▶ 0:14:56>> this hearing will come to order. I want to thank our distinguished witnesses for this readiness subcommittee. This is certainly one of the most important topics we address each year. In many ways, it sets the foundation for every other discussion we have, as it relates to defense and military.
▶ 0:15:24It also helps this committee prepare for the markup of the national defense authorization act, which we do each year. This year has shown us that lethality since -- sustainment and readiness are more important than ever. Without these factors, we lose deterrence. Assuring readiness, we can take the fight to the enemy at any time or place of our choosing.
▶ 0:15:53First, I want to acknowledge with solemn gratitude the six fallen heroes that have been lost in action during operation epic fury. I know that our witnesses feel the same. I want to appreciate their sacrifice and pray for their families. Second, I want to thank our witnesses for their willingness to be here today.
▶ 0:16:20When you look across the day is here, there is literally decades and decades of exceptional service from all of you. Gentlemen and ladies and your families, I want to thank you for that. I think I can speak for all my colleagues -- we hold our deployed service members in our thoughts right now.
▶ 0:16:49They're protecting our nation day in and day out, all over the world. I want to talk about the current conflict briefly. I'm sure there will be questions on that. Iran has been a catalyst for terrorism, mayhem, and violence across the middle east and the world for decades. Terrorist leaders of iran have in essence been at war with the united states since the ayatollahs took over iran in 1979.
▶ 0:17:16They have killed and maimed thousands of american service members over the years. The list is long. The beirut marine barracks, kovar towers -- the sophisticated roadside bombs in iraq and afghanistan. Literally cost the lives of american service members and killed, just with the I.d.'s, over 600.
▶ 0:17:44The regime has recently attempted to assassinate president trump, when he was running for president in 2024. We know they attempted to assassinate former secretary pompeo and the former national security advisor john bolton. That is why it has been a bipartisan goal of every president since the iranian revolution to ensure that the largest state sponsor of terrorism does not have nuclear weapons are ballistic missiles.
▶ 0:18:13The world is not safe with down iran with relentless nuclear terrorist ambitions and an expanded ballistic missile inventory. This current conflict races, and reminds us of, many critical challenges. At front and center is our defense industrial base.
▶ 0:18:37Conflicts we are observing, not just in iran but in ukraine as well, underscore the importance of sustained production capacity in the united states. The briefing we received yesterday from the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chief -- they declared undeniably that we have sufficient current stocks to carry on and win decisively in operation epic
▶ 0:19:08Fury. I think that is an important message for everybody around the world, to make sure that other adversaries of ours don't see this as a moment where they can take action in other parts of the world. But we must ensure that our stockpile's surge capacity and industrial base are sufficient to support a prolonged, high-end fighting and other theaters for future conflicts, if they should arise.
▶ 0:19:35We should also not lose sight that we are meeting at a time when the global threat environment is as complex and dangerous as it has been in decades. Strategic competition with china continues to intensify. By investing heavily in capabilities designed to challenge our ability to project power and sustain operations, not just in the indo pacific, but across the globe.
▶ 0:20:01The war in ukraine has reshaped the security landscape in europe and in the homeland, particularly in my state. We see increased aggression from russia and china in the arctic and in the pacific. This is a chart I put out a number of times. We had a field hearing just last weekend in anchorage. The commerce committee, where I chair the subcommittee in charge of the coast guard.
▶ 0:20:30This chart, these are the recent incursions by the russian air force strategic bombers, the chinese air force, the chinese and russian navy. An unprecedented element of this chart are the green ones. Those are joint russian and chinese operations into our area. Strategic bomber taskforces. Joint naval task forces.
▶ 0:20:59At the hearing last week, a very distinguished retired four-star general, joe ralston, former nato commander, said there is no way that the chinese and russia would be doing joint ups into america's arctic and north american waters without full approval of xi jinping and putin. These are aggressive actions we must keep in mind.
▶ 0:21:26As russia continues to expand and modernize its arctic footprint -- deepwater ports, airfields, forward operating bases -- the russians have over 54 icebreakers, many of which are nuclear powered and weaponized. China, despite having no arctic territory, calls itself a near arctic state, and is rapidly expanding its polar capabilities.
▶ 0:21:50Over the past two years, we have seen a dramatic increase in these kind of incursions into our air and waters in the united states, in alaska. Just two weeks ago, we had another russian strategic bomber task force. The united states military did an exceptional job, as they always do, of protecting and intercepting these russian bombers.
▶ 0:22:19We should be clear that when we talk about readiness, we also need to talk about homeland readiness right now. Secretary rubio in our briefing yesterday said we should assume iran and its terrorist proxies are planning terrorist actions around the world, including our homeland, which is why I think particularly, given the current circumstances in terms of our own homeland defense, we need to
▶ 0:22:50Resource the department of homeland security to prevent any kind of homeland attack from iran or anyone else. Every day dhs is not funded is another day U.S. citizens are vulnerable. I know the white house is working closely and has put forward offers with my democratic colleagues. I certainly hope that we are not going to defund -- not weak, the senate democrats -- we need to find homeland security now.
▶ 0:23:21This is a national security issue, a readiness issue that we can fix today. It needs to happen. But we need to do more to prepare and assure readiness. We are going to be asking the panelists the issues relating to personnel and recruiting. We have gone through a crisis. We have come out of that crisis. But I think it is important to have lessons learned, which has happened the last few years.
▶ 0:23:49Second, we have aging platforms and maintenance challenges in all our services. Need to be able to get in front of those. Third, the issue of sustainment and contested logistics and force projection capabilities is another challenge and a new reality for all of our services as well. Witnesses, I look forward to your candid assessment of where readiness stands today, not just in terms of reported metrics, but in real world capabilities.
▶ 0:24:20Where are the gaps? Where are the risks? And what actions are required in the near term to ensure that the U.S. military remains fully prepared to deter and if necessary defeat our adversaries. Again, I want to thank the witnesses for being here today. We look forward to your testimony. I want to turn the comments over to my ranking member, senator hirono.
▶ 0:24:48Sen. Hirono: Thank you very much. Gentlemen, thank you very much for your dedicated service to our nation, and especially in these turbulent times. I thank the service members in each of your respective branches. What is more, I look forward to having you here with us every year. Thank you for the constant and effective work by you and your team. I begin by acknowledging the tragic loss of multiple U.S.
▶ 0:25:16Sen. Hirono: Service members lives in the middle east. Our thoughts are with them, their families, their loved ones, along with the thousands of other americans who are serving even as we speak. We must also acknowledge how we got here. President trump launched air without so much as consulting with congress.
▶ 0:25:43Sen. Hirono: What is worse -- we are given multiple explanations for why we are at war with iran, from getting ahead of an imminent iran strike to eliminating their nuclear capability to effecting regime change. We cannot get the story straight. As leader schumer said, when the rationale for war keeps shifting , the strategy is missing.
▶ 0:26:10Sen. Hirono: Moreover, just this morning, secretary hegseth said we are just getting started. This lack of strategy directly increases the risk to our service members while negatively impacting military readiness. Readiness is a commodity in the military even with well executed training cycles.
▶ 0:26:35Sen. Hirono: It must be managed ruthlessly to balance operational needs with force sustainment. Our witnesses have shown that a well-trained, well led military can execute a wide range of tasks effectively.
▶ 0:26:52Sen. Hirono: It is incumbent upon you all to lay out without equivocation your service's current state of readiness and the impact to its readiness for missions it is tasked to perform. This is particularly important with planned events like ship maintenance cycles, combined training exercises, and support to combatant command exercises which are disrupted.
▶ 0:27:21Sen. Hirono: It is also important to clearly articulate the cost and time to replace stocks. Standards are also a critical component of training. This administration has employed the term standards with great vigor. No one is opposed to well-defined task-based standards.
▶ 0:27:44Sen. Hirono: Personally, I have confidence that the uniform leadership of the military invests itself consistently over time to set and continuously review its training standards. However, the secretary of defense appears to be undertaking a personal attack on women in the military. More specifically, women in combat formations, by questioning standards.
▶ 0:28:12Sen. Hirono: He is questioning your ability to train and equip a ready force with the current physical fitness standards and unit effectiveness and cohesion making your services less ready. I am very interested in your assessment in these areas. Just yesterday, we heard from the department of defense about their national defense strategy.
▶ 0:28:42Sen. Hirono: And yes, the number one stated priority was defense of the homeland. A priority that has significant overlap with the department of homeland security. In that regard, the dod has handed over $2 billion to dhs in the last year alone for missions on the southern border.
▶ 0:29:05Sen. Hirono: Not only does this drain military readiness and resources, it also depletes morel and diverse units from training and executing the full range of their core missions. Yet we are often told there are no adverse readiness impacts from deploying to the border. However, there is no end in sight.
▶ 0:29:32Sen. Hirono: In reality, readiness challenges will only be further exacerbated by the war in iran. We have already lost three aircraft to what sounds like a friendly fire incident in kuwait. That is a loss of almost a billion dollars in the three aircraft. The joint forces is burning through inventories of precision guided missiles when they are already in short supply.
▶ 0:30:04Sen. Hirono: Moreover, these munitions take a long time to replenish, and risk being unavailable for the unforeseen contingencies elsewhere, particularly in the indo pacific, where we face a clear adversary, just as the chairman has indicated in this chart. To the witnesses on today's panel, I recognize you are in a precarious position.
