adversaries; it is just what we ask our
Army to do above and beyond its trained specialty.
So, Mr. Secretary, General McConville, we have to come to
grips, as a country, that if we are going to accept less
resources, those requirements are going to have to be pared
down as well. Am I correct?
Secretary Whitley. Absolutely, Congressman. I mean, when
you look at what your Army is doing today--and it is not only
overseas; it is domestically as well. It is what we have done
with COVID, what we are doing on the southwest border, what we
did with Capitol security. And all of those were important
missions, and when our Nation asks, the Army will always
respond. But it gets to your exact point, which is, our Army is
overextended today.
And, as the Chief mentioned a little bit ago when he was
talking about end strength, end strength is driven by the
requirement. And, right now, the requirement exceeds the
available resources.
Mr. Womack. General McConville, do you want to comment?
General McConville. I absolutely agree with the Secretary.
You know, we often say we are going to take risk. And, you
know, what do we mean by taking risk when we don't give the
resources that we need? That means that risk is going to be on
the back of our soldiers, it is going to be on the back of our
soldiers' families, who are going to have them deployed much
more than they probably should, or we have to reduce the
demand.
But, you know, we are going to set the supply with the
resources that we have. And these soldiers that we have in the
Army right now have been in constant conflict for the last 20
years, and as I look at the history, we haven't seen that, at
least in my experience.
Mr. Womack. I have a quick question about talent
management. You know, we are now, what, 2 or 3 years into the
talent management piece that we have gone to. How is it
working? What tweaks are we making?
Because I know this is also a consideration of the budget,
because the better you manage your talent, the fewer people,
maybe, you have to train over time, because you can keep them
longer and have them focused on their areas, which helps
retention.
So, this is a big piece of our budgetary considerations, is
it not?
General McConville. Yeah, can I take--I am very
passionate--thank you for asking that question.
You know, we are in a war for talent in the United States
Army and the United States military. And what we have to do
with the young men and women today as we compete for their
talent, we have to manage their talent, we have to recognize
what their knowledge, their skills, their behaviors--and we
have even added a ``P'' for ``preferences,'' which probably in
the Army is a little blasphemous. We want to know what people
want to do and where they want to go.
And what we are finding is, when we get people in the right
place, in the right job, and take advantage of their talents
and provide them the quality of life that they want, we are
getting incredible people across the force in areas that we
never thought we could.
We just stood up a software factory. And I ran into a young
specialist who was a medic but we broadened their capabilities
and asked people that had the capability to code--and he is one
of the best software coders that we have in the United States
Army. He is a specialist in the Army. I asked him why he would
do this. You know, quite frankly, he would probably be making
mid-six-figures outside the Army. It is because we recognized
his talents. He wanted to be part of this team, and he saw
purpose in what we was doing. Now, we are going to take care of
him coming up the ranks, but we have a million soldiers like
that in the Army.
And I have three millennials that are serving, and they
want us to recognize their individual talents. We are moving
from an Industrial Age system to a 21st-century talent
management system. And we are aggressively going after and
competing for diversity, so we represent the Nation and
everyone has an opportunity to feel part of the team.
Mr. Womack. Thank you so much.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
And Mr. Womack is correct; please reach out to him if you
are interested in attending West Point. I was on one of the
trips, and it was very enlightening.
And thank you for your leadership on that committee, as
well as those who serve on the Air Force and Naval Academy.
Mrs. Bustos, then Mr. Carter, then Mr. Ryan.
Mrs. Bustos.
MATERIEL MODERNIZATION TRANSFORMATION
Mrs. Bustos. Thank you very much, Chairwoman McCollum. And
I want to thank you and also Ranking Member Calvert for holding
this important hearing.
General McConville and Acting Secretary Whitley, thank you
for your service. Thank you for your leadership of our
soldiers. Thank you for your testimony and your thoughtful
opening remarks.
What I would like to focus on is your materiel
modernization transformation.
The Rock Island Arsenal, which is--I know my colleagues on
this subcommittee know this, but it is in the congressional
district that I serve. You may be aware of this already, but it
is literally on an island in the middle of the Mississippi
River. Right between Iowa and Illinois, but it is represented
by the congressional district that I serve. We are really
encouraged by the important work that they are doing at the
arsenal. That supports the warfighter. It sustains the Army.
And I also want to thank you for your investment in the
additive manufacturing capability at the arsenal. It allows the
arsenal to process parts that, we understand, are providing big
dividends to sustaining readiness.
That said, we are particularly excited about the
development of a Jointless Hull that uses an entirely novel and
very, very large 3D printer.
Either one of you can answer this, or both of you can
answer this. But, in the past, we have talked about how we see
additive manufacturing capabilities to be more mobile and
deployable downrange. I think we have some examples where these
mobile additive manufacturing systems are being sent downrange.
But I also wonder if you can comment on how the Army is
looking to ensure that these new and these innovative
capabilities are built into existing or new major acquisition
programs like the Jointless Hull.
Secretary Whitley. I think you have been there.
General McConville. Yes, I have. I have actually been to
Rock Isle. I think that is a great example of--I want to say
this politely: Sometimes we want to stay in the past. There is
an arsenal that is moving in the future. It is recognizing that
maybe the way we did business in the past has got to change,
and so we are very supportive of added manufacturing.
And here is how I see it is, you know, the ability to make
parts--you know, historically, we use the strategy, some people
called it iron mountain. You bring a whole bunch of things with
you and it is very, very expensive. And, like, every commander
wants to have every part with them, which goes against the
business practice, which is just-in-time logistics because no
one wants to have a part that is just a little late. From my
feeling, what added manufacture does, it allows you to take
risks in some parts. You may have a part that you don't really
carry because you only use it once a year, you know, and why
carry around 20 parts and have that expense, but with added
manufacturing, you can manufacture that part right there and
reduce that risk and you don't have to carry a large supply,
which, again, requires more vehicles, requires all these other
type things to do that.
