▶ 0:19:59Chair Wicker: The committee will come to order. Our eager members of the fourth estate are welcome to clear away . Thanking them for their presence. The committee needs to consider the nomination of retired lieutenant general dan kane for the position of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. General caine has responsibility before him.
▶ 0:20:26Chair Wicker: I believe president trump has made an excellent choice selecting him to face the challenges. I thank him for his willingness to serve the country. We live in the most dangerous national security moment since world war ii. An axis of aggressors led by the chinese communist party and vladimir putin's russia means us harm. This axis does not want this sentry to be in a lead century or freedom lead century.
▶ 0:20:55Chair Wicker: Our adversaries have started two wars against ukraine and israel. They threaten to open a third front against taiwan. We must restore peace and we can do that only through strength. Since his nomination was announced, some people have written that general caine is unqualified. They point out he has not served as a combatant commander, a service chief, or a vice chairman. Rules which are contemplated.
▶ 0:21:29Chair Wicker: I would suggest these same people read -- reread the act from 1986. Those who read that law and then read general caine's resume will see that the architects of that legislation would conclude the reforms were successful.
▶ 0:21:55Chair Wicker: The driving force behind goldwater-nichols was to inspire and require joint in this, so let's talk about dryness with regard to the tenant general caine. They believe when our military services work together those services are greater than the sum of their parts. General caine agrees and his record reflect that. He began his career as an air force fighter pilot.
▶ 0:22:19Chair Wicker: By the time he was done, general caine had operated in every domain and developed relationships with every service. That would not have been true 40 years ago. General caine flew and commanded aircraft. He has also worked for the U.S. to part of agriculture, having helped in the wake of hurricane katrina in the midst of a bird flu outbreak.
▶ 0:22:45Chair Wicker: At the white house cut general caine wrote early homeland security strategies, employed and commanded with various special operations forces units. He ran programs for all military services. He worked extensively at the cia senior military officer, collaborating with every military service and combatant command.
▶ 0:23:15Chair Wicker: It is difficult to imagine a better joint and interagency background for a nominee of this position. Our threat environment is complex and general caine understands how the services can work together to meet today's dangerous. We have much work to do. We need to grow our defense budget. We need to reform the pentagon's processes drastically.
▶ 0:23:39Chair Wicker: If confirmed, general caine will play a significant role in providing military advice to the secretary of defense and the president of the united states on both of those topics. The chairman plays a significant role in requirements process. I hope you will make a priority to modernize this critical aspect. The statutory role of the chairman may be limited, but the position is explicitly the voice of the combatant commanders.
▶ 0:24:10Chair Wicker: That voice matters because the commanders are largely absent from the requirements and budgeting processes. The chairman can and should also be an advocate for a more agile planning process that considers the problems of simultaneously and protracted warfare.
▶ 0:24:37Chair Wicker: These are technical terms for a fairly straightforward facts. First, that our adversaries are likely to act against us in a coordinated fashion. And secondly that once the war breaks out it tends to take on a life of its own. Protracted warfare.
▶ 0:25:01Chair Wicker: Lastly, the chairman is responsible to deliver a honest risk assessment. I look forward to his thoughts on each of these points. Based on my conversations with the nominee and his actions in uniform, I am confident that general caine will give president trump his best military advice. He will do so without bias as he is required to do.
▶ 0:25:31Chair Wicker: He would not consider whether the president may like or dislike of that advice. That is what the united states president deserves. I'm convinced that general caine sees this role as nonpartisan. We can argue politics on this dais but I expect general caine to stay out of it no matter the subject.
▶ 0:25:52Chair Wicker: I think the nominee for service and appearing today and I turn out my friend and colleague, ranking member reed, for his opening remarks.
▶ 0:26:03Sen. Reed: Lieutenant general caine, welcome and congratulations on your nomination. I would like to extend my appreciation to your family because I know they have been with you through your career. I want to opera -- offer my condolences to the families of U.S. army soldiers who tragically lost their lives in lithuania during a mission last week. You have been nominated to be chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
▶ 0:26:30Sen. Reed: I will start by knowledge and the unusual conditions around your nomination. Six weeks ago, president trump dismissed general brown, who was not even halfway into his tenure as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
▶ 0:26:45Sen. Reed: The secretary of defense also dismissed several other senior officers, including the chief of naval operations, the air force chief of staff, and all three judge advocate generals. To this day, no explanation has been given for their dismissal. As such, I remain concerned they were dismissed for political reasons, which sends a chilling message through the ranks.
▶ 0:27:17Sen. Reed: I will take a moment to salute general brown, who served this nation honorably for more than four decades and led with dedication and skill. He and the officers who were dismissed had outstanding careers in the military and represented with courage, honor, and distinction. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifice. I trust that you understand the full situation in which you have been nominated to be chairman of the joint chiefs.
▶ 0:27:48Sen. Reed: In this regard, your distinct record of service is encouraging. You have served with distinction in the air force and air national guard. You have served in senior leadership roles at the pentagon, white house, and overseas, including in the special operations and intelligence communities. If confirmed, you will serve as principal advisor to the president and congress.
▶ 0:28:18Sen. Reed: You will be expected to be a strategist, advisor, and manager and your counsel will be relied upon for a multitude of national security issues. We face significant challenges. China remains our priority competitor with the intent and capability to challenge the interests of the united states and our allies and partners.
▶ 0:28:42Sen. Reed: Russia remains a destabilizing force and nations like iran and north korea continue to push the boundaries. To succeed in this environment, the U.S. military must better develop its joint capabilities across all domains, including space. We must not lose the combined strength of our allies, nor can we abandon the soft power of our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts.
▶ 0:29:12Sen. Reed: To retreat to fortress america will encourage our adversaries to a search of their influence through the world. I'm interested to know how you would ensure our military remains the premier fighting force. If confirmed, you will be responsible for identifying new joint capabilities and performing assessments to ensure each service is procuring capabilities needed for the joint force.
▶ 0:29:39Sen. Reed: The chairman must review capabilities across the total force, which can conflict with priorities of individual services. I would be interested to learn how you plan to manage this dynamic. The national defense strategy and national military strategy and annual chairman's risk assessment are documents this committee relies upon to perform its oversight functions.
▶ 0:30:04Sen. Reed: As the administration begins its work to review and revise these documents, I would like your assessment on current strategy and whether you would recommend any changes to these documents. The joint force is fundamentally about people. As the seniormost military officer, it will be your responsibility to understand the needs of american service members and be their greatest advocate. If confirmed, you will be the most visible military officer in the nation.
▶ 0:30:34Sen. Reed: It will be critical to represent the force with professionalism. I am concerned about the health of civilian-military relations. The military has been dragged into dangerous political fights. Public trust in the military is eroded and I fear military trust in civilian leadership has been shaken. Civilian control over the military is a sacred duty and must be carried out responsibly and not exploited.
▶ 0:31:03Sen. Reed: I would like to know how you will work to help improve relations and demonstrate this every day. Above all else, I expect you to pledge to always provide your best military advice to the president and secretary of defense, even if the advice is now they want to hear. The safety of our service members and the american people depends upon such candor. If confirmed, you will lead the joint force at a momentous time. Thank you.
▶ 0:31:33Sen. Reed: I look forward to your testimony.
▶ 0:31:38Chair Wicker: Thank, senator reed. General caine cut we will now hear your testimony. You are recognized.
▶ 0:31:46Lt. Gen. Caine: Thank you, senator. My name is dan caine and I'm honored and humbled to sit before you as the nominee to be the 22nd chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. I would like to start by thanking the president and secretary for their trust and confidence in me. And if confirmed, allowing me to again serve our great nation.
▶ 0:32:12Lt. Gen. Caine: I would also like to thank general brown and his wife and their family for their more than 40 years of selfless service to our nation. I would like to thank the team that helped prepare me for this hearing today and I would like to thank my family and friends who have given me so much. It is my family who has made my service possible. Always at their own expense.
▶ 0:32:38Lt. Gen. Caine: They have given more than I have and there are not words to express my thanks to each of them, especially my family in our nation's midwest. I sit here before you the proud son of an air force fighter pilot who flew in vietnam. When mom was a pediatric critical care nurse who worked nice so she could be home when my sister and I got up in the morning and got home in the afternoon.
▶ 0:33:06Lt. Gen. Caine: I learned about service from my parents and other members of my family who served not because it was easy but because it was the right thing to do. In our family, we serve. When asked but we always say yes. Senators, I acknowledge I'm an unconventional nominee. These are unconventional times. It is 9:48 p.m. In beijing, 440 8 p.m. In moscow, and 10:48 p.m.
▶ 0:33:38Lt. Gen. Caine: In pyongyang. As we sit here now, our nation faces an unprecedented rise in global risk. Our adversaries are advancing global nuclear threats are on the rise and deterrence is paramount. Our national defense requires urgent action and reform across the board. We must go faster. We must move with a sense of urgency.
▶ 0:34:02Lt. Gen. Caine: We can never forget that our number one job is to create peace through overwhelming strength and if need be fight and win our nation's wars. I realize for many americans I am an unknown leader and it is with a heart full of gratitude that I have been given a truly unique set of experiences I believe have prepared me to be the 22nd chairman.
▶ 0:34:27Lt. Gen. Caine: For the past 34 years, I have served in the active title x force, in the title 32 national guard force, in the title 50 force of the cia. I have served in the interagency end of the white house and deployed in combat as a fighter pilot, special operations officer, and cia officer. I have been an investor in the business sector while a citizen soldier in the national guard.
▶ 0:34:55Lt. Gen. Caine: I have had the privilege of serving three presidents from both political parties and most recently was the associate director for military affairs at the cia. A job where I was charged with providing military advice to the director of the cia and globally integrate dod and cia activities across the world. Along the way, I proudly served alongside some of america's most incredible warriors in civilian teammates and their families.
▶ 0:35:26Lt. Gen. Caine: I have witnessed them do awe-inspiring things in the service of our nation and to a person they have poured more into me that I could have poured into them. Especially our noncommissioned officer corps. Sadly, I have been there with them as they made the ultimate sacrifice on the fields of battle and with their families as we told them of their loved ones' service and sacrifice. I think of our fallen everyday.
▶ 0:35:56Lt. Gen. Caine: These experiences help me better understand how our nation considers and uses military force to achieve national security objectives and they directly inform my views of the importance of carefully considering use of force and the risks associated with it beforehand. And always asking the important question and then watch before we do.
▶ 0:36:22Lt. Gen. Caine: And if the decision is made to use military force, crushing our enemies and winning. I have had the privilege of serving alongside incredible business leaders as an entrepreneur and along the way I learned what a different kind of grit looks like. Our american entrepreneurial spirit is a force multiplier and my time as an entrepreneur has made me a better general officer and leader.
▶ 0:36:50Lt. Gen. Caine: If confirmed, I will bring more of that spirit into the joint force. I am here today to earn your trust and the trust of the american people. If confirmed, I will continue to work as I have for my entire 34 years in uniform, always focused on the mission and our incredible people. If confirmed, I will continue the traditions and standards of my oath of office and commission as a nonpartisan leader who will always strive to do the right thing.
▶ 0:37:24Lt. Gen. Caine: Thank you for your time and consideration. As we gather here today, let us never forget our deployed forces and their families and maybe always remember our fallen and their families, especially those three senator reed mentioned and are one missing. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:37:49Chair Wicker: Thank you. I'm required to ask you some standard questions that we ask all nominees in your situation. So if you will just answer yes or no to these questions to keep your talk button pressed. Have you adhered to the applicable laws and regulations governing conflict of interest?
▶ 0:38:12Lt. Gen. Caine: I have.
▶ 0:38:13Chair Wicker: Have you assumed duties or taken actions that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process? Exercising our legislative and oversight responsibilities makes an important this committee and subcommittees and other appropriate committees of congress receive testimony, briefings reports, records, and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify before this committee when requested?
▶ 0:38:42Lt. Gen. Caine: I do.
▶ 0:38:43Chair Wicker: Do you agree when asked before this committee to give your personal views even if your views differ from the administration? Do agree to provide records, documents, and electronic communications in a timely manner when requested by this committee, subcommittees, or other appropriate committees of congress, and to consult with requests regarding the basis for any good-faith delay or denial
▶ 0:39:14Chair Wicker: In providing such records?
▶ 0:39:15Lt. Gen. Caine: I do.
▶ 0:39:15Chair Wicker: Will you ensure your staff complies with deadlines established by the committee for production of reports, records, and other information, including timely responding to hearing questions for the record?
▶ 0:39:28Lt. Gen. Caine: I will.
▶ 0:39:29Chair Wicker: Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and referrers in response to congressional requests?
▶ 0:39:35Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes, senator.
▶ 0:39:37Chair Wicker: Will those witnesses and prefers be -- prefers -- briefers be protected from reprisal?
▶ 0:39:50Lt. Gen. Caine: They will.
▶ 0:39:51Chair Wicker: Let me start by asking some hyperbole that may have been out of the press. Did you wear a maga hat in front of the president? At any time?
▶ 0:40:10Lt. Gen. Caine: No. For 34 years, I have upheld my oath of office and my commit to my commission and I have never worn any political merchandise.
