▶ 0:15:35The subcommittee will come to order. I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to declare a recess at any Without objection, so ordered. I'd like to welcome everyone to today's hearing. I particularly want to thank all of our esteemed witnesses for accepting our invitation to discuss the plight of our military readiness.
▶ 0:15:59I think that we can all agree that the declining readiness trends are These trends have been years in the making and are causing aircraft to be and ground vehicles to sit idle as two While I look forward to our witnesses' thoughts, I would like to offer a few ideas as to what we in Congress need to do to make our military more lethal and effective in the near term.
▶ 0:16:29First of all, we need to do the hard work and focus on sustaining the existing fleet. The sad fact is that we have allowed our military readiness to broadly decline because we are more focused on procuring that shiny object rather than holistically managing the day-to-day maintenance necessary to sustain our Secondly, the over law overall top line requested by the administration in the fiscal year 2027 budget request is unprecedented
▶ 0:17:00but absolutely essential to address the plight of our military forces. For too long, our military has resi- has relied on legacy force structure that has not been maintained to the readiness levels One needs not look further than the Joint Strike Fighter program and the readiness levels provided by this exquisite platform.
▶ 0:17:25Cannibalizing our Joint Strike Fighter fleet because we have not provided the basic parts to support this superior platform is not a reasonable long-term solution to maintaining current readiness. This budget request with the accompanying reconciliation supplement will break this cannibalization cycle and put the Joint Strike Fighter on a sustainable path.
▶ 0:17:50Finally, we need to develop a modernization strategy that provides for our ability to maintain legacy assets through their expected service life. A stark example of this readiness crisis is the state of our amphibious fleet.
▶ 0:18:05The Marine Corps has long championed a naval strategy capable of accelerated national security response and has consistently advocated for the restoration of a 3.0 amphibious ready readiness group worldwide presence, a standard the Navy has to date failed to meet.
▶ 0:18:25Years of neglect, misplaced priorities, and open derision from from certain Navy pundits have left less than half of our amphibious ships available for tasking. This is not a maintenance problem. It is a leadership problem. This subcommittee will hold the Navy accountable for restoring these ships to their expected service life.
▶ 0:18:48The Marine Corps should not have to implore its sister service for the platforms it needs to execute America's crisis response mission. In conclusion, I think any expanded force structure needs to be accompanied with a strategic focus on maintaining the existing forces through their expected service life.
▶ 0:19:10This approach is not only cost-effective but more rapidly expands our readiness uh in the force posture realm to best meet our ongoing national security I thank our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to your testimony and to working together with my colleagues and all of you to address these challenges and with that, I turn it over to my friend and the ranking member, Mr. Garamendi of California.
▶ 0:19:40I thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh indeed, uh your opening statement the critical issues that are before us. Uh but before we before I get into this and talking to to our witnesses, I do want to acknowledge the men and women that have lost their life in epic furies Also want to acknowledge the extraordinary stress that is placed on the men and women of our military and in other areas as they
▶ 0:20:11deal with this war in Iran and the families that have to carry the burden. It's difficult for all of them and we acknowledge their service. This is one of the most consequential hearings we have each year. And this year the stakes are especially high.
▶ 0:20:28We're convening today with service members that are actively engaged in the Middle East with CENTCOM executing that maritime of the Iranian ports and I think we're into the sixth week of that war. Our forces have been stretched all across this globe from SOUTHCOM to CENTCOM and to EURCOM.
▶ 0:20:51Even as we prepare for the possibilities of a near-peer conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, regardless of where any of us stand on the strategic decisions that brought us here today, we share the fundamental obligation of ensuring that our service members have the equipment, the training, and the infrastructure they need to succeed in their mission. Let me start with epic furies and our tanker force.
▶ 0:21:19We lost six airmen in the KC-135 crash that occurred over Iraq on March the we mourn their loss, of course, and to where we go from here.
▶ 0:21:34The fleet further sustained damages at Prince Prince Sultan airbase and and in Israel sustaining a fleet that is already under I have previously raised concerns about the air refueling capacity, [clears throat] especially given the ongoing delays with the KC-46 program.
▶ 0:21:53Earlier last month, one of our the vice chief of staff of the Air stated that the Air Force would not contract any new KC-140 KC-46s until the existing technical deficiencies are resolved. I'm encouraged to see that the Air Force has prioritized the resolution of the capability gaps over speed of acquisition.
▶ 0:22:19And I view this pause as an important opportunity to ensure that investments are made to date that translate into mission-ready sustainable assets. I look forward to working with the Air Force on the deficiencies and make sure that they are addressed. Now, I also want to shift over to the some of which you covered, Mr. Chairman, in your opening remarks.
▶ 0:22:42Typically, for the last 6 months, while extensions have occurred during the time of crisis, the USS Ford is likely to enter the 11th month of deployment, a record-breaking commitment.
▶ 0:22:59The carrier, which was first deployed to EURCOM and then to SOUTHCOM and now back to has dealt with mechanical issues, including sewage problems, toilets don't work, and then there was the fire in the laundry. All of which have caused extraordinary stress to the sailors and to the ongoing commitment that the Navy makes to, in this case, CENTCOM.
▶ 0:23:26I understand there's an ongoing investigation of the fire and I'd like to keep make sure that we are kept abreast of the results of that. But there's more to it than that and that is the sustainment of this platform Extending these deployments like the Ford do not just strain the crew, they create maintenance backlogs that reverberate across the entire fleet.
▶ 0:23:52Cuz it's not just that one ship, it is also the support vessels that are necessary. Thus, our options are limited for future contingencies throwing career availability plans out of balance.
▶ 0:24:08And while our force deployed base are needs of the COCOMs, I want to be very direct that we need transparency, accountability, and the cascading effects that these extended deployments have on the maintenance schedules, on readiness, and on the quality of life and on the retention. The same pressures that now confined to the carrier are not confined to the carrier fleet. We talked the chairman talked about the Marine Corps.
▶ 0:24:37I'll short this part of it, but there is a very serious problem with the Marines and their ability to meet the requirements that they have. Obviously, the ships that they need are not available, but they could be if they were properly maintained. And so, we're going to drill down on that piece of it. I'll let that's this part of my testimony go for a moment because the chairman covered it in detail.
▶ 0:25:05We have many, many challenges ahead of Space Force and in fact, all of you lost a significant portion of your civilian workforce due to personnel reductions. Without going in that in great detail, it is creating a problem. Particularly since your budgets were significantly increased in the 25-26 period of time.
▶ 0:25:27And are those increases able to be carried out without the civilian force available to do the paperwork, the contracts and the like? With regard to the Space Force, you are scheduled under the new uh budget proposal to double. How do you do that? And what do you need to be able to carry that out? I value the the conversations that we've had on this.
▶ 0:25:57And finally, I do want to pick up one of the most persistent and frustrating readiness problems facing all of you, and that is the lack of access to technical data that our maintainers need to repair the equipment that we own. This is not a new problem, but it's an urgent one. And it is the direct result of sustainment being treated as an during the acquisition process. We continue to talk about this here.
▶ 0:26:27We continue to drive this issue. Last year's NDAA made meaningful progress by requiring life cycle sustainment to be considered in the acquisition decisions. Now, why this hasn't been done over the last 40 years, I don't know. Maybe it's because this committee did not uh see it as a necessity.
▶ 0:26:50As the department works to implement these reforms, we'll be watching closely to see how they translate into real acquisition decisions. So, let me be clear. We're going to monitor this and if there are acquisition decisions being made without taking into account the life cycle, and I'm not talking about the cost only, I'm talking about all of the parts and pieces and necessary information necessary to sustain these However, this cannot
▶ 0:27:21be the only forward-looking fix. We must back We must look back to our legacy and current platforms to determine to determine how best to equip our maintainers with the technical packages needed to perform maintenance on the government-owned equipment and platforms.
▶ 0:27:39I know the Army has been moving forward on the right to repair, but apparently that has not translated into the availability of the platforms I want to know more about your efforts from the Army and for the rest of you, you should be listening if you haven't done it yourself. Maybe the Army can lead the way, as they like to say every fall. I want to thank each of our witnesses for being here.
▶ 0:28:07I look forward to your testimony and to working with all of Know that with the chairman and I and the members of the committee, we're going to press you very hard. We are very, very concerned about the availability of the platforms, all of them, whether they are a Abrams tank or an F-35.
▶ 0:28:28The problem persists across every including almost every one of the military uh the naval vessels and the Air Force. With regard to the Space Force, you may be new to this and we don't want you to develop what has become a persistent problem with the Department of Defense, and that is maintaining the equipment that we have.
▶ 0:28:52Does little good to have 300 ships only 50% of them can go to And that persists across every one of your departments. So, with that, I yield back. I see the chairman has left for a few moments and his back up team is I yield back. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your 20 minutes of opening statements.
▶ 0:29:17Gentlemen, if you could keep your statements to about 5 minutes, we would appreciate it so that we have time for for questions and hopefully maybe even a second round. We'll start with General Lanieve and when you hit your 5 minutes, we'll just we'll just move on down the Today we have General Lanieve, we have Admiral Kilby, General Lomon Ton, did I say that right? Lamontagne? Lamontagne. Sorry about that.
▶ 0:29:42General Gering and General the Navy Representative Scott ranking member uh Garamendi, uh thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today. We're grateful for your engagement on issues that shapes the lives of our soldiers and their families. Every decision I make as the vice chief begins and ends with one question.
▶ 0:30:10Does this make our soldiers more lethal and ready to fight and win when called Today over 212,000 soldiers are deployed or forward postured across 160 countries securing our interests in the Western Hemisphere deterring aggression in Indo-Pacific and responding to threats In the Middle East, our soldiers continue to defend US forces and to sustain layered air defense and missile defense, maintain our long-range strike capabilities and our sustainment forces are postured
▶ 0:30:41across the theater moving fuel, munitions, and medical support while command posts integrate joint fires and intelligence to respond to the evolving threats. Operations overseas are sustained by the command structure and ready forces we maintain at home. We consolidated Army North and South in the Western Hemisphere command to create a single unified headquarters responsible for homeland defense.
▶ 0:31:05And in the in the Indo-Pacific, the Army maintains 91,000 troops and committed $1.3 billion to the Pacific Deterrence We're decisively modernizing our full spectrum capabilities to counter any pacing threat.
▶ 0:31:19And commanding in Korea showed me that years of combined training and shared risk with regional partners creates relationships that cannot be forged in Those enduring bonds built through repetition and sustained presence underpin our posture in the region and reinforce our operations globally. We're building readiness for the future fight at our combat training centers and having been the commander of the ops group at joint readiness training center, I know the value of our CTCs.
▶ 0:31:46It's where we train our soldiers to fight against any adversary in the mud, to solve complex problems, and the test our new kit. But we can't field our modern kit while sustaining aging systems that consume time and manpower. Divesting legacy platforms reduces the maintenance demand that falls hardest on our junior soldiers. This is why we restructured our acquisition process to close the distance from between soldiers' feedback and program decisions from years down to months. And this is reflected in the capabilities we're accelerating.
