Transcripts For CSPAN Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy On Indo-Pacific Region Strategy 20240713

Ahead, Army Secretary Ryan Mccarthy talks about u. S. Policy and strategy in the indopacific region. The Brookings Institution hosted this event. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the Brookings Institution. Before i begin my remarks, i say on behalfe to of the institution that were thinking every moment about the isllenges that australia facing with the wildfires that in suchcting australia a dramatic and negative way. And they are in our thoughts and prayers. As well we also are focused on the passenger list of the iranaft that was lost in two days ago. All of those souls are in our our prayers in today. Im john allen, im the brookingsof the institution. Were very honored too far you with us. Happy new year. Very pleased this morning to welcome the secretary of the mccarthy, who is our distinguished guest and our helping to study the future of the United States army, the Defense Department and challenges that we face in the security environment. Secretary mccarthy was confirmed last year by the u. S. Senate and after having served in that capacity as an acting secretary for a number of months, he has now assumed the the responsibilities on all matters relating to our greats United States army to include recruitment, the organization, training and ofipment and the care 1. 4 million personal. Those of our active duty force, reserve and, of civilianur important counterparts as well within the department. Hes one of the most important his is one of the important jobs in the United States government, ladies and gentlemen. Ourpivotal to keeping nation safe and our people safe, as well. Been for me, a dear friend for a long period of time to its always wonderful welcome you, mr. Secretary, to brookings. Hes a battlehardened veteran defense andtment of you would be hardpressed to find a more dedicated public better professional, and a more loyal friend of the army and our institution. I say that, of course, notwithstanding the outcome of navy game this year for which i think he would argue about responsibility. But his promotion to being the the army is a great plus for our country and for the army. Now with so many real and potential challenges on the horizon, our u. S. Army has no choice, but to adapt to an increasingly uncertain future. Complex and evolving ofeats and an environment increasingly technological sophistication, rapid change and and that is especially true of todays topic, which is the indopacific region, know the secretary is focused with laserlike clarity not just on the indopacific, the middle east and north africa and europe and elsewhere because the army is, of course, force, but today, we will talk about the indopacific region. Shortly, thegram secretary will offer us some of his own remarks, and then well be joined on the stage by brookings senior fellow mike. And theyll cover a wide array topics, but primarily it will oriented on the indopacific region. Once weve wrapped that to q a and,ell go of course, were very much on the record this morning. So again, sir we are really presence here at brookings and let me cede the floor to you now for your remarks. Thank you for joining us this morning. [applause] thank you, general allen for those overly gracious remarks, but its great to see my old teammate, a mentor and dear friend. Good to see you, thank you. Dr. Michael, thank you for extending the invite and today. Ng me obviously, among the best in the business so its great to be here at brookings. Of ideas. Is a war im especially looking forward to the discussion portion later session. The u. S. Must maintain overmatch against our adversaries and the to jointoundational forces success in the indopacific area of responsibility. Our modernization focus, how we andt, what we fight with, who we are is in part driven by and potentialnges adversaries. The armyn iron clad to priorities of readiness, modernization and reform. Investmentsnd remain aligned to our priorities. This alignment women increase the ability to operationally be dynamic. Of great power competition, china will emerge americas strategic threat. Over 60 of the worlds gdp flows through the straits of malaka and china is militarizing the global commons. In order to commodities it life its 1. 1 billion people, china is increasingly relying on its build and Road Initiative, u. S. Army in the region with modernized winery, our counterparts changes the calculus and creates dilemmas for potential adversaries. Furthermore, having the u. S. Army in the region strengthens position to conduct global commerce, build confidence with investors, and compete economically. The army has traditionally focused its efforts towards that russia is a landbased threat. Second, seven decades of in europe have set the conditions for strong militaries and strong partners capable of counting threats from abroad. Will continue to provide deterrents and shaping operations in concerted with our allies in europe. Thee many people think of army primarily having a role in europe, and we are doing many things to bolster our capabilities in europe, the army is much more than tanks and bradleys. We serve as the operational advise and control, assist, longrange precision fires and effects and the ourstical backbone of current and future military operations. Essence ismy in engaging in warfare by other means. Learned during world war ii, the adversarys goals and tyranny of geography army to operate on two fronts. Pacific. Urope and at first blush, it is easy to theme based on land mass waterways in the indopacific a assistpredominantly or service endeavor. Army on it will be the the ground partnered with militaries, influencing the people and serving as the deterrence. Pairing with our allies and partners, continuous presence equipment will enable military strength to overcome economic strangleholds, promote commons, and offer an alternative to the adversarys narrative. Live on water, air, or