▶ 0:40:23Chair Wicker: Previous chairman of the joint chiefs of staff have somewhat equivocated when asked about topline spending issues. I think you know about the proposals that will soon be before the senate and this congress.
▶ 0:40:47Chair Wicker: Is it in your best military advice, based on your experience , is it your opinion we need real growth in the defense budget to maintain deterrence against the very capital cities and interests that you mentioned in your testimony?
▶ 0:41:06Lt. Gen. Caine: Thank you for that question. We must have a sense of urgency related to the budget. I think it comes down to ultimately finding more deployable or allocated will -- allocatable capital. We can find greater savings or we can get a higher topline.
▶ 0:41:31Lt. Gen. Caine: I think of it in terms of a business model where we get more revenue, so we have to move quickly and figure out how we can get real purchasing growth over time.
▶ 0:41:42Chair Wicker: Let's talk about efficiency. In the special operations community and with the cia, you have worked with some of the most innovative and risk-taking parts of the national security enterprise. You mentioned your experience in the private sector, which I think can serve you well. Start up ventures in the private sector. Is that right?
▶ 0:42:11Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes, sir.
▶ 0:42:14Chair Wicker: If confirmed, you will conduct oversight on military requirement processes. We hear constantly that it takes years for military needs to be converted into requirements.
▶ 0:42:30Chair Wicker: Based on your experience, do you believe the requirement process needs to be fixed and you agree with those who say it needs to be entirely torn down and rebuilt to give our war fighters what they need according to the timeline in which they needed?
▶ 0:42:48Lt. Gen. Caine: I agree something has to be done. The solution is probably somewhere in the middle. I do not know that we need to tear the whole thing down. I definitely agree that we need to improve the speed and agility of our requirements process. Technology is evolving so fast.
▶ 0:43:12Lt. Gen. Caine: Our requirements process does not evolve at the same time and we have to have arkham patent -- our combatant commanders in the requirement process. We need to keep a global picture on requirement processes. No two combatant commands have the same requirements and only the joint staff has the global view on those requirements, along with ost. If confirmed, I would like to work with you and the rest of congress to sort through this.
▶ 0:43:42Chair Wicker: Have you had a chance to read my white paper on the act and that proposed legislation? Don't you agree that it is a masterful piece of legislation?
▶ 0:43:57Lt. Gen. Caine: I do. It was beautiful to read.
▶ 0:44:02Chair Wicker: Would you like to elaborate on that?
▶ 0:44:06Lt. Gen. Caine: It certainly lays out a lot of good markers for improvement in the requirement process.
▶ 0:44:14Chair Wicker: You have worked in the private sector and with startups. The number of people in tod who have to touch something, touch an idea, sign off and I -- on an idea to get something done is far different from those people who are actually making innovative changes in the private sector. Is that correct?
▶ 0:44:41Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes.
▶ 0:44:41Chair Wicker: Do you agree then that we need to move in the direction of efficiency and that a lot of the topline money that I mentioned in my second question can be found efficiencies and moving things faster and also get to the war fighter what they need in a timely manner?
▶ 0:45:04Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes.
▶ 0:45:06Chair Wicker: Let me ask -- I have 12 seconds. I might do a follow-up at the end. Senator reed.
▶ 0:45:17Sen. Reed: General caine, as you are aware, it was recently revealed that senior trump administration officials were sharing sensitive information about upcoming strikes in yemen on a signal group chat. And your professional opinion, should a member of the joint chiefs be in that discussion?
▶ 0:45:41Lt. Gen. Caine: Thanks for that question. I understand the voice of the joint force had been expressed through the incredible work of the acting chairman and current vice chairman. I understand he put a statement out yesterday or the day before saying they consulted with the secretary. From what I understand of that chat, that was a partisan political chat, so the joint force should not have been represented.
▶ 0:46:12Sen. Reed: Should the yemen strikes have been discussed on an unclassified platform?
▶ 0:46:20Lt. Gen. Caine: I understand you and the chairman have asked for an inquiry into that so I do not want to comment specifically on that matter. I will say we should always preserve the element of surprise and that should translate across every information domain and format and never put our fighters in harm's way.
▶ 0:46:46Sen. Reed: If you were on that conversation, would you have objected to the fact it was being held on signal?
▶ 0:46:53Lt. Gen. Caine: I was not in the chat.
▶ 0:46:55Sen. Reed: That is why I asked if you were.
▶ 0:46:59Lt. Gen. Caine: I have always communicated properly -- proper information in the proper channels.
▶ 0:47:06Sen. Reed: Following the announcement, and this is a follow-up to chairman wicker's question, following the announcement of your nomination, comments circulated about cummins president trump made about you and your past relation .
▶ 0:47:26Sen. Reed: According to reports, he spoke to you while you were in iraq and you said you loved him and "I will kill for you, sir." the president said he followed up these comments by putting on a make america great again hat. Is any of this story true?
▶ 0:47:44Lt. Gen. Caine: As I mentioned to the chairman, for 34 years I have upheld my oath of office and the responsibilities of my commission. I think I went back and listened to those tapes and I think the president was talking about somebody else. I have never worn any political merchandise or said anything to that effect.
▶ 0:48:09Sen. Reed: Were you ever asked who you voted for in the last election or 2020 election?
▶ 0:48:14Lt. Gen. Caine: I was not.
▶ 0:48:16Sen. Reed: Are you aware of any presley serving service members or senior civilians and dod being asked questions like this?
▶ 0:48:23Lt. Gen. Caine: I am not.
▶ 0:48:25Chair Wicker: Do agree it is important to keep the military a political and that questions like this should not be asked?
▶ 0:48:33Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes.
▶ 0:48:34Sen. Reed: What steps will you take to guard against the potential?
▶ 0:48:40Lt. Gen. Caine: What steps will take to guard against politicalization? I think it starts with being a good example from the top and making sure we are nonpartisan and apolitical and speaking truth to power every day.
▶ 0:48:58Sen. Reed: Do you believe there's any situation where it would be appropriate for you not to be consulted prior to a military operation?
▶ 0:49:07Lt. Gen. Caine: I'm not in the job yet, so I cannot imagine any hypothetical situation where I would not be in the conversation, if that is what you are asking. I believe the joint force if confirmed and even if I'm not in the job the joint force has responsibility to provide best options to the secretary and the president, so I cannot imagine a case where the joint force would not be in the conversation.
▶ 0:49:36Lt. Gen. Caine: If confirmed, and you have 40 seconds so brief thoughts, how will you ensure the parochialism endemic in every organization but certainly in the department of defense is curtailed or refocused to a more joint effort?
▶ 0:50:01Lt. Gen. Caine: I appreciate that. I will be quick and come back to you with more if need be. I encouraged I the 640 eight years of experience that currently exist in the joint chiefs of staff and joint staff and I think they are all professionals.
▶ 0:50:21Chair Wicker: Senator fischer.
▶ 0:50:26Sen. Fischer: Welcome, general. While -- thank you for putting yourself forward to continue to serve your country. As you are aware, there is ongoing efforts to force the department of defense to vacate portions of key bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, particularly the lower three gigahertz and the seven to eight gigahertz bands.
▶ 0:50:49Sen. Fischer: Do you agree that the department of defense should have a meaningful code leadership in any interagency determinations about the future use of federal spectrum?
▶ 0:51:07Lt. Gen. Caine: There are certain elements of spectrum that have unique physics associated with them that can impact our combat capability, so we want to have a voice in the conversation.
▶ 0:51:23Sen. Fischer: Do you believe it should be a code leadership, not just a seat at the table? Because of the exquisite assets that the department has and your knowledge of what those are that you will need to have that code leadership position?
▶ 0:51:45Lt. Gen. Caine: You asked with a view of the department was cut mindful that I'm not in the job yet. If confirmed, I would have the conversation with the secretary.
▶ 0:51:55Sen. Fischer: What are the risks to national security if the department is forced to vacate those spectrum bands?
▶ 0:52:05Lt. Gen. Caine: Some of that may be reserved for a conversation in closed session at some point in the future, but certainly if we lose portions of the spectrum we will lose exclusive video related to combat capability and certainly we do not want to tipped off to our adversaries who might be listening but would rather talk about that in closed session.
▶ 0:52:29Sen. Fischer: I look forward to having this discussions with you if you are confirmed. The united states faces two adversaries in china and russia and yet our plans -- planned nuclear force was decided in 2010 when the threat environment looks different and it has not been reconsidered since. Over the past few years, china surpassed the U.S.
▶ 0:52:58Sen. Fischer: In the number of icbm launch successes. Russia has suspended the new start treaty antinuclear saber rattling has been a defining feature of its invasion to ukraine. North korea has claimed to test the first solid fuel icbm.
▶ 0:53:20Sen. Fischer: I am concerned our current programs and record may not be sufficient to address these future threats -- these current threats, let alone future threats. If confirmed, how would you work with the secretary to identify and address any so our nuclear deterrent would remain credible?
▶ 0:53:45Lt. Gen. Caine: It must remain credible. We must invest in the deterrence side of our nuclear triad. If confirmed, I look to work with the incredible leadership at stratcom. We have a great commander there who is smart and dedicated and all over the program out there. This will be an area of significant emphasis to make sure we are fielding the capabilities we need.
▶ 0:54:14Sen. Fischer: Have you had an opportunity to review the 2023 report? I would recommend that you do so. It clearly articulates projected threats and identifies potential gaps in capabilities and makes a number of actionable recommendations, many of which were included in last year's.
▶ 0:54:42Sen. Fischer: Finally, the nuclear arms cruise missile is a navy program of record that has been supported by the committee on a bipartisan basis. I was pleased to see you affirm the importance and your advanced policy. Can you explain the importance of providing the president with additional theater nuclear options?
▶ 0:55:14Lt. Gen. Caine: It is a key and central component to our deterrence and that is where slcm fits into the equation.
▶ 0:55:25Sen. Fischer: So it is important our commander-in-chief would have those options?
▶ 0:55:29Lt. Gen. Caine: I will not get out in front of the president, but certainly the joint force should offer him that option for his consideration.
▶ 0:55:40Sen. Fischer: And it is a program of record.
▶ 0:55:48Sen. Shaheen: Congratulations on your nomination and thank you for your willingness to continue to serve the country. I appreciated the time we spent in my office talking about this role and the challenges that we will be fixing.
▶ 0:56:05Sen. Shaheen: One of the things we discussed was peace and security legislation signed by president trump during his first term and it mandates that women should be at the table in conflict resolution and peace negotiations. At dod, that has meant having women involved in security cooperation programs that give us an advantage over our adversaries like china and russia.
▶ 0:56:35Sen. Shaheen: Can you come up for the record, are you familiar with the program? Do you believe that is a d.e.I. Program?
▶ 0:56:46Lt. Gen. Caine: I do not.
▶ 0:56:48Sen. Shaheen: Can you provide examples of the operational vantage that from your perspective this gives us?
▶ 0:56:56Lt. Gen. Caine: I can give you my own personal recollections from being deployed before. This was a precursor of the program, when we were to into the field and after concluding an assault we would have members cut female members who would speak with those women and children around the objective and help understand the human terrain in a new and novel way, so it is a program that helps
▶ 0:57:31Lt. Gen. Caine: Understand the full spectrum of challenges in front of us.
▶ 0:57:36Sen. Shaheen: One of the combatant commands that has been most effective has been indo pay, -- can you talk about how this contributed to the mission?
▶ 0:57:56Lt. Gen. Caine: I am not specific -- familiar with the specific example.
▶ 0:58:03Sen. Shaheen: We have been hearing some rumors that have suggested the ministrations considering ending the dual hat policy under which our commander of european command serves as supreme allied commander of nato. The commander has served as the supreme since eisenhower and part of the reason is to ensure that U.S. command and control of nuclear weapons on the continent also prevents nuclear proliferation in europe.
▶ 0:58:34Sen. Shaheen: I'm not going to ask you to comment on the policy of this administration since I assume it has not been determined. Can you talk about the importance of U.S. leadership in nato as a result of this arrangement and how would you approach obligations with nato partners?
▶ 0:58:58Lt. Gen. Caine: Allies and partners are critical components to our ability to protect and defend our values and virtues around the world. Nato is a key component to that. The president has been clear on his views on the importance of nato, as has the secretary. I will defer to the president on that. I think that is a discussion that is ongoing. For me, I value our allies and partners.
▶ 0:59:28Lt. Gen. Caine: If confirmed, that will be a significant portion of the job.
▶ 0:59:31Sen. Shaheen: I appreciate that that is a policy decision, but I'm asking what the advantage is for the united states in having an american.
▶ 0:59:45Lt. Gen. Caine: Anytime we have U.S. forces deployed, we generally have wanted them under a U.S. commander. That was the history behind the establishment and putting the dual hat commander together and I think it is an opportunity for global leadership, particularly in europe but again I would differ to the president as we consider what future policy may look like.
▶ 1:00:16Sen. Shaheen: I know senator reed asked you this question and it was part of your official questions from senator wicker, but when you have situations where your military advice may be different from the direction the administration is heading on policy, how do you intend to approach the situations and how would you continue to make sure that the military perspective you're supposed represent is actually being represented?