▶ 0:32:17Next generation command and control fundamentally changes the speed of decision-making, connecting sensors, shooters, and commanders, closing the gap between information and action at every echelon across any mission. We're progressing the XM30 infantry fighting fighting vehicle, unveiled the M1E3 prototype years ahead of schedule and fielded the AMPV to replace the M113, which entered service in 1960 7 years before I was born.
▶ 0:32:43In Army aviation, we're on track to deliver a prototype of the MV-75 by FY27 increasing the speed, range, and survivability required for future But this next generation equipment we're fielding is only as good as the industrial base with that produces and sustains it at scale. We continue to modernize our OIB through our 15-year plan. We're expanding industry partnerships through enhanced use leases and advanced manufacturing.
▶ 0:33:09Uh and but after 36 years, I've never seen a unit's readiness determined by industrial capacity alone. What I have seen repeatedly is how we treat our soldiers shapes whether we retain the experienced ones and whether the force we're building reflects the standards we claimed uphold. That standard includes $4 billion in infrastructure investments through 2026. We're working on improving nutrition. We're rolling out campus-style dining facilities across five installations and planning for an additional six.
▶ 0:33:37And we're scaling our holistic health and fitness across the entire force, active guard, and reserve. And these investments are having a measurable impact. It shows in our recruiting trends. Our numbers are up and continue to exceed last year's targets. Thank you for your continued support as we sustain the best army the world has ever seen. That will not change and this will defend. Thank you.
▶ 0:34:02Representative Scott, ranking member Garamendi, subcommittee members, thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the readiness of the United States Navy. Your oversight and authorization of funding ensure the Navy is ready when the nation calls. That readiness was put to a test this past year in the in the Atlantic, the Navy played a key role in Operation Absolute Resolve. In the Pacific, our sailors operate every day deterring China and building partnerships.
▶ 0:34:32In the Middle East, the Navy has supported the joint force in achieving objectives in operations Rough Rider, Midnight Hammer, and now Epic And the Navy continues to maintain an unbroken strategic deterrent with our ballistic missile submarines. Around the globe, we are ready to defend the homeland, deter deter threats, and when called upon to fight and win. To ensure our sailors and platforms continue to meet the demands of today's rapidly evolving threats, we are thinking, acting, and operating differently.
▶ 0:35:02And this starts with the Navy's primary weapon system, our In the fiscal year 2025, we set a goal to enlist 40,600 sailors. We exceeded that goal and shipped 44,000 96 sailors to recruit training command. I am confident we will meet our 2026 goal of 45,000 new recruits. To improve retention, we made personnel policy changes that led to thousands of sailors who were considering separation to continue their service.
▶ 0:35:33These efforts reduce gaps at sea from 23,000 in October 2025 to 18,000 last month with a goal of 15,000 by October 1st of this We are focused on improving sailors' quality of service. Through a new initiative, we are providing permanent shore-based housing so that no sailor is required to live aboard a ship in port. As of last month, 55 5,700 sailors have transitioned from living afloat to residing ashore.
▶ 0:36:03Last year, we we reduced our unmet need of child care from 2,200 to 1,500 spaces. Our fitness facilities are now open 24/7 and we are expanding meal selections and healthy options in our galleys. We are improving platform readiness by investing in the shipyard infrastructure optimization program and developing our civilian workforce. We are leveraging advanced technologies such as condition-based maintenance and additive manufacturing.
▶ 0:36:29The Navy continues to drive to our goal of 80% combat surge ready with urgency and accountability. However, I remain concerned with the material condition of our amphibious ships. The Navy is committed to improving here and I'm working closely on this through the amphibious force readiness board, which I co-chair with General Gering. To meet the high demand for forward operations, the Navy is changing how we build, equip, and sustain our fleet.
▶ 0:36:56The Golden Fleet Initiative is our plan to deliver the best and most capable platforms, to revitalize our maritime industrial base, and to change how we acquire ships. One example of that change is the establishment of Navy portfolio acquisition executives. This new structure aligns accountability accelerates delivery of capabilities and prioritizes the readiness and innovation of our platforms. Your continued support of our Navy is vital to our readiness.
▶ 0:37:25In particular, expanded flexible multi-year procurement guaranteed purchase commitments, and predictable funding streams enable us to achieve speed and scale. These legislative authorities allow us allow our maritime industrial partners to expand production capacity, modernize facilities, and strengthen supply chains. In closing, your leadership and partnership are critical to the Navy's continued success and improvement.
▶ 0:37:53On behalf of our sailors and civilians and families around the world, I thank you. I look forward to your questions. Congressman Scott, ranking member Garamendi, distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I'm honored to represent the Marine Corps and discuss our current warfighter The Marine Corps provides unique value to the nation and joint force.
▶ 0:38:19We are both the nation's global crisis response force and a persistent integrated stand-in force in the Indo-Pacific. This combination is at the heart of our force design and ensures that we are prepared to meet the challenges outlined in the National Defense Strategy. Our traditional role as a crisis response force is embodied by the amphibious ready group and Marine Expeditionary Unit most often referred to as the ARG/MEU.
▶ 0:38:46This sea-based capability provides our nation with decision space and options, changes the behavior of bad actors, and delivers swift and decisive action when required. Our Commandant has set the North Star of providing combatant commanders with a global 3.0 ARG/MEU presence. This equates to continuous ARG/MEU deployments from both the East and West Coasts and an episodically deployed ARG/MEU from our forward-deployed naval forces in Japan.
▶ 0:39:13Building on this our force design has created stand-in forces that are purpose-built to operate persistently within contested maritime spaces. These forward-deployed forces provide a continuous presence enable the joint force, and contribute to deterrence with allies and partners. We are not without challenges, but we're getting after them.
▶ 0:39:35In partnership with the Navy, we are working to improve the availability of our amphibious warfare ships towards a goal of achieving a 3.0 ARGNEW presence. We're also working to field organic littoral connectors. Thanks to your support and oversight, we've made significant progress in the area in this area with the procurement of the medium landing ship, or LSM.
▶ 0:39:57And we need to continue to move forward with a sense of urgency in both areas, amphibious warfare ship availability and littoral Despite these challenges, your Marines remain ready. Once again, the Marine Corps has made its recruiting mission in FY25, and we are ahead of mission for FY26. It's a testament to the quality of the Marines that we select to find the next generation and the critical resources this committee helps provide.
▶ 0:40:25This success in recruiting is the essential first step. Our institutional commitment to standards-based training and achieving brilliance in the basics is what forges our warfighting edge, and this relentless focus on fundamental excellence is precisely what enables us to remain the world's premier fighting We also recognize that taking care of our Marines and our families and their families is a warfighting necessity that directly impacts readiness and retention.
▶ 0:40:53Our Barracks 2030 initiative is making tangible progress, thanks in large part to the continued support from this committee. In the last fiscal year, we completed four new barracks, began construction on eight others, awarded renovations for an additional 27, and outfitted 159 barracks with new furnishings. We're also tackling child care challenges head-on.
▶ 0:41:15We have implemented key recruiting and retention incentives for our direct care These incentives include 100% child care discount, increased salaries, and a priority placement transfer program that allows military spouses to seamlessly move between installation child development centers when their service member executes permanent change of station orders. Finally, I'm proud to report that for a third consecutive year, your Marine Corps has earned a clean audit opinion.
▶ 0:41:43This is a direct reflection of our commitment to fiscal stewardship and demonstrates our accountability for every taxpayer dollar. In conclusion, the Marine Corps appreciates the continued congressional oversight and support for the Commandant's priorities, which remain essential for building enduring readiness across the total force. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today, and I look forward to answering your questions.
▶ 0:42:09Chairman Bergman, ranking member Garamendi, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to talk about the readiness of your United States Air Force. As General Wilsbach testified, the most important thing the Air Force does for the joint force and for the nation is to fly and fix aircraft so that we are ready to answer the nation's call. The Air Force's lethality depends on the professionalism of our airmen, the capability of our equipment, and the skill at which we bring them together.
▶ 0:42:38Airmen are our most precious resource. The active duty, Air National Guard, Reserve, and civilian workforce are why the United States Air Force is effective at a moment's notice. We are investing in them to keep the Air Force the most capable and lethal Air Force in the world.
▶ 0:42:58We updated our fitness policy to push our airmen to new levels and ensure they are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with our joint partners on the toughest Additionally, the Air Force is on track to train 1,500 pilots per year to expand our capacity to support operations worldwide. We strive to make the Air Force an unmatched place to serve.
▶ 0:43:22We are increasing our airmen's quality of life by updating dormitories and child development child development care We are repeatedly meeting our recruitment goals, bringing in talented men and women from across the country. Moreover, we are seeing strong retention numbers across the force, indicating that we are living up to our The second aspect of readiness for the Air Force is having the right equipment in good working order.
▶ 0:43:51Our outstanding airmen need the right logistical support to do their job. To that end, the Air Force is leveraging the weapon system sustainment account to increase aircraft availability, which allows our aviators to get the reps and sets that they need. While we are working to be more ready today than yesterday, we are modernizing to be even better tomorrow.
▶ 0:44:15We are recapitalizing our ground-based strategic deterrent, fighter, bomber, and tanker aircraft, as well as the command and control architectures that coordinate the fight. We appreciate the acquisition reforms supported by this subcommittee that are allowing us to develop capabilities faster. The B-21, F-47, and collaborative combat aircraft will present our adversaries with dilemmas they cannot solve.
▶ 0:44:42The lethality of your Air Force is the highest when we exercise our well-trained airmen with capable The Air Force takes this aspect of our job very seriously. At the tactical level, our airmen are practicing agile combat employment and practicing to fight in exercises like Bamboo Eagle.
▶ 0:45:01Last summer, the Department of the Air Force employed more than 400 aircraft and 15,000 personnel across 50 locations in the Pacific to improve our ability to As demonstrated over the past several months, our airmen are ready to respond to the nation's needs. Operations Midnight Hammer, Absolute Resolve, and Epic Fury demonstrate that in coordination with our joint partners, your Air Force is the most capable and lethal Air Force on the planet.
▶ 0:45:31We will focus on taking care of airmen, sustaining the fleet, and developing capabilities for the future. Your Air Force will fix and fly aircraft to deter potential adversaries and win our nation's wars. I look forward to answering your questions and partnering with you to improve your Air Force. Chairman Bergman, ranking member Garamendi, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to talk to you today about the United States Space Force.
▶ 0:46:02Recent events around the world clearly demonstrate the importance of the Space Force as part of the joint force. With Guardians both in garrison and deployed in harm's way, our need to generate readiness remains critical. The chairman recently noted our Guardians prepare for the fight before a single shot is fired or plane takes off. That is how readiness is built in the barracks, on the training fields, and on the bases at home and across the globe. In the past year, we've closed on many items to meet these readiness goals.
▶ 0:46:33We put on orbit two global positioning system spacecraft to enhance our navigation and timing, two geosynchronous space situational awareness program spacecraft to increase our domain awareness, and 42 data transport layer spacecraft to build the backbone of our missile warning capability. Along with our commercial partners, we've executed over 170 launches in the last year. The launch enterprise counts three new entrants as significant progress.
