Services committee is chaired by texas congressman mack thornberry. Committee will come to order. Last week the Committee Held classified and unclassified sessions on the state of the world. Or more accurately the state of the world environment in which the American Military must operate and u. S. National security must be protected. I was struck by the essential point general petraeus made that we face many threats and can overcome any of them except perhaps what we do to ourselves. Today we turn to the state of the u. S. Military. I continue to be concerned and sometimes even disturbed by evidence that is accumulating on the damage inflicted upon our military in recent years and the stresses our forces are under. That damage comes from a variety of factors including budget cuts of 20 , continuing resolutions, the failure to recognize or at least admit and then address mounting readiness problems as well as the shrinking size of the force while keeping the tempo of operations high. There is certainly plenty of blame to go around between both parties and executive and legislative branches for this state of affairs. Now with a new administration and a new congress, we have an opportunity to begin the repairs. To do that, we need a clear understanding of the state of our military, and the immediate trends that challenge us. For that, we turn to the vice chiefs of each of our services, and we ask that each of you provide this committee your best professional military judgment in answering the questions we pose. As was emphasized last week, the world situation is dangerous and complex. This is no time to exaggerate or to underplay the challenges before us. Only by facing them squarely can we meet the obligations all of us have to the constitution, to the men and women who serve and to the american public. I would now yield to the distinguished acting Ranking Member, the gentleman from tennessee, for any comments he with like to make. I would like to ask unanimous consent that the Opening Statement of the real Ranking Member, mr. Smith, be inserted in the record. Without objection. Speaking on my own behalf, think we realize few subjects are more important for the future of the nation than the readiness of our military forces. And i hope that we all know that few things are more detrimental to that readiness than sequestration. So i share the chairmans hope and im not ready to be optimistic yet, but i hope that we can deal with sequestration this year. And end it, permanently. So it is going to be up to the folks on this committee, the largest committee in the house of representatives, to make sure that our impact is felt and ending sequestration. So thank you, mr. Chairman, i look forward to the testimony of the witnesses. Thank you, sir. Im pleased to welcome each of our witnesses today, and also to express, i know the committees appreciation for your service in this job and for each of your service to the country. Without objection, your complete written statements will be made part of the record, and let me just briefly introduce general daniel alan, vice chief of staff of the army, and general steven wilson, vice chief of staff of the air force, and general glen walters, assistant commandant of the marine corps. Thank you for being here. We would be interested in any opening comments each of you would like to make. Well start with you, general alan. Thank you, chairman thornberry and congressman cooper. Distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the state of your United States army. I appreciate your support and demonstrate a commitment to our soldiers, army civilians, families, and veterans. And look forward to discussing the strength of our army with you today. This is a challenging time for our nation. And certainly for our army. The unipolar moment is over, and replacing it is a multipolar world characterized by competition and uncertainty. Today the army is globally engaged with more than 182,000 soldiers supporting Combatant Commanders in over 140 worldwide locations. My recent travel, i visited our soldiers in 15 countries since veterans day, reinforces that the army is not about programs. It is all about people. Our people executing Security Missions all around the globe. The strength of the all volunteer force truly remains our soldiers. These young men and women are trained, ready, and inspired. And we must be similarly inspired to provide for them commensurate with their Extraordinary Service and sacrifice. To meet the demands of todays unstable Global Security environment and maintain the trust placed in us by the American People, the army requires sustained, longterm, and predictable funding. Absent additional legislation, the caps set by the budget control act of 2011 will return in fy 18, forcing the army to once again draw down our end strength, reduce funding for readiness, and increase the risk of sending undertrained and poorly equipped soldiers into harms way. A preventable risk our nation must not accept. We thank all of you for recognizing that plans to reduce the army to 980,000 soldiers would threaten our National Security and we appreciate all your work to stem the drawdown. Nevertheless, the most important actions you can take, steps that will have both positive and Lasting Impact, will be to immediately repeal the 2011 budget control act and ensure sufficient funding to train, man and equip the fy 17 ndaa authorized force. Unless this is done, additional top line and oko funding, though nice in the shortterm, will prove unsustainable, rendering all your hard work for naught. Readiness remains our number one priority. Sufficient and consistent funding is essential to build and sustain current readiness, to progress towards a more modern, capable force, sized to reduce risk for contingencies and to recruit and train the best talent within our ranks. Readiness remains paramount because the army does not have the luxury of taking a day off. We must stand ready at a moments notice to defend the United States and its interests. With your assistance, the army will continue to resource the best trained, best equipped, and best led fighting force in the world. We thank you for the steadfast support of our outstanding men and women in uniform, and please accept my written testimony for the record and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Admiral . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good morning. And good morning to the member of the committee. It is a privilege to be here with my fellow vice chiefs to talk about the readiness of our military. It is easiest for me to talk to you in terms of simple supply and demand. As many of you know, the ongoing demand for Naval Forces Far exceeds our longterm supply. And that need continues to grow with no end in sight. Supply is best summed up in one fact. Your navy today is as small as it has been in 99 years. That said, we are where we are. Which makes it urgent to add kw adequately fund, fix and maintain the fleet we do have. We have never been busier. A quick snapshot and youll see the navy is the nations primary deterrence policy in places like the arabian, mediterranean and South China Seas. Over the past five or six years, this call for deterrence and to be ready to take action has grown. Principally because of the Aggressive Growth from expanding naval competitors like russia and china. And when you add threats from iran, north korea, isis and others, it is a very, very busy time for your navy. Our sellers have always risen to the occasion, answering the call no matter the circumstances and no matter the resources. From providing food, water and medical assistance in haiti, to striking hostile sites in yemen, to navy s. E. A. L. S taking down terrorist leaders, were getting it done because thats who we are. And thats what makes us the best navy in the world. But the unrelenting pace, inadequate resources, and small size are taking their toll. Our testimony today may seem like a broken record. Our navy faces increased demand without the size and resources required to properly maintain and train for our future. Every year we had to make tough choices. Often choosing to sacrifice longterm readiness to make sure we can be ready to answer the call today. We are, in fact, putting our first team on the field, but we lack serious depth on the bench. This didnt happen overnight. Readiness declines tend to be insidious. From year to year we have all learned to live with less and less and we have certainly learned to execute our budget inefficiently with nine consecutive continuing resolutions, but this has forced us to repeatedly take money from cash accounts that are the life blood of building longterm readiness in our navy. It is money for young lieutenants to fly high and fast, and who need air under their seats to perfect their skills in the future. It is money for spare parts that sailers can fix the gear they have. And it is money for sailors to operate at sea in all kinds of conditions to build instincts that create the best war fighters in the world. With your help we have the opportunity to change this. It starts by strengthening our foundation. Lets ensure that the ships and aircraft that we do have are maintained and modernized so they provide the full measure of combat power. Then lets fill in the holes by eliminating the inventory short falls and ships, submarines and aircraft throughout the fleet. And together, by taking these steps, we can achieve the ultimate goal of sizing the navy to meet the strategic demands of the dynamic and changing world. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to be here and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. General wilson. Thank you, chairman thornberry, congressman cooper, distinguished members of the committee. On behalf of the secretary of the air force and chief of staff, it is an honor to be with you today and be with my fellow chase chiefs to talk to you about the state of our air force and readiness. Together we provide leaders with a broad range of options to protect our country and its interests both home and abroad. For the past 70 years, responsive, flexible and agile american air power has been our nations first and most sustainable solution in both crisis and conflict, underriding every other instrument of power. We provide the nation with unrelenting global vigilance, global reach, and global power, in short your air force is always in demand, and always there. Look no further than two weeks ago when your air force executed a precision strike in libya, killing over 100 violent extremists. This was a textbook transregional multidomain, multifunctional mission. Precision navigation and timing and monitoring enemy communication and movement. Simultaneously two b2 bombers took off from missouri, flew 17 hours one way, refueled with numerous tankers and teamed with two mq 9s within send seconds of their designated time over target. They then flew another 17 hours home, and landed safely back in the United States. Meanwhile, airmen operate 60 remotely piloted aircraft patrols, 24 7 365. They ply missions from the continental United States, teaming with nearly 20,000 Forward Deployed airmen to support operations like the recent events in raqqah and mosul. Rpa fighters, bombers, have conducted 92 of the strikes against isis. We did this all while simultaneously ensuring twothirds of our Nuclear Triad and the command and control remain robust, reliable, flexible, and survivable options for the nations. During the allotted time of the hearing, an average of 65 mobility aircraft will take off, 430,000 cyberconnections will be blocked, five Homeland Defense missions will fly, and three strikes against isis will occur. Each of these actions are enabled by airmen providing spacebased position, navigation and timing in communication for our military, also providing gps capability to the worlds 3 billion users. The capabilities are of our airmen provide to our nation and allies have never been more vital and the Global Demand for american air power will only grow in the future. American airmen remain professional, innovative, dedicated, and quite frankly the envy of the world. However, we are out of balance. The demand for our mission and our people exceed this supply. 