▶ 0:15:24>> the committee meets to continue the nomination of lieutenant general douglas schiess for chief of space operations for the U.S. space force. This comes at a critical moment for the future of the space force. If confirmed general size will become the third -- general schiess will become the third chief of space force operations.
▶ 0:15:52The space force has already proven its value to the joint force and is still building institutions and talent pipeline and operational concepts that will define the service for generations. The space force was established because our nation recognized superiority in space is essential to maintaining deterrence on earth. Today that mission is more important than ever. The next chief of space operations will resume responsibility as two trends converge.
▶ 0:16:23First of the strategic environment is becoming more dangerous, even as the demands of the service continue to grow. United states no longer has the luxury of viewing space as a permissive environment. China and russia have made clear they see space as a critical war fighting domain. They continue to invest in capabilities designed to challenge america's military advantage.
▶ 0:16:53Beijing and moscow are developing weapons to disrupt our satellites and degrade our communications and interfere with navigations and threaten these systems that enable every joint military operation. To me that challenge we need two things, increased resources and faster production timelines.
▶ 0:17:20On the latter point I am pleased to see how the space force is adopting the requirements for portfolio acquisition executives. This is an opportunity to accelerate the development and fielding of the resilient space capabilities that our war fighters need.
▶ 0:17:41We must successfully implement these reforms if the space force is to keep pace with rapidly evolving threats and operational advantages at the speed today's strategic environment demands. All this will require an agile workforce. Congress enacted the personnel management act to help the space force build such a team.
▶ 0:18:09The pma gives the space force the flexibility to build and sustain a workforce that can move seamlessly between full-time and part-time service, which can attract specialized talent and adapt as mission requirements evolve. Congress has an important role to play in ensuring the space force has the resources and leadership necessary to meet those challenges.
▶ 0:18:37We also have a responsibility to help the american people understand why the space force exists and why it's mission matters. Space capabilities underpin our national security, our economy, and our way of life. Space technology enables the systems we use for missile warning, precision navigation, intelligence collection, and the operations of every military service. As the threat in space grows public understanding must grow as well.
▶ 0:19:08The american people should understand investments in the space force our investments in our security, our prosperity, and our strategic advantage. One of the defining responsibilities of the next chief of space operations will be ensuring the space force grows at a pace that matches the threat. Our competitors are rapidly expanding their forces and fielding new capabilities.
▶ 0:19:35United states cannot afford to respond with incremental growth while the threat accelerates. I look forward to hearing how general schiess will expand the space force to meet increasing mission requirements. With that I turned to my friend and colleague ranking member reed.
▶ 0:19:58Sen. Reed: Thank you and welcome to you and your family. Congratulations on your nomination to be the next chief of space operations. Thank you for your continued willingness to lead. I will take a moment to acknowledge the conflict in iran just tested the space force considerably in the last five months. Space force assets were among the first to be deployed in operation epic fury and among the first to be targeted.
▶ 0:20:28Sen. Reed: Iran specifically targeted space force command and control nodes and weapon systems. Clearly space is no longer a support domain. It is a war fighting domain. Our adversaries understand its importance to our war fighting capabilities. General schiess, your experience is encouraging.
▶ 0:20:54Sen. Reed: Your predecessors spent the last five years building an organization from scratch, initially relying heavily on air force personnel and infrastructure to everything from base maintenance to legal and medical. That was appropriate for a new service finding its footing, but the space force is becoming a mature war fighting entity and I wanted to see what the next phase will look like.
▶ 0:21:21Sen. Reed: I would like to know how you see the space force organizational footprint and support infrastructure evolving over the next five years and what framework you envision for determining where it makes sense to build independent capacity versus maintaining the current relationship with the air force. In the same vein I would note the air force and space force each possession -- each possess electronic warfare capabilities that have integrated would be more effective than operating independently.
▶ 0:21:53Sen. Reed: The national defense authorization act's language directing the space force roadmap that would like to understand your commitment to supporting that effort and where you believe the into -- the barriers to integration are the greatest.
▶ 0:22:12Sen. Reed: If confirmed he will face challenges to prepare our guardians for future conflicts, in particular china has built a space space kill chain capable of tracking strike groups from the moment they leave port and missile systems in the air in real time. That capability poses a serious threat.