▶ 0:47:01And your Space Force has authorized the early use of a new radar, has upgraded optical surveillance systems to track adversary activity on orbit. We have operationally accepted additional systems in domain awareness and electromagnetic electromagnetic warfare, and missile warning that enhance our capabilities in those mission areas.
▶ 0:47:22We stood up our officer training course to baseline all of our officers in space, cyber, intelligence, and We built a program to provide initial qualification training specifically for our acquisition workforce. We activated three mission deltas, eight system deltas, two service components, and we have already met our fiscal year 2026 recruiting goals.
▶ 0:47:46We anticipate continued robust growth across all these areas as Congress considers our $71 billion request that is included in the President's budget. As Secretary Mink recently noted, the President's budget enables the Space Force to address both readiness and future growth challenges, positioning us for success in the years ahead. Our priority is clear.
▶ 0:48:08We must protect the joint force from space-enabled To do this, Space Force Guardians have participated in a variety of readiness-producing activities designed to ensure space superiority. Exercises like Flash Point, Resolute Space 25, and Space Flag have been particularly helpful in generating As my colleagues here know and joint doctrine will attest, training is an essential component of readiness.
▶ 0:48:35And the Space Force is organizing to ensure we train our forces for combat. We're doing this by using the Space Force's force generation model, or Space Forge Gen, to deliberately carve out time for advanced training so that our Guardians are always ready. Rapidly [snorts] evolving threats and our responsibilities to the joint force mean that the Space Force must aggressively increase its end strength and infrastructure.
▶ 0:49:00Achieving [snorts] these goals will require increased focus on accessions, as well as building out training infrastructure and key enablers needed to develop Guardians of the future. We [snorts] will need to double in size in the coming years to meet the identified operational needs, and the 27 budget currently before Congress will enable the Space Force to grow by 2,800 The Space Force continues to provide tremendous value to both the joint force and the nation.
▶ 0:49:29General Saltzman said recently, on nearly every mission around the globe, the Space Force delivered on our promises to the joint force, providing unmatched combat capability from space to ensure combatant commanders can project power and meet our national military objectives. With [snorts] your continued support, that value will grow as we work to build the service to meet rapidly expanding requirements. Thank you.
▶ 0:49:58Okay, thank you all for your uh your articulate and thoughtful and timely testimony. Um we're going to use the 5-minute clock here to maximize everybody's time. So, thank you to my members for staying within that 5 minutes. Um so, I'll Amphibious ships, General Gerring, the Marine Corps has advocated for a 3.0 amphibious readiness group worldwide presence.
▶ 0:50:23In your best provision professional military judgment, do you think the existing amphibious fleet is sufficient to meet this 3.0 goal? And if it is not, can you provide us with the number of ships that we should pursue to realize this goal? Uh Chairman, I thank you for the question. Um recently the Secretary of the Navy has directed that we establish the amphibious force readiness board that I co-chair with Admiral Kilby.
▶ 0:50:48Um and one of the objectives of that board is to determine ultimately what would be the right number of amphibious ships. And it's really a three-different phased approach. Uh one is uh selective service life extension. Uh the other is optimizing our maintenance and how we force generate. And the third is uh procuring new ships. Uh I think the VCNO and I are in agreement that that number is north of Uh this board owes more detailed analysis to the Secretary of the Navy.
▶ 0:51:14Uh initial indicator that is probably somewhere in the vicinity of 40, but there's more work to be done there. So, thank you for the question, Chairman. Great, thank you. I'll look forward to hearing when the meeting is going to be when the board meets in some uh you know due out results uh quickly. Admiral Kilby, I particularly support the Navy's goal to obtain an 80% surge ready uh force posture.
▶ 0:51:36What steps is Navy taking to arrest the continued amphibious force structure decline and deliver on the CNO's goal to make the amphibious forces 80% surge Chairman, thanks for that question. A another effort that uh I work with the ACMAC is maintenance of these ships. So, I'm going to give you some specific examples, but last year when I came to testify uh before you, we were at 42% combat surge ready.
▶ 0:52:04Today, we're at 45% combat surge ready. A month ago, we were at 54% combat surge ready. That number changes because ships enter maintenance and leave maintenance. So, that number is a number that we predict. And And when we achieve that number we thought we're going to achieve, great. If If we don't achieve the number we thought we're going to achieve, it's because there's been a problem with maintenance.
▶ 0:52:26So, some of the areas we're working on and have executed already is uh a flag level review of any availability that has over 10% of growth in it. We have found once you exceed 10% growth in availability, the availability explodes. So, that's thing one. There has to be a a a governor there, and that's provided by flag oversight.
▶ 0:52:50Uh the second thing is a second port engineer for every uh amphibious big deck um LHA and LHD that we have. That's to screen the work properly, make sure we order the material, make sure we have the job scope uh properly, so we're trying to uh match uh capacity to a very challenging ship in the case of our LHDs. Another uh area is to align specific and hard-to-find uh workforce in industry. And I'm talking about boilers on our LHDs.
▶ 0:53:21I'm talking about our cranes on our amphibious ships. And I'm talking about the diesels on of our amphibious ships. So, the Navy is pursuing single-source contracts where we can provide those workers to those availabilities when needed and not con- not count on the private availability, whether it be, you know, any of our contractors to obtain those. So, we're trying to lock down variants and make sure we achieve the end state in that avail.
▶ 0:53:47Another thing is improved material forecasting and ordering all that long lead material on time. And that means we have to we have to definitize the availability well before it starts. So, right now we're up to 5 months. We'd like to get a year in advance to lock down the availability for our big deck amphibs. We're at a 17% life cycle health assessment for LHD class.
▶ 0:54:11And if we can execute uh this year, I'm predicting we'll be up in the 60s because we'll have done the maintenance we need to to make those ships uh sustainable and keep them around, as you said, for the entire service life. And finally, we've introduced a $15 million uh contract incentive fee for two ships, the Somerset and an Amer- and the America. Uh that means you have to hit that date to get $15 million. No negotiation.
▶ 0:54:38So, the contractor is incentivized to stay on schedule, and we're incentivized to to help make sure we do that. Those are some of the things we're working hard. And I meet with the ACMAC and discuss our progress across the board for amphibious ships, sir. Okay. Um number one, my my time is up. Uh I'm going to recognize Mr. Garamendi, but before I do that, just know we're going to do a second round of questions. So, we don't get them all on the front end. So, uh the bottom line is So, Mr. Garamendi, you're recognized.
▶ 0:55:09I thank you, Mr. Chairman. And for the witnesses, thank you so much for your opening statements. Uh there's much that was said and much more that needs to be said. Uh Admiral Kilby, you were uh answering on the amphibs uh the questions that are there. The same issues apply to all these other vessels.
▶ 0:55:29The reporting from the uh GAO and others is that um has yet to be made across all of your uh ships and for the Army uh as well as for the Air Force. And uh I suppose we'll see the same thing eventually for the Space Force. Uh that you are not able to maintain what you have. Uh for the Army, you've uh fallen behind.
▶ 0:55:59The numbers tend to continue to decline for your um major platforms. The Navy, you just answered part of the questions. There's obviously more. Uh the Marine Corps, you've got some problems with your airframe. Uh and obviously for the uh Air Force, similarly. So, what I want to do is to get down to um the nuts and bolts of this. You're going to have to improve the maintenance of all of your platforms.
▶ 0:56:27Otherwise, we're going to continue to buy more and get less availability unless we improve the main- the maintenance. In order to do that, you have relied in the past upon developers of the platform. What I want to go to each of you is the to maintain, the right for the Uh do you and and answer a question for each one of you.
▶ 0:56:55Is it important uh for you to have the right to repair? And are you attempting to get that in your contracts? So, let's start right on down the line, each one of you. The right to repair. Yes, sir. Thanks for the question. Absolutely. Uh you hit on both of the key points of uh it in your uh in your opening, sir. uh right to repair um in the technical data.
▶ 0:57:22So, the technical data we believe strongly we have to do this early on in the uh in the contracting processes. And And you've given us the ability to do that, and we're moving out uh with that process. But, it's also uh in our industrial base to get the ends manufacturing up and running so our soldiers can repair the the gear uh that our supply chains just cannot keep up with so we can maintain our legacy system. Yes on both, sir. Thank you, General. Admiral? Yes, sir. Support the right to repair.
▶ 0:57:52Support the ability to make parts in the Navy and not count on industry to do that. That can be through added manufacturing, a number of things. Support the contract mechanisms to allow us to do that. Support uh additional training capability for the ability to repair for our sailors. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, member. Thanks for the question. Absolutely, going forward through the contracting uh process, I believe intellectual property needs to be part of that contract to get after it.
▶ 0:58:22And what I'm most interested in also is now looking back to previous systems we've bought to see what it would take for us to get some of the capability to repair these components. I believe the department's leading this effort. But, there's numerous examples from the Marine Corps where this would make us better uh and increase our readiness forward. So, thank you. Very good. Air Thank you, member. Critical issue, very important to us. I'd say the status of today is insufficient, right? We need data that gets down to the component and subcomponent systems so that our airmen can affect repairs.
▶ 0:58:52A lot of times today our airmen are having to make the same repair three times. For instance, if there's a repair on an aircraft power unit, and they have to go to another air- the part's not on the shelf, so they have to get that part off another airplane. Say it's a 2-hour job, 2 hours to get it off that airplane, 2 hours to put it in the second airplane, and when the part shows up, 2 hours to put it in the third airplane. A critical issue. Uh we have very much appreciate the subcommittee's Space Force? Hey, sir. I'll add on.
▶ 0:59:22I I started my career as a young enlisted maintainer, so near and dear to my heart in some ways. Absolutely support with my colleagues here. Applies a little different from the Space Force as we think about systems in space, but our ground systems, absolutely. We have the same issue that the other services feel. So, uh supportive of both. I'm going to let it go at that. Uh this issue has been before this subcommittee it seems forever.
▶ 0:59:45We've not been able to push through to the um industrial base uh the reality that uh we're going to not give up here. Uh in so far as policy is concerned, we're going to continue to push so that you have the right to repair and the opportunity for the um and therefore the opportunity to better maintain your platforms. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. Scott, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And um General LaNeve, I don't envy the position you're in.
▶ 1:00:15We had brief time to talk over the last week or so, but um as you know, General George, extremely well respected, well liked by many of us. He and his wife, Patty, 38 years of service to the country, specifically the United States Army. Um I've read all of the news reports about why he was dismissed, but I would like to hear from you. Um why was General George dismissed? Sure, that's a question for Secretary Heikeseth. Okay.
▶ 1:00:44And I've I've been the vice for a couple months now. We honored the service of uh General George and his wife and generals that were dismissed.
▶ 1:00:52Well, th- th- thank you for that. I would I would like for Secretary Heikeseth to answer the reasons of why why they were dismissed. And I think that the way uh General George and his wife, Patty, were treated will have a chilling effect on the way our our services operate in the future. Um prior to this, uh Secretary of Defense removed four uh Army officers from the O-7 list before their nomination left the DOD.