26 years of continuous combat has limited our ability to prepare for the future, against advanced future threats. Scenarios with the lowest margin of error and highest risk to National Security. This nonstop combat, paired with the budget instability and lower end top lines has made the United States air force the smallest, oldest equipped and least ready in our history. We attempted to balance risk across the force to maintain readiness, and forced to make unacceptable trades between readiness, force structure and modernization. Todays global challenges require air force ready not only to defeat violent extremism, but an air force prepared to modernize for any threat the nation may face. Mr. Chairman, ill close by quoting general douglas mcarthur, he sent the following cable as he escaped he said, the history of failure and war can be summed up in to words. Too late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose after potential enemy. Too late if realizing the moral danger. Too late in preparedness. Distinguished members of the committee, preparedness or readiness cannot be overlooked. Your air force needs congressional support to repeal the budget control act. It provides stable predictable funding. Its critical to building the military full Spectrum Readiness which is the number one priority for the secretary of defense. We need to act now, before its too late. On behalf of the chief of staff and secretary of air force and 660,000 active airmen who serve our nation, thank you for your tireless support for us. I look forward to your questions. General walters . Distinguished members of the House Armed Services committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today and report on the readiness of your marine corps. The marine corps means dedicated to our essential role as the naval force of readiness. During 15 years of conflict we focused investment on insuring marines were prepared for the fight and they were. Today our operational tempo remains as high as it was during the peak of our operations in ir iraq and afghanistan. Our continues focus combined with the fiscal uncertainty and reductions leave your marine corps facing substantial rigorous challenges. Your marine corps is insufficiently equipped for the op yalgs environment. Due to years of fiscal constraint, optimized for past and sacrificing modernization and infrastructure for our current rate of posture. With increased resources and maintenance needed to improve readiness across our entire marine corps we require your support it three key areas our nation requires of us. Over the past 18 months we have identified various end strength and associate capabilities and modernization required to operate in the threaten viernment characterized by complex terrain, information warfare, electro magnetic signatures and contested maritime domain. We need to increase our component end strength. We are confident that increase of 3,000 marines per year maintains a rate of growth inconnist with the session while maintaining high standard. Our basis station in the platforms where we train and generate our readiness. The continued underfunding of facility sustainment restoration and modernization and military construction continues to cause progressive degradation of our infrastructure and creates increased longterm cost. We have a backlog of over 9 billion in deferred maintenance for instfrastructure. We require uptodate training systems, support fielding of new equipment and Simulation Systems that facility and improved training in standard and readiness. Supporting the joint force requirements of the past 15 years consumed much of the useful life of our legacy systems and fiscal uncertainty and reduce defense spending for significant delays in a modernization efforts. There is significant cost associated with maintaining and sustaining any legacy system without a proportional capability increase associated with that investment. As we continue to spend limited fiscal resources sustain legacy systems, developed threats of 20 years ago, we risk steadily losing competitive advances against potential adversaries. We need to modernize tactical fleets soonest. Amphibious ships is necessary to reach our war time requirement. To pursue the path of investing in legacy systems in lieu of modernizing our force we will find our marine corps optimized for past and increasingly at risk to defer and defeat our potential adversaries. On behalf of all of your marines, sailors and their family answers civilians that support their service, we thank the congress in this committee for the opportunity to discuss key challenges your marine corps faces. While much work needs to be done, authorizations within coupled with the sufficient funding and repeal of the budget control act will put us on a path to rebuild and sustain our ma reer corps for the 21st century. Thank you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. I want to briefly touch on some of the facts, largely if yalls written testimony but also press report and ill just go down the line. General allen, in your written testimony it says about onethird of the brigade combat terms and onefourth of our combat aviation brigades and half of our Division Headquarters are ready. And then you say only three brigade combat teams could be called on to fight tonight in the event of a crisis. Now i think we have 58, right, brigade combat teams, and your testimony is that only three of them could be callinged upon it fight tonight. Is that right . It reflects the realities of both the tempo and the recurring demand that our forces face. When we say fight tonight that means, that unit needs no additional people, no additional training and no additional equipment. And three is where were at today. And those that we say are ready, the onethird is actually just higher than that. And of our forces that are ready, require somewhere in the range of 30 days to ensure