▶ 0:22:33Sen. Reed: Tactical space isr, all offensive and defensive space control, and electronic warfare will determine whether the joint force can operate in a future contested environment. I would appreciate your perspective on the existing gaps in space force capabilities and what resources you need to close them. General schiess, congratulations again on your nomination and I look forward to your testimony.
▶ 0:23:04Chair Wicker: Thank you very much for that fine statement. Lieutenant general schiess, you are recognized for your opening statement.
▶ 0:23:13Gen Schiess: Chairman, ranking member, distinguished members of this committee, thank you for letting me appear before you is the president's nominee to be the next chief of operations of space force. To start I would like to recognize the most important people in my life, my family. My wife and I will celebrate 36 years of marriage later this month.
▶ 0:23:40Gen Schiess: Debbie is a passionate advocate for military members and their families and has put her own career ambitions aside to serve our military families for decades. Through 18 military moves in many operational alerts and a deployment to the middle east. I know if I'm confirmed she will do everything she can to serve our military families.
▶ 0:24:03Gen Schiess: Today we are joined by our daughters who have been joyed multiple -- you have endured multiple moves including going to several different high school. Kaitlin has completed the curriculum for a doctorate in theology and my other graduated with a juris doctorate. Both of our daughters make us proud for the many accomplishments but the more credible women they are. We are also thankful for our son-in-law mathew and caitlin's fiancé.
▶ 0:24:30Gen Schiess: Both of our mothers will be watching online and if our fathers were still with us they will be watching too. I know the demands of military service are borne by our spouses and children and parents and loved ones and I'm deeply thankful for the support my family has given me which makes our service possible. I would like to thank the second chief of space operations who have tirelessly worked the last four years to transform our space force into the war fighting service it is today.
▶ 0:24:56Gen Schiess: Debbie and I have had the privilege of working with and for them for many years and we are thankful for their 35 years of dedicated service to our nation and military and their families. We wish the best for them at their upcoming retirement. We would like to acknowledge the uniform and civilian guardians who secure our nation's interest in and from into space. The space force was created by the president and congress who recognized space is a war fighting domain.
▶ 0:25:24Gen Schiess: Our way of life and our national security all depend on our ability to achieve space superiority. The space force must organize and equip forces for several related but distinct purposes. We must defend our nation space capabilities so space force can project power. We must protect the joint force from space attack and deliver the capabilities joint force needs to prosecute the full range of its missions. The president has directed the department of more -- of war maintain a favorable balance in the pacific region.
▶ 0:25:55Gen Schiess: Space force is foundational to this pursuit. The threat china proposes israel. The people's liberation army has expanded its space capabilities and exploiting systems to deny U.S. ability to use base capabilities in a crisis or a conflict. Not at the same scale as china, russia continues to field an employee capabilities, including systems that threaten satellites electromagnetic links that connect our forces. Along with other reactors the result is a domain that is contested.
▶ 0:26:27Gen Schiess: Our purpose is not confrontation but deterrence, ensuring no adversary believes aggression against the united states will succeed. Guardians around the world are standing watch for our nation. They provide missile attack warning and enable precision strike and connect forces across the globe. They protect and defend the space domain and develop and acquire and field war winning capabilities. They support decision-making and operate in a domain where mission failure can have strategic consequences for the U.S. national security and our way of life.
▶ 0:26:59Gen Schiess: I believe my past assignments have prepared me to be the cso. If confirmed it'll be the honor of my professional life to read -- to lead the guardians of the united states pays force and I promise -- space force. I will work tirelessly to ensure our guardians are ready, our capabilities are robust, our partnerships are strong and our services are worthy of the trust placed in us by the american people. Thank you for the support of the space force and your consideration of my nomination.
▶ 0:27:29Chair Wicker: It is now in order for me to ask standard questions we ask all military nominees. If you could just answer yes or no. It is important this committee and other appropriate committees of the congress be able to receive testimony and other communications of information. Have you adhered to applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest? >> yes.
▶ 0:27:59Chair Wicker: You agree when asked to give your personal views, even if those views differ from the administration?
▶ 0:28:06Gen Schiess: Yes.
▶ 0:28:08Chair Wicker: Have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process?
▶ 0:28:18Gen. Schiess: No.