▶ 1:01:20Is that Sir, I I think that the list is still moving forward. Um I mean, our our process the process has been followed through. The Army provided the list to the Secretary's War Room Office, and it has gone gone forward. Uh whether those officers have been split from the list, you know, higher, I I'm not sure at this time. Um there's civilian oversight of the process there, as you know. Uh there's multiple checks as it goes.
▶ 1:01:50And that you know, as it goes from the White House to the Senate, there's uh opportunities for multiple uh reasons for for officers to be removed.
▶ 1:01:59I'm on I'm on I'm on a time clock here, but my my understanding is that somewhere around 3% of colonels are selected to move forward to become general officers. Is that number at least approximately accurate? Yes, sir. Approximately accurate. So, of all of the colonels out there, they're selected by their peers and by their board, it's narrowed down to about 3% of the colonels that actually move forward to become a a general officer. Yes, sir.
▶ 1:02:29And the the open the reporting is that Secretary Heikeseth pulled indi- individually pulled four names from that list. I'm less worried about the race and the gender than if he did or he didn't do it. Did Did he pull four names from the list as has been reported? Sir, you'd have to ask Secretary Heikeseth that. I Okay.
▶ 1:02:47I've been Well, if if I could if I could get anybody over there to respond, I I would I would ask him, and I appreciate that. But I I would I I will say this, but I would like to know why those four if those four names were removed from the list, I would like to know why they were removed from the list. There may be a legitimate reason. Um Let me Let me get get to why this The military expects its officers to provide truthful and honest advice versus being yes men to their leadership chain.
▶ 1:03:17Is that Is that correct, gentlemen? Would all of you generals agree with me with that
▶ 1:03:22Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. If our top general officers are removed without justification from their for providing honest, objective advice, which is something that I always knew General George to give, then I fear that it's going to have a trickle-down effect that's going to be to the other officers and and especially how their spouses feel about continuing to spend their
▶ 1:03:52lives in service. This is a team sport. The officer and the spouse are in this together. And I think that the General George and and his wife, Patty, I think they were very unfairly treated, and I would appreciate if the Secretary of Defense would be forthcoming with whether or not four names were removed from the list.
▶ 1:04:11I'm less concerned about race and gender than I am why they were removed from the list, and if he has individually changed the way we're going to handle the promotion and the selection promotion of our general officers in the I'll move to the Air Force real quick. I want I want to ask with regard to uh combat search and rescue, the A-10 general has provided that uh has been a big part of that mission.
▶ 1:04:39What the Air Force plans to retire the A-10, unfortunately. What is What is the Air Force doing to for combat search and rescue when the A-10 is retired? Congresswoman, it'll be a mix of platforms, just like it's been a mix of platforms in the past with HH-60s and overhead uh folks doing that coordination role that the A-10s have done very well over the years. And And correct me if I'm wrong, but an HH-60 is a helicopter, correct? For the CSAR, yes.
▶ 1:05:10I thought you were talking about CSAR vice CAS. Yes, sir. Ms. Strickland, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman Bergman, Ranking Member Garamendi, and thank you to all of our witnesses for your testimony today and your continued service. This hearing comes at a critical moment. US forces are not just preparing for conflict, they are actively engaged while continuing to meet global commitments across multiple theaters.
▶ 1:05:40The core question I have today is not whether the joint force can fight tonight, it is whether we can sustain operations, absorb losses, and regenerate combat power fast enough to remain ready for a large-scale conflict. So, I'm going to start with General LaNeve. I want to discuss force allocation, health, and long-term General LaNeve, the Army is deploying high-demand systems like air defense systems across multiple theaters. Are these the same systems we would rely on in a large-scale conflict?
▶ 1:06:13All right, yes, ma'am. All right. And what risk does that create for our ability to respond to a second Uh ma'am, you know, my role as the vice is to man, train, equip, and uh certify and then build the force that COCOM uh commanders will We're supporting uh Admiral uh Cooper uh and team.
▶ 1:06:37If we have to surge to an another location, then we'll uh we'll have to look at how we balance that to be able to provide the resources necessary. I appreciate the question. All right. This is about force health and long-term readiness now. General LaNeve, are sustained operational demands impacting retention, family stability, or overall force health in ways that could degrade readiness over time? Yeah, ma'am, again, thank you for the question.
▶ 1:07:05What we are not seeing a degradation in uh retention uh you know, uh right now. Uh we will let you know if we if we see that uh over time. It's something that we look at. Um we continue uh to assess where the force is, uh but right now, retention and recruiting is up. All [snorts] right, thank you. Now, I'm going to go to General LaMontagne to shift to aircraft capacity and the Air Force's role in sustaining operations.
▶ 1:07:35General, last year the Air Force testified it was operating the oldest and smallest fleet in history with elevated readiness risk. Since then, we've seen confirmed aircraft losses and additional battle damage.
▶ 1:07:49At an unclassified level, what concerns do you have that the Air Force has regarding its ability to maintain aircraft capacity and maintenance depth to sustain current operations while possibly preparing for a large-scale Congresswoman Strickland, thank you very much for the question. Key issue for our United States Air Force, as you outlined and as we've testified previously. And so, we are redoubling our efforts to invest in our ability to maintain the airplanes.
▶ 1:08:16Historically, we've invested in our weapon system sustainment, which is largely spare parts, engineering, and a lot of other things that supports that, to about an 85% level. Last year, it was an 86% level, so some improvement, but not enough. This year's budget in '27 takes us to 93% and additional $3.2 billion to help us sustain those airplanes over time. Very important issue for your United States Air Force. Great, thank you.
▶ 1:08:44And in closing, I want to just remind us that we're experiencing aircraft losses and damage, expanding munitions at high rates, operating within an industrial base that is constrained, and placing sustained demand on the force itself. So, really the question we should ask ourselves, are we maintaining readiness for a large-scale peer conflict, or are we consuming the force faster than we can regenerate it?
▶ 1:09:05And to my colleague um Congressman Austin's question about what happened with General George, um General George was in charge of First Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when I was mayor of Tacoma. He and his wife have dedicated their lives to serving our country. And just to be clear, once the Secretary of Army clears an individual for promotion to general, the Secretary of Defense should not be removing them because their records have been highly vetted, highly scrutinized, and these people are qualified for the jobs.
▶ 1:09:33And we look forward to hearing an explanation from Secretary Heckseth when he meets with the full House Armed Services Committee on April 29th. I yield back. Thank you. Mr. Hernandez, you're Thank you. I'm going to go with a a little different line of questioning and for Admiral Kilby, um what is the size of our fleet today? 292 ships, sir. How many of those are combat ready?
▶ 1:10:03it depends on the class. If it's surface ships, 63% are combat surge ready. If it's submarines, 65% combat surge ready. And if it's amphibious ships, 45% combat surge ready. is every is every ship you have 292 Are all those fully billeted? They are not all fully billeted.
▶ 1:10:29We have, as I said in my opening statement, 18,000 gaps at sea. So, those gaps are spread across all those ships. But are there ships are there ships that are not combat ready that have crews for those ships?
▶ 1:10:46Yes, sir. How many of those do we have? I I have to get back to you exactly on how many ships are in in the in the depot right now. All right. Um General LaMontagne, I'm sorry I mis- mis- pronoun- How many how many how many planes do you have in the Air Force? Sir, I don't have the exact total with me here today. I have a detailed breakdown, can go plane by plane, but I'll come back to you with that with the total. Okay, what percentage of those planes are combat ready?
▶ 1:11:20it's all break it up into two pieces and happy to come back to you at a higher level classification. The actual rates exceed the classification of this hearing, sir, but want to come back to you and your team and can discuss them immediately following this meeting, but not in a public forum.
▶ 1:11:35pilots for all your planes? Sir, we're several a couple thousand pilots short. Um most of those are on the staff. The priority prioritization has gone to the flying units, but we are not 100% across our United States Air Force.
▶ 1:11:54So, you got planes that don't have Is that what you're saying? Sir, I'm not saying that. The the the line units are manned close to 100%. The staff a lot less so. Yeah, you I don't know if you guys know, but you know, in my private previous life, I was a fire chief of the city of And um I had a certain number of firefighters.
▶ 1:12:22I would have been fired if I would have had firefighters sitting in my fire station without a vehicle to get jump on to fight fires and do other stuff that we had to do. And so I'm really concerned about the fact that we have sailors and maybe pilots and stuff that don't if we had to there's not a a combat vehicle, either a ship or a plane or a tank that they may be they may may not get into because the the expense a big part of the expense
▶ 1:12:52of the armed services or any any service, actually is the And so the state of readiness is um is concerning to me. Uh and the state of readiness and the fact that that we have people who we're paying for that we may not have the right equipment for that to be utilized when we need Um some people here are you know, they're they're they're saying that you know, our our fighting men and women are stressed, etc.
▶ 1:13:23and I and I appreciate that. But that's what they signed up for. Like somebody saying, "Gee, I'm really sorry you have to fight a fire." All right. Well, that's what I signed up for. And gee, I had another fire, but gee, that's what I signed up for. All And so I expect our our fighting men and women to be equipped have the best equipment possible, but when the United States needs them, that they're actually able to fight.
▶ 1:13:48Um and the fact that that our state of readiness, especially looks like in the in the in the Navy uh is so deficient is really alarming to Um and so uh I don't know what it is that we need to do in order to to get that readiness Maybe a new new way of doing things. Uh but it's really concerning to me. Uh General, again, um have you looked at I know we have an issue with tankers.
▶ 1:14:16Um have you looked at commercial uh options for for supplanting your tanker fleet? Congressman Davis, there is a a couple of commercial contracts, commercial carriers that are doing air refueling that supplement the the team and that's funded by the user. And so, yes, sir, there are a couple of commercial companies providing air refueling services today. All right, fair enough. And my time is up and I yield back. Thank you. Mr. Sorensen, you're Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:14:46Welcome to all of our witnesses who are joining us here today. I'd like to thank General Lanieve, General LaMontagne, and General Bratton for taking the time to speak with me ahead of this hearing. I'm looking forward to continuing to work with all of you. The Rock Island Arsenal um the weather and and space are as you all probably know my favorite topics, but I did want to talk about a serious thing today.
▶ 1:15:12The Army is currently using management directed reassignments to move thousands of civilian employees across functions and locations across the country. Many of these employees are my neighbors who work at the Rock Island Arsenal. Many are veterans who have worked at Rock Island for 15, 20, and 30 years.
▶ 1:15:32A lot of them have been working at Joint Munitions Command, the exact folks that we need who know how to scale up munitions production in desperate times, and it seems appropriate for the time that we are in now. Uh General Lanieve, I'm thankful that before our committee meeting here today, you mentioned an upcoming visit to the Rock Island Arsenal, and I hope to stand beside you when you are there.
▶ 1:15:55Uh could you help me understand a little bit about why the Army is executing a command matching program, how you identify positions affected, and the timeline for completion, especially with such an active theater in Iran? Yeah, sure. Thanks for the question, and I and I do look forward to going to to Rock going back to Rock Island and going with you.
▶ 1:16:14Uh sure, what we're trying to do is match holes across our workforce with the talent that needs to be maintained across all of our sites, whether it's in industrial base or it's in our to try to to match where the holes are. Um we got about 5 to 6,000 across the workforce that we're working on doing this.