▶ 0:30:27Sen. Hirono: Four-star generals have been fired without cause over the last year, and we have repeatedly seen this administration blurry lines, using the military in ways we have not seen before. In other words, politicizing the military. While only one of you is a repeat with us from the hearing a year ago, each of you have earned the four stars on your shoulders. We rely on your experience. As to the service members you need -- you lead.
▶ 0:30:57Sen. Hirono: To candidly speak truth to power and give us your best military advice, especially in these unprecedented times. Decisions have consequences, and shortsighted decisions can have dangerous consequences, dangerous long-term consequences.
▶ 0:31:13Sen. Hirono: Launching another war in the middle east, improperly using the military for dhs operations on a nonreimbursable basis -- these misguided policy decisions have real tangible costs on readiness and our ability to deter major adversaries like china and russia. To my colleagues, we can and must do something to reassert our constitutional authority. It is congress that declares war, not the president.
▶ 0:31:42Sen. Hirono: And as far as I'm concerned, it begins with voting for the war powers resolution. Thank you. >> thank you, senator hirono. I am going to ask each of our witnesses for five minutes of testimony. You can submit a longer written testimony for the record. We will begin from left to right here. So the vice chief of the army, the floor is yours.
▶ 0:32:16Sen. Hirono: >> thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today. We are grateful for your engagement with the issues that saved the lives -- affect the lives of our soldiers and their families. Everything begins and ends with one question. Does this make our soldiers more lethal and ready to fight and win? Today, over 108,000 soldiers are deployed across 160 countries.
▶ 0:32:43Sen. Hirono: Securing our interest in the western hemisphere, deterring aggression in the indo pacific, and responding to threats worldwide. In the middle east, our soldiers are operating in a complex and dangerous environment amid active conflict with iran and its proxies. They are defending U.S. forces and partners, intercepting missiles and drones, and protecting critical infrastructure. Our sustainment formations are moving fuel, munitions, and medical support across the theater.
▶ 0:33:12Sen. Hirono: Our command integrates rapid intelligence response to emerging threats. Brave americans have been killed and wounded in the line of duty. Their loss is felt across our formations and communities. To their families, we extend our deepest condolences and our enduring support.
▶ 0:33:35Sen. Hirono: Operations overseas are sustained by the command structure and ready forces we maintain at home. We consolidate to create a single unified headquarters responsible for homeland defense while retaining the capacity to generate forces globally in response to crisis. In the indo pacific, the army maintains 91,000 troops and committed $1.3 billion to the pacific deterrence initiative.
▶ 0:34:05Sen. Hirono: We are decisively modernizing our full spectrum of capabilities to counter any threat. Commanding in korea showed me that years of combined trading and shared risk with regional partners creates relationships that cannot be forged in crisis. These enduring bonds, built through sustained commitment, underpin our operations in the region and globally.
▶ 0:34:25Sen. Hirono: We are building readiness for the future fight with our training centers, and having had the opportunity to command the operations group of the joint readiness training, I know the value. It is where we train our soldiers in the mud to solve complex problems and test related systems. But we cannot field modern kit while sustaining aging systems.
▶ 0:34:51Sen. Hirono: Devasting legacy platforms is a demand that falls hardest on our junior soldiers. This is why we restructured our acquisition process, to reduce the distance between field experience and program decisions from years to month. -- months. We are feeling critical systems like the next generation command and control.
▶ 0:35:17Sen. Hirono: We are connecting sensors, shooters, and commanders in large-scale combat operations. We selected divisions to test the systems now, while they still deter in the pacific. Developing the xm 30 infantry fighting vehicle, we delivered the aprons prototype years ahead of schedule. We are replacing something which entered service seven years before I was born.
▶ 0:35:46Sen. Hirono: Army aviation is on track to deliver a prototype of the future long-range assault vehicle with the speed required for future operations. The next generation of equipment we are feeling is only as good as the industrial base that produces and sustains it. We continue to modernize through our 15 year plan. We are expanding the partnership with advanced manufacturing.
▶ 0:36:11Sen. Hirono: But after 36 years, I have never seen unit readiness determined by a depot or its equipment alone. What I have seen repeatedly is how we treat our soldiers seize whether he retained the experienced ones and whether the force we are building reflects the standards that include infrastructure investments through 20. We are working to improve nutrition for our soldiers in dining facilities across five installations, and more to come.
▶ 0:36:39Sen. Hirono: We are accelerating our holistic health care for active guard units. These investments are having an impact. It shows in our recruiting numbers. Our numbers are up the last five years. Thank you for your continued support as we sustain the best army this world has ever seen. That will not change. >> thank you, general. The next witness is the vice chief of naval operations. Admiral?
▶ 0:37:09Adm. Kilby: Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the readiness of the united states navy. Your oversight and authorization of funding ensures the navy is ready when our nation calls. That readiness was put to the test this past year as the navy conducted combat operations in support of the joint force and achieving national objectives.
▶ 0:37:36Adm. Kilby: Operations rough rider and midnight hammer, we conducted strikes against her adversaries and defended our allies in the middle east. This played a key role in operation absolute resolve. In the pacific, or sailors operate every day, building partnerships. The navy continues to maintain unbroken strategic deterrence with our ballistic missile submarines. As we speak, the navy, both afloat and are sure, is supporting operation epic fury.
▶ 0:38:06Adm. Kilby: Last night in the indian ocean, a U.S. fast attack submarine sank. Around the globe, we are ready to defend the homeland, deter threats, and if called upon, to fight and win. To ensure our sailors and platforms continue to meet the demands of rapidly involving threats, we are thinking, acting, and operating differently. This starts with the navy's primary weapon system, or sailors.
▶ 0:38:36Adm. Kilby: In 2025, we exceeded our goal for new sailors and shipped 44,000 recruits to training camp. I'm confident we will meet our 2026 goal. To improve retention, we made personnel policy changes that cost thousands of sailors who are continuing separation to consider -- to continue their service.
▶ 0:39:04Adm. Kilby: These efforts reduced absences from 23,000 in october of 2025 to 18,000 last month, with the goal of 13,000 at the end of the fiscal year. We are focused on improving sailors' quality of service. We are providing permanent shore-based housing so that no sailor is required to live aboard a ship. As of last month, approximate the 4500 sailors have transitioned from being afloat.
▶ 0:39:32Adm. Kilby: Last year, we reduced our unmet need for child care from 2200 to 1500. Our fitness facilities are now open 20 47, -- 24/7. We are reducing maintenance delays, investing in shipyard infrastructure optimization, and developing a civilian workforce.
▶ 0:40:00Adm. Kilby: We are leveraging advanced technology such as advanced manufacturing. The navy continues to drive toward our goal of 80% combat surge ready, with urgency and accountability. However, I remain concerned about the condition of ships, and I am working to improve here. To meet the high-end demand of forward operations, the navy is changing how we build, equip, and sustain our fleet.
▶ 0:40:31Adm. Kilby: The golden fleet initiative is our plan to deliver the best and most capable platforms to revitalize our maritime industrial base and change our ships. Your continued support of our navy is vital to this initiative's success. In particular, expanded multiyear procurement, guaranteed purchase commitments, and predictable funding streams enable us to achieve speed and scale.
▶ 0:40:59Adm. Kilby: These legislative authorities allow our maritime partners to expand production capacity, modernize facilities, and strength supply chains. Conclusion -- while leadership and partnerships are critical to the navy's continued success, on behalf of our sailors, civilians around the world -- thank you. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:41:22Sen. Sullivan: Our next witness is the assistant commandant of the marine corps. [indiscernible] [indiscernible yelling]
▶ 0:41:57His Sen. Sullivan: Just a reminder to all our witnesses -- capitol police will escort any protesters out the hearing room. We ask for, in these hearings. [indiscernible shouting]
▶ 0:42:39Sen. Sullivan: Order. Order. I will ask the audience to please sit down. Capitol police will escort any protesters. [indiscernible shouting]
▶ 0:43:10Sen. Sullivan: I am calling on the capitol police to remove any other protesters. All protesters, either leave or be escorted by the capitol police. General, the floor is yours, sir.
▶ 0:43:31Gen. Gering: Distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I am honored to represent the marine corps and discuss our current readiness. The marine corps provides unique value to the nation and joint force. We are both the nation's global response force and a persistent integrated stand in force in the indo pacific.
▶ 0:43:58Gen. Gering: This combination is at the heart of our force design and ensures we are prepared to meet the challenges outlined in the national defense strategy. Our traditional role as a crisis response force is embodied by the amphibious ready group and marine expeditionary unit, most -- ac based capability which provides our nation with options, changes the behavior of bad actors, and deliver swift
▶ 0:44:29Gen. Gering: And decisive action when required. Our commandant has set the northstar of providing combatant commanders with a global presence. This equates to deployments from both the east and west coast, and deployed naval forces in japan. Force design has created stand in forces that are purpose built to operate persistently within contested maritime spaces.
▶ 0:45:01Gen. Gering: These forward deployed forces provide a continuous presence, enable the joint force, and contribute to deterrence with allies and partners. We are not without challenges. In partnership with the navy, we are working to approve the availability of amphibious warfare ships. We are also working to field organic literal connectors.