So, I think that is extremely important. So, what are we
doing to get after that? What we are seeing is working with
manufacturers. You have to actually get the parts from them and
get the diagrams, and then you can put them into the machines
and make sure that you--you basically order the parts through
the machines. Some is--I think it is University of Wichita that
has actually done a UH-60, the whole thing. They are taking
total weapons systems, basically putting them in the machine so
you can manufacture--some people call it print--those parts.
But I think that is the future. I think you are going to
see added manufacturing at the leading edge of the battlefield.
And you want to be able to reach back and say, we don't want to
wait 18 months, we don't want to wait this long to get that
part; we want to be able to manufacture it right now.
Mrs. Bustos. Very good. Acting Secretary, anything that you
would like to add to the General's comments?
Secretary Whitley. No, no. I just agree with what the chief
said. I think this is, we are getting it right now at the depot
and arsenal level, and we are learning from that. Where this
ultimately is going to go is to the tactical edge and I think
it is going to be a real potential in a war fight.
IMPACT OF MODERNIZATION
Mrs. Bustos. So along those same lines, obviously, we have
been talking a little bit about the budget and my personal
concern that the Navy's modernization may result in cuts to the
Army's budget, and I know you specifically cannot comment on
details of the budget, but wondering what impact it could have
on adopting innovative capabilities into the Army's program?
Secretary Whitley. Yeah. It will have an impact and this
is--and I don't want to repeat myself, but, you know what? What
we have got right now is an Army budget that has risk built
into it. It was prudent risk. It was risk taken to fund
modernization and to be a good steward of the taxpayer
resources, but what that means is, then when funding becomes
unpredictable, you don't have buffers. You don't have the
ability to absorb that as easily as you otherwise might.
So, there is risk in the budget. We are going to protect
modernization and we are going to fund modernization because of
its high priority, but there is risk there and there will be
things that we cannot do.
Mrs. Bustos. Okay. Very good. My time is expired.
Madam Chair, I yield back. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mrs. Bustos.
Mr. Carter and Mr. Ryan and then Mr. Cole.
Mr. Carter.
END STRENGTH AND READINESS
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and Mr. Secretary,
General, welcome. Appreciate you keeping me in the loop when
you came by the office and we visited.
As it looks for us, we know--I am not going to beat that
dead horse about a late budget. We all know you are unhappy
about that, but what we really ought to be concerned about is
that it looks like the Army's going to take the lion's share of
the cuts as we look at the Defense Department.
As we look at that, the three priorities which are almost
mandatory priorities that you listed, General, are our main
concern for the men and women who serve in our United States
Army. So I want to ask you, first and foremost, futures
command, as you know, is something I believe in. The concepts
that you are working on now are really good. Mrs. Bustos, what
she pointed out, that is great stuff.
And that is all coming out of the Army's new way of
thinking, but if we have to cut our futures looking at our
plans for our near future, if we have to cut soldiers, those
two things are items that are going to--we just can't afford to
cut.
You can't create a sergeant major once you have fired him.
So we have got to figure out some kind of compromise because
taking all these. I once ready in an article that if the Army
took the full load, we would probably lose an armored combat
brigade.
Would you like to comment on that?
General McConville. I guess, you know, we are certainly, at
least from where the chief of staff of the Army serves is I
know very clearly where we need to invest in and we have a
very, very good program. We have laid out what our, you know,
we think our end strength requirements are, we know what our
readiness requirements are, and, quite frankly, we think we
have a very good approach that we are continuing from, you
know, General Millie and myself as the vice and modernization
priorities have not changed and we continue to experiment with
them to make sure they are the right ones, but we believe that,
at least from the military standpoint, we are offering the
right way ahead for the Army.
And the resources we get, we know where we will have to
make cuts. And if we don't get the resources that we think we
need, by law, I have an obligation to come back to you and lay
out what those unfunded requirements are.
Secretary Whitley. I would just add, Congressman, you can
think about the risks when you think about end strength, when
you think about readiness, that is two operations today and
that is being ready to go today. When you think about
modernization, that is to maintain our overmatch into the
future against our adversaries. And when you think about our
recapitalization of units with the equipment that they have
today, that is about the next several years in maintaining our
capability over the coming years.
So, as I said before, we have risk in the budget today.
There is not a situation where we can say if we have less, we
will still continue to do the same level of effort. The
question is, where are we going to take that risk? Are we going
to take risks against operations today? Are we going to take
risks against our fielding of replacement equipment for
operations over the next several years? Or we going to take
risks against modernization and our ability to maintain
overmatch with near-peer adversaries? That is the choice facing
the Army at the moment.
MILITARY PERSONNEL
Mr. Carter. And I think we all realize you are going to
face that choice, to being the home of a lot of, you know,
armored brigades, that is a concern that I have. That is why I
am asking the question. I know that the brigade combat teams
armored are the most expensive combat teams. There is no doubt
about that.
Aside from the those material, the human beings, what I am
worried about, because if you are cutting soldiers--you can buy
a tanker on the market, you can buy guns on the market, but you
can't buy a soldier. Once he is gone, he is gone. And you can't
train him back up. Most chances you don't get him back in. That
is a decision that I don't want to see the Army have to make.
And I hope as we look at budgets, we got to first take care
of these people who have been in harm's way now for 20 years on
our behalf and the Army has taken the lion's share of the
casualties and the lion's share of the work. We have been
helping our allies, we have been a helping our fellow warriors
to every one of the services, but they have been in the blood
bath.
And the partnership at the end is awfully rough. That is
one of the things I am really concerned about. And I don't
think we will see 540 or 550 in this next budget as far as end
strength. So we are going--I just don't want to see us cut our
end strength if we don't have to. That was my number one
question.
Another thing is high level readiness. I am worried about
us losing training time. So let me just ask you the questions,
you going to be able to keep the levels with the cuts we
anticipate on training time?
Ms. McCollum. The gentlemen can answer that quickly for Mr.
Carter based on your information on what is--what you can speak
about to the budget I would appreciate that.
General McConville. What I can do is, I can say commitment.