▶ 1:16:37We're we're trying to uh look as hard as we can at the at matching skills and attributes and experience uh to fill these holes. I know it's it is uh a uh I mean, we're dealing with people and their lives, and we're we're trying to do with the the biggest care that we possibly can in order to sustain the workforce for the for the long term.
▶ 1:17:03Um and you know, as we scale, you know, we hope to scale, we want to have the most optimized workforce there uh to be able to do it. But it's not just done in a vacuum, sir. You know, we're looking at at uh you know, the skills and attributes that we're trying to plug, and we're trying to do it with much care. There's been some reports out there that people are being told to move without any compensation. It's not true. Anything over 50 miles are being there's a compensation package associated associated with it.
▶ 1:17:32So, we're we're trying to think through this, and and we're trying to get it accomplished, you know, in a relatively
▶ 1:17:41diligence. But in the past 10 days, I have met with many folks who many of them have done their service in the military, but then they put roots down in the community for decades. And some of them come to me, and they say, "Eric, I I have done what was right I I have a perfect record. There is no anywhere that does the work that I'm doing. So, why am I surplussed?" And now they're given 5 days to decide to uproot families or they'll be terminated.
▶ 1:18:10Well, I'll tell you, most people spend more than 5 days to figure out which used car to buy or which dishwasher to get. So, how on earth do we think that this helps us meet a mission? Cutting people at Joint Munitions Command when we're going through munitions like water? It feels so short-sighted, but it's not just me saying it. The folks at Rock Island Arsenal, they feel like they've been sucker punched. Uh so, why are they given 5 days to make the decision?
▶ 1:18:41Yes, sir, there was a a longer time that we've been working through the process. so, it wasn't just a a dropped on at the last moment. You know, you have 5 days to make this decision. They've known that they've been going through the process for for a while now. Um across all of our commands. Now, there is a window for them to make a decision, do they want to move or not? So, we can plug the holes and and move forward.
▶ 1:19:08something that we can fix to take care of them? I mean, not to cut you off, but when Secretary Driscoll came to Rock Island Arsenal, we ended the visit with a handshake and a smile, and he said, "Let me know what you need." And I I need certainty, but across the entire workforce, whether that's Picatinny, Detroit, Rock Island, we deserve answers. And most importantly, it's the support. There are six members of Congress looking over the nation's largest arsenal at Rock Island.
▶ 1:19:34You know, I have a copy of the declaration that proposed the arsenal to be put at Rock Island, and it is signed by Abraham Lincoln in my office. And it is so important that we take care of the people there. This should not be a dis- difficult task to support them properly, honorably, and effectively for the benefit of readiness and our country. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Mr. Harrigan, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, it's great to see you.
▶ 1:20:02Uh thank you for your testimony to the subcommittee today. Uh I'm going to piggyback a little bit on what the ranking member talked about. I had some different remarks here prepared, but I think the ranking member went down a great line of questioning. And I think it was very clear that every single one of you support right to And the ranking member said that this committee has worked very hard to try to get right to repair. I want to make something really clear. We did get right to repair last year.
▶ 1:20:27Uh myself, a former Green Beret, Tim Sheehy over in the Senate, a former Navy SEAL, uh Elizabeth Warren and Maggie Goodlander, you probably couldn't find four different members of Congress that disagree more on various parts of policy, but we all agree on this. And we actually brought this across the finish line in last year's NDAA both in the House Armed Services Committee and in the Senate Armed Services Committee.
▶ 1:20:52And magically through a very opaque process called a conference, a bunch of unelected bureaucrats kicked it out of last year's NDAA, and we didn't get it done. So, I want everybody to understand that every single service wants this. This committee wants to give it to you. But for some reason, there is some force that is out there that is preventing that from happening. That's a shot across the bow.
▶ 1:21:19I'm going to start getting very agitated about this this year, but we have to deliver right to repair to the services. We absolutely have to have it, particularly when we are looking at protracted conflict in a very far away place. General Gering, part of your testimony is that the Marine Corps at its core remains a naval expeditionary force.
▶ 1:21:40And as we contemplate a potential conflict with China in a far-off contested environment where access to contractors may be limited and rapid organic maintenance is critical to mission success, can you tell me how consequential not having right to repair will be to your service? Congresswoman, thanks for the question. I mean, our ability to sustain ourselves in a contested environment will literally uh drive the pace at which we can operate. That will be the limiting factor.
▶ 1:22:10So, the ability to maintain and fix our equipment at the leading edge, uh I think is essential cuz that will really drive our tempo. Thank you. And I know that the answer is the exact same from each and every one of our services. So, this is something that we owe to you this year. And it will I will endeavor to get it done. Uh I want to switch gears over to General LaNeve.
▶ 1:22:30Uh I think one of the the greatest parts of Army Transformation Initiative and a lot of the work that's been ongoing is the concept of Army Advanced Manufacturing that we were able to get across the finish line last year. Uh went out and visited some of the ongoing work at at out in Texas at Red River Army Depot. Uh some incredible folks out there working at the cutting edge. Can you explain how Army Advanced Manufacturing is moving forward the mission of the United States Army as it continues to transform?
▶ 1:23:00Yeah, sure. Thank you. Thank you for the question. It's not only there, only there, it's also at Rock Island uh with the team there. I'm going to I'm going to use uh drones as an example if if I can. We we have got to scale as fast as uh making the parts and having this available for companies outside of our uh our department uh to be able to use this to build the drones.
▶ 1:23:31but we have to be able to we have to have this in our system, in our organic industrial base to be able to scale when needed. And that's that's where we're lacking right now. So, with uh the ability to do this inside our organic industrial base, it's allowing us to be able to produce at scale the the components that we need to have a healthy uh ecosystem for just that one.
▶ 1:23:56That's just one example where we could go and scale across uh all of uh our bases to be able to execute this all our organic industrial base to do this. It is critical. So, it's the technical data, it's the right to repair, and it's the advanced manufacturing that we have in our in our uh depots and that we uh have within our our units as well to be able to produce uh parts.
▶ 1:24:22Thank you very much for that. Gentlemen, thanks again and best of luck out there. Uh thanks for coming in today, and Chairman, I yield back the remainder of my time. Thank you. Ms. Elfreth, you're Thank you, Mr. Chair. Gentlemen, thank you for being here today. I also want to align myself with Congressman Scott's comments about General George. I've only been on committee 15 months, but he was incredibly forthright uh and solutions-oriented with this committee, and I think the committee, Congress, and the American people deserve an explanation as to as to how he was treated.
▶ 1:24:51Um General Gering, thank you for taking the time yesterday to come by the office. I really appreciate that conversation. Admiral Kilby, I want to commend you both for the the amphibious force readiness board that you put together. I think it's a a long overdue. I hope we can we can acknowledge that, but responsible response to an acute frankly failure for too many years, but to have it elevated to the vice level and have regular monthly meetings and deliverables, I think it's really healthy.
▶ 1:25:20But I I'd like to ask you both, you know, choose your own adventure. When you're back in front of the subcommittee this time next year, what progress would you like to report on, and what standard uh should we be holding you to this time next year? Well, let me let me start, and I'll turn it over to my partner. Uh I'd like to be in a much better position on maintenance. I'd like to tell you that we're going to do this $15 million incentive because it works and it's worked for the last six ships.
▶ 1:25:45I'd like to tell you that the second port engineer has resulted in the following improvement process for us. I'd like to tell you that we're going to expand our OEM contracts to certain gear because it's proved so successful for boilers, cranes, and uh and and diesel engines. So, to me, we've got to run that uh a little bit to achieve what we're think we're going to achieve, but I do believe we'll be able to say that next year.
▶ 1:26:15Congresswoman, uh thanks for the question, and thank you for taking the time yesterday for the office call. I think uh Admiral Kilby and I through this AFRB process owe the Secretary of the Navy a plan on what it's going to take to get there. Uh and I believe uh when that plan is approved, that's what we should be held accountable to. So, thank you. I appreciate that. It's my understanding you might have a little more meat on that bone by late summer time, so I would appreciate perhaps sharing that with the subcommittee when appropriate. I don't think the chairman would object to that at all. I hope not. Uh I'm going to move on.
▶ 1:26:43Uh General Lamentin, um on April 13th, my 2 days ago, my office was made aware of a pretty massive jet fuel leak at Joint Base Andrews. The state and the Air Force have confirmed that a total of 32,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked into the system. This leak uh went directly into Piscataway Creek, which flows into the Potomac River, which then flows into the Chesapeake Bay, and affects what happens with Admiral Kilby and General Gering at the United States Naval Academy. So, uh really important issue we're talking about here.
▶ 1:27:11I know that you when we talk about every installation, you all prioritize relationships with communities, trust, um relationships and honesty with our regulators uh in local and state government. Yet, state regulators were not notified when the fueling system failed a safety test on December 11th, 2025. It's my understanding that the leak detection system failed every month uh from January to March leading to the leak uh in early April.
▶ 1:27:37We tend to focus a lot of our questions in these subcommittee hearings on the urgent issues within our districts or within our state, I offer this question, General, in the spirit of trying to fix this so it doesn't happen in other communities and other critical waterways across this country. What actions were taken in December when the safety test Yes, ma'am. Very important issue. Uh we take accountability for this, and we failed to meet our high standards as teammates in the community and to take care of the environment on in this issue.
▶ 1:28:05Uh a little a couple points of clarification, if I may. So, in December and January, there were a couple of valves that failed, but we don't think the leak happened until March. Okay. We should have reported those faulty valves, no doubt about it. Um but we have an accurate accounting of the fuel level that is in the tanks uh at the end of January, at the end of February. We do that reporting every month, and it was within norms.
▶ 1:28:32So, you know, below 1% which accounts for the fuel expanding and contracting with temperature And so, uh the responsibility is within 2 hours of having a leak, which was detected on the 23rd, the team reported it to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment uh to to be good stewards and to get on it as fast as possible. Can I want to I want to clarify if the spill has been contained, and how we define contained.
▶ 1:29:02Does that mean that it is separated from any potential leak within a waterway, or does that mean that we have some outstanding to-dos, and that a a good storm is going to exacerbate this problem, and that jet fuel will leak further into the creek and the and the river and the bay. Just ma'am, I'd like to close the loop with you directly with this at the time and place of your convenience. Happy to do it now as well. That we found the leak, the area, generally speaking, it's on the west ramp.
▶ 1:29:31And a lot of works have been made to mitigate it to include, you know, soaking up about 17,000 gallons of water and oil contaminated areas, damming up the creek to prevent it from going any further, as well as putting absorbent material down to prevent any further spread. I appreciate that and thank you for your office following up. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back. Mr. Smith, you're recognized for 5 Thank you, Mr.
▶ 1:30:00Chairman, and I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. I'm grateful for the conversations leading up to this and for your time and for your leadership. Uh General, I'd like to have a conversation about the air air Air Force and in particular about refueling. I mean, the KC-135 is a remarkable airplane and like a classic car, it just kind of keeps on going as long as you take care of it, but it is old. They're what, 60, 70-year-old airframes.