▶ 0:45:24Gen. Gering: Thanks for your support and oversight, we have made significant progress in this area with the procurement of medium landing ships, and we need to continue to move forward with a sense of urgency in both areas -- amphibious worship readiness availability and literal mobility. Despite these -- littoral mobility. The marine corps is a head of mission for fiscal year 2026.
▶ 0:45:56Gen. Gering: It is a testament to the quality of marines we select in the critical resources this committee helps provide. This success in recruiting is the essential first step. Our institutional commitment to standards-based training and achieving brilliance in the basics is what forges our war fighting edge. And this relentless focus on fundamental excellence is precisely what enables us to remain the world's premier fighting force.
▶ 0:46:24Gen. Gering: We also recognize that taking care of marines and their families is a war fighting necessity that directly impacts readiness and retention. For barrick's 2020 -- 2030 initiative is making tangible progress, thanks in large part to the continued support of this committee. In the last fiscal year, we completed for new barracks, began construction on eight others, awarded renovations for an additional 11, and outfitted 159 barracks with new furnishings.
▶ 0:46:54Gen. Gering: We are also tackling childcare challenges head on. We have key recruitment and retention incentives for our director and employees. These include a 100 percent childcare discount, increased salaries, and a priority place in a transfer program that allows military spouses to seamlessly move between installation child of 11 centers when their service member executes a permanent change of station.
▶ 0:47:20Gen. Gering: I'm proud to report to you that for a third consecutive year, your marine corps has earned a clean audit opinion. This is a direct reflection of our commitment to fiscal stewardship and demonstrates our accountability for every taxpayer dollar. In conclusion, the marine corps appreciates continued congressional oversight and support for the combat priorities which remain essential for building enduring readiness across the total force.
▶ 0:47:50Gen. Gering: Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:47:52Sen. Sullivan: Thank you, general. Our next witness is the vice chief of staff of the air force.
▶ 0:47:59Gen. Lamontagne: Chairman sullivan, ranking member hirono, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to talk about the readiness of your united states air force. The most important thing the air force does for the joint force and for the nation is to fly and fix aircraft so we are ready to answer the nation's call.
▶ 0:48:23Gen. Lamontagne: Our lethality depends on our airman, the capability of our equipment, and the skill at which we bring them together. Airmen are our most purchase resource. The active-duty air national guard reserve and civilian workforce are why the united states air force is effective at a moment's notice. If you are investing in them to keep the air force the most capable and lethal in the world.
▶ 0:48:53Gen. Lamontagne: We updated our fitness policy to push our airmen to new levels and ensure that they are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with our training partners on the toughest battlefields. We are also increasing our airmen's quality of life by updating dormitories and child development care centers. We strive to make the air force and an unmatched place to serve. We are meeting our recruitment goals, bringing in talented men and women from across the country.
▶ 0:49:23Gen. Lamontagne: We are also seeing strong retention numbers across the force. Importantly, the air force is on track to train 1500 pilots per year to expand our client pool. From the perspective of equipment, are outstanding airmen fix our platforms and keep the air force running. They need the right logistical support to do their job.
▶ 0:49:47Gen. Lamontagne: To that end, the air force is leveraging a weapon system sustainment account to increase aircraft availability, which allows our aviators to get the reps they need to build confidence. While we are working to be more ready today than yesterday, we are modernizing to be even better tomorrow.
▶ 0:50:07Gen. Lamontagne: We are recapitalizing our ground-based strategic deterrent fighter, bomber, and tanker aircraft, as well as the command and control architectures that bring them together. We appreciate the acquisition reforms supported by this subcommittee that are allowing us to develop capabilities faster. The b 21, 47, and collaborative combat aircraft will present our adversaries with problems they cannot solve.
▶ 0:50:37Gen. Lamontagne: The lethality of your air force is highest when we exercise our well-trained airmen with capable equipment. The air force takes this aspect of our job very seriously. At the tactical level, our airmen are practicing deployment and preparing to fight, in exercises like bamboo eagle. Last summer, the department of the air force employed more than 400 aircraft and 15,000 personnel across 50 locations in the pacific to improve our ability to fight.
▶ 0:51:07Gen. Lamontagne: Our airmen are ready to respond to our nations needs. In conclusion, operations midnight hammer, absolute resolve, and epic fury demonstrate that in coordination with our joint partners, your air force is the most capable and lethal air force on the planet. We will focus on taking care of airmen, sustaining the fleet, and making acquisitions for the future, to stay ahead of her potential adversaries.
▶ 0:51:38Gen. Lamontagne: Your air force will fix and fly aircraft to deter potential adversaries and to win are in a's wars. I look forward to answering your questions and partnering with you to improve your air force.
▶ 0:51:51Sen. Sullivan: Thank you, general. Our next witness is the vice chief of space operations.
▶ 0:51:57Gen. Bratton: Chairman sullivan, ranking member hirono, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to talk to you today about the U.S. space force. Recent events around the world clearly demonstrate the importance of space force as part of the joint force, with guardians both in garrison and deployed in harm's way. Our need to generate readiness remains critical. In the past year, we have closed on many items to increase our readiness.
▶ 0:52:25Gen. Bratton: We put on orbit global positioning systems spacecraft to enhance our navigation, geosynchronous space situational awareness programs to increase our domain awareness, and 42 data transport air spacecraft, the literal backbone of our missile capability. Along with our commercial partners, we have executed 170 lunches this year. The launch enterprise counts three new entrants as significant progress.
▶ 0:52:54Gen. Bratton: Your space force has authorized the early use of new radar, has upgraded optical surveillance systems to better track adversary activity. We have operationally accepted additional systems and domain awareness, electromagnetic warfare, missile warning, to enhance our capabilities.
▶ 0:53:13Gen. Bratton: We stood up our officer training course for all of our officers and space, cyber, intelligence, and acquisitions, and built a program to provide initial qualification training specifically for our acquisition workforce. We have activated three mission deltas, eight system deltas, and we are on track to meet our fiscal year 2020 six accession goals. Our priority is clear. We must protect the joint force from space-enabled attack.
▶ 0:53:46Gen. Bratton: Space force guardians have participated in a variety of readiness-producing activities designed to ensure space superiority. Exercises like resolute space and space lab have been particularly helpful. As my colleagues here no, training is an essential component of readiness. The space force is organizing to ensure we train our forces before combat.
▶ 0:54:11Gen. Bratton: We are doing this by using the space force's force generation model to deliberately carve out time for advanced training, so that guardians are always ready. As the secretary noted, guardians must be ready at any time for any threat across the entire spectrum of conflict. These new missions and our responsibilities to the joint force mean the space force must aggressively increase its strength and infrastructure.
▶ 0:54:40Gen. Bratton: We will need to double in size in the coming years to meet identified operational needs, as well as significantly increase our training facilities. Even as we prepare for current more fighting challenges, we are aggressively looking ahead at capability requirements for the future force. We have seen successes in our continued development, including standing up a new system that will synchronize acquisition efforts for critical space training capabilities.
▶ 0:55:10Gen. Bratton: Moving forward, our planned growth will require infrastructure training as well as the training needed to operate new systems. All of this will enhance our operational readiness. Space force continues to provide tremendous value to both the joint force and the nation.
▶ 0:55:29Gen. Bratton: As a general said last week, on nearly every mission around the globe, the space force delivered on operational promises to the joint force, providing unmatched combat capability, to ensure combatant commanders can project power and meet our national military objectives. With your continued support, that value will grow as we work to build the service to meet these rapidly expanding requirements. Thank you.
▶ 0:55:53Sen. Sullivan: Thank you, general. Last but not least is diana mauer, director of defense capabilities at the gao.
▶ 0:56:02Ms. Maurer: Good afternoon, members. I am pleased to be here today to discuss gao's nonpartisan oversight of military readiness. What we found is frankly a mixed picture. On the one hand, the united states is fortunate to have the strongest military in the world. But our service members often are meeting demanding mission needs despite significant and enduring readiness problems.
▶ 0:56:32Ms. Maurer: Over the course of several administrations, the military was overused and under maintained. Too many weapon systems for too long. For years, the services have been stretched to meet demanding operational needs with fewer people, older equipment and facilities, and a shrinking industrial base. At the same time, the department has often not realistically planned for how to sustain ships, aircraft, ground vehicles, and other systems.
▶ 0:57:01Ms. Maurer: Across the services, we found a lack of spare parts, maintainers, repair facilities, technical data, training, and other problems. As a result, too many systems that taxpayers spent billions to build and maintain are not mission capable. Prior to today's hearing, I had the privilege to meet with every single other witness at this table, and I know that everyone here is committed to improving sustainment and readiness.
▶ 0:57:31Ms. Maurer: So far, the department has implemented about 50 of the nearly 200 recommendations summarized in my statement. Implementing recommendations has helped enhance readiness. For example, in response to our reports, the army revamp how it addresses staffing shortages and trains shoulders who operate air defense systems.
▶ 0:57:58Ms. Maurer: They overhauled an officer career path which helped report -- helped improve retention and saved more than $170 million. The air force improved how it organizes and deploys its forces. Space force guardians in different units now trained together, just like they would fight together.
▶ 0:58:17Ms. Maurer: The marine corps and many other services have made significant progress in the 50 recommendations we have made to prioritize housing and military vendors. The military will reap further benefits from incrementing the open remaining recommendations. In the coming months, we will issue new reports with new recommendations.