▶ 1:00:46Lt. Gen. Caine: The same way I have for 34 years, with candor. Candor has gotten be here today and will continue to allow me to do my job moving forward. The president does not have to accept military advice, but we owe it to them for us to deliver that military advice.
▶ 1:01:10Chair Wicker: Senator cotton.
▶ 1:01:13Sen. Cotton: Congratulations on your nomination and thank you for your 34 years of service. Thank you for your service at times for your reputation is as strong as it is in the department of defense. Let's continue on the theme of the question about providing candid military advice. As the chairman and senator reed pointed out, the chairman of the joint chiefs is not in the chain of command, correct?
▶ 1:01:40Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes.
▶ 1:01:42Sen. Cotton: Bylaw, the role is principal military visor. If the president makes a decision on policy or operation, that goes from him to the secretary of defense down to other commanders. You are on the side giving advice to everyone but not actually carrying out decisions in the chain of command.
▶ 1:02:09Sen. Cotton: I think congress gave the chairman that role because we wanted someone who was free from day-to-day demands of operational or managerial duties to provide candid military advice. It is important that you provide that advice even when you think the principal does not want to hear it, the secretary defense or the president. But I think you said in your opening statement you were an unconventional nominee.
▶ 1:02:38Lt. Gen. Caine: Unconventional.
▶ 1:02:40Sen. Cotton: I agree. You do not strike me as the kind of guy who has been angling for this job for 34 years. Is that a fair statement? Did you expect to get this job as recently as three or six months ago?
▶ 1:02:56Lt. Gen. Caine: I did not.
▶ 1:02:58Sen. Cotton: Is there any reason to think you are not going to be providing candid military advice even and especially when a little birdie has tipped you off that may be the secretary of the president does not want to hear we have to say?
▶ 1:03:15Lt. Gen. Caine: I went to vmi, where I lived in the new barracks for four years and looked out on the statue of the -- if I fail to provide my candid advice to the secretary or the president, I think general marshall would climb out of his grave and hunt me down.
▶ 1:03:37Sen. Cotton: Thank you. I think every president and secretary of needs that especially from the chairman. Not to give candid advice when welcome but even when it is not welcome. As you said you are an advisor, not a commander. The secretary or president makes the decision. Then you are making sure the decision will be carried out by the relevant commanders.
▶ 1:04:08Sen. Cotton: Let's look at something specific in this area now, the threat of iran's nuclear program. They could be weeks away from having testable or workable nuclear devices, maybe a couple years from having missiles that could hit us in united states. The president said repeatedly he wants a peaceful resolution to the crisis. He has also said if they do not make a deal there will be bombing.
▶ 1:04:36Sen. Cotton: He said for at least a decade that iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. You agree with the assessment that iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon? Do you agree because of the missile programs, especially the flimsy cover of the space launch program, that this is not just a threat to our troops in the region or israel or friends in the region -- this could be in imminent threat to the united states itself in a few years?
▶ 1:05:08Lt. Gen. Caine: I think that is an accurate statement.
▶ 1:05:16Sen. Cotton: If the president asks for military options quit do you support that if iran is not willing to make a deal and there will be bombing -- do you commit to provide him the best advice you can about viable literary options and likely consequences of each?
▶ 1:05:33Lt. Gen. Caine: I think that is with the job of the joint staff is to do commit to provide a range of options for the president to consider and allow him to select whatever options work best for him.
▶ 1:05:46Sen. Cotton: There is some hysteria about the prospect of the president ordering the strikes or someone like you providing him advice but that is going to lead to another forever war or endless war. Are you aware of operations against iran, like in 1988, in which the forceful but discriminant application of military power did not lead to a forever war or in this war but rather led to peace and stability?
▶ 1:06:15Lt. Gen. Caine: Those examples in our history do exist.
▶ 1:06:20Sen. Cotton: May be the strike in 2020 as well.
▶ 1:06:26Chair Wicker: You can answer that question verbally. General caine. You nodded your head.
▶ 1:06:35Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes chi was not sure exec with the question was, but I agree with you.
▶ 1:06:44Chair Wicker: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 1:06:48Sen. Blumenthal: Thank, Mr. chairman. Thank you, general caine, revisiting my office. For your service and your family's to our nation. You have a record that is exemplary and lengthy. You served in the air force, air national guard, and intelligence community. Extraordinary distinction. This position is not when you sought. Or ever expected.
▶ 1:07:18Lt. Gen. Caine: No, sir.
▶ 1:07:22Sen. Blumenthal: The recent simile that the president of united states decided to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff for political and personal reasons and I must say that I find that abhorrent and I know that you are not going to comment in those terms on the
▶ 1:07:54Sen. Blumenthal: Treatment of your potential predecessor, but would you agree that politicization of the military is something that should be avoided?
▶ 1:08:07Lt. Gen. Caine: Yes. The nation and constitution require nonpartisan military.
▶ 1:08:13Sen. Blumenthal: Would you agree that this apparent myth, because you have denied it, that you wore a maga hat is regrettable and unfortunate?
▶ 1:08:27Lt. Gen. Caine: I know that I have always upheld my oath of office and don't believe the president said I was wearing a maga hat.
▶ 1:08:39Sen. Blumenthal: You do not believe it -- he ever said it, but it has been attributed to him.
▶ 1:08:45Lt. Gen. Caine: I think maybe he was talking about somebody else.
▶ 1:08:49Sen. Blumenthal: Let me ask you, because of your extraordinary service, economic and anyone better qualified to answer this question, if you heard that a mission of the kind that was discussed on an unsecure platform, signal, and you were in one of those planes about to launch on that mission, knowing
▶ 1:09:21Sen. Blumenthal: What you do about the substance of the conversation, how would you feel?
▶ 1:09:24Lt. Gen. Caine: I stand by what I said before. I think we all can agree we need to always protect the element of surprise.
▶ 1:09:32Sen. Blumenthal: And that element of surprise was very likely lost if there had been any intercept by one of our enemies were adversaries that could be conveyed to the h outhis.
▶ 1:09:50Lt. Gen. Caine: That is a little bit of a hypothetical question. I think will is always the -- that we protect our servicemen and women going into common operations.
▶ 1:10:00Sen. Blumenthal: But there are a lot of pilots and other latrine men and women who are understandably angry about that call. Correct?
▶ 1:10:12Lt. Gen. Caine: I have not had anybody come to me and tell me they are angry about it so I cannot comment on that.
▶ 1:10:22Sen. Blumenthal: Have you read reports about that reaction to the call?
▶ 1:10:27Lt. Gen. Caine: I have not.
▶ 1:10:29Sen. Blumenthal: Would you agree that kind of reliance on signal for that kind of conversation should be avoided in the future?
▶ 1:10:39Lt. Gen. Caine: I just know I have always use the right system for the right kinds of commit occasions. I do not know in particular what information was classified in what way on that signal chat. I know we must preserve the element of surprise.
▶ 1:11:01Sen. Blumenthal: That platform is not a hardened and secure platform.
▶ 1:11:06Lt. Gen. Caine: That platform is encrypted but not secure, I believe, in the definition of the term secure.
▶ 1:11:14Sen. Blumenthal: Let me ask you on another topic. Would you agree that the columbia-class program is the navy -- should continue to be an acquisition priority along with virginia class?
▶ 1:11:32Lt. Gen. Caine: I do think columbia needs to continue forward at a pace and tempo equal to the threat.
▶ 1:11:42Sen. Blumenthal: My time is expired. Thank you.
▶ 1:11:45Chair Wicker: Senator rounds.
▶ 1:11:50Sen. Rounds: General caine, thank you for taking the time in my office to visit with me on a number of items you are hearing about today. I want to go back specifically to an item senator fischer began talking with you about with regard to the spectrum and challenges surrounding it.
▶ 1:12:11Sen. Rounds: The reason I want to use that as an example is because I know that general milley and general cq brown both in their role as chief of staff and providing their best military opinion and advice or put in a position of literally saying to other people within other administrations that this particular part of the electromagnetic spectrum, currently controlled by the department of defense, is
▶ 1:12:41Sen. Rounds: Critical to national defense. Over the last several years, I have asked in front of this committee over two dozen uniformed officers to discuss the need to maintain control of specific portions of the electronic spectrum.
▶ 1:12:57Sen. Rounds: I have asked whether the 3.1 to 3.45 band, if we were to lose that from dod specific use, if that would negatively have -- when negative -- have negative consequences for war fighting capabilities. I have had 100% agreement that if we lost that it would have negative consequences. You agree?
▶ 1:13:20Lt. Gen. Caine: I would.
▶ 1:13:22Sen. Rounds: You will be asked at some point, because this is a valuable commodity, but there are interests in united states that will left you have access to this without regard to what it would do or not understanding what the impact would be on national defense.
▶ 1:13:42Sen. Rounds: Are you aware's that under president trump's proposed concept of a golden dome or missile protection system that in number of the radar systems that would be required to be in effect for that to move forward are found within the 3.1 to 3.45 portions of the spectrum because of their unique physics, tenancies?
▶ 1:14:09Lt. Gen. Caine: I'm familiar with the basics of the frequency spectrum. I do not know what particular radar golden dome has brought in to their mix of equipment, but that would not surprise me.
▶ 1:14:24Sen. Rounds: Part of the discussion today has been a concern by the committee that any person that has the role of chairman of the joint staff rece chairman of the joint staff recw serious their role is with regard to providing to a very, very group of powerful individuals the best professional military advice that they can provide and recognizing that while you don't control the policy that is set, your role as this committee sees
▶ 1:14:54Sen. Rounds: It is in many cases the last resort to providing the right types of advice that elected leaders have to hear regardless of whether or not they want to hear it. My understanding, once again I will ask you to confirm, you recognize that is your primary responsibility?
▶ 1:15:13Lt. Gen. Caine: Senator, I think that is the most important part of this job and the essential part of this job. If confirmed, you have my commitment that I will always speak truth to power.
▶ 1:15:23Sen. Rounds: I think you will find this committee will be supportive of you in that role. The be 21 raider will play a crucial role in any conflict the U.S. faces against in your peer adversary because of its ability to operate in a highly contested environment.
▶ 1:15:41Sen. Rounds: The air force has committed to at least 100 b-21's a given is deterrence, many of us believe we will need a number close to 200 bombers. If confirmed, would you be prepared to advocate for more than 100 and perhaps as many as 200 of these platforms if a review of our warplanes suggested that that is what is required for our operational plans moving forward?
▶ 1:16:09Lt. Gen. Caine: Senator, the last part of your question I think is the key part for me after the analysis portion. Mindful I have not been confirmed for this job yet. I was -- I would like to speak to the others raider will fulfill before commit to supporting any particular number of b-21's. It is an essential part of our program.
▶ 1:16:38Lt. Gen. Caine: Certainly, a key component of it. And before I commit to any number, I would like to study and come back to you.
▶ 1:16:44Sen. Rounds: But if that appears to be the case, would not hesitate to recommend more if those studies warranted it?
▶ 1:16:50Lt Gen. Caine: I would not hesitate.
▶ 1:16:53Chair Wicker: Senator hirono.
▶ 1:16:57Sen. Hirono: General caine, with all due respect to you, we should not be here today. This hearing is happening only because of the unprecedented dismissal without cause of general brown as chairman. As a highly respected military leader, general brown faithfully served our country for decades. He provided exactly what the constitution asked of him, the best nonpartisan military advice to civilian leadership.
▶ 1:17:29Sen. Hirono: However for an administration that is claiming to be the most "transparent in history" and " reasonable justification has been provided for general brown's termination." instead, his dismissal reveals once again president trump's intention to install yes men and women with fealty to him and not the american people.
▶ 1:17:57Sen. Hirono: General caine, you said you will always speak truth to power in your responses to questions. You indicated you would provide independent advice. Let me just mention what happens to people who stand up to president trump. General milley was a former chair of joint chiefs. Stood up to president trump and here's what happened to him.
▶ 1:18:21Sen. Hirono: President trump took away his security detail, his security clearance, even took down his portrait in the pentagon. That is not alt. General milley is now under investigation by the departments inspector general to see if he will be able to retire as a four-star general. It is always a challenge to stand up to this president.
▶ 1:18:48Sen. Hirono: Let me just start with the two initial questions and I will get his home of the questions that have to do with your fitness to serve. I ask these questions of all nominees. Since you became a legal adult come have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?
▶ 1:19:09Lt Gen. Caine: I have not.
▶ 1:19:13Sen. Hirono: Have you ever face discipline or entered into a settlement relating to this kind of conduct?
▶ 1:19:18Lt Gen. Caine: I have not.
▶ 1:19:21Sen. Hirono: You have been asked a number of questions regarding what the president attributed to you that it has been reported you were a maggot had come in justified you did not -- testified you did not. If you did were a maga hat, would that constitute partisan political activity by uniformed officer?
▶ 1:19:42Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I did not wear any political merchandise.
▶ 1:19:48Sen. Hirono: If you did, that constitute partisan political activity by uniformed officer, yes or no?
▶ 1:19:54Lt Gen. Caine: I think it probably would.