▶ 1:30:29we had a policy discussion that's been ongoing for years about what the next generation ought to look like and as a step either toward that or until that, depending on your point of view, we've got the KC-46s online and we've had trouble with them and uh we you all have paused them and then we've started them and then I'm not quite sure. We're on at least yellow light right now, I suppose.
▶ 1:30:54you know, we talk a lot about particularly outside of this room, we talk a lot about our extraordinary air capabilities to um find, reach, and do what needs to be done with the target, but you can't do that if you don't have the gas to get there, to stay there, and to get home I'd just like to get your sense, big picture, before we get down any further, where are we in terms of adequate tanker capacity and do you have concerns about the age of the fleet and what I perceive at least to be a
▶ 1:31:25a a fairly clouded path forward in terms of replacement or next Yes, sir. I I think we've had concerns about the age of the fleet for quite some time, thus the KC-46 and just to clarify a couple of points on the KC-46. So, we will not start the new contract until the those CAT 1 deficiencies have been resolved. So, that contract extension probably happens in about 28. Everything will be fixed up before then.
▶ 1:31:53That's our commitment to try and drive that forward. Uh on sort of a next generation tanker, we have taken a look at analysis of alternatives that finished up last December. Take a look at, you know, what kind of capacity we need, what kind of range, speed, and survivability we need. Since then, we put out a couple of requests for information to industry to get clarity on some of those systems that may help us be more survivable in more contested environments.
▶ 1:32:22Those systems could help us with the current fleet. We're going to be flying KC-135s for a long time. You know, if we recap KC-46s or something else to the tune of a squadron per year, we're going to be flying KC-135s for a long time. So, what can we do to those capable but very old airplanes to help protect them in more contested environments. A big priority for us going forward. What about just the sheer number? Do we have enough gas tanks to do what needs done?
▶ 1:32:49Uh sir, the congressional threshold on that is 466 going towards 502. We tend tend to fully comply with that. I think there's some also some analysis by United States Transportation Command in conjunction with analysis on B-21s and other kinds of capabilities to figure out how many tankers we need going forward. So, the intent in the near term is to deliver KC-46s.
▶ 1:33:15We were previously retiring a KC-135 every time a KC-46 came off the line. We're no longer doing that so that we can grow our tanker capacity from 466 to Uh in the Indo-Pacific, is there anything we ought to be helping you with in terms of maintenance capacity? I mean, we've got old planes and that's a long way. Yes, sir. So, we've got a lot of work in the 27 budget to look at infrastructure across the Pacific.
▶ 1:33:45Uh a big part of that will be sort of the hubs and the spokes. What do we need at the hubs, but we also need stuff at the spokes to facilitate, you know, a tanker drop-in from, you know, emptying its fuel to very capable receivers, filling up on the ground, and then getting right back in the fight. So, we'll need at each of the spokes, we'll also need some capabilities there, fuel additives, some aircraft ground equipment, and more. And that analysis continues.
▶ 1:34:13And the good news is with the 27 budget, a strong amount of funding is going exactly there. I appreciate General, and I know everybody here knows it's important, but it's not the sort of thing that makes out there, and we'd like to keep it that way cuz they only make headlines when the when the delivery system fails. So, uh to the extent we can be helpful, and I would assure you I can be helpful, I would like to do that. I think it's a really critical link in the chain. It's obviously important to us in Kansas as Um and we want to make sure you've got what you need today and going forward.
▶ 1:34:44I yield back. Congressman, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Tran. You're recognized. Thank you, Chairman and Ranking Member for to having today's hearing. Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. And General Lanieve, it was great to meet you earlier this afternoon. Before I begin, I want to take a moment to recognize the 13 service members who have lost their lives in Iran and the hundreds more that have been injured as a result of this war. Military readiness depends on our people and every loss impacts our readiness.
▶ 1:35:13My heart is with the families and all of the families who have a loved one deployed. Readiness is the core of our military. It is more than just the latest weapon weaponry and intelligence. It's housing, quality of life, health care, and training that truly improves our soldiers' readiness for the challenges of tomorrow. Readiness is also a means of making sure that our people and their families are taken care of when our base our bases update their equipment and missions. This is something my community is facing directly.
▶ 1:35:44I represent Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, a key training center for the Army Reserve and National Guard, and a strategic hub for military operations out of Southern Nearly 200 soldiers and civilians as Los Al are assigned to the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, which the Army Transformation Initiative plans to without any recapitalization plan.
▶ 1:36:10This means that 200 highly qualified people could be out of a job when we should be using their skills Uh General Lanieve, thank you for committing to having more conversations about recapitalization plans at Los Al moving forward. You know, a few weeks ago I introduced the Combating Chinese Communist Party Influence Act with my colleagues, Rep. Harrigan, Rep. Strickland, and Rep. Bacon from HASC.
▶ 1:36:33This bill instructs the Director of National Intelligence to create a comprehensive interagency report about the growing CCP presence across the world and the risk that it poses to US national security. General Gering, I'm going to start with you. How might a report of the growing threat of CCP influence improve Marine Corps readiness for future conflict? Uh I'm sorry, Congressman. Could you repeat the last part of that question?
▶ 1:36:56How would the growing How how might the of the growing threat of the CCP influence improve the Marine Corps in readiness for future conflict? Congressman, I'm going to take that for the record. Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you. I'll ask if your fellow generals, anyone have any or and the admirals will any input on how a report on CCP's influence would help prepare your agency for readiness. Hey, sir.
▶ 1:37:27Uh the the thing that comes to mind, and I'm sure there's many ways that that would be helpful to us, but the thing that comes to mind is really as we work through these new acquisition programs and understanding where influence is happening in the industrial base, where where we might be assuming some risk, I think would be one area. There I'm sure there's there's many others, uh increased activity from the Space Force in particular, but I'm sure for all the services in the acquisition fields and working with the defense industrial base. And so, understanding what the landscape looks like there would be helpful. Thanks.
▶ 1:37:57Thank you, General Brighton. Any other comments from the other generals or admirals?
▶ 1:38:00think, you know, security is always on our mind. So, that report is a fundamental thing that we can share with sailors in the Navy to kind of get everyone to realize that there's a threat out there. I you know, people can get a little tone deaf from that. So, that would be a useful vehicle to realign everybody. Yes, sir. Two two things.
▶ 1:38:26First, I I just want to publicly thank you for all of our losses and you know, continued support of the families and prayers for for the I think anytime on your first part any time there's additional um look, whether it's, inside our organization or outside the organization, help paint the the true threat, the overall threat, helps us to look at ourselves and look at our systems and how we
▶ 1:38:56can protect ourselves, how we can do uh to be able to to protect inside the systems. And I and I share all of the the other voices that that in our acquisition process is where we're really going to be able to use use this to help us as we go forward. General LaMantia. Congressman, is the pacing challenge and threat and outlined in the National Defense Strategy? We spent a lot of time on China.
▶ 1:39:22I I have not seen this report, but my sense is it's probably another good place for our Army to study. Thank you so much and I'm about to run out of time, but I I want to thank you all for your service. Um, you know, deeply honored to for that you're here speaking to us and and thank you for sharing. Uh, with that Chairman, I yield Thank you. Mr. Bergman, you're recognized for 5 minutes. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for the witnesses for being here today.
▶ 1:39:46Uh, Admiral Kilby, uh, we talk a lot about the munition stockpile challenges, but I'm also concerned with the potential uh, Spy-6 radar fielding What are we doing now to keep the fleet uh, from taking a readiness hit as it relies longer on the Spy-1? Hey, sir, your uh, Crane Indian is super helpful for us here. Uh, we are underway to establish a depot as well as engaging industry to help uh, redouble their efforts here.
▶ 1:40:13Uh, I'm not satisfied with the amount of no part no bid parts that are returned on the Spy radar, so we're in heavy engagement and Crane is helping us there, but I just think we need to really look forward to 2060. What's it going to take to maintain this radar until 2060?
▶ 1:40:30And and notwithstanding all the work that's happened in the last uh, I would say 2 years uh, in the Red Sea in the in the Gulf of Oman in the Eastern Med where our ships have performed and that Spy radar, as you know, is critical to close the fire control loop whether I'm countering a ballistic missile or an anti-ship cruise missile. It is it is the the reason that ship exists. So, we have to we have to look at this from a fullsome perspective.
▶ 1:40:58And I also think we should look at it clearly from a battlefield spare perspective. If we have a ship and I God forbid we take damage, we've got some spare arrays in a warehouse that we can bring that ship back to line quickly because we can't generate that um, out of the organic system now. Okay, do you have the uh, do your depots have the capacity the parts, the technical data, the right to keep those radars combat credible? I I think we need to work on that.
▶ 1:41:27We need to do more in all those areas, sir. Okay. Uh, tacking on to the ranking member and and Rep Harrigan's comments, um, do your depots such as Crane in my district have the technical data and the right uh, repair rights that that they need to do that work efficiently? Again, I think it falls across the board that we can do better there. So, I I look forward to right to repair and and I made the comment about ability to So, one of the things we're doing in the Navy is uh, returning to I level maintenance.
▶ 1:41:57That's intermediate level maintenance. We walked away from that 20 years. We put in our packages for our our maintenance availabilities for contractors. We're going to pull it back and we're going to man up depots at our fleet concentration centers where sailors can do whole mechanical electrical work as well as combat systems work. So, I think that's part of that, sir. Thank you. If the uh, organic depots are still working around incomplete data or proprietary repair restrictions, isn't that a bigger readiness problem now that the Spy-6 delays are extending the life of Spy-1?
▶ 1:42:28Yes, it is, sir. Okay, thank you. Uh, General Gerling, I'd like to discuss the JLTV readiness issue. Uh, how many JLTVs are expected to be part of the Marine fleet? And can you highlight the importance of this vehicle uh, to the Marine's ground mobility strategy? Congressman, thanks for the question. The Marine Corps remains fully committed to the JLTV program. It's not only provides maneuver, but it also provides tactical level C2 and fires. So, we remain committed to an AAO of 12,500 vehicles and 4,000 trailers.
▶ 1:42:58Um, we currently need to put under contract about another 5,000 vehicles and 2,000 trailers to meet that AAO. Uh, and going forward uh, based on program stability as a joint program, uh, areas we're interested in understanding is impacts on unit cost, life cycle sustainment, and program management, but we remain fully committed to the JLTV. Okay. What policy actions would best support the readiness of the Marine JLTV JLTV fleet?
▶ 1:43:24Uh, Congressman, as a joint program, this is something that I need to continue to investigate with our joint partners uh, that are part of that program. If there are any uh, policy uh, issues in the future that will help that along, we'll come back to you. Okay. Uh, should the Army still house the program manager office for the JLTVs or would would the Marines be a better landing spot for that? Congressman, currently the Marine Corps is not outfitted from a personnel perspective, manpower, engineering, contracting to manage a joint program, so we're currently not structured for it, sir.
▶ 1:43:53Got it. Thank you. Uh, Admiral, in your testimony, uh, you described the maritime rejuvenation as a whole of government and a whole of the nation effort from a fleet readiness perspective. What does that mean for uh, repair throughout and beyond traditional uh, coastal uh, coastal yard Hey, sir, I think um, we want our whole maritime industrial base that is part of the Golden Fleet Initiative, not just new ships and existing ships, but the industrial base that supports them.