in space. Long before conditions escalate to war, there will be a battle of ideas. Is warfare by other means and decisions will occur in the hearts of the people. Be present to offer an alternative. Churchill once remarked quote there is only one thing worse than fighting with our allies and that is fighting without them. In this competition space, our inces will require a change behavior and patience. In constantngaged versus episodic engagements in strategy. We are playing as simon cynic argue an infinite game across several areas of responsibility. Finite mind set would have the army measuring the wrong metrics, playing a of rules for a different game. The military has had a boxers mentality to conflict. Go in, fast hands, and deliver devastating punches in the first round. Gone. Lethal, and our approach to competition with potential adversaries, however, russia, china will feel more like a soccer match instead the ring. Ound in endurance, strong partnerships, the necessarybe mix. Leadnce does not have to to conflict. If we wait until theres a conflict we are already too late. Competew during the phase, the army is refinding our improve our strategic readiness. We will accomplish readiness strengthening our partnerships and advising and assisting with our regionally aligned Security Assistance brigades known as sfabs, which in fiscal year 21. Our Multidomain Task forces with deployments in fiscal year 21 will buildyear 22 partnerships. We seek to increase foreign international, military education and training, and more repetitions for exercises, shared equipment, shared training, and shared understanding as the end state. The army is reinvigorating our disposition in the pacific. History has shown the army has theys had a role in pacific. Just a quick glance back to mccarthur and world war ii the propensity for an adversarial land and resource region and the subsequent challenges the tyranny of distance presents. Indopacific is strategically important to the United States for many reasons. Indopacific country. The worlds foremost populous and three largest economies are located in the region. Armies in 10 largest the worldare located there. The u. S. Maintains five treaties, all critical for our National Security and prosperity. Forces in the region reinforce the american narrative, the belten Road Initiative and in order to be competitive and gain an we must have continuous presence. In order to maintain overmatch and prevent conflict in the army must be. S. Postured in the region for the intensifying competition and if required to win in conflict. There is an ongoing fight for influence in the region for which access and presence are critical. Partners matter. But the type of partner is paramount. China uses economics and many partner with them out of in this lies a great deal of vulnerability. The Army Partnership comes with and interoperable equipment, training on a basis and a commitment should deterrents worldspresent in the best fighting force. China may be the partner of coercion but the u. S. Army is partner of choice. The army is uniquely suited to andide persistent presence show commitment. Shared watersough and planes fly overhead. Thee are integral parts of fight, but nothing comes close to the effects of boots on the Standing Shoulder to shoulder with our counterparts, huddled over plans or walking jungles together. This presence reinforces the United States enduring allies andto our partners in the indopacific. 2020, the army is sending forces on fivemonth tog extended rotations thailand, philippines, and even guinea. Ew we are not only providing with our allies and partners, we are also expanding the scope, duration, scale and our training and exercises with partners to push into new areas. Armys National Guard state Partnership Program ties states countries around the world that have routine and consistent touch points with each other. Forces engage with 22 countries in europe and 12 in indopacific on a habitual basis. In many countries throughout the largest armies are the and most influential military service, making the u. S. Army thelogical partner of services. Our army to Army Partnerships build valuable relationships for the dod at large. These are more than simply steadfast partners. Are key Decision Makers and influencers in their respective countries. Furthermore, shared equipment builds interoperability and operating together easier while creating strategic depth. Our operations in the indopacific include training with army forces, helping newland sand up their striker units as their striker vehicles, 15, in fact, are arriving right now. The philippines has asked for more help in training 72 infantry battalions as they upgrade their equipment and evolve their doctrine. We continue to do traditional security cooperation, we are also employing new capabilities and the indopacific as grounds to test our new concept multidomain operations or mdo. If conflict with a great power occurred, the United States would be unable to easily and strategic locations safely flow in forces. Seeking to regain overmatch and alllution for converging domains, mdo creates an asymmetrical advantage. Mdo sets the conditions in theater while opening a window force. Joint in fy18 just months after the Defense Strategy was published, reorienting our focus towards the great power russia,ion with china, north korea and iran, we conducted our first experiments the Multidomain Task force. Intelligence information, cyber, Electronic Warfare and space i2qs. Nown as the concepts, tested leveraging exercises, such as japaneseshield with ground selfdefense forces operating in the east china sea. Headquarters in japan, the task force elements were senkakuted across the islands. Pacific pathways tested our spokey to use a hub and model, deploying task forces to single locations for a longer executingtime, and Dynamic Force employment to spoke locations. We deployed a company from a hub location in the philippines to palau, returning after 37 years. Were invigorating historic partnerships through our partner forces. In fy20, we planned to conduct 2020, incorporating longrange precision fires and longrange precision effects. By 21, the army will position a Multidomain Task force in the indopacific theater and deploy second one in fy22. This is inspiring our closest and partners to invest more in building similar capabilities. Thailand, singapore, all are developing mdolike concepts concert with us. It also provides the opportunity to stretch the limits of toistics and learn how employ new capabilities in different operational environments. In new locations to experiment with logistic concepts and develop methodology employing longrange precision fires or hypersonics in the region. On contentious ground creates a continuous potentialr adversaries and changes the calculus in their decisionmaking cycle. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the army andrities and our budget investments are aligned against the same. Forces, such as regionally sfebs generate operations for commanders direct from influence to contact. Furthermore, mdo creates strong partners in the region. The u. S. Must maintain overmatch against our adversaries and the is Foundation Tool joint forces success in the ofopacific area responsibility. General allen, mike, thank you for having me. As, you know, im a big fan of of your work. I look forward to our discussion. Thank you. [applause] mr. Secretary, thank you for those fantastic remarks. I want to give my own little a fullut, not introduction, but i was recently was conference who recounting a lot of the accomplishments that you and the other members of the socalled mcconville,neral now army chief and then your predecessors in these jobs, secretary esper, general millet, socalled concepts of night court where to back up all the words you just heard, these folks got into the trenches and went through by program the armys budget for modernization and and actuallyings modified or canceled i believe somewhere in the range of 180 to 10s saving five billion a year so i know there are a lot of people who are worried the Defense Budget is cang up too much and we debate that probably not today so much, but thats a national question. Worry thateople who were too focused on this or that priority. The i want you to know is big four rolled up their sleeves with a title thats fitting of a show, night court, and went through pound by pound, dollar, 10 million was not too small of a program to reexamine. And as a result, the army has 5 a year or more to back up these priorities that youve hypersonics,about, a. I. , cyberweapons, directed Energy Weapons so thatatulations on all of as well and on your new position. Begin really by asking you to explain two big the indopacific before we get into more nittygritty country by Country Program by program. And one is to just define the indopacific for cspan audiences and others who may not ofw just how the Department Defense uses that term. Explain tocond, to what extent the u. S. Army has the same view as the Department Defense writ large because in the dod, indopacific strategy year, you talk about you collectively talked aboutaya pacific or the indopacific region as the most important in the entire world for American Defense policy. And yet as you said in your remarks historically we worried a lot about russia, the soviet to europe andeat it looks to me as if for the remains ape comparably important priority and, of course, the middle east remains the area of greatest activity. So how do we understand the role of the army in the indopacific it reallyt extent is your priority theater compared to these other two . So if you could just give us context about those two questions, and then we can move on, please. Sure. Ill start from the broader indopacific. He assumedattis when the role was looking more how to lookely of at that problem set and recognizing that, you know, youve got to go all the way southwest asia and have a comprehensive view of allies and partners and how it the region so thats where historically the pay com it, thewe would call would basically end of just shy of going west of the south china sea. So secretary mattis extended that and had a much broader view to looking at all the relationships winter area of responsibility so he expanded that because if you kind of the gray area where sent com and pacom meet, we focus ande enough energy against the purity of pakistan asia, east of per se. So from a military standpoint. So thats where we extended the indopacific and have a much broader view. With respect to im sorry the question for the army, is it really fair to say that this is the priority region . The airwrit large for force and navy one can understand the argument, but for the army it looks like youve forces in europe than you do in asia and youve got more kinetic activity in the middle east. Looks to me like the army has three regions. This is where its i guess i call it the accounting within for commanders. Assigned forces to indopacific for the u. S. Other theater. The challenge is a lot of them are in Washington State and the coast of the United States. Indo. Hallenges the pacom commander is the capabilities. The so back in the spring, general mcconville, my wing man and i, went out to see admiral daveson, spent two or three days a look at our investments, our defender at how the look disposition of the capability would better serve his needs to get the effects within the region. We expanded the program, put more money in there, we put more money in the Defender Series Program and i highlighted that in my remarks. Division sizely a element, thats not assigned to the theater. Say the First Cavalry Division or somebody will send the pacific and you could drop them in, they could start in thailand, bounce to the philippines, go to palau and forcel do dynamic Employment Hub spoke model. We put more funding in there so we could have more of the move they for him to forces around dynamically and partners within the region. Theres a lot of