▶ 1:19:58Sen. Hirono: Thank you. General caine, have been asked a number of questions about what has been referred to as signal gate. I commend the chair of this committee and the ranking member for asking for an inquiry. You are the director for special access programs at the pentagon, an office that manages our nation's most classified programs. Have you ever discuss classified information on an unclassified medium such as signal?
▶ 1:20:29Lt Gen. Caine: No, senator.
▶ 1:20:34Sen. Hirono: What would be the consequences for discussing a special access program on signal?
▶ 1:20:39Lt Gen. Caine: Well, senator, we would have to pursue an investigation. We would have to look into the particular matters associated with it. We would have to consult with counsel and determine what the way ford was. -- way ford was and then ultimately turn it over to the leadership of the department.
▶ 1:21:01Sen. Hirono: You would just not let this matter drop, which is basically what this administration wants. To do.
▶ 1:21:06Lt Gen. Caine: It is a bit of a hypothetical situation ask me about what we would do if it was dropped.
▶ 1:21:13Sen. Hirono: It is not hypothetical. It is what is confronting this administration what is happening. You know to preserve the deed of element of surprise is discussing the kinds of matters that were discussed on signal preserving the element of surprise?
▶ 1:21:30Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I don't want, given the fact the chairman and ranking member asked for an investigation, I don't want to comment on the particulars. I do want to stay at the strategic altitude and say we should always preserve the element of surprise.
▶ 1:21:50Sen. Hirono: I think it was a simple question, talking about things that have been reported, whether that preserves the element of surprise. I would say if you are truly speaking truth to power, the answer would obviously be, no, it is not preserve the element of surprise. That is why we need to have an inquiry. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:22:10Chair Wicker: Senator ernst.
▶ 1:22:14Sen. Ernst: Thank you. I first would like to acknowledge the loss of three soldiers from the third infantry division and pray for a speedy recovery on the fourth. General caine, thank you for being in front of this committee today. We all understand there is a little bit of political theatrics that always occur on this committee.
▶ 1:22:41Sen. Ernst: But I would like to thank you very much for your integrity and your measured responses to the questions today. You are carrying yourself with dignity and respect and that is what we would anticipate and expect of anyone that will be serving as our -- the chairman of our joint chiefs of staff. Thank you for that.
▶ 1:23:05Sen. Ernst: You stated you are an unconventional leader moving forward and I am excited about that because you have served on active duty and also in regards to my own service, you are by national guardsmen. Thank you. It gives you a very well-rounded perspective when it comes to the men and women that serve in various capacities for our great armed services.
▶ 1:23:36Sen. Ernst: Also very important to me is the fact you have served as an entrepreneur. This brings a different level into the position that you are hoping to attain. That leads me into my question, I have been very focused on our defense budget efficiency and auditability. We spoke about this in my office . Because you have the I have the eye of a businessman, you know your investment dollars are very important going into a business.
▶ 1:24:08Sen. Ernst: So you will understand that every dollar going into our department of defense is also going to be very important for our war fighters and those that support them. The department of defense, despite managing the largest discretionary budget of the federal government, has yet to pass a full financial audit. We understand this failure is eroding public trust in the department and hinders our ability as congress to allocate those resources effectively.
▶ 1:24:41Sen. Ernst: And our frustrations continue to grow. General caine, if you are confirmed, what steps will you take to ensure the dod finally passes a full audit by 2028 as required by the law, or ideally, if at all possible, even sooner?
▶ 1:24:57Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, thank you for that question. Not only as an entrepreneur on them an american taxpayer, I owe to the nation for the department of has an audit. There are very few levers that the chairman, if I'm confirmed, the chairman can throw other than to encourage the services to be prepared for that audit. And that is something I will take on if I'm confirmed for the job.
▶ 1:25:23Sen. Ernst: Thank you. In regards to our special operations forces, I service the chair of the emerging threats capability subcommittee and will continue to advocate on behalf of of them. They deliver those high-impact results with a very small footprint. I know we have spoken about this. You do get that.
▶ 1:25:52Sen. Ernst: Cuts to soft running risk sitting round to our adversaries . General caine, given the role and power competition, do believe a justification exists for reducing their footprint and their budget at a time when unconventional threats are on the rise?
▶ 1:26:08Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, mindful I am not on the job yet, I do understand and appreciate the exponential value that soft can bring to the competition phase we are in right now. If confirmed, I would like to take that on and come back to you with my thoughts on it. Sen.
▶ 1:26:31Ernst: I will expect that as well. I know we could go on. I will submit a question for the record on recruitment and retention challenges. I just want to close by saying I am very grateful that president trump has nominated you to serve as our chairman for the joint chiefs of staff. I do think you will bring a different level into this position, different eye, a different way of looking at things.
▶ 1:26:59Ernst: We are in very challenging times. We all recognize this. We need to change. You are that change. Thank you very much for being willing to continue to serve in this capacity.
▶ 1:27:08Chair Wicker: Senator king.
▶ 1:27:13Sen. King: Thank you. General, congratulations on your nomination. We have discussed most every member of this panel has discussed the importance of giving straight advice to the president. These are two very strong personalities. The oval office is probably the most intimidating room in the world. I hope you will reiterate -- you mentioned you owe it to them to give the best advice and you also owe it to the country to give the best advice.
▶ 1:27:43Sen. King: You mentioned to me when we discussed this before, you have been retired. You did not expect this job. You don't need this job. Give me your straight ahead commitment that when the chips are down, you are going to argue for your best military advice.
▶ 1:27:59Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I don't know any other way to operate as a leader. My job, if confirmed, is to always provide the best military advice to the president, the secretary, the nsc, and to congress and to do so with candor every day.
▶ 1:28:19Sen. King: That, as everybody has mentioned, this is the principal responsibility of the job. We are in a very dangerous moment as you know. There are potential conflicts and conflicts all over the world, so you're going to be called upon probably in a matter of weeks to make these kind of calls and to provide that advice to the president.
▶ 1:28:43Sen. King: I look forward to your honoring that commitment that you just made and making clear not only providing advice -- that sounds sort of neutral -- but advocating for advice, saying this is what we believe the best military advice is. Let me move on.
▶ 1:29:05Sen. King: It worries me sometimes that we have a tendency, particularly in national security, to move our focus from one area to the other and then we neglect the area we are missing. What I am very worried about now is resurgence of terrorism. Syria potentially could become another base for isis. There are thousands of isis fighters in jail in syria. If they are released, that could be a major challenge.
▶ 1:29:34Sen. King: West africa is now a major area of al qaeda activity. Talk to me about the terrorism threat and the fact we can't forget it because 19 people changed american history on september 11. It does not take many terrorists to create serious problems for this country and for people around the world.
▶ 1:29:56Lt Gen. Caine: Sir, I don't know I could say it any better than you just did. We have to keep our pressure on the terrorists who would continue --.
▶ 1:30:08Sen. King: Could you make sure you have it in the record what he just said?
▶ 1:30:11Lt Gen. Caine: It is not something unfortunate we can never take our eyes off of completely. The challenge that somebody would want to do harm to us or to our interests around the world is not going to go away anytime soon.
▶ 1:30:27Sen. King: One of the concerns I have, we always talk about deterrence. That is the main spring of our defense strategy. But deterrence does not work with a terrorist with a nuclear weapon. They don't have a capital to blow up they don't care about dying. The defense against that eventuality, which I think is terrifying, is intelligence.
▶ 1:30:49Sen. King: I hope you will continue to focus the forces in the pentagon on intelligence and intervening if there is any threat of nuclear material getting into the hands of terrorist organizations.
▶ 1:31:03Lt Gen. Caine: Yes, sir.
▶ 1:31:05Sen. King: Finally, in terms of your leadership within the military and I know your passionate advocate for our war fighters, one of the things that concerns me and I'm going from this meeting to a meeting of veterans affairs committee, is a transition from active duty military to retire -- which you have experienced. The testimony we have had in numerous hearings is it is inadequate.
▶ 1:31:37Sen. King: It has gaps that it is very complex. Military active duty people going to veteran status. It turns out it is the highest propensity for suicide in the first couple of years after the transition from active duty. I hope that is something you will pay attention to. I believe as much money, effort, and time should be spent on transition out as we spend on recruiting in.
▶ 1:32:07Lt Gen. Caine: Well, senator, it is a bit of an arduous process. I can personally attest to that. I appreciate your leadership on helping the veterans transition appropriately. It is an area of risk for sure and I will keep my eye on it if confirmed.
▶ 1:32:24Sen. King: Thank you. Congratulations on your nomination.
▶ 1:32:28Chair Wicker: Senator cramer.
▶ 1:32:32Sen. Cramer: Thank you for your willingness to step back into the gap. While I agree the dismissal of your predecessor was unfortunate, it is behind us. I cannot think of a better person to replace general brown then you. Frankly, the unconventionalness of the president's pic is in and of itself brilliant.
▶ 1:33:03Sen. Cramer: But when you look at the actual history, your service and the diversity of it, I just can't imagine a better choice. Congratulations on that. I look forward to supporting you strongly. In your opening statement, said some things that we hear a lot from people who come before the committee. Your response to chairman wicker's legislation dealing with acquisition reforms, very welcoming. But everyone says that.
▶ 1:33:34Sen. Cramer: Everyone says that. And yet I find -- this is why, frankly, you being unconventional is encouraging to me because they all mean it, by the way, when they say it. I believe they mean it until the particular service they served in or the particular agency within the service they served in is disrupted. By the very thing they say they support.
▶ 1:34:02Sen. Cramer: We're dealing with the situation right now, perhaps the most disruptive, taking -- becoming the first director of the most destructive innovative agency -- disruptive innovative agency, space agency, has been only for three months during the witch hunt that began in the last administration. In this case maybe we should check further into it.
▶ 1:34:29Sen. Cramer: All the while, satellites in upcoming china because at the speed of china. I believe there's a cultural problem as well as we have some work to do. Policy workers have work to do. Administrators have work to do. We have a culture challenge as well.
▶ 1:34:48Sen. Cramer: I would like you to elaborate a little bit on how we can really make the difference that you say you want to make and I believe you do want to make so that we aren't just consolidating all of our industry into a couple of giants. Whether it be land, air, space, c.
▶ 1:35:03Lt Gen. Caine: Well, senator, you are hitting on an area that is a point of passion for me. We have to stop admiring the problem and we have to start executing. I do think your point about culture is where it all starts. I think we have to take ownership and entrepreneurial mindset to all of these reforms that are in front of us. We can't do this alone. We have to do it with you here in the congress in order to actually make these changes.
▶ 1:35:34Lt Gen. Caine: I am encouraged by the leaders who are coming into the department who have deep substantive business background that are not known as people who admire problems. So if confirmed, I look forward to working with the various leaders in order to actually move the ball and of course working with the congress to execute these things without continuing to admire the challenges in front of us.
▶ 1:36:00Sen. Cramer: I appreciate your reference to the new leaders coming in. I have the same optimism as a result of it. But I am getting anxious about actually seeing it happen. So maybe you are the leader that can make that a reality for us now. We get to talk to the combat commanders and you will talk to them a lot.
▶ 1:36:22Sen. Cramer: One of the things we hear over and over from commanders is intelligent surveillance, reconnaissance, isr, it is in great need and low supply these days. The air force specifically has been on a mission to eliminate isr as one of their key missions. Disappeared even as a term in several of their documents in recent years. It is not just their fault.
▶ 1:36:50Sen. Cramer: As we have all been talking about, we have a resource challenge in our defense department and we are trying to work on that. We'll have to do a lot more for sure. I want to recognize that. But I also worry there is a divide between what the commander say in the field and what we are seeing. And where we are investing.
▶ 1:37:10Sen. Cramer: I would love and your remaining seconds with me to expound a little bit on isr, where you see it landing as a mission set and maybe everybody has their own form, but I don't think that is very practical.
▶ 1:37:25Lt Gen. Caine: In my remaining five seconds, isr and the ability to have indications and warnings to make decisions for commanders who hold risk is a key and essential part of our overall ability to execute the missions we must do.
▶ 1:37:43Sen. Cramer: I think the air force should keep it as a mission. I get that other services will have some form of it. Anyway. Thank you. I look forward to supporting you.
▶ 1:37:52Chair Wicker: Senator kaine.
▶ 1:37:56Sen. Kaine: Good to see you come in general. I would encourage my colleagues not to hold your last name against you. I share comments some of my colleagues have made about the unfortunate circumstances of general brown but you did not have anything to do with that. I know from our conversations in my own due diligence that bmi is very proud of you and folks who work with you in the past two I hold in high regard are very proud of you.
▶ 1:38:25Sen. Kaine: A lot of the questions that have been asked trying to really drill into your ability to give the best candid advice I think your career has demonstrated to my satisfaction that you will do so. One of the things I really like about your background, and I think senator ernst and others have commented on it, active guard, dod and private sector at the pinna garden at the white house -- at the pentagon come at the white house come into cia.
▶ 1:38:55Sen. Kaine: You've seen deep interaction with allies will stuff you really have seen the breadth of our military mission in a way that I think is the kind of experience that would inform that judgment that you need to provide. In a way, the role of the head of the joint chiefs of staff chairman of the joint chief since senator cotton walking you through the work you did at the cia was a little bit the same role.