▶ 0:58:41Ms. Maurer: We will pay particular attention to whether sustainment and readiness keeps pace with efforts to revise and streamline the acquisition policies. In closing, gao will continue to support this committee and the entire congress. We will continue to develop recommendations that increase military readiness and we will look for opportunities to speak with you and your staff. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
▶ 0:59:11Ms. Maurer: I look forward to addressing the issues today.
▶ 0:59:14Sen. Sullivan: Thank you. I appreciate your testimony, as always. At this hearing, we begin by asking -- general, there are press reports that operation epic fury was using, for the first time, a low unmanned attack system, a one-way attack drone.
▶ 0:59:40Sen. Sullivan: This is part of a trend, I think, a positive trend within our military, to bring cutting edge technology into an operational environment with speed and relatively low cost. Can you talk about the development of the drone, the timeline it took?
▶ 0:59:59Sen. Sullivan: And for any of the other vice chiefs, are there other next-generation capabilities that you want to highlight that you think are in that category of speed, effectiveness, efficiency in terms of the development of new and important weapon systems? General?
▶ 1:00:16Gen. Laneve: Admiral cooper and team at centcom did a fantastic job developing this and putting it into service. Incredible. It is a great example of why we went to our pae's to get faster returns on producing equipment for our soldiers.
▶ 1:00:39Sen. Sullivan: Any lessons learned? I know it is early days. But any lessons learned on how you are doing that, that you can replicate?
▶ 1:00:48Gen. Laneve: I think there are going to be a lot of lessons learned over the next couple weeks as we come out of this. Admiral cooper's team is going to feed this to us. I think it is going to help us see how fast we have to produce this at scale, how we have to work on our industrial base in order to help us do some of the advanced manufacturing to get these into the systems. We know we have to do this at scale. Thank you, sir.
▶ 1:01:18Sen. Sullivan: Any other witnesses on that issue in terms of next-generation capabilities that are being rapidly developed ?
▶ 1:01:29Gen. Gering: An example for the marine corps is our one-way attack drones, small group one drones. We have the drone dominance task force down at quantico. They and the marine attack drone team have been working hard to rapidly field a capability for the majority of the force, but starting with infantry battalions. They fielded over a thousand systems. They will do about 3000 more, we think, this month.
▶ 1:01:59Gen. Gering: By the end of this month, every active-duty infantry battalion will have this capability. We look to continue to scale that and see what other vendors might come up with the capability. Thank you.
▶ 1:02:12Adm. Kilby: I would offer the ford -- forward strike group. We talked last year about the want of directed energy, which we need to get after so we don't use our high-end munitions to deplete low-end threats to us. The forward strike group deployed with a number of systems that we bolted on that are not completely integrated but are effective.
▶ 1:02:43Adm. Kilby: So being willing to field things fast, learn, and then spread across the force, I think, is an example of what you are going after. We have used examples from our sister services to add to that capability which is so prevalent. We are seeing it today in epic fury.
▶ 1:03:02Sen. Sullivan: Anyone else?
▶ 1:03:07Gen. Lamontagne: A couple years ago, the air force developed an advanced kill system, an air delivered munition that is on orders of magnitude cheaper. Very effective, but orders of magnitude cheaper. We had it from idea into employment in about three months, and you can rest assured that we are seeing other capabilities we would be happy to address with you at other levels of classification.
▶ 1:03:37Sen. Sullivan: Did you have something? I just wanted to touch briefly -- general living -- general george and a senior group of army enlisted and army generals were in alaska just two weeks ago. Admiral kilby, you know what is happening this week up in alaska.
▶ 1:04:06Sen. Sullivan: Can you describe some of the work you are doing in the arctic , making our northern flank more secure? When you talk about the western hemisphere, that includes the arctic, of course. But I would like to get any takeaways from general george's visit. And admiral, I'm always interested in what the goals are going to be. >> thanks for the question and thank you for the support of the 11th airborne.
▶ 1:04:34Sen. Sullivan: America has another airborne unit. It is in alaska. Not just the 82nd anymore. >> I commanded the 82nd. It is a good and healthy rivalry. My daughter was in 125 before this turn into 11th airborne. That is not a name alone. That is a culture that is being developed. And it is an incredibly important culture for the identity of the unit.
▶ 1:05:04Sen. Sullivan: We thank you for your support. We are learning a lot from the exercise. A couple that we are propagating across our formation. Batteries. How the arctic can drain batteries really fast. We need the technology to help us with that. That is going to go across our formations. We are learning about equipment that is specialized for the arctic. We have about 30 right now.
▶ 1:05:34Sen. Sullivan: We are going to try to scale up to 180 over the next couple of years. We know those are incredibly effective in the arctic. And the team up there is passing feedback back to us constantly, what they are learning with their equipment. Soldier clothing. And how to get this at scale for our team up there. We take those lessons and push it across the force. We really appreciate the support from you.
▶ 1:06:02Sen. Sullivan: Admiral, I will defer to the next round. I want to be respectful of my colleagues. I have gone over. Senator hirono?
▶ 1:06:14Sen. Hirono: We are at war with iran. Senator hegseth said just today we are just getting started. I want to ask each of you, going down the line, starting with general laneve, what impacts this war will cause for each of your services. Frankly, I don't know how you are supposed to gauge the impact on readiness when you don't know how long this war will last. Secretary hegseth said we are just getting started.
▶ 1:06:44Sen. Hirono: But you should just tell us how you are going to gauge the impact on readiness for our services. Under those kinds of conditions. I would like to get your responses in terms of extended ship deployment, planes flying, additional hours in hostile territory, and the rapid expenditure of precision guided munitions, which are already in short supply.
▶ 1:07:10Sen. Hirono: Before we go down the line, I would like to ask each of you, by the end of today, if you each can send me via classified email, a snapshot of your current -- current munitions inventory, projected burn rates, and any magazine shifting you are doing to meet the demands of U.S. central command. So in response to the impact on readiness, why don't we go down the line, starting with general laneve.
▶ 1:07:39Gen. Laneve: Thank you for the question. To your second question, yes.
▶ 1:07:45Sen. Hirono: Are you speaking into the mic?
▶ 1:07:47Gen. Laneve: Thank you, ma'am. We build readiness. They are going to utilize the readiness. As they come back, we will rebuild that readiness. Right now, we don't have a good estimate on what is being clearly burned. But, you know, as the title x part of this, this is the readiness we are building for these type of contingencies.
▶ 1:08:22Adm. Kilby: Thanks for the question. I would offer ford as a great example of the flexibility of the navy. Started out deployed in the high north. She went to the eastern med. She went to the gulf of america. Now she is back in eastern med supporting centcom.
▶ 1:08:43Adm. Kilby: That extension will ultimately -- there will be an impact on her return and the schedule for her maintenance to make sure she is ready to go again. The good about public shipyards is they are adjusting their schedule and ready to bring our carrier back and maintain her. I would say the specific stats are 17 of the last 25 were completed within two weeks. So there is a cost.
▶ 1:09:14Adm. Kilby: But we are ready to turn that ship around. And have her do what she needs to do.
▶ 1:09:19Sen. Hirono: Isn't the ford already beyond the deployment that it was already on, and now it is in the middle east?
▶ 1:09:30Adm. Kilby: Yes.
▶ 1:09:34Sen. Hirono: I will go down the line. I would like a frank assessment on how you are supposed to determine the impact on readiness if you don't know the extent of this war, what it is going to take. And as we are being told that we are now controlling the iranian airspace, that means we have a lot more assets to effect that. Please be frank with us.
▶ 1:09:58Sen. Hirono: If you cannot gauge the impact on readiness at this moment because you are not told how long, you should just tell us, please.
▶ 1:10:06Gen. Gering: Ranking member, thanks. Like general laneve said, under our title x responsibilities, we do certify any marine formation going to any combatant commander worldwide, and that remains the case both in central command and the other combatant commands.
▶ 1:10:26Gen. Bratton: Just like my peers, it is a little early to tell exactly what impact this is going to have. Just based on where we are. But we will absolutely commit to working with your team to provide details on munitions inventories.
▶ 1:10:46Gen. Bratton: We have guardians working for centcom. We will get the readiness report as they come through the audit reports.
▶ 1:10:57Ms. Maurer: From the gao perspective, we don't have immediate oversight of what is happening in terms of the conflict. We know from prior work that every additional flying hour creates additional demands on the sustainment of the maintenance enterprise down the road. We have an ongoing review looking at the munitions inventory and how that compares with requirements.
▶ 1:11:24Ms. Maurer: The team is writing that draft and will have that completed in the course of the next couple of months. I will make sure of that.
▶ 1:11:34Sen. Hirono: What I'm hearing from you is it is a little early to determine what the impact on readiness will be, which says to me that there may be another time when this subcommittee needs to have a hearing to get us updated. Can I also have your commitment that you will provide the information that I am requesting regarding via classified email? >> yes. >> yes ma'am. >> yes, ma'am.
▶ 1:12:06Sen. Hirono: Thank you.
▶ 1:12:07Sen. Sullivan: Admiral kilby, I asked earlier about arctic operations. General, I would also like to get a sense from you. I know the marine corps is looking at ramping up some of its arctic exercises and deployments in alaska and I hope to get an update on that.
▶ 1:12:27Gen. Gering: I am as selfishly excited about ice x and hoping I will be on the waitlist. We have a set of experiments each year that we pursue. As you know, it is a super challenging environment to be in . We dedicate to submarines, generally, to that. There is some work between them, but also environmental work, understanding the impact of sound propagation and how that affects our systems.