capability there, but the rigid nature of the system, the way they were allocated, its providing more flexibility for pacom commander. Did highlight the stress of the job. Were 182,000 people and rising and over 140 countries. Everywhere. And what comes with that is a tenuous balance is to make sure these support all of combattened commanders. The night court exercise, its a tv show from the 80s. That, the army staff has a sense of humor because the four of us sat at table and you had to go and try to get your we riddledded and them with questions like the Supreme Court. But we had to find the funding. Mentioned the challenges with increases in defense innding and the countrys debt. We need to be better Public Servants with every penny that thats what wed try to do. So when you have 180,000 people deployed, over 60 of your Balance Sheet is fixed. Operations and maintenance and personnel. Pay people. So you have 40 of your budget andresearch, development acquisition. You had to make hard choices within thereby for your present your future. And we did that. Bets andome really big well see how we did here in the next 18 months. Think whatc and i youre driving at, correct me if im wrong, if we look at the basing in theeign indopacific its really only large in south korea. Theres no other place where we of forcesthousands all the time. But what youre talking about is southeast asia, and then south asia, all the way over to the India Pakistan where Central Command takes over and then having capability,bility, available funding to move forces on more temporary deployments, partnership exercises, the full range of thinking, and youre as you said, thailand, many of the South Pacific island nations, vietnam, well come to all of these in a second, but thats really where your emphasis has been. Say in broadto terms . Is we have a much more disposition in the region. I want to ask about military readiness in a broad sense. I know that with your responsibilities as secretary of the army, youre focused first and foremost on making sure the is fully equipped with proper weaponry, proper maintenance, the right people. And then you apply that and andattened commanders forward commanders exercise and use the capabilities that youve have to them, but you keep an eye on the way in which deployments to afghanistan, iraq, deployments to europe and korea and all others might provide too much wear and tear on the force and weve heard concerns over the years, the army is fraying at the seams, its being asked to do too much. You concerned that the army in all of its efforts to maintain previous commitments, new sorts ofhese things is undergoing readiness strain thats of a serious and concerning nature . Or do you feel like youve got the balance in pretty good shape these days . So great question. Its one among those that make up at night. In the last three years, weve brigades to 26 at their highest levels of muchness and thats as funding as it is extraordinary leadership of people like Mark Mcconville and mike garrett down at forces command of just laser focus on the training plans, and abe in korea, but now the laser focus on training plans and leadership. If you were to talk to Jim Mcconville or a Battalion Commander in the 82nd they sound the same. They know what they have to do laser focused on those plans and getting their repetitions and getting soldiers go. Y to so very proud about that. The aspects of tactical readiness, youve got to shoot, youve got to move and communicate. The simple fundamentals whether its an individual or a squad. So one of the things that hard at isng really just really focus on the. Undamentals youve got to block and tackle in football. Weve got to block and tackle in army so a lot of focus on the simple fundamentals, but highlight in my remarks it will be a lot about strategic readiness, force projection. Can you call people on new years eve and have them boots the next day northeast . The u. S. Army can because we did ago. Week very proud of that, very proud of first brigade, the 82nd, witheve got to do that everybody. So weve looked very hard at investments for Strategic Force tojection and were going continue to make those adjustments with readiness over time. For over 18t war years and the strains are there. Tired, but were extraordinarily resilient and make some tweaks within the training models so they can get more nights on the pillow so it takes a lot of effort, but its going to be tough right now. Demand is as high as it could be. Im going to get back to the main focus of more Southern Region and more astern patterns region in second, but one readiness question about korea if i could because i think its so important for us to keep our eye you agreed i know with me. Last spring when general dunford came to brookings i asked him you concerned about readiness in korea for army and other forces because weve exercisesing the big in an effort to try to facilitate a dialogue with kim jongun and potentially a nuclear deal. By the way, ive supported the exercises,of local but thats neither here nor there. The question is in an objective sense from your point of view, i its a better question perhaps for general abrahams bought weve got you here so as army, how dothe you feel about the readiness of u. S. Forces in korea and those go to korea early in a conflict from the United States or elsewhere given that we stopped for a moment doing big exercises as we traditionally had done with the forces . Of korea armed so im heading to south korea ille end of the month and get a great chance to sit down with general abrahams and get a greater perspective, but he had said he has managed the risk. Units, theyre ready to roll. Weve done a remarkable job there as i highlighted before, brigades at the highest levels of readiness, but for efforts on the ground, general abrahams is making adjustments and he thinks he can manage the risk. So you see it as a risk, but risk that at the moment is, if its causing any degradation in capability at all its a very level and