▶ 0:28:20Chair Wicker: Will you ensure your staff complies with deadlines including questions for the record at hearing such as this? Will you cooperate in providing witnesses in response to congressional requests?
▶ 0:28:32Gen. Schiess: Yes.
▶ 0:28:34Chair Wicker: Will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for their testimony?
▶ 0:28:39Gen. Schiess: Yes.
▶ 0:28:40Chair Wicker: Do you agree to appear and testify before this committee.
▶ 0:28:44Gen. Schiess: Yes.
▶ 0:28:46Chair Wicker: You agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms of communication in a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the committee regarding the basis for any good delay or denial and providing such documents.
▶ 0:29:05Gen. Schiess: Yes.
▶ 0:29:07Chair Wicker: Now let's turn to a round of five-minute questions. Let me ask you this. You are going to be, I hope, the third person to hold this position.
▶ 0:29:29Chair Wicker: Even after two others we are still developing the personality of the space domain. You say that, in particular on page three of your testimony, you mentioned china and to a lesser but still important extent you mention russia.
▶ 0:29:59Chair Wicker: Why do you say that the space capabilities are particularly important in the pacific? Then you say the threat china poses is real. What can you say to us and the public today to expand on why you believe the threat of china is real?
▶ 0:30:30Gen. Schiess: Thank you for allowing me to take that question. As I said in my written testimony, china's threat is real. What they are doing with counterspace and space superiority capabilities is breathtakingly fast. They have launched the space force and the airports before that in the activities we have had to enable the joint force and they have determined they need to come up with capabilities to do that.
▶ 0:30:59Gen. Schiess: We have seen anti-satellite tests from the ground. There are capabilities in space that hold our satellites at risk. They continue to do that in a rapid pace. I would love to have a conversation with you in a more classified session to talk about that.
▶ 0:31:15Gen. Schiess: I would say there electromagnetic jamming, the capabilities they develop are worrisome and specifically in the pacific, as has been said, they are using their intelligent surveillance to target our forces much farther than they ever have.
▶ 0:31:34Gen. Schiess: They have built a kill chain to be able to see our carrier strike groups, our bombers at a much farther speed and distances they have also developed missiles and weapon systems to go after that. Space force needs to bring capability to deny or degrade that kill webb to protect the joint force.
▶ 0:31:53Chair Wicker: With regard to the threat against the satellites what would that mean to americans and to american servicemen?
▶ 0:32:01Gen. Schiess: Specifically to service people it puts us in danger of not having the capabilities the joint force needs. Think about global positioning systems, satellite communications. As important as we have seen in many different conflicts, missile warning. It puts all of those at risk from some of those capabilities. I would say our economy and our way of life.
▶ 0:32:28Gen. Schiess: And I talked to my mother and mother in law about global positioning and tell them space force does that for them, they obviously need that to get around and get where they are going into financial transactions. It is not just our military but also our way of life.
▶ 0:32:48Chair Wicker: I mentioned the need to move seamlessly between full-time and part-time service. I hope you agree with my statement. If you do, tell me why that is particularly pertinent to the space force?
▶ 0:33:05Gen. Schiess: The ability for our folks to be part-time or full-time is a novel thing this phase force is doing. Many of my conversations I believe many of the other services might want to look at that. What it does is allows us to have guardians that come in and want to serve their country and do incredible things in the service and they may decide to do things different.
▶ 0:33:32Gen. Schiess: Get a job with an industry or something else or a government job in another organization but then still be able to serve. We are able to capture that knowledge and that experience and bring it back into the space force. They can also do that for a way of life. They need to take time off to take care of family but allows them to bring that back to the service.
▶ 0:33:53Gen. Schiess: One of the things we continue to work is how we do that, how we allow them to continue to serve in other ways and then bring that back. We are just at the beginning stages so we believe this will be something that will be very effective.
▶ 0:34:08Chair Wicker: Looking forward to watching how that develops.
▶ 0:34:12Sen. Reed: Thank, Mr. chairman. Some companies want to leave certain space assets that are actually military weapons systems that can be used to destroy other systems and even kill people. Last year's ndaa prohibited temporary ownership of space weapon systems. The analogy is very plain.
▶ 0:34:41Sen. Reed: We do not lease rifles, we do not lease f-15s. This year's nda says space force must own title to a space weapon system. What are your views on this matter?