▶ 1:39:22Sen. Kaine: Why don't you describe in a little more detail that posting to the cia, what your job was in that? I think it is almost analogous, the advice you are providing to the cia director can the best military device, is pretty analogous to the advice you would be providing to the commander-in-chief.
▶ 1:39:40Lt Gen. Caine: Thank you for that question. I do agree that the associate director for military affairs was actually established by the congress to detail three-star military officer over to the cia under title 50 authorities in order to provide best military advice to the director of the deputy director and to work daily with the secretary come the chairman, and combat commanders in the service chiefs
▶ 1:40:11Lt Gen. Caine: In order to globally integrate -- same functions the chairman has -- in order to globally integrate cia and dod activities. And if confirmed, I will continue to do that, working with the best of the title x forces, the best of title 50, with the state department can bring to the table, what the rest of the interagency can bring to the table along with our allies and partners.
▶ 1:40:36Lt Gen. Caine: While I am mindful I have not let at the four-star level, this is not a command job and considered for come it is an advisory job and there are very similar traits to the last job.
▶ 1:40:48Sen. Kaine: And the posting you had for this support role was you delegated by -- did you interview with the cia to get that post?
▶ 1:40:57Lt Gen. Caine: Sir, I was nominated by the department and interviewed by the cia. As far as I understand it come the cia made the selection.
▶ 1:41:09Sen. Kaine: You are the nominee of the department. I do think the role is an important one. The one thing I don't see in your resume but I suspect it is probably there and it is just too long, the interaction you had with the state department over the course of your career. Could you talk about that?
▶ 1:41:28Lt Gen. Caine: My first real substantive interaction with the state department was actually when I was a white house fellow at usda and we were charged with working on the global pandemic plan surrounding h5nq during the bush administration. That really began my substantive appreciation for what the diplomatic element of power can do and that continued through my time in the military overseas.
▶ 1:42:00Lt Gen. Caine: I have deep regard and appreciation for what the state department can do for us.
▶ 1:42:06Sen. Kaine: I think all of us at times have been frustrated with silos. The states and their silo, intel and their heirs, dod, pentagon and their own silo. Sometimes having a different perspective is great if everybody is just singing exact same note, sometimes wonder if it is groupthink. So getting different perspectives can be helpful.
▶ 1:42:28Sen. Kaine: The fact you have been in all parts of the broad national security family gives me some real confidence in your judgment coming into this position. The last thing I will ask, what would you say has been your signature or experience of the course of your career in terms of interacting with our allies?
▶ 1:42:48Lt Gen. Caine: Probably, sir, the scud hunt in 2003 where I had the opportunity to work closely with our british u.k. And australian allies, which is absolutely a coalition effort from day one. We went to war alongside them and thankfully sustain all of those relationships now. I have deep relationships with our closest allies. If confirmed, looking forward to continuing those.
▶ 1:43:19Sen. Kaine: I am a strong supporter. Thank you.
▶ 1:43:25Chair Wicker: Were we exactly during that scud operation?
▶ 1:43:32Lt Gen. Caine: Sir, the location that we flew out of I think is still classified. Happy to talk about that in closed session.
▶ 1:43:42Chair Wicker: Thank you very much. Senator scott.
▶ 1:43:50Sen. Scott: Thank you. Congratulations. You have the right background and I think you're going to do a great job. I always like to see business guys succeed. This is all doable. You look at where we are, we have communist china trying to defeat us, allies that are not invested like they should, we have iran which appears to have enough money now to continue to support the houthis, hamas, hezbollah.
▶ 1:44:22Sen. Scott: We have china all over latin america. What we have to do to defend the freedom of this country and try to do our best to police the world, I mean, is this doable? Are you optimistic or pessimistic?
▶ 1:44:32Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I am always an optimistic leader.
▶ 1:44:38Sen. Scott: Why do you believe we can do it?
▶ 1:44:40Lt Gen. Caine: There are a lot of reasons but the power of the american spirit is what leaps out to me off the bat. They are very few things we set our mind to that we can't achieve. Despite some of the very serious challenges in front of us, we have always roger did up to those challenges.
▶ 1:44:58Sen. Kaine: -- Sen. scott: you think the budget will allow you to do what you need to do?
▶ 1:45:05Lt Gen. Caine: I won't get in front of the president or omb on what budget markers are set but what I will do is commit that whatever capital we are given we will make the best out of.
▶ 1:45:17Sen. Scott: We have 20 military bases and three unified commands. One is homestead. We talked about this a little. Not that far from cuba. Homestead is a little north of key west. It hasn't had a dedicated flying mission in a while. It would be an important base. Do you see a future for homestead? Do you think it ought to have a flying mission?
▶ 1:45:46Lt Gen. Caine: I won't get out in front of the service but if confirmed, I will definitely talk to the air force reserve command and the air force to see what they are thinking around flying mission and homestead. The history of that unit and that base is exemplary. They were with us in the scud hunt back in 2003. I have deep appreciation for the their culture and history.
▶ 1:46:11Sen. Scott: This is the first time I've had the opportunity to be the chairman of the subcommittee on sea power. We have not been able to build ships from and chips, keep ships ready. How do you think that will change?
▶ 1:46:26Lt Gen. Caine: I think it is a significant challenge for us and we've got to up our game, encouraged by the focus on this and we have got to get to our congressionally mandated number of 300 55 ships as soon as possible, which includes our ability to sustain them and repair them around the world.
▶ 1:46:49Sen. Scott: According to the navy, they provide the commanders with 40% of the requirements. Does it make much sense. In business, the need to deliver 40% -- we based on requirements needed. Do you think there's a different way we ought to be allocating resources?
▶ 1:47:06Lt Gen. Caine: I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?
▶ 1:47:13Sen. Scott: The combatant commanders are only getting a portion of what they're asking. Is there a better way to allocate their resources?
▶ 1:47:18Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I appreciate the question. The challenges that we have to globally integrate all the combatant commands. There are never a loss for tension between theco-coms. I trust the joint staff in the joint chiefs are looking carefully and thoughtfully considering where that balance is and then passing those options to the secretary for him to decide where that allocation
▶ 1:47:49Lt Gen. Caine: May be. Until we have such capacity that there is no need to do that, I think we're going to continue to balance that -- those capabilities and capacities across all co coms.
▶ 1:48:00Sen. Scott: What drives you? Why do you want to do this? Say you do this for four years, what would your goal be at the end of those four years?
▶ 1:48:10Lt Gen. Caine: Doing my part to make sure that we have a safe and prosperous united states of america, that the military element of power has delivered the deterrence capability that we needed to and we have taken care of our families and our force along the way.
▶ 1:48:28Sen. Scott: Thank you. You will do a great job.
▶ 1:48:31Chair Wicker: Thank you. Senator mullin.
▶ 1:48:40Sen. Mullin: Thank you, general, for wanting to step back and a service. Your retirement did not last too long. The idea you're willing to jump back and serve speaks volumes to the true inner spirit that you have. I want to thank you for doing that. You have made a tremendous amount of sacrifice already. You know eyes wide open what this job is going to entail. You have real challenges ahead of you.
▶ 1:49:10Sen. Mullin: I want to start first talking about the defense industry. I know you're familiar with the so-called last supper in 1994 where we basically encouraged our defense industry to consolidate. I am a firm believer in looking back and looking at things where they went wrong. Since then, our defense industry really has not been able to deliver on time. And on budget. On some of the most critical needs we have.
▶ 1:49:39Sen. Mullin: We have seen from our planes in the air to our ships in the shipyards to the equipment that we are needing, it is constantly behind what we are needing. Today when we ask for technology that is being used against us or that our adversaries have may have achieved when we ask our defense industry to deliver come it is five to seven years. If we are lucky, it is three. Yet it is never on time.
▶ 1:50:09Sen. Mullin: You come from a unique position. Active reserve and in the private sector. I feel like this is one of the biggest threats we have. We have a technology need today and it is being delivered five years from now. We are five years behind. Sir, how do you plan on tackling this? Because I do feel like this is the biggest threat to our military today.
▶ 1:50:33Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I agree it is a huge problem. Technology is evolving so quickly that every time we field capabilities, they are obsolete oftentimes when they hit the force and that is not acceptable.
▶ 1:50:48Lt Gen. Caine: I think it goes back to something the chairman and I talked about at the beginning of the hearing that is related to having agility in our requirements and building a system that allows us to take advantage of the current technology is comment not those of the past. If confirmed, I will work with the joint staff, joint chief scum and of course osd to pick up the speed, pace, and tempo of fielding the capabilities we need that are not obsolete.
▶ 1:51:17Sen. Mullin: How do you plan on bringing private industry back in to actually go around some of those that are incapable of delivering in a quick fashion?
▶ 1:51:26Lt Gen. Caine: Well, senator, I think we need a mix of both startups that are new entrants to the industry, but we also need the primes. The answer is, e, all of the above. There components the primes have to do and there are a bunch of things that new entrants will do to move forward. I think the answer is, as I mentioned, all of the above.
▶ 1:51:56Sen. Mullin: I agree the primes are important, but they have failed miserably staying on budget and on time and being adequate to delivering today's needs. I don't like rewarding those that have not delivered on -- adequately when we have asked. We know that has been a problem. So holding them accountable is important. I want to switch gears right now about afghanistan.
▶ 1:52:24Sen. Mullin: Deeply personal to me and I know it is to you and anyone else that had the privilege of serving the nation in afghanistan, but because of the disastrous withdrawal, I feel like there is a hesitation in our military in our military family to actually step forward and make that sacrifice again.
▶ 1:52:46Sen. Mullin: I think there's a lot of doubt that the united states is able to stand behind what our first mission is and then to be able to bring pride to those that sacrificed. With that brings a morale issue. To those that are still serving, sometimes those of the most experience.
▶ 1:53:09Sen. Mullin: I feel like we may be having a drain in knowledge of those that have sacrificed so much. How do you plan on retaining those and restoring that trust back into the military that says, hey, we've got you, we're not going to leave you on the battlefield, we won't let your sacrifice died but we are to let you walk away with a tremendous amount of pride knowing your sacrifice meant something to this country?
▶ 1:53:34Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, I appreciate the question. I think that is one of our most important jobs as leaders whether it be at the chairman level or all the way down to the platoon leader level is inspiring those who serve, taking care of them always. But also making sure they know how much we appreciate them and their families.
▶ 1:53:58Sen. Mullin: That does not address what happened.
▶ 1:53:59Lt Gen. Caine: Even afghanistan? That withdrawal was not what anyone would have wanted. Very difficult circumstances. I think the officers on the ground did the best they could with the policy decisions that were made. We mourn the loss of 13 at abbey gate and we have to hold us accountable, if there was something, for them to be held accountable for. I know the department is looking into that.
▶ 1:54:31Lt Gen. Caine: Again, most of those professional military officers were executing the direction and orders of policymakers above them.
▶ 1:54:40Sen. Mullin: Thank you.
▶ 1:54:40Chair Wicker: General, is it accurate to say afghanistan was a forever war?
▶ 1:54:48Lt Gen. Caine: I'm not sure what the doctrinal definition of a forever war is but it certainly -- it was a long, long time.
▶ 1:54:57Chair Wicker: What was the engagement of nato and american troops at the time of our disastrous withdrawal?
▶ 1:55:13Lt Gen. Caine: Sir, I think there were so U.S. forces on the ground and still nato forces on the ground. I'm not exactly sure what your question is.
▶ 1:55:21Chair Wicker: Were there casualties?
▶ 1:55:24Lt Gen. Caine: At the very end, yes, sir.
▶ 1:55:28Chair Wicker: In the last year before the disastrous withdrawal? There were no american casualties.
▶ 1:55:36Lt Gen. Caine: Not that I'm aware of.
▶ 1:55:39Chair Wicker: Senator gillibrand.
▶ 1:55:43Sen. Gillibrand: Thank you plus thank you, general caine, for being here, thank you to your family for their support of this appointment. Based on your understanding of relevant classification and authorities, do you believe any of the information that was shared on the signal chat was classified at the time it was sent? Particularly the details about timing of the target and for demand U.S. aircraft and other details related to the exact plan?
▶ 1:56:13Lt Gen. Caine: I did not see the original con up. I think we should always preserve the element of surprise and that is a key and essential thing we owe our war fighters.
▶ 1:56:27Sen. Gillibrand: What would you have done if you are on the text chain?
▶ 1:56:30Lt Gen. Caine: Well, first I wasn't, and I think that was a political partisan text chain with policymakers. I can't hypothetically guess what I would have done. But I would -- we would not have --.
▶ 1:56:52Sen. Gillibrand: I would not call it partisan. It had the head of intelligence, the head of the cia, our secretary of defense. It had national security top advisors for the president. To share that type of information from a military perspective, I can't imagine if a subordinate of yours shared that type of military information in an unclassified setting such as the signal text chain, they would be fired, would they not?
▶ 1:57:19Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, as I mentioned earlier, I think the chairman and ranking member have called for an investigation. I feel like it is appropriate for me to withhold comment until such time they determine there will be an investigation or not.