one we can figure ways around. Yes. Let me get more towards the regions that you were focused on in your remarks, the broader part of more than half the theds surface in indopacific command if im not mistaken and if we count inspire much of asia, all the way over to the indo pakistani border. Start with the philippines . And i would just love to ask about your overall sense of that the most important things the army is doing and where some of your plans are philippinesthe Going Forward . Strong historic relationship obviously getting back to the 40s and so im traveling there at the end of the month and well very we have about five different locations with,ere in partnership the enhanced cooperation defense, building out those can do advisee and assist work together. We had a striker brigade go through there back in the spring and train together. Were looking at some other thetional investments in philippines. Our relationships are very workedand something we very hard at. Would you describe that relationship as its been i primarily, of course, it was the early 90s when we left the big military bases and we closed down and changed the the relationship with the philippines, and then after 9 11 we started doing training for their own problem with jihadists on their own territory. Is that still the main focus of relationship or do you see this even from an Army Perspective as focused largely china and broader changes in the region . No, i think its definitely expanded. We have a great relationship. Our Army Special Forces have been training with them for a very long time. They have great relationships with all the leaders in their government, but it is expanding the conventional side and its part of my agenda when i there at the end of the month. Let me ask im going to talk about indonesia and maybe and a couple of others as well before we go to the audience pretty quickly hire but more generallyt about how armies in the region are thinking about china and how they therefore think about working with you, working with the United States. Theres a lot of concern that china is sort of eating our lunch in asia, they have the biggest economic relationships with everybody now, the biggest trade relationships that they have the belt and Road Initiative that you pointed out that helps them buy friends and sometimes, our popularity, one another under one president or another suffers from a perception that were too have you,ist or what but what do you see when youre talking to the armies in the indonesia orr thailand or vietnam for that matter . Whats their view . They think about the u. S. Versus china . Balance oneing to against the the other . Do they want to have good relationships with both . If they afraid of china even they dont always say so publicly . Whats your takeaway . Its veryany cases bilateral, its hard to work trilateral and multilateral relationships, but its an insatiable anticipate to partner states. United whether its Foreign Military sales or advise and assist, they there. And more so than anything its just to see the consistency. And to stay and the continuous somethingnd so its that we have to make sure that can transcend across administrations, no matter whos president. One thing i noticed, the tone of the indopacific strategy and of your remarks and i say this admiration, its not very focused on war making. I mean, obviously, youre worried about that. Youre always thinking about the possibility of conflict, but theres a lot of talk that even an old peace corps volunteer appreciate like me, youre trying to build relationships and partnerships, youre trying ways to collaborate on operations. Do you see the army as sort of doing army is more in the relationship business. If you read the end of pacific strategy, most of the modernization and lethality investments are air force and navy. Partnership investment or more on the army side. Should i think of that . Sec. Mccarthy it is hard to partner from a thousand feet under the water or a supersonic airplane. Atare not the peace corps up Dover Air Force base, but army is a people business. Advantage of being shoulder to shoulder with an ally, where you eat a slice of pizza, you get another kids, and yes, you train together, and ultimately, if you have to, you are going to fight together. That is the nature and extraordinary value that the army brings to a partnership. You get to know each other. You get a relationship. A hand sharpens iron. The value of that is hard to evaluate, but that is why it is so unique about putting american boots on the ground anywhere in the world. Dr. Ohanlon let me ask i want to go to the audience pretty quickly, but let me ask if there is any country of the ones we already mentioned, or india also needs to be part of this conversation, that you are particularly excited about some of the new dynamics you see happening, new opportunities for closer collaboration, new capabilities that are being built bilaterally or in some other way, maybe one or two countries you think need to get a little more of a shout out or need more attention because there are dynamic things happening that had not been before. Sec. Mccarthy it is like i highlighted in the remarks today. Immediately, when the average observer looks at the indo pacific region, they just view is in korea. People inousands of thailand, the philippines. We are everywhere. Them understanding, having the appreciation for just her much we are doing, how much more we are going to do in that part of the world. It is a challenge. You have to get out and highlight the fact. Dr. Ohanlon one last question, and then we will go to others who i know have a lot to ask you about as well. We talked throughout the wecorps met a fair threw out the peace corps metaphor. Lets talk about a worsening relationship with china that may come to pass, if we end up in a more rivalrous state. Are you thinking longterm about ways in which the u. S. Army might more permanently establish combat power throughout the broader region . I am thinking of bases