We have quite a few more. This is the time of year, and we have general todd walters, and i appreciate very much the time we spent together last week. And general stephen lyons, so i appreciate you two, the years of service that you have donated and given to your country. As stated many times before, the Armed Services committees top priority is to ensure the effective implementation of the National Defense strategy. We have that. Yeah. We have it pretty much surprised me, senator, how we have really stuck with the from the very beginning. With that from the very beginning. It means that we must ensure that in this era of great power and competition with russia and china, that our military services are resourcing commands to address the challenge of strategic competition. This is especially true of our two combatant commands that are here today, ucom is focused on deterring vladimir putin, who has repeatedly shown his willingness to use force to achieve his political objectives, and then there is transcom, focused on fullspectrum mobility operations. Both of which face capability shortfalls. I just returned from the security conference with several others here at this table. It was a great reminder of the importance of allies and partners as we deal with the challenges from china and russia. There are great opportunities to work with our european friends, especially in africa, and i hope we will continue to do that. Americas commitment to nato remains bipartisan and unwavering. We are matching our words with action, especially through the posture investments in the European Deterrence Initiative in the upcoming exercise called defend 2020, which will be the Largest Movement of u. S. Troops to europe since the end of the cold war, we are talking about in addition to the 10,000 already there, an additional 20,000. That is a large one. It is a record setter. General walters, i look forward to hearing about your priorities Going Forward, especially in the maritime domain, where russias increasing activity, advancing submarines and air and Missile Defense as russia continues to threaten u. S. And allied forces with its missile arsenal. General lyons, you recently stated that the aero refueling fleet is the most stressed in the u. S. Transportation commands arsenal. We look forward to getting your thoughts on how we can address the shortfall, much of which is due to the problems we have had with the kc 46. Im particularly sensitive to that, because i was due to come back from all the way to Washington State to come back to the air force base in the kc 46. I dont think there was any problem with it. Obviously, there is. And before we turn to senator reed, we will have a classified closed, informal briefing at 2 30. That is going to conflict with some of the votes. i want to join you in welcoming our witnesses this morning. Firstgeneral walters time here in his position. General lyons, i welcome your return. Let me thank both of you for the many decades of military service and please extend our appreciation to the dedicated men and women serving our command. The transatlantic relationship remains absolutely critical to u. S. National security. Our close bond with european allies is one of our most strategic and benefits. Congress reaffirmed the unbreakable u. S. Commitment to nato. Cuts to theed that Deterrence Initiative proposed in the president s fiscal year budget request may send the wrong signature to our allies regarding our support for the transatlantic relationship. Ucom faces a wide range of security challenges, including the reemergence of russia, seeking to reassert a claim to break power status. Russia is actively undermining the rules. Its militaryloaded aggressively to undermine neighbors sovereignty. Ucom is developing the operational concepts, plants, and programs necessary for the strategic competition with a militaryto ensure deterrence against russia. The committee will be very interested in whether you have posture in europe to meet this challenge. Additionally, russia is engaged in a campaign of hybrid warfare to advance its strategic interest. Havet news reports highlighted russia is once again inducting Information Warfare operations to influence the upcoming u. S. President ial election to advance preferred candidates, so division, and undermine public faith in our democratic process. I will be interested in how ucom is working with cybercom to counter the threat. And what progress of any we have nade to defend against russia maligned influence. The exercise is a largest employment of troops in the last 25 years. There are some that still remember. 30,000 u. S. Nato forces will participate in the offender. Defender. The men and women of transcom protect our nation security. Such, theyetitive ag provide the of the with unique capabilities that we have come to expect and perhaps to frequently take for granted. Without them, the u. S. Would be at a significant disadvantage almost everywhere in the world. Of readiness by the maritime administration. It is aging and will need to be modernized over the next decade. Three years ago, the committee of the rest a program to capitalize a reserve force. This authorized purchase up to two vessels on the navy designed for a number of uses, including recapitalizing the reserve force. Two years ago, congress authorized to buy five more. Essels a plan we have yet to receive. I am interested in the status of fy rrf recapitalization and 2021. General lyons, i am interested in your views on what needs to be done to ensure readiness. Global transportation capability has been one of our asymmetric advantages for many years now. However we cannot assume that potential adversaries will allow free reign in this area in the future. Lester, we received report of the analysis of wartime transportation need in the mobility