▶ 1:57:40Sen. Gillibrand: What would you do and a separate scenario pc classified information or work plan information or tactical information on an unclassified chain, what would you do to stop the conversation?
▶ 1:57:49Lt Gen. Caine: I think I would weigh in and stop it if I was a part of it. In this case, I was in.
▶ 1:57:57Sen. Gillibrand: Thank you the worldwide proliferation of unmanned aerial systems is an undeniable national security threat, creating challenges in both funding and capability. How do you believe the department and joint force should -- these two challenges of funding and capability?
▶ 1:58:17Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, it is definitely a big challenge in front of us. The mass and simultaneity, especially small uis's, is one that is concerning to me both from a technical standpoint but also from a policy standpoint. As I'm sure you are aware, we have somewhat limited capabilities in some cases inside the domestic U.S.
▶ 1:58:41Lt Gen. Caine: To stop some of these uis's I think we have to continue to fund the research and develop meant to counter them.
▶ 1:58:50Sen. Gillibrand: Let's make it more direct to you. When you have drones hovering over langley for two week period appearing and disappearing without our technology being able to track or trace it, without having the authorities to follow the ua as to its point of departure and its point of return, that creates a serious national security risk if those are indeed being operated by russia, china, or iran. What we do to protect their military bases in the military secrets that are under your purview?
▶ 1:59:20Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, if confirmed, I will continue to put the appropriate amount of pressure and interest on that to work in conjunction with the commander of norad northcom general who is doing a fantastic job on this issue and others to continue to work with the private sector to find the capabilities that we must have, that we currently don't have, to prevent this from happening again.
▶ 1:59:46Sen. Gillibrand: Which capabilities don't you have? Do you lack the authorities or the technological capability?
▶ 1:59:53Lt Gen. Caine: I think it is a little mix of both. There are some authorities issues related to air space directly over U.S. military base is an transitioning outside of the geographical boundaries of that military base and who has cognizant authority over those small uis at that point. I think there are some technological challenges in the states around stopping them and actually downing them.
▶ 2:00:19Lt Gen. Caine: There is always collateral damage concerns and those types of things.
▶ 2:00:23Sen. Gillibrand: Will e-cig seek the authority to be able to take on uis's of military bases?
▶ 2:00:27Lt Gen. Caine: If confirmed, I'll speak with the commander of norad northcom and the relevant state of local authorities to make sure we are eliminating the discussion points.
▶ 2:00:40Sen. Gillibrand: Senator cotton and I have legislation to do that and I would request you review that legislation. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 2:00:45Chair Wicker: G of cosponsors?
▶ 2:00:50Sen. Gillibrand: I don't know but I can ask.
▶ 2:00:51Chair Wicker: Senator tuberville.
▶ 2:00:54Sen. Tuberville: Thank you for being here. Your service and congratulations on your nomination. You're nominated to be the senior military advisor to the president of the united states. What a chore. I remember a time when generals and retired senior officer would avoid political discussions.
▶ 2:01:18Sen. Tuberville: It was extremely uncommon for former senior officer to even endorse a candidate for political office. Lately, that approach seems to be an exception not the rule. Some of your predecessors even appear to support political positions while in uniform. Your predecessor was deeply involved in politics. Which should not be part of this approach.
▶ 2:01:45Sen. Tuberville: General caine, in your own words, how would you describe to this committee the importance of your responsibility in commitment to provide the best military advice even when that advice might differ from what the president of the united states believes?
▶ 2:01:59Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, thank you for the question. It ultimately is the whole job, the principal military advisor to the president. Pursuant to that job, provide the president with the best military advice even when the president may have different feelings about it. And that is exactly what the nation pays me to do. So if confirmed, that is exactly what I will do.
▶ 2:02:26Sen. Tuberville: When you take this job, what is your number one concern?
▶ 2:02:30Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, right now the number one concern is the passage of time. And ensuring the joint force is ready, properly armed with the right capabilities at the tactical ledge. Properly, globally integrated with the services themselves, with the other elements of the interagency, with our allies and partners and with the private sector. And ready to go tonight.
▶ 2:03:00Lt Gen. Caine: And that means our families are ready, they are ready, they are properly trained and equipped. So we have much to do, senator.
▶ 2:03:09Sen. Tuberville: We all know the machines we build, the guns and bullets we have come everything at the disposal of the war fighter, usually is and is the people involved are recruiting -- our recruiting is much improved. What do see your role as an advisor to the president in recruiting for all of our military?
▶ 2:03:33Lt Gen. Caine: We don't have much of the military without the members of the joint force that selflessly joined the service to do something more important than themselves. To answer your question, if confirmed, I think it is an opportunity for me to be another voice of encouragement for those young men and women who have the capability and meet the standards to come into the service and do something that they will forever hold so hi in
▶ 2:04:05Lt Gen. Caine: Their past history, the chance to serve this nation is a special privilege for those of us that have come into the cloth of our nation and served and I hope that I will be able to encourage others to do so.
▶ 2:04:17Sen. Tuberville: We had a hearing last week the west point -- naval academy and air force academy, I would hope in the future, and I know your job is to inform our president and keep them advised of everything, but I think your job, too, would be to work with our academies in terms of leadership, help build that leadership to a higher standard, to keep it to a higher
▶ 2:04:48Sen. Tuberville: Standard, to build and let our young men and women know that that is where it all starts. If we don't have leadership, we don't have anything. I think that is a good point. Obviously, your information you give to the president is going to be number one, but also build -- help build our military will be a huge part, I think come of your job. What do you think?
▶ 2:05:13Lt Gen. Caine: I agree, senator.
▶ 2:05:16Chair Wicker: Senator duckworth.
▶ 2:05:20Sen. Duckworth: I want to begin by expressing my deep gratitude for the outstanding service of general brown and so many other dedicated who were unjustly dismissed as part of a politically motivated purge of senior department of defense officials. General caine, I enjoyed our conversations we have had recently over the last couple of weeks.
▶ 2:05:41Sen. Duckworth: If confirmed as chair of the joint chiefs, you will serve as their president's principal military advisor and we just be expected to bring our military judgment to bear to advise against illegal, immoral, regardless of partisan pressure. However, we are in a moment or that very principle is under strain. Such as with the dismissal of judge advocates general responsible for providing critical legal expertise because their counsel did not align with the political preferences of secretary hegseth.
▶ 2:06:09Sen. Duckworth: This pattern has had a chilling effect on an open and honest discourse. Essential to national security decision-making at the highest level. The lives depend on expert qualified leaders who understand their decisions have real life or death consequences.
▶ 2:06:25Sen. Duckworth: How will you insulate and empower general officers across the force to remain professional and nonpartisan and provide unbiased advice to survey policymakers without fear of coercion, undue partisanship, or retaliation?
▶ 2:06:40Lt Gen. Caine: I also enjoyed our time together. This is the whole job. This is why you and I both took our oath of office. It is what is contained in our commission and aligned with the constitution. That is what the nation expects out of our professional officer corps and I'm sure what we will continue to do moving forward
▶ 2:07:07Will Stop Sen. Duckworth: We do your best remain those will be unbiased and nonpartisan?
▶ 2:07:15Lt Gen. Caine: Always.
▶ 2:07:21Sen. Duckworth: It is great to see a guard guy at that table going through the confirmation hearing. You will also be the seniormost uniform officer entrusted with being a model and leader for the joint force. Recently we have witnessed blurred lines between private power and public trust.
▶ 2:07:42Sen. Duckworth: Striking lack of regard for protecting secrets and absence of accountability for top leadership from elon musk receiving invitations for briefings on china to a pattern of mishandling classified information to secretary hegseth bringing family members to sensitive meetings with allies and partners. And certainly we have seen a concerted effort to skirt transparency to the american people on the use of force with decision-making been done over disappearing signal chat.
▶ 2:08:09Sen. Duckworth: It seems like this administration is more interested in keeping secrets from the american people than protecting national security secrets for the american people. You have experience running some of the most sensitive operations. You know even the need for secrecy to enable mission success does not means hurting accountability to the american people. Do you commit to providing the legally required transparency to congress and the american people over decisions related to the use of force even in the face of pressure from civilian leadership?
▶ 2:08:34Lt Gen. Caine: I do.
▶ 2:08:38Sen. Duckworth: Thank you. Another concerning focus of this administration has been to distract military from its core mission of protecting the american people from external threats by redirecting military personnel assets and platforms to domestic law enforcement missions. President trump may have learned from his first term that asking one of the predecessors to deploy the military to fire on civilian protesters was a no go.
▶ 2:09:00Sen. Duckworth: Instead he has turned to a form of tactics linking criminal activities for undesired speech to hostile governments like venezuela or terrorist groups like hamas in order to legitimize military involvement. This kind of threat inflation is exactly what dictators do. The separation between military missions and civilian law enforcement is a core tenant of our democracy and exists not only to protect the rights of american citizens but also to preserve the integrity of our armed forces.
▶ 2:09:28Sen. Duckworth: When military personnel are thrust into law enforcement missions in places them at risk of moral injury of being court partisan concerns rather than dethroned the nation -- rather than defend the nation. What steps will you take to ensure that this military personnel or assets are not inappropriately used in law enforcement capacities that distract the military from its core mission, undermine readiness come and threaten public trust?
▶ 2:09:50Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, thank you for that question. I think there is strong systems in place, legal systems in place, that prevent any missteps there. It ranges from title 30 two authorities to title x authorities. And have no reason to believe that this moment those are insufficient in any way.
▶ 2:10:17Sen. Duckworth: Thank you.
▶ 2:10:19Chair Wicker: Thank you very much. Senator sullivan.
▶ 2:10:24Sen. Sullivan: I want to begin by agreeing with ranking member and others on commending general brown for his exceptional decades of service. I fully agree with the accolades he is receiving in this committee and wish him and his family the best. I have served under commitment with hundreds of officers and my position as U.S. senator, U.S.
▶ 2:10:52Sen. Sullivan: Marine and I would say come in general, I think you are one of the most impressive officers I have met with. I don't say that lightly. You're bringing a lot in here and I think that is going to be very important. I do want to touch on this topic we are playing up a lot here on keeping politics out of our military.
▶ 2:11:22Sen. Sullivan: I could not agree more with that. I think it is really important, part of my career here. Try to make sure that happens. But I will say we are not talking about what just happened the last four years. I think the military was politicized in a huge way particularly from the civilian leaders who were pushing left-wing theories on the military, pushing climate change over shipbuilding, the under secretary for policy came before this committee and told us our military is "systemically racist."
▶ 2:11:54Sen. Sullivan: It is ridiculous, right? Do believe our military systemically racist? Is that what you saw in your 30 plus years of service?
▶ 2:12:00Lt Gen. Caine: No, senator.
▶ 2:12:05Sen. Sullivan: You agree with the secretary of defense testimony when he came here that our military professionals, need to remain a and committed to our constitution identified not as republicans or democrats but warriors and leaders? Is that your commitment?
▶ 2:12:22Lt Gen. Caine: It is.
▶ 2:12:25Sen. Sullivan: Will you commit to doing that?
▶ 2:12:27Lt Gen. Caine: I will.
▶ 2:12:31Sen. Sullivan: A famous quote from billy mitchell who was talking about a certain place in the world come he said "whoever controls this place controls the world. It is the most strategic place in the world." what place is he talking about?
▶ 2:12:45Lt Gen. Caine: Alaska.
▶ 2:12:49Sen. Sullivan: Do you agree with his insightful analysis?
▶ 2:12:51Lt Gen. Caine: He was brilliant.
▶ 2:12:54Sen. Sullivan: I would assume that is a yes most of our adversaries agree. You and I talked about this in my office. I appreciate the hearing. We have had huge number of incursions in the last two years. Russian, chinese, joint russian chinese strategic bomber task force, joint russian chinese naval taskforces.
▶ 2:13:23Sen. Sullivan: We are on the front lines of great power competition with regard to our adversaries. You and I talked about infrastructure in alaska for our military. The president after his election said we will ensure alaska gets even more defense investments as we rebuild our military, especially as russia and china are making menacing moves in the north pacific. That is from the commander-in-chief.
▶ 2:13:50Sen. Sullivan: The indopacom northcom commander recently said this very vital naval base, former sub base, huge fuel depot, one of the biggest fuel depots for our navy in the world, navy team, this week, looking at reopening. Can I get your commitment to working with this committee on infrastructure that can protect our northern flank?
▶ 2:14:22Sen. Sullivan: Northcom commander recently testified these incursions are only going to increase.
▶ 2:14:25Lt Gen. Caine: Yes sir.
▶ 2:14:28Sen. Sullivan: Let me talk about another issue. He talked about urgent action reform to go faster with greater efficiency. I think one of our unsung success stories in this regard is aid country servers working with the department of defense most of dod can use these aid contractors if they want. They don't have to. They bring efficiency must speed, low cost contracts and quality services.
▶ 2:15:02Sen. Sullivan: Us our recent example of an integrated request from dod to have a wheeled vehicle that can put a harpoon come antiship system on it. This contractor got a design in two weeks. Got it produced in a month -- I'm sorry come inside of 12 months. Already in taiwan. They were produce 20 more most of the oems come if they try to do that, it would have taken them 10 years.