that perhaps are primarily air force or navy, but where the army has a huge role in providing Missile Defense, longrange fires, now that we are out of the inf treaty, perhaps surface to surface missile batteries. You alluded to hypersonics in your remarks. This could be in the philippine archipelago. This could be in other south asian or South Pacific nation archipelagoes. It could be in vietnam someday. Im just wondering to what extent the army is thinking about these kinds of possibilities in the abstract. I realize you dont want to get ahead of the game and start asking countries to base forces where those countries are trying to balance their own relationship with china, but in a more abstract, general sense, are you thinking about archipelago defense . Are you thinking about new kinds of combat formations throughout this broader region that if necessary we could establish and sustain . Sec. Mccarthy i highlighted the Multidomain Task force concept, and to do it justice, you would need for more time to sit here and discuss, and ultimately the generals like of the u. S. Army pacific and others. But a Multidomain Task force brings longrange precision fire and affects. The hypersonic battery, the precision strike missile, the Electronic Warfare cyber capabilities, and the position of the capability you can put it down somewhere in the south china sea, and those have the effects to change any area denial capabilities. It basically has the inverse effect. Aat it can do is become ground seed element, suppressing enemy air defenses. Ort then could flow in ships airplanes or others, along with being a deterrent, which is the ultimate goal. We do not need any more gunfights. We dont want anymore. But if they come, we will be ready. Dr. Ohanlon thank you. Lets go to you. Please wait for a microphone and identify yourself if you could. We will start in the fifth row, this gentleman here. John john harper with National Defense magazine. Thank for being here, mr. Secretary. Yourentioned fms sales in remarks. Can you talk about specific capabilities or systems you want to encourage u. S. Allies in the pacific to invest in, and by u. S. Equipment . Sec. Mccarthy any and all, to start with. The timeline is to purchase 60 strikers. They have the first 15. We are going to flow the rest shortly. Chinook helicopter sales. We are selling a lot of small arms capabilities, communications. You look at major platforms, but communication is very important as well. That is where the interoperability comes, and we can be able to communicate with each other and coordinate large entities to conduct exercises. Ally,time i meet with an fms sales is on the agenda. I do everything i can to help push American Business all over the world. Dr. Ohanlon sydni . Sydni sydni friedberg, breaking defense. Here, iore we started googled an old article of mine entitled pivot to asia not the lingeringt gravity of the middle east. That was from 2012. So people have been trying very hard across two administrations and both parties to focus all of dod and the army on the asiapacific, and the middle east keeps sucking us back in. Obviously, you are not the guy who allocates forces. That is a joint staff function. But as you look at the Army Modernization program, as you do the budget and the 31 party programs, how can you make sure that the things we are investing in have applicability across the theaters we are working in, that the capabilities in the capabilities in the big sick and so forth have a role in the mideast and in the pacific, and in the european theater, rather than being custom, niche, for one theater, the way the big five were back in the 1980s . Sec. Mccarthy you need a couple of things. Number one, you need the will to do it, and we do have the will. The second was, to the points that michael talked about earlier, was the Balance Sheet engineering. We freed up billions of dollars. Now, the preponderance of it went toward modernizing our force. Hundreds offreed up millions of dollars so we could have a defender exercise, so we could have a more robust program. Now we are in a position to put thousands of people in the region, and we did that. I mean, we started over two years ago, so we have been doing that, and it is really starting to scale here in 21. You have to be able to balance all of the worldwide demand. That is a very hard thing to do as the secretary of defense. Esper is doing a great job. But he has to be reliant upon the services to make hard choices and create that trade space in their Balance Sheet so they can do it all. In the armys case, we have done that, and we are going to have thousands of people in training this year. Dr. Ohanlon let me take the prerogative to followup on sydnis point and put this question to you directly. Is there any area, any activity, where the recent need to put more forces in the middle east has deprived you of the opportunity or the resources to focus more on great power competition, the way the national Defense Strategy says we must . Or you able so far to manage all of that simultaneously . Sec. Mccarthy this has adoubtedly forced me to make hard look at this, but we are on track with all of our commitments. Dr. Ohanlon over here on the side, and then we will come back here in a second. Thank you, secretary. I represent vietnamese americans. The army makes a big difference on the ground. I would like to come back to the vietnam war and how you prepare to deal with the Public Relations in southeast asia, especially now in the philippines under duterte. To somehowir efforts create conflicts between our american armies and the people there in the philippines by causing a lot of chaos and situations like what happened in , and also in the longterm. You said we have the will, but the will of the people of america what is going now if we are not under the support of congress . So the second question is, what do you think about the role of congress in supporting your role . Thank you. Sec. Mccarthy the role of congress is critical for everything