▶ 0:34:57Gen. Schiess: Thank you. I agree the space force has many things they need to be able to do with commercial and there are definitely different mission areas were having commercial -- we see different ways to do that. Satellite communication, things like that.
▶ 0:35:17Gen. Schiess: I also agree when it is a weapon system or a capability that would be able to harm another person's equipment, assets, or people, that needs to be completely owned by the space force. There are other ways we do this. The national reconnaissance office has contractors that operate systems. We have a military member or a national reconnaissance civilian that is the mission director.
▶ 0:35:46Gen. Schiess: If confirmed I would be happy to work with you on that but I agree we have to have guardian control over those systems.
▶ 0:35:53Sen. Reed: It is important that you work synergistically with the air force on combined efforts since you are both overlapping spaces. One area of cooperation is electronic warfare, whether ground air or space. Each service is developing capabilities that combined will be better than one individual weapon system.
▶ 0:36:23Sen. Reed: What are your views on joint operation and integration with the air force and electronic warfare?
▶ 0:36:29Gen. Schiess: I believe there is a lot of work we can do together with the air force. Not just the air force but the other services. In my past I was the service component to the united states space command and I was the combined joint force space component and I had capabilities from all the services. The navy has electromagnetic warfare capabilities and the marine corps is bringing that on and the air force. I believe we can be complementary of each other and I believe we can work together.
▶ 0:37:01Gen. Schiess: A little bit different sometimes. Just make sure we are not duplicative but we are complementary of our efforts and I look forward to working with the chief of staff and the other service chiefs as a member of the joint chiefs of staff to make sure we do that right.
▶ 0:37:14Sen. Reed: The ideal situation would be every sensor is connected to every shooter. We are not there yet.
▶ 0:37:25Gen. Schiess: I agree with you on that. The department of air force battle network, the space force is a big part of that. As you've seen in our budget request with the sdn, the capability to connect those forces together, I agree we need to bring all of the information to the right person at the right time to make the decisions the need to make to have the right effect against the target.
▶ 0:37:51Sen. Reed: Lately this is an inescapable question. Ai will be an important component of doing that?
▶ 0:38:01Gen. Schiess: I believe ai is a huge part of how we do things. I will say there are certain areas where we will push that awareness and be able to sense what is going on in the domain and we will continue to work that. We need to make sure we still have a guardian in the loop on that but use that to the most effective ability to make those guardians better.
▶ 0:38:25Sen. Reed: General salzman spent a great deal of time standing up an organization that was very small, about 10,000 personnel, 5000 civilians. The air force is provided most of the infrastructure for base maintenance and legal medical service. What you see changing over the next five years? How much will you continue to depend on the air force?
▶ 0:38:53Gen. Schiess: I agree the air force has been an incredible partner and having been an air force member for almost 30 years I am thankful to the service they provide for us. There are lots of areas we will look at over the years. If confirmed I will work with the general to do that. All of those areas I mentioned are areas we will look at to see if they are right for us to continue to do other things.
▶ 0:39:17Sen. Reed: You are too young to have served in the army air corps.
▶ 0:39:22Chair Wicker: Thank, senator reed. Senator fischer?
▶ 0:39:28Sen. Fischer: Good morning and thank you for your service. My thanks to your family for their service and sacrifice for many years. I am glad you want to continue your service in this position. Can you explain to the committee but also to the american people why we need that steady and predictable funding for programs like the airborne moving target indicators satellite is
▶ 0:39:58Sen. Fischer: Important for war fighters and if there is a pause in fielding these capabilities, what risk does that present to our forces?
▶ 0:40:08Gen. Schiess: Incredible discussion on airborne mobile target indicator and the need for that. What I would say to the committee and the american people is it is something we need to do for multiple reasons. One of the first reasons is to save american lives.
▶ 0:40:27Gen. Schiess: As I talked about previously, the capability of the chinese and others to target our forces at much greater distance and much greater speed and missile systems, it sometimes pushes our forces out farther and we need to get our forces in. Airborne mobile target indicator and ground mobile target indicator allows us to have our forces farther out and be able to provide that capability. Those are complementary.
▶ 0:40:55Gen. Schiess: We will have airborne forces and others that do that mission as well but we will be complementary with them. And it saves american lives but it also can provide much greater fidelity of information that we can get. As we use other capabilities with the networks behind that to bring that capability to the war fighter will help us be able to be more effective.