requirements study. The committeeo the department needed to continue the analytical effort to identify requirements because the study presented last year did not reflect implementation of the National Defense strategy. General lyons, perhaps you can give us an update on where trams com stance. Transcom stands. General lyons, i would like to get an update from you on where it stands on its effort to improve Cyber Security posture. Let me thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee today. I look forward to your testimony. Chairman inhofe we will now hear Opening Statements. Will start with general walters and general alliance. Your statements should be around five minutes. General walters. General reid,s this thing with members of the committee, it is an honor to appear before you. We thank each and every one of you for your support. As all of you will know, it is an absolute privilege to serve alongside the patriots that represent the u. S. Of america the United States of america. In europe, political uncertainty, competition, and diffusion of Destructive Technology are stressing the established western order. Seek toand challenges take advantage of these conditions through aggressive action using all instruments of National Power and are backed by increasingly Capable Military forces. The national with Defense Strategy implementation efforts, we confront these challenges by adapting our approach to most effectively employ our means. Together with likeminded allies and partners, we defend freedom around the clock. Thanks to their efforts in the authorities and resources you ucom is you posture to compete, deter, and thectively respond with full weight of the transatlantic alliance. In 2000 19, nato took significant military strikes with improvements in commanding control indications and warnings mission command, and by approving a new nato tarehensive defense answered response. Nato continues to adapt its structure with the establishment of two additional nato headquarters. Joint forces command, focused on maintaining Transatlantic Lines of communications, and one focused on a logistics ordination. These headquarters increased our ability to command and control enabled appointment and sustain nato forces in crisis through conflict. The european union, nato, and ucom may progress in transit procedures to facilitate Rapid Movement of forces across the euro atlantic. We will facilitate the portman of a division size force as mentioned by the chairman during the u. S. Let exercise defender. An exercise that showcases u. S. And allied commitment to collective security of the euro atlantic. In United States position europe is an invaluable cornerstone and National Security. Today, u. S. Service members in europe continued to generate peace alongside our allies and partners. We are grateful for sustained congressional interest and support through authorities and funding. Together, with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guard men, and civilians, your support the mistreats our nations continued commitment to defend the homeland forward and preserve peace for the citizens in the euro atlantic. Thank you. Chairman inhofe general lyons. General lyons thank you, theman, senator reed committee. It is my honor to represent the men and women of the United States transportation command. Who are at this very moment employed, in operations. Ranscom isn at t enduring, sustaining the force ranscom is enduring, sustaining the force globally at our time and place of choosing, thereby representing multiple options for National Leadership and multiple dilemmas for potential adversaries. With 85 of the stations in United States, it is transcoms job to advance strategic priorities. The National Defense strategy underscores the importance of advancing our National Security interests, deterring potential adversaries, and if a deterrence fails, responding with overwhelming force to win. Our projection is a distinct u. S. Comparative advantage, that we are not alone in this effort. Our vast Logistics Networks are underpinned by allies and likeminded partners facilitate critical access in overflight activities. Today, i am confident in our ability to successfully execute our mission. This past year, with a no notice alert, we most the first brigade of the 82nd division in less than 5. 5 days. In total, we moved over 42 army brigades, refueled multiple Bomber Task Force and fighter movements, delivered 1. 9 million passengers, over 6000 patients, over 100,000 containers, and over 26 million square feet of cargo. Much of this activity largely went unnoticed. This is good news and a sign of sustained success across dods mobility enterprise. However, as the chairman pointed out, the world is changing. That internal Defense Strategy describes a future in which trans, stable to project a joint force under all persistent attack. With knowledge our success today does not guarantee success for tomorrow. We are actively preparing to meet tomorrows challenges, working through environment were games, enhancing cyber defenses and resiliency, and improving the integration of a sustainment were fighting function across a joint operation. To maintain readiness today, our area refueling forces require attention so they can continue to meet current and future challenges. Before i close, i want to have a departments ongoing work to improve the personal Property Program, an area of great interest for congress. As directed, we have submitted a Business Case analysis to work closer with the gao on their report. Both reports underscore the need for change. The department can no longer afford to operate a disparate confederation of government activity supervising is similarly disparate collection of hundreds of transportation providers. We are on track to restructure ,ur relationship with