We are not going to send young men and women into combat that
are not trained. And so when it comes to readiness, we are
going to make sure they have that and, again, that is why it
puts stress on really on end strength or it puts stress on
modernization because if the resources are reduced, something
has to give or it could be a quality of life for our soldiers
and families.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, both. Thank you for your service.
Ms. McCollum. Important questions to have answered when we
see the budget, Mr. Carter. Thank you for raising them.
Mr. Ryan and Mr. Cole, then Cuellar, and Kaptur.
Mr. Ryan.
ABRAM TANK MODERNIZATION
Mr. Ryan. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank the
panelists.
General McConville, in the recent budget request, the
Army's funded a brigade and a half of upgraded Abrams tanks,
which are made in Lima, Ohio, and this is a clear demonstration
in my mind of the Army's commitment to its armored brigades.
And in light of the Army's continued focus on our near-peer
adversaries, it seems to me that there would be no reason to
decrease production of upgraded Abrams tanks in the coming
years.
I understand fully that you are looking to find funding for
modernization, but I want to caution the Army against doing
that on the back of our defense industrial base. If the Army
sees a future in eventually modernizing the Abrams tanks, we
need to have a robust production line to help get us to that
point. And I was hoping that you could share your expectations
about the Army's continued level of commitment to the Abrams
tank program.
General McConville. Well, I think you bring up a great
point. First of all, some have questioned why we continue to
invest in the Abrams tank, and it goes back into Congressman
Carter, the first combat division. We got a lot of experience;
a lot of senior leaders have used armor in places like Sadr
City in Iraq and in any urban environment. We think that is
very, very important to have.
The question becomes, and this is the tough decisions that
this Secretary and with my advice will have to make as we get
our resources and we talk about CH-47s, we talk about the
Abrams tank, we talk about all these great weapon systems that
we need, and then what do you do if you don't get the resources
you need?
Well, what that drives you to is maybe slowing down what
you want to do. And, again, we are going to have to come back
once we see what the resources are and that may drive us to
make some tough decisions that people are not going to like.
FOOD AND NUTRITION ISSUES
Mr. Ryan. Well, we have been in this boat before. The
concern is we ratchet it down to a level that becomes nearly
impossible or super expensive to ramp it back up.
Madam Chair, I would like to put a question in the record
with regard to some of the food and nutrition issues with the
Army. We pay a lot in healthcare costs. The VA healthcare
costs, a lot of it around diabetes and issues like that that I
think are coming directly from the food system in the Army and
other branches of the military.
So I will be asking the question for the record on that,
and I hope, General, that you can get me that information.
NUCLEAR MICROREACTORS
Mr. Ryan. The other thing that I find interesting and I
hope you can maybe share a little bit about is the Project
Pele, the transportable advanced nuclear microreactor
prototype. And if you could just explain--I know the tremendous
use of energy in the Army and really across the military, and
we talked a little bit about, you know, some of these
innovative ways.
Can you talk a little bit about how the Army's preparing to
adopt this technology, different technologies, but more
precisely the nuclear microreactors?
Secretary Whitley. I will just lead off with that,
Congressman. I would say we are aware of the project. We are
watching it. We are watching it closely with interest. And, as
you say, we have significant energy needs in theater and as we
start thinking about some of the other things that we are
working on like potential electrification of some of the
vehicle fleet and things like that, that is going to increase
our power needs in a deployed environment.
We are watching Pele very closely, and we hope that it
proves successful. We will look at other options as well, and
we do have to solve the forward power problem for the future.
Do you want to add anything?
General McConville. I would just say, what they call SKO is
being done at the office of the Secretary of Defense; it is not
really an Army program right now.
Mr. Ryan. Okay. Thank you.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. And I hope, Mr. Ryan, your
question includes whether Department of Defense schools for our
students are there as well.
We have--Mr. Cole, good to see you, Mr. Cole. And then we
have Mr. Cuellar and Kaptur. And somebody has their microphone
on. If they would just take a second and check that out so Mr.
Cole can ask his question uninterrupted.
I think you are ready to go, Mr. Cole. I think we have got
it all calmed down for you. Take it away.
SKINNY BUDGET CONCERNS
Mr. Cole. I appreciate it very much, Madam Chair. And sorry
I am late. But as you know, I was at another hearing, and thank
you for indulging me. I want to make a general point about the
overall budget and then ask specific question. And my general
point I have to agree with the chair in the sense that I am not
critical of the administration for being a little late getting
their budget to us. I understand the new administration. It
happens to all of them. It is not unusual, and this one has had
unusual circumstances to deal with. I think that is a fair
point.
I am concerned just looking at the skinny budget at what
the level is. And I make this point and not in a partisan way,
but just to remind the committee, look, we can do what we want
here. The original Trump budget called for a generous increase,
if I recall correctly, about $54 billion. We didn't think it
was enough given what had happened under sequestration and we
approved that to $80 billion, in other words, $26 billion
higher than the administration asked for in the first Trump
budget. I think that served the country well. I think it helped
us recover quickly. It is not just that 26 billion. That is a
baseline and that is move forward and [inaudible] That has
given us capability to address some long-term problems that we
all know needed to be addressed.
So, the Presidents propose, Congress disposes. And, you
know, I think when we look at the overall budget as proposed,
the President has, you know, 16, 17 percent increase in
domestic spending programs, essentially flat in congested minor
cut for the military. I don't think that is acceptable. I think
we are going to have to come to a deal that puts additional
resources on the military side and probably detracts a little
bit from what the administration would want to do domestically.
That is just normal policymaking in my view. And that deal, in
my view, would be much, much better than a CR, which I don't
think any of us on either side of the aisle want to do.
ARTILLERY PRODUCTION
My specific question really dovetails quite nicely with my
friend from Ohio's question about Abram tank. Recently, I
quickly represent Fort Sill, so field artillery, air artillery,
those things are extraordinarily important to me and the Pen
program that Calvin Integrated Management program recently was
awarded finally full rate of production to ensure that our
soldiers are outfitted with the most--it is the most modern
capabilities.
