Request before a Senate Appropriations committee. They outlined focused on people, readiness, and modernization. The development of new equipment and adopts the concepts to defeat adversaries. Through the timely enactment of defense appropriations for f y 24 on time appropriations provide the resource predictability that enables the army to execute training and operate plans effectively and efficiently for the entire fiscal year. Let me put it this way in order for the army to be all it can be. We Congress Must do our jobs. I look forward to working with senators murray and collins, the chairman and Ranking Member of the full committee for putting us in a position for success and getting the budget passed on time. The armys biggest military advantage is its people. But these are difficult times. We look forward to hearing more about how youre tackling recruiting challenges given the need to modernize in light of an ever evolving threat. We also look forward to an update about the pace of modernization. You all have my full support to develop and field, modernization, modernize but im growing increasingly worried about repeated proposals by the army to break hot production lines and destabilize the Industrial Base when we need them most. Once again, i want to thank you for your service to the country. Senator collins is not here, as you can see, she has a health education, labor and Pensions Committee mark up this morning, she may arrive later but before we get to your Opening Statements i have one quick statement, then i want to turn it over to senator moran. We heard yesterday that the, um, the moment in time we default on our debt is coming up one month, june 1. I talked about getting a budget out on time. I do not know what the people in the senate house are thinking the truth is, is the deficit needs to be dealt with in a commonsense way. What the house done has done last week is not a common sense way and makes us a weaker country. And if we continue down this line, i am very concerned about funding for the military funding for Homeland Security funding for every agency that we have within the government. And so hopefully, hopefully common sense will prevail here and we will be able to continue on the path of getting a budget out of Defense Budget in this case, by the end of september, so that you guys have the certainties not to waste a lot of taxpayer dollars. And the military Industrial Base has a certainty to know what we need and are able to deliver it on time with that. Ill turn it over to senator moran, chairman tester. Thank you. Um i would add my support for all of our efforts in this committee to make sure that we get our appropriations process completed done on time and that we avoid a continuing resolution that would be very damaging to lots of aspects of government, but particularly to our National Security. As i begin my Opening Statement, id like to take a second to recognize the three Army Aviators who lost their lives in a training accident over the weekend in alaska. Another solemn reminder of the sacrifices Service Members and their families make every day, whether they deployed or at home. Thank you both for your service to our nation and for being here today to discuss the United States armys budget request for f y 2024 general mcconville. Its my understanding that this will be your last Posture Hearing while that saddens me. It may be a pleasurable thought for you. Um this is your last Posture Hearing as chief of staff for the army. Id like to especially thank you for your decades of service in uniform to the defense of our nation. Im grateful for the relationship, the friendship that weve had, the conversations that youre willing to engage with me. And im especially grateful for your the relationship, the friendship we have had. Especially grateful for your support and Fort Leavenworth last summer. Kansans take a lot of pride in the armys presence in our state and in these installations role in the defense of our nation. Kansas communities are engaged with, supportive of the soldiers and their families who call these home. Secretary warmuth, as we discussed recently. In fact, as recently as five minutes ago, i look forward to hosting you in kansas in the near future to showcase the capabilities of kansas military posts and the support of our Army Soldiers. The United States is in the midst of one of the most challenging National Security situations of my lifetime. And the army is critical to the support of the security of our nation. The army is critical to the future of our country. This administrations armys budget request for f y 2024 does not adequately address these concerns. Assuming the best inflation estimates, the armys f y 2024 request represents a real growth rate of a negative, a negative 2. 