▶ 0:41:19Sen. Fischer: Many of our space-based programs rely on the guaranteed access to electromagnetic spectrum. Can you speak to this committee on the importance of ensuring that access continues?
▶ 0:41:33Gen. Schiess: Yes, it is very important we have the proper access we need for different frequencies in different spectrums. If confirmed I will continue the work I do now in my current role , working with our cyber folks but the cio of os w to ensure we are providing that necessary information to the administration on what frequencies and what spectrums are needed and the cost associated with them if we were to move those spectrums.
▶ 0:42:03Gen. Schiess: It is very important to make sure we can have the spectrum to do our missions.
▶ 0:42:05Sen. Fischer: Not just the cost but also the time factor involved in having to move all of those assets that are currently in certain spectrums, correct?
▶ 0:42:15Gen. Schiess: Yes.
▶ 0:42:16Sen. Fischer: Section 1505 of this year's ndaa requires the department to ensure space weather is integrated into the awareness doctrine and operations. I am deeply concerned that the space weather, understanding how solar activity and radiation impact our satellites, has been historically under prioritized.
▶ 0:42:45Sen. Fischer: If we allow this capability to decline we could incur serious risks. For example, not being able to react in time to protect our satellites from harmful solar flares. If confirmed will you commit to working with me to ensure this mission is appropriately elevated?
▶ 0:43:04Gen. Schiess: Yes, senator.
▶ 0:43:07Sen. Fischer: What does combat readiness look like for the space force?
▶ 0:43:12Gen. Schiess: Combat readiness make sure we have the equipment we at the right place and the right time and we also have the guardians trained with advanced training to have all of the capabilities and we can run them through the bases and so we can do exercises and things like that to make sure they are qualified and ready to do the mission and if confirmed I promised I will be a high priority.
▶ 0:43:36Sen. Fischer: Do you believe the space forces organized and resourced appropriately to meet that goal?
▶ 0:43:43Gen. Schiess: I believe space forces organized properly. With our fy 2027 budget request we are asking for more.
▶ 0:43:53Sen. Fischer: I think it is 124% more?
▶ 0:43:57Gen. Schiess: $71.1 billion for the space force. I believe those are needed because of the threat from china and russia.
▶ 0:44:06Sen. Fischer: What you think are your most pressing challenges in the next three to five years?
▶ 0:44:12Gen. Schiess: I believe with that amount of money, being able to acquire those systems. We are thankful to the congress for some of the acquisition reforms. If confirmed I will work with the secretary and our assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition and integration to make sure we can feel those capabilities rapidly. We are bringing on more people.
▶ 0:44:35Sen. Fischer: You worry about supply chain?
▶ 0:44:39Gen. Schiess: Supply chains are always important issues that we have to make sure we have at the right time if confirmed I promise you more on that.
▶ 0:44:47Chair Wicker: General schiess, you are not adequately resourced right now. If the proposal is adopted by the house and senate and signed by the president, you would be. Is that correct?
▶ 0:44:59Gen. Schiess: Yes, senator. Senator king?
▶ 0:45:05Sen. King: I want to begin by acknowledging I was a skeptic of the space force. Senator cramer was a principal sponsor and as painful as it is for me to admit he was right and I am wrong. I believe the space force is providing an essential part of the deterrent and defense of this country. [laughter] put that in the bank, senator cramer.
▶ 0:45:36Sen. King: General, it has been touched upon in terms of your budget. Your budget is increasing by 124% this year. This country is facing a serious budget and deficit problem. Please explain to the committee into the american people why this massive increase is necessary? My father used to say when I put my wrapped in your trap I expect it to lose his tail but not behind his ears.
▶ 0:46:07Sen. King: More than doubling the budget is substantial so please make that case.
▶ 0:46:10Gen. Schiess: I will. I will not talk about the wrapped but I will do that. One thing I would say right away is the space force budget is very small compared to the other services but I do understand and as a taxpayer I want to make sure we are being as judicious as possible. I would say the $71.1 billion the president has asked for is exactly what we need. We talked about the threat, that is the thing driving us to that.
▶ 0:46:39Gen. Schiess: Holding our satellites at risk that endanger american soldiers and sailors.