The Army has actually invested pretty heavily in this
program over the past decade. I understand that production is
on schedule to meet targeted needs as outlined in the program
baseline and that is about 60 sets or 120 vehicles per year.
That is a good thing. It has taken us awhile to get there, and
I applaud everybody that has worked with us and the Army's good
efforts to do that.
I am curious if that is sort of the hope or plan going
forward because, again, as my friend Mr. Ryan mentioned, if you
can't meet those targets, each individual unit starts becoming
more expensive and you lose production capability. And so, the
problem he is concerned about with tanks, very similar to the
problem that I am concerned about with artillery.
If you could give us some view as to where we are headed
going forward.
General McConville. I can take that, Congressman, and thank
you for your support at Fort Sill. You know, long-range
precision fires--really fires generally is something that we
are really going after, you know, as we have taken a look at
how the shift and the type of fighting we have been doing. You
know, it has been irregular warfare, counterinsurgency,
counterterrorism as we move to large scale--the capability to
do large scale ground combat operations.
Our fires are extremely important and we are very pleased
to see that capability coming into our units and, you know, the
intent is, again, I don't want to get in front of the budget,
but the intent is that those fires are extremely important. And
working with the manufacturer and making sure that they can
deliver those systems as we have worked our way through that at
the appropriate level, we think is extremely important.
But that will be, you know, again, we don't know what the
final resources are and that will help impact--inform that
decision.
Mr. Cole. Well, again, I certainly understand that,
General, and appreciate the answer because I think the desire
to get there is important and we will wrestle with the
capabilities. I would, again, urge you and I know you will do
this to make sure that that unmet needs document really gives
us clarity so that if we get into that kind of discussion and
we add additional money, which, frankly, I think we will--that
is just my personal opinion--that we do it in ways that are
consistent with the professional judgments of the military as
to what they would need if more resources were available.
I think that is going to be an extraordinarily important
document for us, but, again, thank you, both, for your service.
Very much appreciate it.
Madam Chair, thank you for your indulgence.
And I yield back.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Cole, you are always welcome.
Mr. Cuellar and then Ms. Kaptur.
FORT HOOD
Mr. Cuellar. Thank you, Madam Chair, for having this
meeting. And I want to thank our witnesses also, the Acting
Secretary and, of course, General McConville. Thank you so
much.
Just a couple quick statements and then I have a couple
questions. Number one, I want to thank Steve Womack and, of
course, the ranking member for that trip that we did to West
Point. It is pretty amazing what you all are doing over there
with the academies doing. So I just have to say that, you know,
it doesn't matter which of the kids that we spoke to or young
men and women, they were all outstanding. So I want to say
thank you for what you all do there.
Second of all, I also, just as a quick note, I also worry
about what is going to happen in Afghanistan. After so many
lives that we have lost, after so much money that we spent
there, I hope that we don't--and I know that I heard the
testimony what you all are doing to get ready for, you know,
optional plans, what happens, but I do worry about the worst-
case scenario. I really worry that the Afghanistan Army just
won't be able to withstand what is going to happen, and I worry
about what could happen afterwards.
So I just want to--for the record, I do show concerns about
that. I know the decision has been made, but I do worry about
what is going to happen there.
My question quickly, and I think, General, this has been--
we have spoken about this, but let me talk about what we
learned from the Fort Hood independent review. And I want to
thank you. I know we spent some time talking about this in the
past and spending time with LULAC also and this. I want to
thank you for what you have done.
I think you all have implemented, at least as the time that
this question was put together, was 20 recommendations out of
the 70 recommendations. And I just want to ask you, where are
you on the rest of the recommendations and give us some sort of
timeline and whether you all intend to do that because Fort
Hood was the number one base that had the problems, but there
are other bases. So tell us where you are on the rest of the
recommendations.
Secretary Whitley. I will just answer very quickly with the
numbers, Congressman. There were 70 recommendations. My
predecessor, Secretary McCarthy, committed to acting on all 70
and that commitment remains in place. We have implemented about
20--I will just give you approximate numbers, and we can ship
over to you the precise numbers. We have executed about 20. We
have about 10 scheduled for next month that will be
implemented.
Then there is probably another 15 to 20 that will be
implemented by the end of this calendar year. And then that
leaves about 20 to 25, which will spill over into next year
because they are larger issues that will require a multiyear
effort to implement.
General McConville. And if I could add just on the Fort
Hood, this is something we are taking in. I had a chance to
speak to Mrs. Guillen, and we are going to implement across the
entire Army, and using this as sense of urgency and we set up a
people first task force that is going around and getting after
these things.
But it is really--not only those capabilities, but it is
really about prevention, it is really about getting into the
unit with the culture and the climate and it is about having
assessments in place for our commanders and future commanders
and what type of climate and culture they set in the Sergeant
Major of the Army has been really working closely with our
noncommissioned officer corps to make sure they understand the
importance of this. And, again, we take this very, very
seriously.
Mr. Cuellar. Thank you. And I want to thank you, of course,
for the action. And can you all just keep the committee and my
office informed as to where you are with the different
implementations just as to what you are covering? Thank you for
doing this across the Army and not only Fort Hood.
HUMAN PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION
The other thing is, one of the things that I am very
interested is on human performance optimization. I know that
you all have been working on it. Steve, you remember they
covered that, Ken, at West Point, but can you all put together
what the Army is doing different places, different areas?
I am looking at an article that I have and it was done on
human performance metrics consensus findings, gaps
recommendations for future research and it is different areas
of the military, including the Army that is doing this.
Can you all put together what everybody is doing and send
it to the committee because I am a big believer, as the members
are, on human performance optimization. And if you all can just
put that together, I got a research article, but it is not in
plain English. I am an attorney, I am a Ph.D., but I still like
to see things in plain English.
Can you all put it all together and send it to the
committee and my office? I would appreciate it.