▶ 1:44:20So, having other non-traditional vendors that can create modules or other parts for ships, we're all about and I think we welcome them as long as they can meet the standard and deliver it and it and cut down on our delays to build and deliver our ships. Okay. Any consideration of places like the Ohio Ohio River Valley for
▶ 1:44:39Yes, sir. Absolutely. Okay, very good. I'll yield back. Mr. Deluzio, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome the witnesses. Uh, General LaMantia, I'll start with you, fellow Pittsburgher if I've got my notes right. Okay, welcome. Pirates are in first place. We got the draft next week. The Pens are in the playoffs. Things are looking up for us.
▶ 1:45:00Right. I tell everybody right now, Steelers in first place. We we have some work to do in the off season.
▶ 1:45:05All right, I have a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania issue, General, to start with. As you know, uh, Pittsburgh is home to A1C. It's the Army's Artificial Intelligence Integration Center. My understanding though, the President's budget uh, has zeroed out this funding line uh, and I'm curious what that means uh, for A1C, its presence in Pittsburgh. Where is the Army going here? Uh, look, I think this is a pretty critical um, function, but also Pittsburgh as a hub in robotics and AI and more.
▶ 1:45:34I think this has been successful for the Army and for the country, but give me a sense what's going on. Uh, what are we looking at potentially happening here in Western Pennsylvania? Yes, sir. Thanks for the It has been uh, incredibly successful and uh, I'm going to have to go back and take a look at at where the budget is for that one and come back to you uh, on the viability of it. Okay. Thank you. Please do.
▶ 1:46:00Um, look, there's also, as you know, there's there's good research that comes out of the institutions in Western Pennsylvania which are among the best. Uh, so I'll look forward to hearing from that. I want to shift gears uh, and you heard from Mr. Mesmer, I know Mr. Harrigan, uh, ranking member Garamendi on right to repair uh, which look, to me is pretty basic. It's about our service members having the power uh, they've got the know-how to fix their stuff and for public money to be protected. It's pretty straightforward.
▶ 1:46:26And so, what I'm looking for if each of you can indulge me, give me some examples of things that our service members can do that they can't whether it's because of data access rights, whether it's agreements. Give me some examples because I know I'm not alone in wanting to help you get that fixed, protect public money, give our troops the ability to fix stuff. General, I'll come back to you to start, but I'll open up to all of you. Just give me some examples of what you're seeing uh, in your branch. Sir, I'll give you I see if I say General, I'm looking at four of you. So, whoever wants to jump in.
▶ 1:46:56I'm sorry, Admiral. I'll give you a quick example from the Air Force. So, the more data we can have at the subsystem level, at the component level, we could affect those repairs ourselves. We've been able to do that on some very old airplanes. Some of their new airplanes, we don't have the data. And so, what we have to do is take out the whole system. We turn around and look on the shelf. The part's not there. And so, then we have to take that same system out of another airplane.
▶ 1:47:23What this does is it triples the manpower to take an a good system out of a bad airplane, put it in the airplane we're trying to and then uh, so that's, you know, 2 hours to take it out, 2 hours to put it in. When the part shows up, another 2 hours. Whereas if we had the data to fix at the subsystem level ourselves, we wouldn't have to take out the whole Congressman, I'll give you two examples for the Marine Corps with their amphibious combat vehicle.
▶ 1:47:52Uh, so, the engine control module on that vehicle is it's digital and occasionally it requires software upgrades which are cloud-based. Uh, we currently don't have the ability to do that software update. We have to bring in contractors to do that. Second example with that same platform is the rebuilding of brake calipers. Uh, we have the ability to rebuild brake calipers, but we don't have the permission to rebuild those on that vehicle. General, on both of those, Marines could do that work but for this access to data. Absolutely, sir. Very good. Thanks.
▶ 1:48:20Hey, two two examples, sir, one general, one specific. The general one I alluded to already about the intermediate maintenance. So, if we can establish that shore duty for sailors to go become proficient in their system and send them back to ships, I think we'll have a world of good for us. So, I'm bullish on that. Okay.
▶ 1:48:36I I had breakfast with a uh, information technology petty officer, so an IT2 in uh, in Puget or sorry, Whidbey Island who said she was frustrated because she didn't have the authority to go work on her network. So, she's a network person. So, uh, we're taking care of that, but that's an example where she is frustrated in her, you know, professional life about not being able to do what she wants to do. Thank you, Admiral. Sure, thanks for thanks for the question.
▶ 1:49:07Every one of us can give you a a a bunch of different and every one of our we have young Americans that can do this if we just give them the capability to do it. And I'll get I'll throw one out because there's a savings associated with this, too. So, a $14,000 fin that goes on an external fuel tank for a UH-60. Just replace it, $14,000.
▶ 1:49:33You know, our team re-engineered, reverse-engineered it, 3D printed it. It cost $3,000 to do it, 78% cheaper. And that's one small example that can be done by the incredible Americans that serve in our formations that can do this if we just get the technical data and the ability to execute.
▶ 1:49:56I know that you've given us a lot of the capabilities to do it in the NDAA, NDAA, but it's the technical data that we have to be able to go out We've got to do more. As I And as you say, our service members can do this stuff. We've got to back you up. Thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Case, you're recognized for 5 Thank you, Mr. Chair. General LaNeve, do you know how many months there are between now and August 16th, 2029? I'd have to do the math real fast. Okay, I'll help you with the math. That's 40 months. That's 3 years and 4 months.
▶ 1:50:26And that's when the leases expire at And given that we are far off into the distant future about that, I'd like to know, and I think it's important for the subcommittee to know, has the Army made any actual offers to the state of Hawaii for a new lease? Length of time, us projected dollars. It's a simple yes or no. Have I gotten anything? Has the state of Hawaii received anything? I know that the negotiations are going back and forth, but I'm not I'm not sure from the team forward where they are right now.
▶ 1:50:56I do want to assure you that we want to do this in good faith. You're you're our neighbors. We know we need we need
▶ 1:51:03I know and I appreciate that. Good faith doesn't mean ramming condemnation down our throat or holding it over our head as well. I can tell you that publicly there has been no offer, no discussion of an extension of a lease at all or renegotiation of renegotiation of a lease, no dollar amount. There is nothing in this budget that you're putting forward to even indicate that it would have been a consideration to provide a financial offer for a lease renegotiation for Pohakuloa. There is nothing right now.
▶ 1:51:33We are 40 months away from the expiration given the prematurity of even talking about eminent domain, even threatening condemnation on a state and an indigenous people that has already sacrificed more land and spilled more blood as members of the armed services as well.
▶ 1:51:53Will you agree to take that threat of condemnation, eminent domain, completely off the table and commit to real negotiations for what a lease could look like as we talk about dollars, as we talk about length of time. Clearly, you will not be squatting for a dollar for 65 years as you did for the past 65 years. But also talking about what it means to be that good neighbor. And I know you want to be that good neighbor. So, how are you going to contribute to the community benefit? How are you going to respect Native Hawaiian rights, cultures, sites?
▶ 1:52:23How can we talk about even reducing footprints? All of these things that should be a part of a real, true, open and honest negotiation that should be made public so the public can comment. Will you commit to take that threat, that gun to people's head, that condemnation and eminent domain must be imposed while we are still 40 months out that you will commit to a real, solid negotiation?
▶ 1:52:47Ma'am, I I commit to taking that back to the Secretary of the Army and and reinforcing um So, you're telling me that at the end of the day, cuz I asked Gillis the same question, your civilian counterpart, I asked him to take that threat off. Is the only one who can take the threat of condemnation and eminent domain, something that is truly truly impacting our community back home, Secretary Hexter is the only one who can say we will take that away. Ma'am, I I've taken that I work for the Secretary of the Army. That's what I meant.
▶ 1:53:17I'm going to take that back to the Secretary of the Army. I I don't know um where the threat came from. Um The threat came in the language that was offered to this committee. Yes, ma'am. So, I think we need to And if you can take this back tell this committee straightforward, we don't need to be talking about any kind of language provisions in this NDAA about condemnation or eminent domain cuz we are still actively in the negotiation process. We haven't even made a formal request to the state of Hawaii. Nothing's been offered.
▶ 1:53:46We haven't gone to the community to talk about what even an extension of the lease would look So, first and foremost, let's withdraw from HASC, the Armed Services Committee, any any provisions that you have to consider language to authorize any kind of condemnation or eminent domain. Will you do that? Can you do that? Is that in your authority? It's not It's not within my authority, ma'am, but I will go back to the Secretary and Secretary of the Army and discuss this.
▶ 1:54:13Again, as I said in the beginning, we we want to negotiate in true faith. So, what's stopping you? Because right now I have only heard whispers, I've seen language from last NDAA to this one of eminent domain and condemnation. We're talking about a community of people here, an indigenous people. Native Hawaiians are indigenous people to these islands that you've been bombing the hell out of for generations. They never relinquished their sovereignty, not once. You've taken their land already. The admissions like, how do you think you got Pearl Harbor?
▶ 1:54:43How do you think you got Marine Corps Base Hawaii? How do you think you got PMRF? You took it. You never even paid a dollar for that. So, when we talk about trust, you're telling me relationships are so important globally, especially when it comes to crisis. How can you blow up the domestic relationship with a crisis like Yes, ma'am. And I And I appreciate all of your
▶ 1:55:08People are pissed in Hawaii and they absolutely deserve to be because they've been mistreated and right now they're being mistreated again and I look forward to further engagement with everyone above you on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back. Mr. Davis, you're recognized. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And to all the witnesses who are here today, we really appreciate your service to the country. Um this past Friday I had a chance of going to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina in the eastern part of our state.
▶ 1:55:37And General Gering, I just want to let you know that it was truly a pleasure to get there to um reconnect with the base leaders. Please convey, if you will would, my deep appreciation for all the great work that's taking place there. Um 24/7 air air operations, the airfield stay in busy.
▶ 1:56:00I was there to see the work with the tower and so much is going on on the The installation earned a distinction as the Marine Corps Station of the Year. Um so, I want to with that lead into this first question to yourself and General LaMantain and that is, what can Congress looking across services in this case to optimize the F-35 mission readiness and
▶ 1:56:30especially as we think about um Indo-Pacific deployments. Congressman, thanks for the question and thank you for taking the time to visit our Marines at Cherry Point. Um the F-35 is the most capable strike fighter aircraft in the world and I think we're we're showing that right now overseas. I think the biggest degraders for the F-35 right now is spares. It's spares posture and repairables.
▶ 1:56:54And the reason I'm convinced this is the case is because when we deploy an aircraft and it gets priority for parts, it's meeting and or exceeding our readiness goals. So, I know it is maintainable, it really comes down to spares posture. And sir, I think you'll be see a big commitment towards that in the PB-27 submission. Super. Thank you. Congressman, thank you. Very important issue. Thank you also for the conversation a couple of days ago.