we do in the u. S. Army, because the American People send them there. They are elected. I am appointed. They are my board of directors, and they are the polls for the country is. So it is incredibly important for us to work with congress. I talked to congressional members of staff i think just about every day, so with respect to the vietnam conflict, as the sun of a vietnam veteran, i am intimately aware of the aspects of that conflict. Growing up at the kitchen table, hearing about it. So it is important to have everything right here at home, as it is to work with the partners. Like i mentioned in my remarks, the type of things we are doing with allies is as much training and assisting as investing in those countries to strengthen the partnership economically, militarily. It is all of the things we can do to prevent conflict. Dr. Ohanlon im going to again intercede and ask one quick question, because the question also touched on president duterte, and it make me wonder. Some of the countries you are working with in this region are of mixed democratic credentials, to put it politely, and that is an ageold problem, not new to this region or to you or the trumpet ministration. But i wonder, are there any places you really have to keep your eye on the countrys human rights record, or recent proclivity for military takeover, or anything else for that has been a big constraint or concern on your partnership and engagement activities . Makes a bigy it challenge for us, and i am not going to highlight anybody specifically. We are not going to allow our values as a service or a country to be dragged down by instances like that. Close to want to stay the institutions that we have partnered with for decades. Countries have challenges politically. They go up and they go down. When you look at relationships that withstand the test of time, the best relationship the u. S. Government has with a country like egypt or others is the u. S. Army. We trained together. They buy our equipment. Some of them send their kids here to go to school, to college. You have to hang in there with them. You can dial up the relationship and bring it down while those challenges are in place. I have seen many instances like that, serving in the last three administrations. You just have to be conscious of it at all times. Dr. Ohanlon here on the second row, please. Brian Brian Mccullough from lucky mother from lucky martin. Attacks interact this week show the importance of Missile Defense. Vladimir putin this week in crimea with units that have hypersonic missiles. The chinese last october showing the team at their great military parade. How do you see the army taking on hypersonic defense requirements and approaches, moving forward, as part of your indo pacific approach . Thank you. Sec. Mccarthy we have a joint partnership across the entire department of defense, between navy, air force, and Missile Defense agency, on the hypersonic effort, investing billions of dollars across the future defense plan, looking at even increasing the profile over the next couple budgets. So this has been basically a National Priority since secretary mattis was in this seat. Invested a lotas of attention on this as well, in particular. The resources there are tremendous, and there is energy there. We need industry to step up and invest, and they have got to come forward. First and foremost, invest the time to work with our National Network to understand how we have come forward with this technology. But they are going to have to make investments to be able to produce these at scale. Dr. Ohanlon im going to do it again, because people keep asking such Great Questions and raising topics that i think invite followon questions. We talk a lot about hypersonics these days, and i wondered, mr. Secretary, if you could explain a little bit more what specific problem they are trying to solve at an offensive level. It is the Missile Defense question, but there is also the question i sometimes think it is important that these weapons are as happy as i am that you are investing that they are always good to be somewhat exquisite. They are complex, they are expensive, and they reduce the time from launch to detonation or impact, but often we are pretty fast already at shooting weapons, once we know what we are shooting at once we have the target. What specific set of problems do hypersonic saliva you to solve at an offensive level that you could not address with other weapons . Just how important is this area of military innovation . Sec. Mccarthy hypersonics is like the Pershing Missile of the 21st century. If you look at what the Pershing Missile did in europe fortunately, they never had to fire one. There were about three battalions around europe, and it was a tremendous deterrent for conflict, and that is obviously the optimal use for that capability. Of theis because extraordinary speed and lethality of that capability. The dilemma is that if you dont have essentially the type of almost Artificial Intelligence capabilities, because of the speed at which the munition can travel you cannot find it, sense it, or shoot it, because it will be there within a couple of minutes. That is what has got so much attention from National Leaders like the ones mentioned, because it is an extra ordinary capability, and it could send a very strong message, or it could confuse people, and you could end up in an escalatory type of situation. So from an offensive standpoint, it creates dilemmas that would disrupt any decision cycle. From a missiledefense of theint, it is as much hardware as it is the sensing capability of just how fast can you cue, find it, and cue something to kill it. So this is an extraordinary capability that a lot of countries are investing enormous National Resources against, and it is going to change warfare. Dr. Ohanlon thank you. Woman here in the red jacket. Mr. Secretary, my name is bonnie gerard, and i am president of a consultancy. It is a china channel. We are a risk and Strategic Advisory consultancy. We