▶ 0:46:46Sen. King: Is it accurate to say that if there would be another major conflict and probably start in space?
▶ 0:46:52Gen. Schiess: I believe that is a possibility that it could start in space. If not space would be at the very beginning of any conflict, especially with potential adversaries of china and russia.
▶ 0:47:04Sen. King: I interrupted, please go ahead to make the case for the budget increase.
▶ 0:47:10Gen. Schiess: What I would say is for decades before the space force in the air force and now we have provided incredible combat effects to the joint war fighter. We can talk about gps. What is different now is we need the ability to have space superiority. That means the ability to counter someone else's ability to hold our satellites at risk and be able to destroy them.
▶ 0:47:35Sen. King: The vast bulk of that money is for equipment and not personnel. You are not a very large organization in terms of personnel but we are talking about space-based infrastructure. Is that correct?
▶ 0:47:48Gen. Schiess: Yes. Weapon systems, facilities, training capability. We are requesting an increase in guardians. It is mostly equipment.
▶ 0:48:00Sen. King: I also serve on the intelligence committee. Assure me we will not be duplicated within our own.
▶ 0:48:06Gen. Schiess: I have a great relationship with the doctor who just retired and I look forward to the new director. The space force provides many guardians. I believe we are not duplicative if confirmed I will ensure we do not do duplicative efforts.
▶ 0:48:23Sen. King: You mentioned personnel. The mindless cuts in the civilian defense establishment last year cut civilian personnel . Are you rebuilding that? I worry a lot of expertise walked out the door during that period.
▶ 0:48:46Gen. Schiess: We did have folks that took the drp and that was a significant cut but we are working to bring those back. Space systems command is trying to hire 100 civilians a month and we are thankful to congress.
▶ 0:49:02Sen. King: Are you able to find those 100 civilians?
▶ 0:49:06Gen. Schiess: We are able to do that. The space force does not have a problem with people wanting to join. It is finding the right spot for them. In a request we ask for an additional 2000 civilians.
▶ 0:49:21Sen. King: Do you see the space force modernizing and scaling up launch capacity working with the various competitors in terms of launch?
▶ 0:49:31Gen. Schiess: Launch is obviously very critical for our ability to get our new assets into space and having done the launch business several times we will continue to work to make sure the infrastructure is needed. We are at an incredible pace and that will continue.
▶ 0:49:46Sen. King: Thank you and congratulations on your nomination.
▶ 0:49:50Chair Wicker: The chair recognizes perhaps the most prescient member of the armed services committee, senator cramer.
▶ 0:50:00Sen. Cramer: Amazing how good timing and luck can make you smart. Thank you for the compliments. Thank you for stepping up again and debbie, thank you for being a good partner. I appreciate your hospitality. To caitlin and kendra and the two young men that like all of us are going well above their heads, thank you for being in the fight with everybody. I know it is a family effort and I appreciate you acknowledging that right up front.
▶ 0:50:29Sen. Cramer: This year's ndaa authorizes 250 million dollars for a space operations facility. I know you know grand forks well. We are delighted by playing an important role going forward. My first question, I want to make sure you maintain the commitment your predecessors have made as we go forward.
▶ 0:51:01Sen. Cramer: I also look forward to maintaining that relationship with the university of north dakota and grand forks. I was assigned the first space force partnership with them and they built up quite an expertise at the school. I want to talk about the sda culture because grand forks started with space force with sda investment growing dramatically. We eliminated the space develop an agency.
▶ 0:51:31Sen. Cramer: It was not I eyed -- it was not my idea but I'm willing to play along. I am confident that because of the space force vision new pae's will operate and function much like the space develop an agency director, particularly as it aims to get a constellation, utilizing spiral development.
▶ 0:51:56Sen. Cramer: I also know we need to go fast and I would love to get your vision for how that will operationally work. You're coming in at such a critical time when those decisions have been made and how you get to implement them. I would be interested in how you see that playing out.
▶ 0:52:11Gen. Schiess: The space develop an agency has been an incredible organization and we learned a lot from them. Obviously doing great work. I believe we have a launch later today for some capabilities there. Hoping for the best for that. What I would say in working with the secretary and if confirmed continuing to work with him, the portfolio acquisition executives are trying to take all of the things the sda did correctly and trying to put them in all of the pae's.