General McConville. We can, Congressman. We are going
aggressively after holistic health and fitness. You know, it is
from things that people haven't even thought about like from
nutrition, from what we are doing even as far as sleep and
how--we are putting people in the units with physical
therapists, dieticians, strength coaches. And, really, as young
men and women come in the Army is really maximizing their
potential and, quite frankly, some of the young men and women
coming in to the Army don't have the fitness of some of those
capabilities that we have seen in the past. We have to develop
that when they come in.
Mr. Cuellar. Okay. Thank you. My time is up. Send us the
info and thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so much.
I yield back.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. McCollum. You are welcome. And we look forward to
seeing that report on Fort Hood and what else the Army is
doing.
Ms. Kaptur.
RECRUIT TRAINING
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you very much, Secretary Whitley and
General McConville for your service to our great country. I am
very interested in following on Congressman Cuellar's questions
and your replies about the individuals coming into the Armed
Services now may not be as fit--maybe I am misinterpreting what
you said--as in prior generations, but we know that survey
shows that the average young person spends 7 hours in front of
a blue screen daily rather than the way people grew up in prior
decades.
One of my questions is, do you have trouble with your
recruits in terms of situational awareness in theater? Do you
have to train in a different way because they lack that in
their own lives? And I am interested in the changes that you
have to make in training because of the individuals that are
being recruited to serve, how has that changed inside?
TRANSPORT EFFICIENCY
The other thing I wanted to ask you to provide me with and
I don't--you won't answer this now for me, but I am very
interested in transport and highly efficient transport.
A new research going on at DOD and other places to develop
new engines, hybrid engines, hydrogen-powered vehicles. I would
like you to send me somewhere in America where I can better
understand what is going on in those labs and those places. But
I am not sure that really has that responsibility.
MISUSE OF FIREARMS
I am very interested in Army, ground transport, energy.
This is a very strong interest of mine, and maybe you could
direct me where to look more closely at DOD. But finally,
another question I have related to the younger generation. We
see across our country wanton behaviors that cause great
violence in the misuse of weapons and I have asked myself why.
Coming less and less secure in the environments in which they
live. It is very destabilizing these behaviors. People can't
even go to the store now and not feel that they are threatened.
Is there anything Army can do in its public relations
activities to display proper behavior, respect for a weapon,
and to cast some of these individuals as outliers? I am not
quite sure how to do that. It is a psychological issue, but I
think that you have something to offer there in community by
community.
You have had to spend much more time domestically because
of the disruption that we are seeing across our society related
to the improper use of weapons. Some of it is related to the
drug trade, but also it is other crime. Individuals come up to
me and tell me that their 11 and 12 year old were looking at
young people killing one another with weapons as a game on
social media.
I don't know what station does that. I don't know what
website does that. This is horrendous. I don't know whose
feeding that, but it ought to be illegal to do that in this
country and to get young people involved in that kind of thing.
So, I am just wondering about what is coming in your doors
in terms of recruitment, the kinds of training you have to do,
and then anything Army can do to help our society self-correct
as citizens feel less secure where they live.
Secretary Whitley. Let me just read off, Congresswoman. On
the energy question, we will definitely get you that material
and we will get you that promptly.
RECRUIT TRAINING
Secretary Whitley. On the kids, I am going to ask the chief
to answer that. I will just say, I have two children who spend
all their time on phones. I can personally attest to the
challenges of giving them situational awareness and trying to
instill in them some degree of discipline.
General McConville. I would like to talk about the young
men and women that are coming into the military or we are
trying to recruit. Right now, only 29 percent of Americans are
qualified, actually, even to come into the Army. And that
includes, you know, those that go to college. So, we are in
competition for talent.
So only 29 percent are qualified to enlist into the Army.
And then there is only three qualities that I would highlight
that we are trying to go after. One is resilience. We find a
lot of young men and women are just not very resilient anymore.
I don't know how we bring them up, but, you know, we see that
how young men/women react to stress or they react to failure.
That is not very good.
The second quality that we look for is fitness, physical
and mental fitness. As you say, you can be very smart, but you
don't develop a lot of muscles except in your fingers when you
are texting, and you are using your phone. And the other thing
we find, which, again, I find interesting is, most of us grew
up playing sports. You went outside and you played sports. And
what we find right now is very few young men and women tend to
play sports and so they are not as physically or mentally fit
as they need to be.
And the third attribute is character. You know, a lot of
people may come in and some of these young men and women may be
very resilient. You know, they grew up tough or whatever, but
they have some character challenges. And what we are trying to
do in recruiting is get after these, not that one size fits
all, but, you know, we kind of have it figured out if someone
is not fit.
We have an occupational physical assessment test, so we can
kind of get a sense if they are coming in to recruiting if they
are not fit. We will have them work with a recruiter and get
them fitness. But these other attributes show up later, you
know. We are very concerned about behavior health and, quite
frankly, suicides in the Army and that tends to be resilience.
We are very concerned about misconduct with, you know,
because everyone that puts on this uniform if they go out and
do something that doesn't make us proud, they taint everyone
else in service.
The other thing I would just add is, you know, we support
is a junior ROTC program. And that is not a program to bring
people--it is a citizenship program, but we find a lot of
schools and people are very supportive of that program, and
what we find is--we have that in 10 percent of high schools,
but 49 percent of the young men and women that come into the
military, at least in the Army, come not necessarily from the
program, but come from a school that had a JROTC. So, there is
some value in being exposed to the military and we think that
is very, very important.
The one thing I will add too. I know somebody had a chance
to go up to West Point and the academy nominations--you know, I
am looking at myself. At 16 years old, I was working for the
Quincy Sewage Department. And I had a Senator named Kennedy
from Massachusetts who gave me an opportunity to go to West
Point. And that is all out there from the Army to military,
ROTC scholarships, West Point academy scholarships coming to
the Army is just a great place to get ahead.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you very much. And Madam Chair, I know my
time is expired, but I will also ask you to, for the record,
further elaborate on your phrase, ``Russia increases its
disruptive behavior.'' I am very interested in how Army views
that.
Ms. McCollum. Okay.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. We will make sure that that is written up the
way you want and submit it as a question at the end Ms. Kaptur.
Very good.