▶ 1:12:57Gen. Gering: So we get a ton out of that exercise. Super important for us. We appreciate this work to continue to do that. >> -- gen. Gering: for the marine corps, we are participating in arctic edge today. What we see in alaska is certainly incredible advanced cold-weather training. Also, aviation and fire.
▶ 1:13:30Gen. Gering: We see that. Throughout the year, we will participate in many of the flag series exercises, including northern edge, going forward. We are there today, as you are aware. And we will be there throughout this year.
▶ 1:13:45Sen. Sullivan: Thank you, general. Let me turn to another really important question. We have all touched on it. To the extent we can, from all the services, you a better sense of the lessons learned that we have had from the recruiting and retention challenges, and how quickly those were turned around. I don't think it was an issue that got enough media attention.
▶ 1:14:15Sen. Sullivan: A couple years ago, during the biden administration -- there are probably a host of reasons for it -- recruiting and some of our services -- army and the navy in particular -- was at dangerous levels, where we were missing numbers, the targets to recruit young americans. We are an all volunteer force. Missing the numbers by thousands. The services got on it. Everybody undertook a focus on this.
▶ 1:14:45Sen. Sullivan: And now we can repeat again I think everybody is -- I think everyone is in a good spot. The numbers in terms of retention. We need to look at lessons learned on that and maybe Ms. maurer, maybe you should weigh in as well because that is an existential crisis to the military that we had a couple years ago.
▶ 1:15:10Sen. Sullivan: You have an all volunteer force and you can't encourage the young men and women of our country to volunteer, you can be in a lot of trouble quickly. I think we dodged a bullet here but I would like to get from all of you while you think we turned that around so quickly and what are lessons learned it so we don't go through that again? >> thanks for the question. We are on pace to exceed.
▶ 1:15:38Sen. Sullivan: Last year's goal I think there are a lot of things that feed into this. We have transformed the command that oversees it.
▶ 1:15:52Gen. Laneve: We have training and transformation command that made it more streamlined, a that takes somebody from their household all the way through training and into the unit and into the future. We have streamlined and made it more efficient throughout the whole ecosystem of bringing people into the military. The right people also. The right recruiters that are out there in our home towns across the country.
▶ 1:16:23Gen. Laneve: It is the right trainers in the training base to do this. I think there is another part in this as well, a commitment to our facilities to make sure that where people work and live, they get the proper money into fixing the infrastructure. I think there was a lot that plays into the infrastructure. What we are not doing as an army is taking our eye off the ball pit or the chief and -- ball.
▶ 1:16:55Gen. Laneve: The chief was clear about this.
▶ 1:16:56Chair Sullivan: Can I get from all of you as well -- we did not lower our standards. People said may be are too high for young american. Way we fixed this was not to lower standards, correct?
▶ 1:17:09Gen. Laneve: That is correct, sir. >> I would agree with general laneve. We have a relentless focus on the system that is our recruiting apparatus. Tuberville I went to visit the recruit several weeks ago and I am awed about the focus of our recruiters to get people on board.
▶ 1:17:32Chair Sullivan: The army is on time and on target?
▶ 1:17:37Adm. Kilby: We are ahead of schedule. All kinds of things could keep that from happening. We have examined the eight functions that make recruiters successful in that goes to our navy education training command, delayed entry program. All of that was exquisitely managed so relentless focus from the cno on down and we have to keep our hands on the wheel.
▶ 1:18:05Adm. Kilby: It is not automatic, we have remanded our commander from a one star to a two star. He knows about what ratings are most likely to be recruited out of those areas. So better at our business.
▶ 1:18:27Chair Sullivan: General, I will be biased, I don't think they went through a lot of crisis. I think the marine corps was an example of other services looked at. Lessons learned from the marine corps in recruiting? >> in recruiting to the marine corps I break it down to three components to be successful. The first I believe is our brand.
▶ 1:18:49Chair Sullivan: Ironclad discipline, ruthless adherence to standards, it is first to fight, every riflem -- every marine a rifleman. I think that brands appeals to a certain brand of individuals with a propensity to serve. The second component is our recruiting command. They are hand-picked and leaders are all board selected.
▶ 1:19:18Chair Sullivan: We put full investment and the people that go out on the streets of america to tell young men and women who we are. I think the third component is support and oversight we get from congress to make sure we are able to fully resource command to include advertising. That is the way I packaged our recruiting.
▶ 1:19:37Chair Sullivan: I will turn it back to senator hirono. This is a really important question. If we can just finish up, an important question for everybody. General, the air force is on target in terms of recruiting. Any lessons learned from the big shift that happened the last few years? >> I think a lot of americans are inspired to join the U.S. air force.
▶ 1:20:06Chair Sullivan: Similar to other services, a strong focus and increased attention on it goes a long way. That is where we are putting our talent into recruiting. We are also adjusting our focus before it was mostly on the enlisted cadre. Now we renamed the recruiting center to the ascension center to focus on enlisted and officer like. We met recruiting goals in 24, 25, are on target for 26.
▶ 1:20:35Chair Sullivan: This year 10% higher applicants to join the U.S. air force academy.
▶ 1:20:38Chair Sullivan: Great. General, you mentioned you have to double the size of the space force? That is a tall order but I know you are looking at numbers. What is your sense of lessons learned? >> we are heading our numbers, which are measured in the hundreds not thousands or tens of thousands my colleagues have to bring in. We tend to have more applicants than we have space for.
▶ 1:21:03Chair Sullivan: Our delayed entry program is to the tune of 800 so we are well covered into next year already so we think we can take on any growth that comes to the space force. An advantage we saw an army led us through this, a medical processing and emphasis on maps and accelerating people through maps, understanding how the waiver process works.
▶ 1:21:27Chair Sullivan: Went through a series of meetings led by the army team, but we all benefited from that work in the medical processing aspect of bringing people into the services.
▶ 1:21:35Chair Sullivan: Finally, Ms. maurer, I know you ko's looked at this as a big issue. What do you think about the turnaround that happened rather quickly was a trip it will to?
▶ 1:21:46Ms. Maurer: I think it is attributable to a couple important considerations. The senior level focus and attention on this issue. It is vitally important to make sure services are hitting their numbers on recruitment because we found in many instances there were shortages and critical occupations, whether that was air defenders or sailors in the surface navy or the fact space force did not have a number of guardians that needed to fully
▶ 1:22:16Ms. Maurer: Staff. Having senior level attention is an important part of this. The second thing you are hearing from different services, they have adopted approaches specific to their service, targeted on trying to streamline the process and find a way where appropriate to make it easier for folks to come into their particular service without lowering standards. I hope they can continue that momentum in the coming years.
▶ 1:22:45Chair Sullivan: Thank you very much. Important question and congratulations for all of you on turning this around. Really critical for our nation. Senator warren.
▶ 1:22:57Sen. Warren: Thank you for holding this hearing. The military spends hundreds of billions of dollars on equipment which makes it really galling when that equipment needs maintenance and our service members are ready to make a quick fix, but they are not allowed to. Right to repair will strengthen readiness by making sure procurement contracts don't hold back our troops.
▶ 1:23:26Sen. Warren: Plus it will help increase competition to grow our industrial base. Giant defense contractors however want to keep our military reliant solely on them. So their lobbyists are pretending to be worried that dod is going to steal their trade secrets and hand them over to their competitors. We have heard this song before. The defense logistics agency had a reverse engineering program for over a decade.
▶ 1:23:56Sen. Warren: This was to help dod save time and money on things like screws, door hinges, antennas, batteries. But similar concerns were raised over ip protections so the senate had, government account ability office, reviewed this program back in 2018.
▶ 1:24:15Sen. Warren: General gering, how many instances did gao find of companies being concerned about dla mishandling their ip for reverse engineering? What was the number?
▶ 1:24:29Gen. Gering: My understanding is that there were none.
▶ 1:24:32Sen. Warren: Zero, that is exactly right. None of the businesses that gao talked to about reverse engineering programs reported any concerns about the handling of ip. That is because dla has processes in place to protect intellectual property which meant gao found dla quote, never released a part that had control data to a competitor.
▶ 1:25:02Sen. Warren: Even the large defense associations lobbying against right to repair today told the gao back then they had heard quote, no complaints. The other thing we hear from lobbyists is that companies will not want to do business with dod if it is so much as mentions buying contractors ip. Again, we have an example of this. Let's look at what happened with dla's reverse engineering program.
▶ 1:25:31Sen. Warren: General gering, did dod's handling of ip scare businesses away from doing business with the military?
▶ 1:25:40Gen. Gering: Senator not that I'm aware of.
▶ 1:25:43Sen. Warren: In fact, again, the whole point of the program was quote, to identify potential new sources for obsolete parts, or those supplied by only one source, increasing competition, and achieving savings. Now that may be the problem the defense industry lobbyists have, that there is more competition and lower prices. But we like to think that is a good thing.
▶ 1:26:13Sen. Warren: Reverse engineering is helping dod fill gaps in spare parts and right to repair would build on that success in the larger maintenance space. Don't take it from me. Just last year 339 small businesses sent a letter saying right to repair could bring cost-effective solutions, accelerated timelines and a larger ecosystem with more small business participation.