▶ 0:52:43Gen. Schiess: The secretary talks about giving 90% of contracting to them. I would say I promise to continue to work that so all of our pae's take on the capability to bring on fast systems.
▶ 0:52:54Sen. Cramer: You just sparked a memory and that discussion because I remember saying to general raymond early on, he had been given a white sheet of paper and a brand-new organization. Try to be innovative and don't gravitate to what you know. Not that everything he learned was bad. I remember saying to him one time, what I would suggest is you show a new way the rest of the force and that is what you described.
▶ 0:53:24Sen. Cramer: Something in your answer to senator king with regard -- I should highlight -- I think this is a moment and an opportunity and I think space and nro and the various silos working more jointly is an example that can be built upon by the entire joint force because it is necessary. We cannot afford duplication but we cannot afford a clumsy joint force. Thank you for your service and your willingness to step up.
▶ 0:53:56Sen. Cramer: I look forward to working with you.
▶ 0:53:57Chair Wicker: Senator blumenthal?
▶ 0:54:01Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you and to you and your family for your service. The common refrain is we are all learning from ukraine. I'm interested in knowing from you how and what we have learned , what the space force has learned from the war in ukraine and how those lessons have changed the way you are thinking
▶ 0:54:32Sen. Blumenthal: About more in space and more broadly how it should affect our thinking about it?
▶ 0:54:36Gen. Schiess: Appreciate that question. It is important for us to always learn from any conflict whether we are in it or not. Obviously we are providing support through nato and others to ukraine. I would say is some of the lessons the space force has learned, one way attack has been huge, not only there but also in iran. Our ability to track those in use capabilities against those so that is one thing we have learned.
▶ 0:55:08Gen. Schiess: The jamming environment, satellite communications jamming. A previous job as the commander of U.S. space command component we were continually working through jamming situations and we learned a lot about how to do that very quickly to give the capability to our forces and we will continue to do that. We are always working with the joint staff to bring those lessons learned and make them part of our techniques and procedures.
▶ 0:55:36Sen. Blumenthal: Is there a way to do the golden dome in a scaled down version?
▶ 0:55:43Gen. Schiess: If confirmed I look forward to working with the general from the space force perspective. A lot of the things we are doing in golden dome also provides us capability for space superiority. Whether that is tracking or communications or data or all of those things. I believe we will continue to get good things on golden dome.
▶ 0:56:12Gen. Schiess: If confirmed looking forward to working with the general and what that looks like for the future.
▶ 0:56:16Sen. Blumenthal: Let me ask you whether you think in space warfare, china is ahead of us?
▶ 0:56:25Gen. Schiess: United states is a very capable space force and we are the best in the world. What I would say is china is rapidly trying to make that cap much smaller and they are bringing on capabilities on a daily basis and I would love to talk to you in a different session to talk about some of those capabilities. Our budget request we have asked helps us continue to stay in the lead and we need to do that to make sure the chinese cannot catch up.
▶ 0:56:53Sen. Blumenthal: I'm very gratified to hear that. I did not mean to imply the united states was second. Obviously we hear a lot of worry and anxiety about china being ahead of us in space and I would like to explore that issue with you in a classified setting.
▶ 0:57:11Gen. Schiess: Happy to do that. I think about china every day.
▶ 0:57:16Sen. Blumenthal: I am sure. Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:57:20Chair Wicker: Thank you, senator blumenthal. This concludes today's hearing. I want to thank the witness for his testimony and wish him the best and the remainder of this process. >> Mr. chairman, could I interject a comment? General, you should take heart from the fact that not all of our members are here today. It is a compliment to you.
▶ 0:57:49Chair Wicker: The other problem is we need ai to schedule us because most of us have three hearings at the same time. The fact we do not have a large turnout is an indication of the committee's confidence in you and this is a rare case where a small audience is probably better.
▶ 0:58:04Chair Wicker: Being noncontroversial is not a bad thing. You're competing with the todd blanche attorney general hearing, so -- [laughter] I hope you can accept this complement.
▶ 0:58:21Gen. Schiess: I will take it.
▶ 0:58:24Chair Wicker: For members who did show up or may be to avail themselves, questions for the record will be due to the committee by 5:00 friday. Thank you in this committee hearing is adjourned.