▶ 2:15:30Sen. Sullivan: Can you commit to me to continue to work with these small businesses that I think deliver readiness, efficiency, and modernization?
▶ 2:15:37Lt Gen. Caine: I will, senator.
▶ 2:15:39Chair Wicker: Thank you. Without objection, that chart will be copied into the record. Senator rosen.
▶ 2:15:50Sen. Rosen: Thank you for holding this hearing will stop my thanks to you, general caine, for meeting with me. We had a great conversation about nevada and for your willingness to serve. I'm going to keep on the subject of nevada assets and documenting exposure and classified locations. From your time as the director of special access programs and from your own experience serving at a data mass location, a duty station location and existence classified.
▶ 2:16:20Sen. Rosen: You are familiar with the delicate balance between protecting sensitive information and ensuring service members records actually reflect the service-connected injuries at those sensitive data mass locations. I have heard from constituents who served at such locations like the nevada test and training range who believe they were exposed to radiation from our days of conducting explosive nuclear weapons testing enter burn pits which dispose of classified ways.
▶ 2:16:47Sen. Rosen: Dod does not classified the range as a place where exposure occurred. Despite the department of energy providing a presumption of exposure for their personnel who serve their at these exact same locations within the range and because their service records are data mass as you know, these veterans cannot even prove to the v.a. They were ever actually stationed there.
▶ 2:17:11Sen. Rosen: Nevada there are six facilities, most of which are within the nevada test and training range where doe employees presumed to have been exposed to radiation but our service members, the v.a. Only recognizes one, the nevada test site as a presumed exposure location. One such facility that is covered forone such facility tht covered forone such facility ths covered for d.o.e. And not dod is the test range which is a dod and air force installation.
▶ 2:17:43Sen. Rosen: Portions of the range are still fenced off and contaminated. In 1975 environmental assessment acknowledge the contamination -- they served alongside and further adding insult to this they cannot even show they were there.
▶ 2:18:08Sen. Rosen: All of this has presented -- has prevented them from being able to receive their well-deserved veterans benefits. We need to make this right. I'm committed to fixing this problem. I hope I can count on your support to making it happen.
▶ 2:18:26Sen. Rosen: Will you commit to working with me and of the committee to find a solution that provides dod the presumption of exposure at such locations and provides those who served and are serving in these locations away to sufficiently document health-related issues without compromising the security of their service.
▶ 2:18:51Sen. Rosen: >> thank you for raising this in your office call and thank you for your leadership. I think we owe our servicemembers away forward through these jobs they have. I do commit to staying close to you on this matter and trying to sort out the way we can help them transition and take the credit and risk they have bought in the service of their nation with them into the next chapter of their lives.
▶ 2:19:18Sen. Rosen: I appreciate it and I know the men and women who serve there will be very pleased to do this. It means a lot to them. I have a minute left so I want to ask about the course of the future. Over the course of your service you've gone through the rigors of training while stationed at nellis air force base.
▶ 2:19:43Sen. Rosen: You know our military readiness stands on immediate war fighting needs while preparing for potential conflict our country might face that requires changing how we plan to fight which is making sure our threats are modernized keeping pace with emerging threats. How would you prioritize investments in readiness and modernization, especially in these emerging domains like cyber warfare nai.
▶ 2:20:14Sen. Rosen: -- cyber warfare and ai.
▶ 2:20:16Lt. Gen. Caine: We have to train to the realistic threat to make sure we are prepared if we go into conflict. Part of that is making sure our trading range is live, virtual, or constructed accurately to replicate the threat so our war fighters can train to the realistic threat. I think we still have some work to do in our fiscal range and physical ranges and in our virtual ranges. That will be an area along the readiness line of effort that I will spend some time on.
▶ 2:20:45Sen. Rosen: I look forward to working with you on that.
▶ 2:20:48Chair Wicker: Thank you senator rosen. Senator budd?
▶ 2:20:54Sen. Budd: General, it is good to see you again. Thank you for your willingness to serve. I enjoyed our meeting in your office last week. Let's talk about china. There china for expanding their power has operated a lot using military and civil actions between the boundaries of peace and war. It is difficult to confront with conventional military force.
▶ 2:21:25Sen. Budd: The admiral stated special operation forces are crucial and saw they are under invested in the specific command -- in the pacific command. You talk about your views on the role of salt in conflic and what investment should be made to grow these capabilities?
▶ 2:21:43Lt. Gen. Caine: Thanks for that question. As someone who has probably been a part of the special operations forces I appreciate the exponential return those forces can provide to the nation and when I think about creating multiple dilemmas for xi jinping , many of those dilemmas are created through american special operations forces where we build partnerships, we help train our
▶ 2:22:14Lt. Gen. Caine: Allies and partners and when required we are able to execute sensitive missions that help us eliminate the threat in a more thoughtful way. I would agree with the admiral's views on soft forces in the pacific but would defer to the general who probably has strong views on that if confirmed I will consult with him on those matters. -- Sen. budd: I appreciate her commentary that they deliver an exponential return.
▶ 2:22:45Lt. Gen. Caine: In your policy questions you underscore the importance of synchronization between the dod and intelligence community. How do you plan to do that?
▶ 2:22:53Lt. Gen. Caine: It starts with trusting and deep relationships. I am fortunate in my last job to have learned the value of making sure the best of the title x community is linked up with the best of the title 50 community to get almost title 60 outcomes. I realize there is no title 60 but I put that in quotation marks. If confirmed I will continue with that pathway forward.
▶ 2:23:22Lt. Gen. Caine: We have an incredible associate director for veterans affairs at the cia now who carries on it is probably doing a much better job than I ever did over there. If confirmed we will continue to build on those relationships and I think it extends beyond the dod and cia relationship. It extends into the relationship we have with the state department, it extends into the relationship we have with the other elements interagency as well.
▶ 2:23:50Sen. Budd: Also in your advanced policy questions you mentioned service keeps and combatant managers use the unfunded priority list as essential tools to communicate with us in congress. The idea where areas where additional resources could enhance military readiness and capabilities and you also state unfunded priority lists are not the only tool to build a strategy and form budget.
▶ 2:24:18Sen. Budd: Where do you think the dod is currently leveraging to align the defense budget and defense strategy.
▶ 2:24:27Lt. Gen. Caine: I am not yet back in the service so I need to read the current version of the national defense strategy.
▶ 2:24:35Sen. Budd: Best guess outside looking in?
▶ 2:24:39Lt. Gen. Caine: I think we need to continue our effort and that would be my early read without being into the intel record?
▶ 2:24:58Sen. Budd: Last year commanders testified with the f-15 flight eagle. Can you speak to the value and utility of the fourth-generation fleet? And whether you find it wise to reduce these inventories prior to taking delivery of the potential replacements. I guess it is the divest to invest strategy. If you would comment, please?
▶ 2:25:26Lt Gen. Caine: What we cannot do is leave something uncovered in the interim. When I think about the f-16, they are prominently tasked with homeland defense at this point in time. We cannot ever let another 9/11 happened so we have to make sure we do not divest so much we lose coverage in places we must have to sustain that combat capability.
▶ 2:25:55Lt Gen. Caine: We need a fourth and fifth and sixth generation mix until we get to the point where we are all need -- where we are all where we need to be in the sixth generation. Thank you.
▶ 2:26:06Chair Wicker: Thank you very much. Senator warren?
▶ 2:26:11Sen. Warren: Thank you Mr. chairman come in congratulations. If confirmed you would serve as the principal military advisor to the president and swear an oath to defend the constitution of the united states. President trump once described your predecessor as "an outstanding leader," and it is true. C.q. Brown served 40 years in seven combatant commands.
▶ 2:26:44Sen. Warren: The president's removal of the only black officer and removal of the only female officer from the joint chiefs of staff has sent a chilling message about who is and who is not welcome in our military. This worries me deeply about the future of our military and the defense of our nation. I am also concerned president trump wants to turn the chairman of the joint chiefs into another political position.
▶ 2:27:14Sen. Warren: Last year president trump claimed you once said you would kill for him and then you slap a maga hat on. Others have disputed that story. It raises questions about whether you were selected because donald trump thinks you will be loyal to him rather than the constitution of the united states.
▶ 2:27:37Sen. Warren: Secretary pete hegseth has removed the top legal advisors for military services and recommended replacements at a lower rank. Lieutenant general, if confirmed, your job will be to present your best military advice.
▶ 2:27:57Sen. Warren: Do you agree that in order to be able to comply with the law and make sure your advice complies with the law, that military commanders need legal advisors with both enough expertise and a high enough rank that they will be listened to during this process?
▶ 2:28:20Lt Gen. Caine: I do. I have always had great legal advice regardless of what rank they were. I do agree.
▶ 2:28:28Sen. Warren: You think you need people who have good advice. Do you think it helps in making sure that others -- I'm glad you listen to good advice the matter where it comes from, but that others are more willing to listen if people offering legal advice have high enough rank to carry some weight in the room when this decisions are taking place?
▶ 2:28:49Lt Gen. Caine: I do, senator. Although as I have mentioned I've have had great legal advice from 05s to 07s, and I think it is the human and the officer in their professionalism and intellect versus what rank they have. I do appreciate the efforts to ask a question about what rank they should be.
▶ 2:29:17Lt Gen. Caine: I would defer the secretary on what rank he would want them to be.
▶ 2:29:22Sen. Warren: That gives me real concern. The whole point of elevating rank was the concern that not enough people were listening to good legal advice. While I appreciate you say you listen, we need people to listen who are making decisions up and down the line.
▶ 2:29:43Sen. Warren: I understand, lieutenant general caine, that the circumstances of your nomination are beyond your control but they also place a significant burden on you to show leadership, to restore public confidence in the military and to show you work for the american people. I have long been concerned by senior pentagon leaders who trade on their time in public service to cash out afterwards, to work for defense contractors.
▶ 2:30:14Sen. Warren: That is why during his confirmation hearing general brown agreed he would not become a lobbyist or join the board of a defense contractor after he resigned. Lieutenant general caine, are you willing to demonstrate your taking this job to serve the american people and commit that after you leave this job you will not work for any major defense contractors or companies that are affected by your official actions?
▶ 2:30:40Lt Gen. Caine: For myself I have no intent to do so.
▶ 2:30:44Sen. Warren: You can commit to that?
▶ 2:30:47Lt Gen. Caine: Yes. It is not my intent.
▶ 2:30:50Sen. Warren: President trump's removal of highly qualified and talented military leaders as a permanent stain on this nations history as well as a blow to our ability to recruit the force we need to compete with china. If confirmed you will have an important responsibility to show the american people you will defend our nation with integrity, that you will follow the law and that you will lead our men and women in uniform with integrity. Thank you.
▶ 2:31:22Sen. Warren: Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 2:31:23Chair Wicker: Thank you very much, senator. We will now move to senator schmitt.
▶ 2:31:32Sen. Schmitt: It is good to see you again. Congratulations. Let me first start by saying I think the people who talk the most about making sure you give advice to president trump have no experience with president trump. Interpersonally.
▶ 2:31:53Sen. Schmitt: He does seek out advice among a lot of people and I think your background and your experience will be invaluable, will be invaluable to him as he asks tough questions. I think the dynamic will be great, I think your background experience will prepare you very well for this important role.
▶ 2:32:18Sen. Schmitt: I want to ask you about a couple of things right think your experience will play an important role in specific decisions. This great powers competition we are in with china, I was happy to see president trump and secretary hegseth move quickly and not just deciding we would move forward with next-generation dominance but actually selecting the f 47's so we can move forward on this.
▶ 2:32:47Sen. Schmitt: I think that was a bold stroke of leadership and decisiveness we need right now. That aircraft will go faster and carry bigger payloads which matter a lot in the indo pacific. With your experience I know you can appreciate that. One of the challenges we have has been mentioned by a few already. The inability of us to go from point a to point b when we recognize a problem, how do we solve the problem.
▶ 2:33:18Sen. Schmitt: Everyone recognizes it is an issue. If not made a lot of progress up to this point. You and I talked about this in our office. In your view, what would we do differently if we were at war right now? If we -- live rounds -- we are at war -- what would we do differently than we are right now on the procurement side and the execution side?
▶ 2:33:44Lt Gen. Caine: Thanks for the question. The chairman's bill builds on a book written about the defense industrial base in the mid-1930's and I think if we were in a gunfight at this point in time we would be doing a lot more with a greater sense of urgency than we probably have right now.
▶ 2:34:08Lt Gen. Caine: If I am confirmed I will carry that sense of urgency that I think we share into the department and into the joint force to make sure we do not end up in a case where our young war fighters do not have the kit they need prior to them needing it.
▶ 2:34:26Sen. Schmitt: The overwhelming force we need to have is critical at the concern I have is we talk about it but we have to move forward. Before I run out of time, your experience, your varied experience in the military outside I give you a glimpse of one of the challenges we face.
▶ 2:34:51Sen. Schmitt: This is a missouri asset is new-home -- is the home to an air force base known as the home of the b-2 stealth bomber and soon to be the be 21. The 440 second fighter wing is also there and the fighter wing like many of these units is a punch above its weight class has flown combat missions for decades.