▶ 1:26:44Sen. Warren: Last year's ndaa, required now by law that dod identify programs where there is insufficient technical data for service members to make repairs so what I would like to do is go down the line and make sure that each of the services, I just want to ask you the question, will you provide this committee with the required data, required by law, by the end of this month
▶ 1:27:16Sen. Warren: And then sit down with my team on this? Just looking for a yes or no. General? >> thank you for the question. I think our data goesosw, and they are required to provide that data and absolutely we will make the time on that.
▶ 1:27:29Sen. Warren: You will have it in by the end of the month? >> yes.
▶ 1:27:34Sen. Warren: Admirable -- admiral? >> yes. >> senator, we will.
▶ 1:27:41Sen. Warren: , good Ms.?
▶ 1:27:45Ms. Maurer: Senator, I'm a representative and think you for giving a call out to the 2018 report.
▶ 1:27:52Sen. Warren: Terrific report.
▶ 1:27:54Ms. Maurer: Thank you. Another talked about the concern of vendor lock because of the issue you highlighted. We found significant problems with that issue in the f-35, littoral combat ship, submarines among others and look forward to having recommendations from that review.
▶ 1:28:14Sen. Warren: Thank you, right to repair is such a commonsense proposal and it not only helps military get things fixed and back into service, lowers cost and increases competition in the upper titian -- opportunities for businesses or smaller businesses to get in and have an opportunity to be part of our base.
▶ 1:28:41Sen. Warren: And ultimately that strengthens the supply chain for all of us. Right now we are in a place where the senate, house and the trump administration all support this effort. We cannot allow large defense contractors and their lobbyists to stand in the way. I look forward to talking with my colleagues and all of you in getting this done. Thank you very much. Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:29:08Chair Sullivan: Thank you, senator warren. We don't agree on everything in this committee but I commend her very much for her leadership on this issue that has a lot of broad bipartisan support. I think we need to do it so thank you. Senator scott.
▶ 1:29:26Sen. Scott: I also want to thank senator warren for this right to repair issue. It is the right thing to do and would not be happening but for her tenacity. Thank each of you for being here today. I want to thank each and every one of you for the years, ensuring joint forces are ready anytime anyplace to deliver on the commander-in-chief's vision which is what you do. We talk about readiness to defend our country against growing threats, communist china comes to mind. I'm sure it does to you everyday.
▶ 1:29:56Sen. Scott: Ccp will stop at nothing to undermine our way of life and their oppression grows by the day. General gering and admiral kilby , as we see growing threats in the indo pacific it is clear we must be ready to respond more than ever because clear threats on the amphibious group, is that a reality? >> I will start and turn it over.
▶ 1:30:27Sen. Scott: We understand the importance of the presence. The ability for us to respond to crisis in almost real-time with marines and sailors. Sir, my ability to deliver amphibious maintenance has been challenged. I've been very clear about that. Last year when I testified, we were at 42% combat surge ready for our amphibian ships.
▶ 1:30:57Sen. Scott: This year 53% and I don't feel good about that because our goal is 80%. We co-chair a board a force readiness board when we briefed senator sullivan on this in efforts across the board to increase numbers and availability of our amphibious ships.
▶ 1:31:23Sen. Scott: >> admiral kilby and I are completely aligned on this. A couple recently things that occurred. His requirement for commands.
▶ 1:31:38Sen. Scott: The secretary of war erected we support that and he has established this readiness board which admiral kilby and I will chair for the first time tomorrow which will be the body or entity that determines what would it take, what will it take to get there.
▶ 1:31:57Sen. Scott: Is 32 the right number or should it be 45? >> my rough math says it is north of 31 and dependent. On a lot of things what is the operational readiness response plan turnarounds, 36 months or 40 months? We have to drive that back to get it more efficient but it is more than 31.
▶ 1:32:25Sen. Scott: You agree? >> senator I do agree, we have work on this board and we should really get after that number. I would think it is somewhere near 40. We have to put more rigor into that analysis.
▶ 1:32:40Sen. Scott: If it is higher than ready sis -- readiness numbers. We don't have enough. Following secretary hegseth's barracks task force established in october, can you talk about how the marine corps modernized the barracks for single marines?
▶ 1:33:01Gen. Gering: Thank you, this has been a priority since he became, not -- became the commandant. Looking at how he managed the barracks and modernize them and furnished them so we are on track, in execution, seeing tangible results.
▶ 1:33:27Gen. Gering: In 25 alone we completed four new barracks constructions, began eight others, rewarded eight others renovation and furnished.
▶ 1:33:39Sen. Scott: Admiral kilby, we have seen an increase in suicide with sailors. Can you say how you are addressing it?
▶ 1:33:47Adm. Kilby: First of all, if any loss, of a sailor, it is doubly tragic when it is a loss to suicide. We take this seriously. Last year our numbers increased. We are attacking this from two ends, prevention and a post prevention.
▶ 1:34:09Adm. Kilby: We have a task force that we have provided folks and we are included to get what is happening here, what are the trends. When I was acting cno I signed off 80 condolence letters and over 2/3 of them were for suicide so we have work to do, we take it seriously, it is a tragedy and we want to get after this in a meaningful manner.
▶ 1:34:36Sen. Scott: Thank each of you for what you do.
▶ 1:34:39Chair Sullivan: Thank you for the briefing on the amphibious, that was informative.
▶ 1:34:48Sen. Hirono: I had a question about the readiness because last year it was 13 out of 32 ships were ready and now we are talking about you're going to get together to get us to 80% readiness which I think I heard you say contemplating taking three years? Is that what I heard? >> we don't have a timeline on how long it will take.
▶ 1:35:17Sen. Hirono: Combat surge ready means those ships not in a depo status are available for deployment. Last year that number was 42. This year, 53. We are increasing but not where we need to be.
▶ 1:35:33Sen. Hirono: Among the three of us you can see we are all very focused on the number of amphibious ships ready to conduct marine corps operations. I'm joining my colleagues in that concern. A number of you focused on living conditions for service people.
▶ 1:35:57Sen. Hirono: That is a continuing concern and I want to emphasize how important it is for you to take to heart Ms. maurer's gao recommendations for making improvements to military housing and we are not there yet. I don't think you fit 100% of the recommendations, is that correct?
▶ 1:36:18Ms. Maurer: That. Is correct.
▶ 1:36:23Sen. Hirono: I want to join my colleagues focusing on getting to the point where housing needs are being met. Thank you for also talking about the childcare needs our people have. I want to get to the issue of the lease of training lands in hawaii.
▶ 1:36:47Sen. Hirono: The major one, a year ago your predecessor committed to me they would engage in good faith with the state and community as the military works to renegotiate service, training, land leases in hawaii, that are set to expire in 2029. Time goes by really fast.
▶ 1:37:10Sen. Hirono: Unfortunately in the interim, a secretary indicated he may just use, seize the land via condemnation. I think I will be perceived as the people -- by the people of hawaii as not negotiating in good faith. I will ask what I asked her predecessor. For your commitment the army will engage in good faith with the state and community on the issue of the extension of training visas in hawaii.
▶ 1:37:40Sen. Hirono: >> ma'am, yes. Yes we will.
▶ 1:37:45Sen. Hirono: This is critical and I think we need to make clear to the community. I know you have a person in hawaii who specifically is focused on these negotiations. I think the community needs to know the first step is not to start talking about condemning the land. That is -- I would want these negotiations to proceed.
▶ 1:38:14Sen. Hirono: Please understand this training area is critical to the presence in hawaii. >> yes, ma'am.
▶ 1:38:21Sen. Hirono: As for other services, at some point the air force, the navy, you also have some leases you are negotiating. I think it is important to let the community know you will be listening and have their voices heard as he ramp up negotiations which may be not as large as or as large as negotiations over
▶ 1:38:52Sen. Hirono: Pohakuloa. I want to get to women in combat. Over 10 years ago the services put significant effort into establishing and validating physical standards for combat occupational specialties and the dod has now called for a review of effectiveness of women in combat roles. This is extremely offensive, not to say questionable.
▶ 1:39:16Sen. Hirono: To me, it reflects an effort by the secretary of defense to lay the groundwork to reverse the policy allowing women to serve in combat area positions. Combat arms positions. I hope I'm wrong in this. But, well.
▶ 1:39:38Sen. Hirono: It undermines the sacrifices of thousands of female service members like senator duckworth who already met the rigorous gender-neutral standards and served in combat with distinction. For all of the witnesses, and I will go my left to right, do you believe the mere fact of women being in these combat arms units lowers standards for readiness? ? General >> ma'am, thank you for the question.
▶ 1:40:08Sen. Hirono: Yes or no? >> combat does not distinction between mos's. I will tell you my daughter is a combat engineer, served in the 82nd air force commission -- we had the highest standards for a division in the army. Objective standards that are met by both men and women I think is what we are looking for for people who serve in combat and mos.
▶ 1:40:39Sen. Hirono: The answer is therefore yes? >> yes, ma'am.
▶ 1:40:43Sen. Hirono: I'm sorry, I will repeat the question. I appreciate your testimony. Do you believe the mere fact of women being in these combat arms units lowers standards for readiness? >> not if the standards are high standards that everybody needs.
▶ 1:41:01Sen. Hirono: The answer is no? >> the answer is no. >> to be in the unit you need to make the standard. If they make the standard and are in the unit.
▶ 1:41:13Sen. Hirono: General gering?