industry moving dod families ahead of the 2021 season. My message for dod families, we heard your call for accountability, transparency, quality capacity, and we are committed to deliver. My message for industry providers, if you provide Quality Service for military members, you have a place in the future program. We need every Quality Service to include our Small Businesses and appreciate all that you do. It is an exciting time to be the commander of u. S. Transcom. I cannot be more proud of the team of professionals that form the joint distribution enterprise. Looking forward for your questions. Thank you,hofe general lyons. I appreciate you bringing up that issue. We spent a lot of time on that, addressing that. You are carrying it out exactly as we had intended you to. Wolters,ioned, general we appreciate everything that we got in germany. You covered something i think might be worth repeating here. In october of 2019, the news report suggested that russia to put as many as 10 submarines, some of the largest fleet since world war ii fleet maneuvers since world war ii. Can you describe as you did this last week how the pace and scope of russias maritime activity has changed in recent years and what that application has toured ucom . General wolter we took note of the activity in 2018 and compared it to what russia executed in the summer of 2019. What we size a 50 increase in the number of resources that russia committed to out of of area submarine patrol operations. What we also witnessed was an good order discipline on behalf of russian sailors. This observation is one more reflection about how important it is to continue to improve our Competitive Edge to make sure that we can operate with freedom. Chairman inhofe on that same trip, we went through spain when they were talking about adding the two u. S. Destroyers to the four that are already there. Is that something you support . Where does that fall into your level of request that you have for Additional Forces in ucom . General wolter it is precisely in line for a request for two additional destroyers. I am also proud to report we have been in a position to where we have been able to improve and mature the infrastructure of roda. If you ask me to accept a more destroyers tomorrow, we possess the infrastructure to be able to house those additional destroyers. Chairman inhofe they made that very clear. Commented in, we my Opening Statement about the kc 46, going from washington to seattle to the air force base. And i remember at that time, we there andecretary deborah james, and i recall making an observation. 1959, twoas that in things happened, number one, i got married, and number two, the were actually delivered to Altus Air Force base. At that time, we did not know that there was any problem, at least i did not know. And anybody else did either. The fact that it lasted 60 years, and looks like that is going to enhance the prosperity of the air force base for the next 60 years. That was something that really aware of. Not i have a problem, and the problem of course is what to do to fill that function. And i know that you have given a lot of thought to what. Let us know where you are right now. We have been doing this for years, getting rid of old things before we get anyones online and ready to perform. The new ones online and ready to perform. Tell us where we are. What is that going to do with the preparations we already made for the kc 135s and casey 10 kc 10s to be downgraded . General lyons as you mentioned, area refueling is the most stressed element in the portfolio, both for daytoday operations as well as and i will defer to the air force on the particular technical aspects of the kc 46 as it comes online. We will be having the air force hearing to talk about that. Yes, sir. What i can describe, as we bring the kc 46 on, we convert more crews, when that capability is not usable and that is not presentable to the joint force for some technical deficiencies, that means a dip in operational capabilities. Continue to retire the kc 135 and the kc 10 at the rate that was proposed by the air force. We are working closely with the air force and the department to retain a level of levels exceeding legacy capability. You are attaining some. You had not planned on retaining any. We are working with the air force now. There were some number of planes that were retired, programmed for retirement. We believe they must be retained. 135s and casey tends we believe must be retained s. Ey kc 10 european command strategy document states meeting the challenge of counseling crime and kremlin sponsored campaigns requires a solution. Do you assess that we have a unified man to address malign influence directed to the 2020 election. As you are familiar with, we establish two years ago the russia Integration Group that bears the responsibility to combine ustranscom with many nato nations for government activity and activities below the level of conflict to ensure we have better control of the information domain. We expect to do better and that is a big place military leaders to be. I have the opportunity to visit with many us entities and National Entities the represent whole of government and hold of nation activity to provide more influence in the information domain and i am pleased with the progress. Can you give me your assessment of the current state of alliance . I would assume the military level, the alignment i see with the United States and nato with the north atlantic extension is strong as i ever witnessed and i had the opportunity to serve in nato since 1983 and i am pleased to report at the political level as a result of recent documents that were approved at nato in the political level we are seeing greater cohesion as well. The first time in six decades we at nato approved the first nato military strategy