▶ 2:35:23Sen. Schmitt: There are opportunities whether it is in the short-term, the f-15e for the f-15 x. The real danger is because we have delayed these decisions these experienced pilots go somewhere else. They do not have the certainty of knowing there will be a follow-up mission. We work with my office and the folks responsible for these decisions.
▶ 2:35:50Sen. Schmitt: We have to start making these decisions more decisively and timely and I think whiteman stands right in front of that line.
▶ 2:35:57Lt Gen. Caine: I will but I want to make sure I bring the air force leadership into that conversation as well. I have very little throwaway on those decisions.
▶ 2:36:05Sen. Schmitt: You will be an important spot and recognizing strategically this is important we have had conversations with the air force about this as well. With the last remaining seconds I have I will -- in your view of this great powers competition with china, what are some things we need to get better at. What are some things we need to do to prepare as we shift and pivot to asia?
▶ 2:36:38Lt Gen. Caine: With deep respect for the question that is a pretty big question.
▶ 2:36:43Sen. Schmitt: What is the most important thing or the one thing?
▶ 2:36:47Lt Gen. Caine: Probably taking advantage of the time we have as I mentioned earlier in my testimony, making sure we are moving with speed, precision, and sense of urgency to get the kit we need. Challenges range from contested logistics to long-range fire to command and control.
▶ 2:37:04Sen. Schmitt: Look forward to working with you. Congratulations.
▶ 2:37:08Chair Wicker: Will use amid that on the record? It was -- will you submit that on the record. It was a very intricate questions from any with 10 seconds to go.
▶ 2:37:20Lt Gen. Caine: You want me to do that now?
▶ 2:37:24Sen. Schmitt: No, just take it for the record. Senator kelly?
▶ 2:37:30Sen. Kelly: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I will follow-up on senator schmitt's question in my second part if I have time because that is the big question of the day is how do we handle the challenges we will face in the western pacific. General, congratulations on your nomination, it a very important role. I want to talk a little bit about general miley.
▶ 2:37:57Sen. Kelly: As a career military officer, lifelong public service who served in this role as chairman under president trump and president biden he is now facing an investigation by this administration and possible demotion. He in coordination with that then secretary of defense mark esper made phone calls to chinese military officials to reassure them the united states was not going to launch an attack preventing unnecessarily conflict.
▶ 2:38:28Sen. Kelly: General milley did this out of a deep respect and commitment to the constitution of the united states in my view. I asked about this in my office when we met privately but I want to ask in this public setting. If you are confirmed and sworn into this position, to whom or what you swear an oath?
▶ 2:38:47Lt Gen. Caine: Senator, as I have for 34 years it is to the constitution.
▶ 2:38:54Sen. Kelly: Thank you. Setting aside the specifics of the scenario, if necessary will you choose the right thing to do even if it is hard over the easier wrong option?
▶ 2:39:05Lt Gen. Caine: I've always strived to do the right thing and that is not going to change now.
▶ 2:39:11Sen. Kelly: Thank you. Are you willing to get fired from this job for doing the right thing and following the constitution?
▶ 2:39:18Lt Gen. Caine: I am.
▶ 2:39:20Sen. Kelly: Thank you, general. Back to what senator schmitt was getting at. Part of what he wanted to discuss. I want to switch gears and go back to indo paycom, repositioning of resources and requirements. You mentioned transcom.
▶ 2:39:43Sen. Kelly: They play a pivotal role in projecting forces from the united states into indo paycom, is w a man -- which is why I'm introducing the ships for america act which is aimed at strengthening our commercial shipping base which would have the added benefit of giving our combatant commanders sealift capability so we can rapidly respond in crisis and conflict.
▶ 2:40:07Sen. Kelly: If confirmed, what will you recommend to the secretary of defense and the president to ensure our industrial ship tilting base -- our industrial shipbuilding base is ready for competition in crisis?
▶ 2:40:23Lt Gen. Caine: I am not in the job yet and I am not back in the service yet. If confirmed I would like to take that study and come back to you.
▶ 2:40:35Sen. Kelly: As you know, it is a logistical problem, 5000 miles of ocean. The chinese, if we wind up in a conflict in the western pacific, they have to go hundreds of miles to resupply their forces. I appreciate you being willing to take a look at it.
▶ 2:40:57Sen. Kelly: One last topic I want to talk about efforts across the department to modernize our acquisition process. This is a topic I'm focused on as the cochair of the defense modernization caucus. Our system is too slow. It is too unwieldy. It cannot modernize at the pace of china. We currently cannot match them on how fast we can innovate.
▶ 2:41:29Sen. Kelly: We need to foster an ecosystem change that encourages risk from small businesses so they can innovate faster and ensures that if a technology meets a current demand signal we have an effective mechanism to bridge the testing and evaluation gap that often exists to get that stuff over to production.
▶ 2:41:51Sen. Kelly: If confirmed, what changes will you recommend to the secretary and the president to ensure we take advantage of smaller innovative companies and acquire at the speed technology is moving forward?
▶ 2:42:04Lt Gen. Caine: We have to have everyone weighing in, small businesses, new entrants, and even the primes. The ability to bring advanced technologies from new companies into the joint force and make it easier for them to bring their products and services into the military is something I am passionate about given my background and experience.
▶ 2:42:33Lt Gen. Caine: If confirmed I think that will be an area where I spent some time. I know I am out of time.
▶ 2:42:38Sen. Kelly: Thank you, general. Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 2:42:42Chair Wicker: Senator banks?
▶ 2:42:46Sen. Banks: Thank you for being willing to come out of retirement and serve your country and this most significant way. I look forward to having a chairman of the joint chiefs whose only focus is national security. You have a hard road ahead of you as you and I discussed before. General milley modeled inappropriately and political behavior to a whole generation of officers.
▶ 2:43:10Sen. Banks: It is why I fully support president trump's decision to relieve general brown and the unconventional decision to go beyond the usual four star choices and pick an outsider like you for this most important role. You spent much of your military career outside of washington, D.C., not exclusively inside of the pentagon. Because of this you have a much better understanding of what is important to our war fighters and the average american.
▶ 2:43:39Sen. Banks: You also know the national guard often gets the short end of the stick in the budget fights and having a chairman who properly appreciates the importance of the guard is critical. Because of all that I cannot wait to get you confirmed as soon as possible. I want to go back and talk. General milley was the most political chairman of the joint chiefs of staff I believe we have ever had. He actively undermined his commander-in-chief.
▶ 2:44:08Sen. Banks: General milley admitted to calling speaker pelosi and disparaging president trump's mental fitness and questioning his nuclear command authority that was completely inappropriate and unacceptable. I want to ask you, how will you communicate differently than that with congressional leadership?
▶ 2:44:25Lt Gen. Caine: I am committed to open and transparent communication. The first duty of the chairman is to be advisor to the president. I would go through that chain of command while providing options to the president.
▶ 2:44:42Sen. Banks: General milley admitted that under his watch the pentagon wasted nearly 6 million man-hours on dei and w oke ratings. He also testified to me that he wanted to read more about critical race theory and understand white rage. Under your leadership, what kind of training can we expect our servicemembers to be focused on?
▶ 2:45:08Lt Gen. Caine: Her fighting, lethality, and readiness.
▶ 2:45:14Sen. Banks: General milley was also the chairman during the disastrous afghanistan withdrawal and is a veteran of the war in afghanistan this is very personal to me. Under his watch there was no accountability at all for the deaths of american heroes, no accountability for the chaos at the kabul airport and no accountability for leaving americans behind. When military failure and incompetence result in the death of U.S. troops, do you agree the officers in charge must be held accountable?
▶ 2:45:43Lt Gen. Caine: I appreciate the question. The afghanistan withdrawal was not anything anybody would have wanted. It was very difficult circumstances and the officers on the ground had very little to do with the policies they were directed to follow. We all mourn the 13 lost at abbey gate. Those officers did the best in a situation that was not of their making.
▶ 2:46:10Lt Gen. Caine: Certainly accountability is an important tenet in the united states, but I hope we consider the fact that those officers were just doing the duties they were assigned to do.
▶ 2:46:21Sen. Banks: You agree accountability matters and we should always learn from our mistakes and hold those accountable? General millie told his aides president trump was preaching "the gospel of the fuhrer." I asked general brown if that was inappropriate and even general brown agreed publicly under oath before the committee that was a very inappropriate statement by general milley.
▶ 2:46:50Sen. Banks: You agree with general brown that the chairman of the joint chiefs should never disparage the commander-in-chief?
▶ 2:46:54Lt Gen. Caine: I do.
▶ 2:46:56Sen. Banks: When he was chairman general milley testified he does interviews regularly with print media, books, documentaries, video on tv, because "it is a part of a senior officials job." he also said he talked to the media two or four times a week. You think that is an appropriate use of the chairman's job?
▶ 2:47:19Lt Gen. Caine: If confirmed I will spend my time focused on the essential tasks in front of me.
▶ 2:47:26Sen. Banks: General milley promised chinese generals without the president's knowledge that he would warn them if the united states was about to attack. You think it is inappropriate or appropriate for the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to warner greatest adversary when we were about to attack or what we might do?
▶ 2:47:42Lt Gen. Caine: No, sir.
▶ 2:47:45Sen. Banks: I yield back.
▶ 2:47:48Chair Wicker: Senator slotkin? You are recognized.
▶ 2:47:54Sen. Slotkin: I apologize for being late. I just got off a plane will stop we had some weather issues. Congratulations. Happy to see you here. I between you and being done. I am aware of that. I wanted to make sure we all are on the same page. The goldwater nichols act of 1986 is what established the chairman is the principal military advisor to the president and to the secretary of defense, the national security council.
▶ 2:48:26Sen. Slotkin: It mandates you provide strategic direction to the armed forces, oversee strategic planning, program recommendations, budget proposals, it gives you a very big purview. I think president trump issued a memorandum on inauguration day that the chairman be a part of the national security council meetings at the highest level in the white house. That is an extremely important role, especially now.
▶ 2:48:58Sen. Slotkin: I have heard that other members talked about the fact there was no joint chief representative in the signal chain about military operations, imminent military operations. I want you in those rooms giving your best military advice to anyone. I was keenly aware all of the decision-makers on that chain were all political appointees.
▶ 2:49:25Sen. Slotkin: There is not a single person there that was there just as representative, as a military officer. There was no commander, there was nothing. I don't think that missed anybody's notice. Will you if confirmed make a point to get into the rooms where military are being discussed, planned at the strategic level, and when advice to the president is being given about the confidence in those military plans, will you push to
▶ 2:49:56Sen. Slotkin: Be in that room?
▶ 2:49:57Lt Gen. Caine: Yes, ma'am.
▶ 2:50:00Sen. Slotkin: Good. We want you there. I have asked a number of folks who have come up here very similar questions. People who have sat in that chair about the importance that I put in swearing in oath to the constitution of the united states, not to any president, not to any political leader. You will swear an oath. You have done it many times before. This is not uncommon for you in your extensive experience.
▶ 2:50:32Sen. Slotkin: I have asked all of these appointees or these nominees to say if the president asked you to do something that was unconstitutional, to use the military in a way that was unconstitutional, to put military into the streets of our cities or poor leasing -- or policing and performing law-enforcement roles which they are not trained for, etc.
▶ 2:50:56Sen. Slotkin: If he asks you to do that, will you push back and lay down the law on behalf of the constitution, not for the president's shi president's swhims?
▶ 2:51:09Lt Gen. Caine: I will. I do not expect that to happen but of course I will.
▶ 2:51:14Sen. Slotkin: We do not expect it to happen but it did happen under the trump administration the first time. Secretary esper was asked to bring in the 82nd airborne active-duty military troops to put down a peaceful protest in washington, D.C. and in his own book he wrote he convinced president trump in the dark of night not to do that. I don't need to be public, I don't need you to have a public fight with president trump. I'm not asking that.
▶ 2:51:43Sen. Slotkin: I am asking in the same situation would you act honorably in the same way and protect the rules of the road for the U.S. military to protect the institution you have given your life for? And make sure this country does not see their uniformed military as a political arm of any one party. Will you stand up and push back similarly to secretary esper?
▶ 2:52:05Lt Gen. Caine: I think that is the duty and job I have.
▶ 2:52:10Sen. Slotkin: I appreciate that. There is lots of other important work we all want you to be focused on the war fighter. Can you confirm for me. These reports keep coming out of department of defense and uniformed military press outlets taking down jackie robinson's page on his service to the country, the tuskegee airmen which have such a connection to detroit, michigan, they are
▶ 2:52:41Sen. Slotkin: Taking down, they are putting backup. Can you confirm that war heroes no matter what their color should be recognized by the department of defense and it is not some d.e.I. Thing to recognize warriors of color?
▶ 2:52:52Lt Gen. Caine: I think we should always recognize warriors, period.
▶ 2:52:58Sen. Slotkin: I have -- I hope you uphold that as this ridiculous continues of erasing people from our military histories. It is to me offensive. We look forward to setting up for those values and I thank you for your work and I yield back.
▶ 2:53:13Chair Wicker: This concludes today's hearing. I want to thank our distinguished witness for his testimony and without anything further we are indeed adjourned.