We do have time to do another round. We are going to limit
the round, and I was briefing my first question. So, I want to
go to--I will build on what Mr. Kilmer talked about with
climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ARCTIC STRATEGY
Army installations over the past several years have really
been threatened and sometimes their mission readiness has been
impaired by some of the super storms that we have witnessed.
You have a new directive September 2020 to address threats
caused by climate change and extreme weather requiring planners
to build resilience measures and to protect against impacts to
readiness.
So, I would like you to maybe touch a little bit on the
Army completed its roll-out in the integration of the climate
assessments tool and I am assuming that that is being used into
what we will see in the upcoming budget.
The next thing I want to touch on that is a result of
climate change is what we have to do is developing a new
strategy in the arctic and it is important that we keep the
shipping channels open, we protect our access to our own
natural resources and that we don't have countries coming in
claiming natural resources and staking down flags.
China likes to refer to itself as a Near-Arctic nation as
you are aware of. And then you have the challenges at Alaska
Fort Wainwright and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Could you just maybe touch on your plan on being resilient
for climate change for facilities and also what is the arctic
doing as far as its modernization to be ready for cold weather
and all-terrain vehicles and things like that? So modernization
and resilience with climate change. Gentlemen?
Secretary Whitley. I will just lead off very briefly with
some of the installation stuff and then turn it over to the
chief to talk about that and, in particular, the arctic
strategy and our investments in the arctic, but on the
installation front, as you pointed out, ma'am, every
installation is required to now have an energy and water plan.
We think we will have all of those done by 2022.
We spent significant time and energy in investment of
resources in reducing both the intensity of resource usage at
our posts and then the resiliency of that. Because we see that
as a fundamental risk, particularly, for force projection.
In the event of a significant war and we were mobilizing
our forces, the vulnerability of our posts to either an
electronic or kinetic attack that would somehow disrupt the
resources available in that post.
So, we have over the last 15 or so years, we have actually
reduced energy intensity at about 15 percent at our posts and
we have reduced water usage or water intensity usage by almost
30 percent in our posts over that period of time.
And we are using a climate assessment tool as you
mentioned. So, it is a challenge that we have taken very
seriously from both an efficiency perspective and from the
perspective of resiliency and forced projection and readiness.
General McConville. We just came out with our arctic
strategy as all the services have and aligned that. As we take
a look at what we are moving towards, first of all, we have an
administrative headquarters up there. We are looking to make
that more an operational headquarters so they can participate
as part of the joint force in any type of antiaccess/area
denial capability to make sure that we can protect our
interests. The brigade we have up there right now is the
Stryker Brigade designed more as a deployment platform from
there rather than operating in that environment.
We are developing the capabilities that we will need in
going back to the training that they are actually an arctic
brigade and they can operate in that cold weather and that is a
whole different set of skill sets and it is also different set
of vehicles that we need to do that.
We have mentioned that we are looking at some type of
multi-domain task force up there that would have that
capability. Once we work out the concept for an antiaccess or
even an antiship capability to work very closely with the other
services to provide that capability.
So those are the type things that are developing right now
that are going to fundamentally take a look at how we work in
the arctic much differently.
Ms. McCollum. Well, thank you. I know you trained for
extreme weather and we have had a lot of people learn how to
survive in extreme heat based on where our Army and services
have been recently, but extreme heat does not prepare you for
extreme cold. I look forward to working with you on that.
Mr. Calvert.
ARMY AND THE PACIFIC THEATER
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you, Madam Chair.
General McConville, the Army is in the midst of a
significant restructuring as you mentioned in your opening
testimony as it shifts to the new multi-domain operations
construct.
Now some of us are old enough to remember the development
and implementation of the air, land, ballot construct back in
the 1980s, which focused on the Army in Europe. This was a good
fit, obviously, because Europe actually lends itself to
traditional Army corps competencies given the existence of
NATO, forward basing and infrastructure and terrain. The new
multi-domain operations construct, however, seeks to focus the
Army on both Europe and the Asian Pacific.
By region, I also mean beyond Korea. Given the tyranny of
distance in the Pacific and the lack of some enablers in
Europe, obviously, Germany, I was surprised to see their new
budget numbers. I wasn't really surprised; I was saddened by
it.
Will this stretch the Army too thin and what will the Army
need to implement this strategy in the Pacific? For example,
will it need to permanently station more troops in the region,
require the other services to increase their lift capability,
or invest in more preposition stocks?
Thank you.
General McConville. That is a wonderful question as far as
from starters as we take a look at--I fell into air/land battle
when I came in the Army. And if you think about it, it was
really two domains. We were going to fight in Europe basically
on the land and the air.
And what we recognized is, when we get into multi-domain
operations, we believe and we really haven't been contested
like this, we will be contested in every domain and by a
potential and very lethal adversary. So, we will certainly be
contesting the land.
We will be contested on the sea, which means we are going
to be challenged moving equipment maybe back and forth and
maybe having sea battles going back to World War II. We are
going to see integrated air and missile defense that is going
to challenge our air capabilities that we really have not seen.
We certainly didn't see that in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in
irregular warfare.
We are also going to be contested in space and we are going
to be contested in cyber. And as we move to more technological
force, that is going to be very concerning. We are going to
have to deal with that. And so, we think that is extremely
important.
Now, how do we get after that? First of all, we always get
wrong where we think we are going to fight next. People always
try to predict, but we never get it right. So we have to
develop a general force and that general force we are
developing is being built to have the attributes of speed,
range, and then convergence and convergence is tying census and
shooters together of the Joint Force to give us a decision
dominance capability and that is what we are doing in Project
Convergence where we are taking census and shooters and using
artificial intelligence in an integrated battle command system
to tie that together so we get lethal effects in tens of
seconds by tens of minutes.
And that is how we believe we get the overmatch within the
Joint Force working with our joint partners that we are going
to need to deter whether that is in the Pacific or whether that
is in Europe. And if you take a look at the systems that we are
developing--that is why it is long-range precision fires
because, quite frankly, we got long ranges we are going to have
to deal with.