▶ 1:41:19Gen. Gering: Senator, to answer your question, you have to meet the standard to be in that unit. If you meet the standard, it does not detract from readiness. >> same in the air force. You meet the standards.
▶ 1:41:38Gen. Bratton: Same for the space force.
▶ 1:41:41Sen. Hirono: Do agree every service member regardless of gender should be permitted to serve in any role, including in the combat arms, if they meet the established standards? Let's make it very clear where your positions are, please. >> yes, ma'am, if you meet the standards. >> yes. >> yes. >> yes. >> yes, ma'am.
▶ 1:42:08Sen. Hirono: Over the last decade since combat arms have been open to women, have you seen any instance where the standard your service established resulted in a degradation of combat effectiveness? Once again let's go down the line. >> no, ma'am. >> no. >> no. >> no, senator. >> no.
▶ 1:42:34Sen. Hirono: One more question. Two more. During the first trump administration it took units from the army 101st air force division year to regain their readiness after being deployed to the southwest border.
▶ 1:42:54Sen. Hirono: If none of you are seeing adverse readiness impacts from deploying to the southwest border, at what point, because we have been told readiness was not compromised, but at what point does that change if units are only spending one day a week on core war fighting tasks, and missing out entirely on large-scale combat exercises and collective maneuver training?
▶ 1:43:23Sen. Hirono: >> ma'am, think you for the question. We assign a unit to that task. We pick a high readiness unit, 101st, tent mountain, just like we would have sent to a different combatant commander. On the border we are seeing platoons able to go through rehearsals, planning for controls.
▶ 1:43:55Sen. Hirono: We are seeing staff exercising staff functions. We are getting utilization, counter uas equipment on the border, building readiness there in some of the formations but just like any other combatant command as we come back we rebuild readiness for utilization somewhere else and take a high readiness unit to backfill.
▶ 1:44:23Sen. Hirono: This is a question particularly for you, thank you. General gering?
▶ 1:44:31Gen. Gering: Thanks, ringing member. I was on the border two weeks ago to visit marines and what I observed was engineering taking place, intelligence, surveillance, monitoring. Most impressive, small unit leadership, touch time with young officers with -- with logistics to support their units so they are seeing some readiness that is hard to
▶ 1:45:02Gen. Gering: Emulate elsewhere. That said if they have the opportunity to continue sustainment training, then they do that and elements in san diego are leveraging local ranges and keeping up skills they are not necessarily implying on the border. Where they are unable to do so, that is when we regenerate the force no different than any global force allocation.
▶ 1:45:32Sen. Hirono: Since our number one priority of national defense is defense of the homeland we can expect there will be continuing deployments of troops to the southwest order and that means the army and the navy so you can expect at some point the issue arises as to the readiness of personnel deployed to those missions.
▶ 1:45:57Sen. Hirono: I have a continuing concern of the use of the military for those border purposes. I have a few more questions -- >> senator, as you know we have an ongoing review of gao looking at potential readiness implications of military deployments at the southwest border. That team is midstream on their work and keeping you and your staff fully informed on what we are learning and look forward to having our non--- our independent nonpartisan work on that published this year.
▶ 1:46:27Sen. Hirono: Thank you. At the same time I have a concern about the experience with large-scale operations because we still have to contend with china and russia on theaor. That is a concern.
▶ 1:46:52Sen. Hirono: For general laneve how money migrants are currently being held on fort bliss in texas?
▶ 1:47:03Gen. Laneve: I don't know that number, that facility has been handed over to dhs. The army, while it is on an army installation, we don't have any ties.
▶ 1:47:12Sen. Hirono: Apparently you have a lot of land there and dhs has need for a lot more. -- a lot more facilities to house the thousands of migrants they intend to arrest. Are there any oversight mechanisms in place for this facility, or accountability measures for the army given this facility is on fort bliss?
▶ 1:47:38Gen. Laneve: No, ma'am, the facility has been handed over to dhs. They have their own access into the facility. It is not tied to our installation.
▶ 1:47:49Sen. Hirono: Currently there is a measles outbreak that has forced the migrant detention center at fort bliss to go under quarantine. General laneve, when was the last time a measles outbreak forest facilities to close -- forced facilities to close?
▶ 1:48:10Gen. Laneve: I'm not sure.
▶ 1:48:12Sen. Hirono: Probably not.
▶ 1:48:14Gen. Laneve: But ma'am, the medical side of that is handled through dhs and local community, not by the army.
▶ 1:48:23Sen. Hirono: How many cases of tuberculosis are there at the east montana facility? On fort bliss?
▶ 1:48:30Gen. Laneve: Ma'am, I don't have that number.
▶ 1:48:33Sen. Hirono: What protocols and information is the army giving the soldiers and families on fort bliss to ensure they are protected?
▶ 1:48:41Gen. Laneve: The two facilities are completely separate.
▶ 1:48:47Sen. Hirono: There is no interaction?
▶ 1:48:49Gen. Laneve: No, ma'am.
▶ 1:48:52Sen. Hirono: Among these populations. As the migrant detention center camp in east montana, which is actually in fort bliss, continues to grow, what are the army's roles and responsibilities for what happens there given the facility resides on fort bliss?
▶ 1:49:10Gen. Laneve: Again, the facility has been handed over to dhs. They have control of the facilities, they have protocols.
▶ 1:49:20Sen. Hirono: What I'm expressing our concerns I have for the fact you have a dhs facility there with potentially thousands of migrants and there are various health outbreaks. Just one more question Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:49:37Chair Sullivan: Yes, I'm giving you 10 minutes.
▶ 1:49:40Sen. Hirono: The east montana detention facility was built for I.c.e. Through a navy contract mechanism called worldwide expedition multiple award contract. A special type of contract so I.c.e. Could construct a detention facility quickly and not follow the typical process. Even chairman wicker has written dhs to oppose this I.c.e. Facility in mississippi.
▶ 1:50:13Sen. Hirono: Admiral kilby prior to this year no dhs agency has ever used this contract mechanism domestically for this purpose before, correct?
▶ 1:50:20Adm. Kilby: I believe that is correct.
▶ 1:50:22Sen. Hirono: But last month at the navy increase the contract suing for wemac up to $65 billion for dhs, correct?
▶ 1:50:35Adm. Kilby: I will have to check the figure.
▶ 1:50:37Sen. Hirono: How many navy personnel have worked with I.c.e. To contract through wexmac to date?
▶ 1:50:46Adm. Kilby: I don't have the number of navy personnel.
▶ 1:50:49Sen. Hirono: When can you get me that? The navy is enabling dhs to use a naval process to fast-track these detention facilities and I would like to know asap how many navy personnel are working in that regard.
▶ 1:51:09Adm. Kilby: I will get you that number as soon as I can.
▶ 1:51:12Chair Sullivan: Thank you, senator hirono. I will do a final round of questions and if my colleague wants to do another round that would be great as well. Commenting on the southwest border there is nothing new here. Presidents all the time have deployed troops to the southwest border. I return from my first deployment as a U.S. marine any years ago to camp pendleton and immediately my battalion was sent to the southwest border under president clinton.
▶ 1:51:40Chair Sullivan: So this is an ongoing issue while presidents have done. -- all presidents have done. I want to ask general lamontagne , on the issue of tankers, where are we with regard to the kc-46 and the deployment there and in the last couple weeks I had a couple good discussions with the secretary of the air force and general wills bock about an
▶ 1:52:10Chair Sullivan: Ongoing issue we got commitments from from the air force for almost a decade new to get additionalkc-135's. We have a lot of activity there come a red flag and a need for more tinker capacity in alaska with our fifth gen fighters and in my state it is obvious. Not just for alaska but any surge force.
▶ 1:52:40Chair Sullivan: They will all be flying over alaska and need to be tanked. Big picture on kc-46's and the commitment I got recently from the chief of staff on the air force finally getting those kc-135's, I would like to get your view on both of them.
▶ 1:53:01Gen. Lamontagne: Thank you, tankers are very important part of our air force, helps us defend the homeland and protect power. The kc-46, we have a new contract that will come in place in a couple years so right now we delivered more than 100 kc-46 's, from 183 to 188, the end of that initial contract.
▶ 1:53:29Gen. Lamontagne: We are working through a couple issues with the contractor and we are not going to get a new contract for another 175 kc-46's until we work through those deficiencies. Confident we will have a good plan in place next year and in subsequent years we intend to pursue another 75 kc-46's to deliver to the fleet. For the kc-135's, and important mission.
▶ 1:53:57Gen. Lamontagne: We are committed to levering additional ones. We delivered one in 2023 and our intent is to do that in the near term however it is complicated by operations in the middle east and we will get back to you and your staff to deliver her details on that timeline.
▶ 1:54:17Chair Sullivan: Let me ask another air force issue. I know the secretary, I think this is up at the secretary of war's level but on the b-21 and purchase orders on the b-21 I think most people would look at in the 1990's when we dramatically kurt tailed our purchases of f-22's, such a great aircraft but we lowballed the number we thought we needed
▶ 1:54:48Chair Sullivan: So we cut back dramatically on what the air force was going to purchase on those and I think a lot of people have buyers remorse but there was a similar option I think on the b 21 to look at another block order. Is that decision been made yet? You have a good idea what I'm talking about. Are you tracking that and can you give me an update?