▶ 1:57:20I agree with General Gering, it really is a spare parts a huge part of this. The Air Force has not prioritized this enough over the last several years. So, we have basically invested about 85% in our weapons systems payment account. In '26, we raised that to 86%, previously 85%, this year 86% in '27 going to 93%. We've got to prioritize this ourselves and that's exactly what we're doing.
▶ 1:57:49Also working through the J-30 F-35 Joint Program Office in accordance with that rule set and the global sustainment system reset to try and get those rates where they need to be in the 2030 timeframe. Yeah. And let me say, too, thank you so much for the call. We covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. And also, I really appreciate you raising the topic on F-15s at Seymour. So, thank you.
▶ 1:58:16Means a Admiral Kilby um what are the most critical gaps we face, in your opinion, with respect to naval weapon systems and how do those interface with Marine Corps land-sea hybrid vehicle operations? Well, a [clears throat] significant gap we have we've seen in the last 2 years is the ability to counter UAS aircraft cheaply and effectively.
▶ 1:58:44So, 2 years ago we were very expensive missiles to do that in the Red Sea. And and now we've come back with weapons like APKWS and other things. So, we've got to really have a rechargeable magazine, a laser, directed energy, high-power microwave, something that could attrite that threat. So, I think that's a gap for us. We need to backfill that as quickly as possible so we can reserve our most capable munitions for our most capable threats. Yeah.
▶ 1:59:13And let me ask as a continuation, how can Congress help um when we talk about accelerating shipbuilding, um that pipeline? I have tremendous interest, especially um when we look at the capacity in Virginia, and we have about uh 1,100 or so North Carolinians who are relying upon work and going to the Well, there's a couple things we're trying to do to to make our maintenance The biggest thing for us is to get our ships out of maintenance on time
▶ 1:59:44and not have days of maintenance away. So, a couple ways to do that, shrink the package size and then it makes it more digestible and more likely that we can complete it on time. Uh I also think so, helping those workers that that work you know, come from North Carolina and work in the Hampton Roads area in our private shipyards that maintain our ships in Hampton Roads, that's part of that. Another part is being able to build modules outside
▶ 2:00:10do something. I have 10 seconds left and we can definitely follow back up and I appreciate that. Um but I would like to say in closing here, I'm General um LaVieve um had a have a son Fort Benning right now, infantry. Um week five also offset, so look forward to family day and I just want to thank you for all the work that's happened, the recruiters, the everything that's taken place and um we really appreciate what's taking place at Fort Benning. I just wanted to say that.
▶ 2:00:39Thanks for your service. And then I don't want to let you space out. Um we have a mission specialist that we're so proud of that's just got back and we've had great conversations about um space, so I do look forward to um continue to make sure we do everything um to maintain a steady readiness posture. And thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Yield back. Okay, we're going to uh if anyone who wants to participate in a second round of questioning, uh I think uh unless uh Mr.
▶ 2:01:07Schmidt, do you have any desire to ask more questions? Okay, Don. Okay, so be just be Mr. Garamendi and I will do the five-minute clock one more time. I've just got a couple of quick questions here. Uh and General LaNeve, as to the plight of the Army's ground Army reduced the number of overhauls from 1,285 in fiscal year 2015 to just 12 overhauls in fiscal year 2024.
▶ 2:01:34What steps is the Army pursuing to arrest the overall decline in ground vehicle mission capability rates, and is an expanded overhaul workload in the organic dust industrial base part of the solution? It it absolutely is, sir. Um it in in the industrial base, we have to do it.
▶ 2:01:54We're also uh we have a great AMC commander that's doing uh you know, a a pinpoint a look at organizations, uh especially our ABCT fleet, uh that will get out and take a look at their OR rate and surge on them to try to get them up to a higher rate. This is a concern across all of our fleets, sir. Um whether it's aviation or our track fleets or our wheeled wheeled fleets. Um It Some of it has to do with the supply chain.
▶ 2:02:24Some of it has to do with the ability to be able to to make our own parts to to repair it. Uh and uh we're we we just stood up a task force to take a hard look at the aviation um readiness with myself and the under uh you know, taking this one on. Uh we're going to have to do the same thing with uh with our ground fleet to be able to get the readiness up. Now, there are there are uh organizations out there that are doing great.
▶ 2:02:49We just had a brigade that came out of uh NTC that that came back to home home station with an incredibly high readiness rate that they were able to uh work on while they were uh in the box there. So, um we know that there's work to be done uh and uh we are, you know, committed to getting after it, but you're absolutely correct. Uh overhaul inside the industrial base is one of the ways. Thank you.
▶ 2:03:12Um and finally, uh General Bratton, the Space Force relies on civilian experts for over 1/3 of its force, particularly within the acquisition community, which this is crucial to the speed of to scale initiatives this committee prioritizes. However, in 2025 and 2026, the service faced nearly 14% reductions in civilian staff. How has the Space Force been able to maintain operational readiness with these reductions?
▶ 2:03:42Hey, sir. Thanks for the question. We we lost about 350 civilians out of our acquisition workforce um in 2025, and so we have the authorities now in place to rehire and and hire beyond that number. And so, right now we're getting after bringing back the civilian workforce.
▶ 2:03:58But in the meantime, we've also reprioritized um our military assignment process in support of acquisition reform to make sure we have the acquirers in place um as you consider the '27 budget and we'll see we'll see where that goes, but that we got the workforce in place to be able to execute both the '26 program and then future programs as we go. So, we're building on the military side and bringing back the civilian workforce, sir.
▶ 2:04:23Okay, with that um I'm going to yield my uh my rest of my time and and turn it over to the ranking member. Mr. Garamendi. I thank you very much, uh Mr. Chairman. It keeps coming back to um where we're going to spend our effort. What is important?
▶ 2:04:44Uh the hearing thus far has illuminated in in each of your services the um inability to maintain what we have. Many reasons for those, and this committee will get into the detail uh in the days ahead and in the NDAA to force solutions.
▶ 2:05:10Uh one of these things um the operational pace of the military in the last um 16, 18 months has been extraordinary. We can lay out all of the programs. I'm not sure all of us will have a memory for each one of them, but um how are you going to recover the readiness from the current operational pace that you have been under for uh the various deployments?
▶ 2:05:41The Middle East, two or three, uh and of course the Iran Venezuela, on and on. Ships at sea. So, let's go down through this. Uh the Army, you've been talking about this and I'll skip you. The Navy issue. You've got some real readiness questions that are out there because of the operational pace. What are you going
▶ 2:06:07We have a uh model I wish uh Representative Himenez had stayed around because we have a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 model. What that means is 1/3 of our ships is generally in maintenance, 1/3 of our ships is getting ready to deploy in training and certification, and 1/3 is deployed. So, that model exist. What we have to do is not um perturb the model uh unnecessarily.
▶ 2:06:31So, that means we have to get done those phases in the time allotted, or I create a pile jam as you indicated in your opening statement. So, recovering that means we've got to do like let's take the Ford. Six-month PIA. That's what she's supposed to get. I didn't plan to do this fire damage repair in that PIA. That's ongoing conversations I'm having now with Admiral Downey to make sure we can execute that in that time frame to allow that 1/3, 1/3 model to exist.
▶ 2:07:01So, we've got to have a discipline to go execute that. And and we certainly have to do work, and the Deputy Secretary of is working hard at munitions acceleration because we're using a lot of munitions, as you know. Make a long-term investment where a company's willing to facilitate because they realize that they have a long-term contract and increase productivity beyond what we had. Those are a couple things that come to mind. Very good. Other comments?
▶ 2:07:33Uh ranking member, thanks for the question. So, uh any force we deploy forward man, organize, train, equip, certified, ready to go, and they deploy. And upon their return, there's a requirement to reset that force just as part of our force generation cycle. And so long as we're able to maintain the deployment to dwell ratios for the time it takes to reset that force, we keep we're we're in a good spot and in a good position. Uh and currently, we're maintaining those ratios with the force, so this is just indicative of the force generation process.
▶ 2:08:00take into account the current deployment into the Middle East that's going on? Uh for the current sea-based deployment, sir? Yes. Yeah, that that force was scheduled to deploy, they deployed, and they ended up where they are today uh based on an allocation decision, but they were they were already certified and worked up and and deployed. Air Force. Ranking member, great question. Uh similar to my counterparts, we'll need to work through the reset of those forces as they come back from the deployment.
▶ 2:08:28Also, I'll add spares a really important topic and an important issue. I outlined how we've previously invested 85% this year, 86% next year, 93%. That was before the conflict. And so, we've got a lot of work to do to replenish our stocks. Whether that comes in the form of a supplemental reconciliation or something else, defer to the Congress, but there'll be some work to do to replenish the stocks that we're going through in support of the Hey, sir.
▶ 2:08:57I I I I just add for the Space Force, you know, it's less about the equipment for us that the spacecraft for the most part are in space. Um but for the crew force, the need to grow the Space Force so we have time to do advanced training with our crews that aren't on duty supporting the combatant commands. You know, just like all the services, we generate that readiness. We expect the combatant commands to spend it. But we have to have that training time when they're not working for the combatant commands.
▶ 2:09:22And so these growth numbers you see for us will allow allow the Space Force to really train the off off-duty crews, if you will, uh who aren't working for US Space Command at the time against those advanced threats. Jack, if I might take your 1 minute and 36 seconds that you didn't take and ask another question. Thank you. the uh operational pace over the last several months has been extraordinary. Talked about munitions.
▶ 2:09:51We haven't discussed that at all here. This question which subcommittees responsible for the munitions. It is a huge issue. And it's one that we're going to have to spend some uh a lot of time on and I would uh and I'm sure other subcommittees in the full committee will there's a whole set of issues that have to do with your your bases uh and their um readiness psyop. We haven't discussed that in detail here for some time, but we should.
▶ 2:10:21Uh we also need to uh be very, very uh that the um burn rate of the munitions puts uh in jeopardy the readiness of our Uh and we're going to need to hear from all of you uh and what needs to be done and the pace.
▶ 2:10:45You said it's in the um Uh we're talking about a $1 billion five Excuse me, $1 trillion 500 billion And if there's ever an oh my god, that's My question is it's going to go is that necessary or do you have the capability in the base to address these readiness issues? Uh those are questions that are going to be asked in the future.
▶ 2:11:15Uh I've consumed my addition I've consumed the chairman's 1 minute 36 seconds. And with that, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your generosity. Uh the pleasure is mine and of course there's then there's the chairman's magic minute, which I forgot to tell you
▶ 2:11:34Um number one, thank you to all of you. The preparation that goes into this testimony, I guarantee I know from firsthand experience from a couple of decades ago sitting where you are. Um thank you for that. Um is when we met, bad news doesn't get better with time. Soon you let us know what's going on. We can keep the brushfires from becoming forest fires.
▶ 2:11:58We count on that cuz everybody here on the committee and on the subcommittee especially knows that in the military you get assigned a mission, you plan the mission, you execute the mission, you do the after-action lessons, and you move on to whatever's next. Readiness is a continuous thread that runs through all of that.
▶ 2:12:18So what we've covered today, we need to keep keep the pressure on in a positive way so that we know we, as in the members here, know where we are so we don't get surprised, minimize surprises. Thank you and with that uh this hearing is adjourned. Thank you. Thanks, Mr.