4 . As cochair of the Senate Army Caucus and a member of the subcommittee, it is my priority that the army have the resources necessary to fill the National Security obligations. We continue to hear of the ongoing recruiting crisis within the army. The force will look different from just two years ago, roughly 35,000 below its f y 2022 authorized in strength of 485,000 soldiers. Congress should be informed of all the alternatives as the army considers options to manage the significant reduction. Lets work with you. Lets Work Together to find satisfactory solutions and help the army in its recruitment efforts. We need to overcome this deficit of soldiers. Everyone in this room wants to see the army return to a tiered readiness model. I believe the retention of Army Force Structure is critical. While for infrastructure reductions may be a quick fix solution, it will set the army back at a time when the need for a ready army is as essential as ever. Army Senior Leadership should Keep Congress aware of any changes under consideration. I want to be your ally, not your critic. The russian invasion of ukraine has highlighted deficiencies in the us Industrial Base, particularly its ability to produce an adequate munition stock and supply americans and kansas workers stand ready to support the us war fighter. I support the armys recent investment into the munitions Industrial Base. I recently had a chance to visit the former Kansas Army Ammunition plant which will have a vital role now re engaging in supporting the increased munition production needs. I also want to applaud the armys recent selection of the v 280 to be the armys future long range assault aircraft. This aircraft provides the needed speed and distance to support the army 2030. I will continue to use my position on this committee to help support the modernization of the Army Aviation fleet to keep pace with our challenges. The army is the backbone of the joint force. If the United States is in conflict, our army answers the call while air and marine superiority are essential, this is only possible with the armys presence. The u. S. Ability to project power to hold critical ground, relies upon the armys ability to compete in the pacific theater. I highlight just at least from my own perspective that our country faces real and serious challenges. We need to do the things necessary to make sure we counter those circumstances. The army has a significant role. This congress has a significant role in supporting that effort. I look forward to your testimony and your responses to the questions. Thank you both. Thank you, senator moran. Well start with you, secretary warmth. You have the floor. Sen. Moran thank you in particular for your condolences for our Army Aviators it has been a difficult several weeks for our Aviation Community and as soon as we got the word about the incident in alaska i asked the chief to look into making sure that we were going to do is stand down to make sure we understand whats going on and to make sure our aviators certain share lessons learned. We are pleased to appear before you today. This is indeed has last hearing and it has been a pleasure to do three cycles of budget hearings with you, chief. So congratulations we have accomplished a lot in the last year but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We remain focused on our three priorities, people, modernization and readiness. The f y 24 budget enables us to support the National Defense strategy, provide ready forces to our Combatant Commanders and take care of our people by investing over 39 billion in procurement and r d t and e we are maintaining our momentum on our modernization programs and are largely on track to bring 24 systems across the finish line in 2023. This is a big year for long range precision fires, prototypes of the precision strike missile, the midrange capability and the long range hypersonic weapon will be in the hands of soldiers in this fiscal year. Its also a big year for next generation combat vehicles, mobile protected firepower is in production and the amp v is also being fielded. And its a big year for our integrated air and Missile Defense programs and the future vertical lift program as well. As we shift from two decades of Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism operations to large scale combat operations, were also transforming our force structure. We are going to need to adapt our force structure to make room for things like the multi domain taskforces as well. Other new units like the indirect Fire Protection capability and our mho a battalions, were a ready army and we continue to emphasize readiness in everything we do. Were funding 22 combat Training Center rotations. We have a robust exercise program and were implementing our new readiness model which helps us balance modernization, training and ongoing missions. Were also investing in preposition stocks which have served us very well in europe and will continue to serve us well in other theaters to assist ukraine in fighting russia carmi russia, the army has provided over 20 billion in lethal assistance including a wide range of munitions, radars and combat vehicles just to name a few items. One of the most important lessons weve learned from the situation in ukraine is the need for a more robust defense Industrial Base. So in our budget this year, we have 1. 5 billion to invest in arsenals depots and ammo plants. Were also working very closely with our defense partners in industry to increase munitions production so that we can continue to help the ukrainians but also very importantly to replenish our own stocks. Even as our soldiers provide lethal assistance and train the Ukrainian Armed forces, we havent taken our eye off of the pacing challenge of china. Indo may be a theater named after two oceans, but the army does have an Important Role to play there. The best way to avoid fighting a war is to show that you could win any war you might have to fight. So the army is contributing to strengthening deterrence in indo paycom every day as we campaign in the region through our exercises and partnerships. And if deterrence fails, the army will be a key player on the joint force team if theres a conflict. As important as it is to build new Weapons Systems and maintain our readiness, people are the strength of our army. This budget includes a 5. 