▶ 1:55:16Chair Sullivan: >> absolutely, b-21 very capable platform. We delivered two so far. Right now the intention is to deliver 100 b-21's. Some analysis has been done and will continue to be refined at stratcom and air force global strike command to see how many we will need. Tough to tell whether that is an additional five b-21's or an additional 100 b-21's.
▶ 1:55:48Chair Sullivan: Until we get through that analysis, not comfortable giving an answer on what that looks like today, but could be north of 100.
▶ 1:55:55Chair Sullivan: The additional? Or north of 100 is what you are purchasing, you said anywhere between five and 100, that is still? >> those are not from the study. It could be. I don't have great clarity on what that looks like. Concurrent plan is to buy 100. Too early to tell how much further north we go.
▶ 1:56:22Chair Sullivan: General bratton I want to talk about missile defense, golden dome. Alaska is the cornerstone of missile defense for the country right now with all the ground base missile interceptors at fort greeley, which the army does a great job at and another site and clear space force location.
▶ 1:56:49Chair Sullivan: The aleutian island radar systems. With the golden dome we will be dramatically advancing our missile capabilities not just in alaska but space base interceptors.
▶ 1:57:07Chair Sullivan: I know the general is very focused on this but how do you think that is going, what are the areas we need to focus on as we are starting to implement. In the budget reconciliation bill we had a $25 billion down payment on this, we legislated a lot, senator kramer and I had the golden dome act put in the ndaa.
▶ 1:57:35Chair Sullivan: So there is presidential leadership, money. How are we doing on that and what areas are you concerned about?
▶ 1:57:41Gen. Bratton: Thanks for the question. I will talk about clear and cobra, the radar is critical for the nation.
▶ 1:57:50Chair Sullivan: Great job on standing up the clear lrdr site. On time, under budget and a complicated radar system, one of the most sophisticated in the world as you know.
▶ 1:58:03Gen. Bratton: Absolutely of those radars really are the cornerstone, and our missile warning architecture we are taking care of every day. We have seen investment in radar and the brand-new dorm about to open,. -- open in may. Thank you for your support. We continue the missile warning mission and that contributes to golden dome.
▶ 1:58:32Gen. Bratton: I will leave specifics to that general and the team. We are closely tied to them helping with lunch operations out of kodiak. $22.5 million went to kodiak for infrastructure and will support golden dome. We will keep track of radars for the general and the team delivering that ability. Anything else on golden dome I would defer.
▶ 1:58:58Chair Sullivan: Let me go again through each of the service vice chiefs. The issue of munitions and the industrial base and our deficiencies, and the secretary of war made this a top priority of his. We talked about it again and this classified briefing yesterday.
▶ 1:59:20Chair Sullivan: What I want to get from each service is, what you see as the biggest industrial base challenges for your service, and how do we get on that more quickly? It could be a weapons system, it could be abroad challenge. There has been a lot of discussion on munitions.
▶ 1:59:42Chair Sullivan: Are there any munition issues that relate to industrial base matters you want to highlight for this committee as againwe' look at building out this years nda? I will start with you, general laneve.
▶ 1:59:57Gen. Laneve: Thanks for the question. We are tied in closely with the deputy secretary of war's big focus on munitions writ large. We have 23 facilities set up for world war ii era facilities. We are working very hard to fix our industrial base that has been neglected for a long time.
▶ 2:00:27Gen. Laneve: It is investing in the people working there. Working to get them knowledge and technology. It is bringing in partnerships with industry into the industrial base to help us modernize these facilities.
▶ 2:00:44Gen. Laneve: It is bringing in advanced manufacturing so we can get after right to repair, after producing items we need not only for the future force, which will be a technologically advanced force, but also we need to maintain the equipment where we have issues with the supply chain. We know we can do that at our organic industrial base. It is a full court press.
▶ 2:01:13Gen. Laneve: It will affect every piece of our readiness for our army and it is a huge focus for the secretary and chief that will have an impact for generations as we transform the force. Thank you for the question.
▶ 2:01:27Chair Sullivan: Admiral I know you're focused a lot on industrial base issues. Are there any big ones you want us to focus on the navy needs to overcome?
▶ 2:01:37Adm. Kilby: First I agree with everything general laneve said. The deputy secretary of war has led this, we are supporting him from a service perspective. It is not an either or, it is traditional vendors increasing capacity so there was a long-term contract to get them to commit to do that.
▶ 2:02:01Adm. Kilby: I think there is a nontraditional vendor opening we should be pursuing but that includes the supply base as well. I also think nontraditional vendors could build parts ammunitions like rocket motors, so we don't have to get the whole munition. Where we are challenged with rocket motors and seekers, we could seek other avenues to have vendors help with that and add to the capacity so there is work there to do.
▶ 2:02:29Chair Sullivan: General? >> thanks, chairman. Certainly agree with admiral kilby regarding munitions, 100% aligned with where the deputy secretary of war is going on this. Other industrial base items in our portfolio, this gets at the ability to produce spares and/or platforms. Two we are fielding are the f-35 and ch-53 kilo.
▶ 2:02:58Chair Sullivan: It is a matter of meeting schedule and the industry's ability to produce spares in a timely fashion as we field those capabilities to the marine corps.
▶ 2:03:13Chair Sullivan: Any views on the industrial base that are the big issues air force needs to address? >> chairman I agree with the vice's comments and will add a couple more. Stable and productive of funding will go a long way, multiyear contracts would be helpful, that will help the defense industrial base invest in their facilities to help ramp up production at scale and in a hurry.
▶ 2:03:36Chair Sullivan: General? >> similar comments. I would add for the space force, we need to both acquire the systems and operated, make sure our training infrastructure can onboard guardians that need to be working in offices to build all this new mission equipment into the service and work it through the test and training infrastructure so we are fielding fully capable systems with guardians trained to operate.
▶ 2:04:04Chair Sullivan: Let me wrap it up here. Ms. maurer, you do a great job looking at some of the deficiencies. A lot of times in your reports, and I'm sure the services have this as a challenge, you lay out a very well-thought-out, insightful list of reforms and prioritization. As you know sometimes that gets squeezed out I what the budget is.
▶ 2:04:34Chair Sullivan: A number of us have been encouraging the president, the secretary of war, to help address a lot of these readiness issues, maintenance, munitions, industrial base, that are very significant to put forward a top line that reflects the challenges and danger the current international system presents to america and our systems and the president and secretary have done that with
▶ 2:05:04Chair Sullivan: This announcement. I know they are working on the details of a $1.5 trillion top line. Is that the kind of number that can, if utilized well, can help clear your to do list from gao on all the things we have discussed today and need to focus on in terms of readiness?
▶ 2:05:26Ms. Maurer: Thank you for that question. From the gao perspective it is how the money is used is arguably even more important than the amount.
▶ 2:05:35Chair Sullivan: It is really both, right?
▶ 2:05:37Ms. Maurer: Clearly both. We have seen many instances where it is a lack of resources. We will not take a position on what the top line should be.
▶ 2:05:47Chair Sullivan: I tried.
▶ 2:05:49Ms. Maurer: I know but I have to make sure my bosses are ok with it. There are trade-offs. There was a lot of emphasis or we have seen in the past, an over emphasis on developing new technology, but new technology does not become new capability for the war fighter unless it is a yes and.
▶ 2:06:10Ms. Maurer: That yes and includes plans, personnel, facilities to make sure when it gets in the hands of the war fighter they know how to use it, maintain it, move it, and more importantly, the service knows how to upgrade it. There have been real deficiencies there in the past. If resources can address those problems in the future and we have fewer readiness and sustainment challenges down the road, all the better.
▶ 2:06:33Chair Sullivan: I want to thank the witnesses, thank you for your service. Admiral kilby, I want to acknowledge what you mentioned earlier today about some of the great work the navy is doing. All the services are doing great work. A lot of my young alaskan constituents in the region on ships like the abraham lincoln and others.
▶ 2:07:06Chair Sullivan: I want to thank all of our services here and the leadership, but the men and women you're leaving during their service in this challenging time but important times. I will give you an example that I think is changing in a dramatic way as it relates to the iranian navy.
▶ 2:07:24Chair Sullivan: A lot of you might remember a couple years ago the houthis were targeting navy ships, the uss carney shot down or avoided over 100 missiles and drones launched by the houthis.
▶ 2:07:44Chair Sullivan: The iranians were nearby on spy ships providing targeting information to the houthis for american warships to kill american sailors and marines. A fact testified here in public in the previous administration would not do anything. I asked at hearings like this. To the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The iranian navy is providing intel to the houthis to take out american sailors and marines right now.
▶ 2:08:16Chair Sullivan: How come the iranian navy is not at the bottom of the ocean? They should be, for deterrence. You can't target americans to kill them and think you can get away with it. Guess what, a lot of the iranian navy is at the bottom of the ocean right now and that is deterrence because they have been using that to kill, to try to kill americans, and now we are reestablishing deterrence with military forces here.
▶ 2:08:46Chair Sullivan: I want to commend the navy for some of the actions you highlighted in your testimony. I want to commend all of our vice chiefs here for your decades of service to our country and your families as well. We are now adjourning the hearing, but we will keep the record open for the next 14 days for questions for the record from other senators on this committee.
▶ 2:09:12Chair Sullivan: And we would respectfully ask all the witnesses to respond to those qfr'a within a week of their receipt. Thank you again for your services. The hearing is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]