That is why future vertical lift has a speed and range
component to it that we haven't had before. That is why air and
missile defense is tied into an integrated brigade system. That
is why our soldiers are going to be extremely lethal and we got
to give them the best technology because we could be
outnumbered.
So that is where all this comes together in the
organizations that we are building, the tactics or doctrine
that we are developing, and the weapon systems that we are
fielding.
ALLIES DEFENSE COMMITMENT
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, General.
And Secretary, I just kind of touched on what you probably
saw the numbers that Germany came up with on their defense
commitment. How do you feel about that? What is the
administration's position on it?
Secretary Whitley. I will let the administration speak
first hand, sir. What I would say is, you know, we are
committed to meeting the requirements that we have against our
own plans, against the plans we have in the Europe, against the
plans we have in the Pacific. From the Army's perspective
looking very parochially at the Army, our concern is, can we
meet those requirements, and do we have the consistent stable
funding we need to meet those requirements?
Mr. Calvert. The only reason I make that point, it is
disappointing in the sense that we are counting on our allies,
especially in Europe, to pick up the slack with a potential
adversary who we all know who it is, Russia, and for us to,
obviously, move into Asia and with limited resources.
I hope the pressures continues on these countries in Europe
to meet their obligations to NATO.
With that, I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. Ms. Kaptur and then Mr. Carter.
RUSSIAN DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you, Madam Chair. I didn't realize we
would have a second round. I will go back to my interest in
Russia and particularly, General, your statement, ``Russia
increases its disruptive behavior.'' Could you talk a little
more in detail about disruptive behavior and what evidence you
have seen of that, as well as your colleagues that you speak
with at the department?
General McConville. Well, when I take a look at the
potential competitors out there and I call them competitors;
they are not necessarily adversaries, but they are certainly
competitors, you know, the pacing threat right now is China,
but we are also concerned about Russia because Russia has a
very significant amount of nuclear weapons, you know, and we
just watching right now activities in and around Ukrainian and
they do have a capable military, but they are also involved in
a lot of other areas around the world. They have a cyber
capability. They have----
Ms. Kaptur. General, can I interrupt you there and just ask
in terms of their cyber capability, what evidence do you see
them using that in various ways inside our country?
General McConville. I think I will defer to probably best
to have General Nakasone, actually, go into a classified
briefing and lay that out, or at least they have described that
type of capability. I am more in the general. I know they have
a cyber capability, but I am not really prepared to go into
that level of detail.
Ms. Kaptur. All right. What about their broadcasts on
Sputnik and so forth TV and every cab in New York and hotel
rooms and all? Is that something that Army follows?
General McConville. Well, we don't necessarily follow it,
but what we are very concerned about, we talk about all domain
operations and the one domain--we talk about air, land, sea,
cyber, and space, but there is certainly another spear, if you
will, or it is not necessarily a domain, but an area that we
are concerned about and that is information.
The power of social media, the power to put information out
there that may not be correct to me is extremely concerning. In
some ways it can be very dangerous because you can put
information out there that is misinformation, which is very
different than the rules we operate under.
And countries like that can put disinformation out there
and in some ways, you know, impact the people that are watching
what is going on.
Ms. Kaptur. Is Vladimir Putin a pretty good inventor of
programming where falsehoods are common?
General McConville. I don't think--I am not going to
comment on what he does or doesn't do. I don't think it would
be appropriate for me.
Ms. McCollum. Ms. Kaptur, you brought up a really good
point and we are having a classified briefing. We will make
sure that your staff gets that on your calendar for in 2 weeks
on the cyber. You raise an extraordinarily important discussion
that we need to have.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. McCollum. Do you still want to submit more things on
Russia for the record?
Ms. Kaptur. I will.
Ms. McCollum. Okay. Perfect.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. We will look forward to that.
Mr. Carter and then Mr. Diaz-Balart.
Mr. Carter, I can hear you, but I can't see you.
Mr. Carter. Now you can see me. Can you hear me?
Ms. McCollum. There you go. You popped up. You moved. I can
see you. You are right next to me.
Your questions, please.
FORCE POSTURE
Mr. Carter. I try to keep moving all the time.
General McConville, we got to go to the fight, wherever we
go in the world, especially in this near-peer fighting that
could be coming our way, the Chinese know we have to travel
long distances to put our Army in play.
And from what I have been able to understand in the limited
reading that I have been able to do, they are working on
systems to prevent us to quickly get to the fight because they
know that is one of our real assets is to try to interfere with
our battlefield communication capability.
You know, what is the--as you look at the Army plans, right
now on the ground in Korea is if it gets hot, it is going to
get hot in China and we got to go to the fight.
Were you all looking at that and what they are doing to
counter getting our soldiers there?
General McConville. Yes, Congressman. You know, we have a
concept that we call ``calibrated force posture'' and it is
really a term of exactly what you are discussing is, we have
forces that are forward. In some cases, we need to get more
there. We have forces that are rotating into various countries
in the region. We use a concept called dynamic force employment
to quickly move forces into that area. And we are working very
closely with allies and partners.
So, we are tied into them. We are interoperability with
them. We have worked with them with our security forces system
brigades to increase their capacities and capabilities of those
partners that we have shared interests, but we are certainly
concerned about those potential threats. And we are working
together as a joint team to overcome them.
Mr. Carter. On the issue of our strong near partners, that
would be basically Japan and probably Australia. I know Japan's
got a very solid Navy. What kind of ground force capability do
they offer and what about the Australians?
General McConville. Well, we have very good partners. You
mentioned Japan, you mentioned the Australians, and other
partners we train with very closely, but to me it becomes a
whole of military effort. And I think what is very, very
valuable is when most of the countries in the region share the
same values.
They want a free and open Indo-Pacific and they come
together, and we have seen some countries actually speaking out
on this, which is very bold that they are coming out and saying
this is the type of situation that we want and what we are
doing is working very closely with them from the Army and the
rest of the services to make sure that we are aligned and we
can help them achieve their objectives.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Diaz-Balart and then Mr. Cole if he is still available.