2 pay raise and funds important quality of life improvements like family housing, child Care Initiatives and new and renovated barracks. We also of course, want to build cohesive teams of soldiers that are trained, disciplined and fit. So the army is committed to positive command climates across the force where our soldiers can be all they can be. We are also continuing to strive to prevent suicide in our ranks. Suicide is a national challenge, of course, but we have to do everything we can to reduce suicide in the army. So we are pursuing a range of initiatives to help our soldiers be more resilient. One of the most important things we can do is make sure that we have engaged leaders at every level who know their soldiers and make sure that their soldiers are connected to their leaders, to their buddies and to their families. Our army is the greatest army in the world. But to keep it that way, we have to solve our recruiting challenge, the difficult recruiting landscape we face didnt happen in a year and its going to take us more than a year to turn this around. We are laser focused on this challenge and we are not going to lower our standards to solve the problem. We are Generating Positive momentum from initiatives like our future soldier prep course, our Soldier Referral Program and our new Advertising Campaign be all you can be. Our efforts are geared towards one thing, reintroducing the army to the American Public and inspiring a renewed call to service. We very much need your help to be successful in that effort. Im proud of everything our soldiers do to protect our country and look forward to your questions this morning. This is why people remain in the army we want every young person and every parent to know that service in the army as a pathway to success both in and out of uniform whether you serve for four years are over 40 years the army offers endless possibilities. How people can help us and my answer is inspire young men and women to serve. We go with the army we have. We serve with the greatest soldiers. With your support we will keep it that way. Thank you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Last week as i said in a statement to the three soldiers over killed in alaska and as i pointed out this is on the heels of another fatal helicopter accident cost nine lives february 2 two soldiers love their lives. Lost lives. You issued standdown orders. Would you please give us an update on what you will be reviewing specifically . Thank you, chairman. Last year Army Aviation was the safest in history but we are only as good as our last flight. As a result the secretary and i directed a safety stand out thats an opportunity for all of our aviation commanders to bring their aviators together to take a look at the procedures that they use and to take a look to understand the type of training they are doing and make sure we have the right cruise in place and that we are taking steps, crawl, walk, run to get some of what we are going after and to realize that this is a very dangerous business and unlike operating a vehicle close to a curb with aviation if you make a mistake or something happens it can be catastrophic. We need to bring that safety philosophy back into the cockpit and make sure we are able to do that. Assuming that the standdown will result in some solutions to the problem whether its in safety or improved training how long do you think it will take to implement anything that comes out of this standout . I think it will be over in the next couple of days. We are expecting immediate results. In addition to the lives that were lost, avian accidents since 2020 have cost about 600 million in equipment. Are you appropriately funded for some of the training the general talked about . Yes. We have been funding our flying hours for the last few budgets that we submitted. So we have put in investments and to making sure we have sufficient resources for our simulators, our flying hours for all of our pilots. There are challenges of course in terms of looking at spare parts and maintenance and all of that so i think one of the things we need to look at his are our pilots getting enough flying hours but we have to make sure that the aircrafts of ready to fly. There are a lot of pieces that fit together in that but we are investing fully in that, in my view. Any money available to can you to invest fully in that . Yes. You informed this committee about maintaining, when you talked about your Opening Statement i highquality army based on the latest recruiting data that number looks to be further reduced to about 452,000 which by the way we should have an except exec number on that. We understand that goal may not be reached. Where do things stand with Army Recruitment . Are using a positive connection with advertising and bonuses with men and women signing have for the army . Were seeing improvements in our recruiting situation. We are better off this year than before the previous year. At the same time the chief and i sent a very ambitious goal of 65,000 recruits this year we are not going to make that goal. We are doing everything we can to get as close to it is possible that we are going to for short of that. As i said in my Opening Statement, we didnt get into the situation in a year and its going to take us more than a year to rebuild our recruiting and we are going to have to look at as i also mentioned in my Opening Statement, the implications for our force structure and our readiness level. Through our analysis process we are looking at how to bring down that over structure and to make sure we are meeting our units adequately. On