EXTREMISM
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman. We
talked about and obviously it makes sense to me that we have to
always be very, very aware of extremism whether it is racism,
White nationalism, but in another hearing, the ranking member
asked a question as to what is the definition of extremism. And
so, for example, I would argue that, you know, fascism is
extremism. I would argue that Marxism or Communism or socialism
is extremism.
What is the definition of extremism? And when you look at
extremism and rooting out extremism and making sure that
doesn't take root in the Army, is it just, you know, one of
those issues or do you look at trained Marxists?
Do you look at Fascists? Do you look at socialists? What is
the definition of extremism? And I don't expect, gentlemen, an
answer right now, but I think it would be helpful for us to
understand what the definition of extremism is and does it
include things like Marxism or socialism or Communism or
fascism or other type of extremist policies. You know, what is
that definition? So, if I could just put that out there.
Secretary Whitley. I would be happy to give some thoughts
if helpful now, sir. Your call.
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Great. Sure.
Secretary Whitley. I have tried to emphasize
significantly--the chief and I have done a lot of work and had
a lot of conversations with the force on this, and I tried to
emphasize that, number one, it is not about a soldier's
political, social, or religious views. I have really focused on
two things in my conversation with soldiers. Number one is
advocating violence or participating in violence.
So, you can have a range of views. That is okay, but when
you begin to advocate violence to advance those views, you have
crossed a line and you are no longer consistent with the Army's
values, you are no longer a law-abiding citizen; you are now
undermined the rule of law.
The second thing that I focused on is activities or actions
that a soldier could take in a unit setting that might disrupt
the cohesion of that unit. And that would be something like
discriminatory or racist behavior in a unit. If we ask our
soldiers to go to war, we owe them that they know that the
soldier to the left and to the right of them has their back.
And so, if you have a soldier that is engaged in any type
of racist or discriminatory conduct with a fellow soldier, that
calls into question that soldier knows somebody else doesn't
have their back.
I focused on those two things. Anything that disrupts unit
cohesion, that disrupts readiness. And the second is anything
that crosses the line and says, I am going to advocate violence
or participate in violence to advance a view which otherwise
might be protected by the First Amendment.
Mr. Diaz-Balart. That makes sense. But, I guess,
theoretically then, you could be a White extremist or a Marxist
or whatever and not advocate violence and that would still be
fine, I guess?
Secretary Whitley. There is a definition that is being
worked out, that is being refined, and we can get that over to
you, Congressman. Those are the two things----
Mr. Diaz-Balart. That is the issue. In other words, I get
the issue of violence. That makes sense to me, but if we are
going to be then rooting out extremism as far as ideology, for
example, if you are a White nationalist or a fascist, Nazi,
Neo-Nazi, or a Communist or a socialist, that is when it gets a
little bit more interesting.
And so those are the definitions that I think I would like
to get a clarification as to how do you deal with those if they
are not advocating for violence.
Is it all right to be a White nationalist or a Neo-Nazi or
a Communist or a Marxist or a socialist if you are not
advocating for violence? So those are issues that I know are
more difficult and that is why I think it would be interesting
to get a definition of how you all are going to be doing that
in the future. And so I would greatly appreciate that.
Now as far as modernization and, again----
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Diaz-Balart, I will give you another----
Mr. Diaz-Balart. No, no. Madam Chairwoman----
Ms. McCollum. No. I am going to give you another 30
seconds.
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Well, Madam Chairwoman, again, you are
very kind. I do not want to abuse your kindness. Never abuse
the Chairwoman's kindness. So, thank you so very much.
But I yield back. I didn't not realize that my time had
ended. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Diaz-Balart has brought this definition
issue up on several of our hearings. It is something the
committee's very interested in. It needs to be across all the
services. It needs to be across the government, including other
Federal agencies and that is important.
And as we--and the Scandinavian countries come to mind, I
think we need to be mindful of some of our allies who are
democracies, but also practice democracy a little different
than we do in some regards.
I have a couple things I want to follow up with you,
gentlemen. The committee is going to be asking you a couple of
questions on Army modernization that weren't touched on. For
example, one of the questions will be something similar to, in
the next 3 to 5 years, when a large portion of these programs
move from R&D to procurement, do you have the resources to do
these production contrasts?
So, I mean, as we move forward, you know, that has to be
planned into the budget, but still keep the modernization
moving forward. So we want to understand your thoughts on how
you are going to balance that.
And then something that has come up that Mr. Calvert has
brought up before and I have, too, in other hearings is, you
know, what kind of reaction are you receiving from industry?
And is your strategy really a strategy that embraces and
supports small business industrial partners into the future?
I am going to have some questions. We are going to have a
hearing on healthcare, and this will just maybe help prep you
for that. Having to do with the health defense agencies, OSD,
health affairs, and the interpretation of the NDAA, the
National Defense Authorization Act, and how some of those are
being interpreted very broadly.
We also have concerns about the Defense Health Agency's
implementation of some of the medical reforms and how they fit
into reauthorization. We don't want to be funding things that
conflict with what is authorized.
And then, you know, as Congress moves forward with the
congressionally directed medical research programs, they fund
high risk, high level reward research, and it impacts our
warfighters, DOD beneficiaries, but also have great impact on
the population for healthcare here in the United States.
We are going to have some questions on that. And a question
we have been submitting to everyone has been focusing on
coronavirus, but that has changed a little bit how we talk
about COVID now that we are going more to shots in arms. We
still need to do testing. What are you going to need to have
shots in arms to be able to conduct and to move forward safely?
And how if there are things we can do to help you with
implementation of that.
This has been a very fruitful discussion. I want to thank
all the committee members.
Mr. Calvert and I are so proud of the engagement that
everybody has in here. We both want to thank you, as well as
the community for your service, for those who serve, you know,
alongside of you, for your families who serve with you know
that this committee wishes the servicemen and women good health
during this time of COVID, safe missions in which people return
safely to their homes. Your service is very, very much
appreciated.
And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
[Answers to submitted questions for the record follow:]
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