originate out of beijing originally in 1996, and then out of the states since 2001. My question is this. You talked a few minutes ago about partner armies and the u. S. Army getting to know each pizza,y eating slices of getting to know each others names, being together. How People Like Us and the commercial world who have spent decades in china we got to know by working and living and socializing sidebyside with active and retired pla officers and their families. Andot to know these people, we had slices of pizza and chicken wings and other things. So we got to know them in a way that for the commercial world was appropriate. How does the army get to know the chinese pla in a similar intimate way . Sec. Mccarthy the pizza was free. It is friday night at the mccarthy house. Millie, who was the chief, the chairman, met with his pla counterpart two or three exactly thehat is type of behavior we have got to have. Frank, candid conversations. Think obviously, from the political point of view, we should as well. But the relationships are unique because of the continuity. It transcends administrations. I agree with you we have done that with certain frequency on and off for the last couple decades at least. There needs to be more of it. I encourage it. I remember when i was working mullenert gates, he and had a weeklong event where they brought in all of the leaders from the pla, and it was extremely beneficial. We just need to be more consistent with that, because you have an understanding with each other. I absolutely agree with you that we should do more. Dr. Ohanlon we will go to the gentleman on the same side, about seven throwback. Jonathan jonathan way from bechtel. Regarding the stationing of forces in the pacific, is there any effort to increase the permanent presence of forces at our legacy basis, or will you primarily focus on expeditionary pacific pathways type presence . Are mccarthy very much you in line with where secretary mattis started this and secretary esper is right there as well. It is the Dynamic Force deployment, and it is expeditionary in nature. We can be much more comprehensive in the touch points in the region. And it is much more economical. And as you know, speed counts, so it will be dynamic, expeditionary, for the foreseeable future. Dr. Ohanlon i will even give a brief shot up to secretary rumsfeld. A lot of this thinking goes back to him. It is an idea that has been in the works. You have been able to make it happen more than some of your predecessors. The woman on this side of the sixth row. I am from radio free asia. Do you think this korean conflict between the u. S. The conflict with iran directly affects north korea, or indirectly . Some prospect north korea might take advantage of this time when the u. S. Is more focused on the middle east area, and they might take some more provocative action for the u. S. The following question is, is there any new effort by the u. S. Army in the Korean Peninsula to step up defense or offense capability against north korea . Thank you. With respect to your first question, there is always risk with that. I dont see a direct correlation right now. On the operations side, im not one to comment about operational moves on the peninsula. Dr. Ohanlon we will go to tom, and after him, the gentleman right next to tom. Attom burke, army here brookings. Commander, i can attest to the technical, Strategic Benefits of the pathway mission set. As you are looking to expand this mission set, is this something you would consider doing in cooperation with the marine corps . We are looking to manage the multitude of commitments we have in the army. Thank you, sir. Sec. Mccarthy we all participate in the pacific pathways exercise. The endo pay, commander and our Army Pacific Commander going all the elective u. S. Capabilities together with our partners out in the region. It is a large, multinational effort. The marine corps participates, has a substantial presence during the exercise. Some of the things that marine corps are looking at is the disposition within the region as well. I dont think they have made any decisions at this point. Changes, excuse. Christopher christopher woody from business insider. Regarding logistics, the army in europe has been working with nato and the e. U. To resupply and the worst. How satisfied are you of the armys ability to resupply, and what do you need to do with sister branches and partners from the region to improve that . Sec. Mccarthy like i mentioned before, it is the tyranny of distance. What is it, about 900 miles from just vietnam to the spratlys . It is a call to get anywhere. Points inlogistical the region. You have to rely largely on your allies, and the expeditionary nature. Where do you put prepositioned expeditionary equipment that has access to harbors . We have had great relationships for decades. To michaels point earlier, it is kind of reenergizing some of those muscles. That will require investment and it will require some work allies. How do we partner together to do that . We have got some work to do. Dr. Ohanlon on the north korea question, if you dont mind my following up, you mentioned twice that we now have 26 brigades. Presumably that is part of the answer to the question. Even though you are needing to send a few hundred or a few thousand forces here and there to the broader middle east, you still have more combat capable brigades at high levels of readiness than we have had in really decades in the United States. It isccarthy extraordinary considering the demands we face in the world and is a testament to the leadership of the men i mentioned before. Dr. Ohanlon and that is in the active force . Sec. Mccarthy all of our combat troops. We have almost 60 brigades between the active guard and reserve. Dr. Ohanlon so almost half are top to readiness, and the rest are maybe a notch down but still pretty good . Sec. Mccarthy the things that make you the most proud even in the last 18 months, we took an armored brigade that was not at the highest level of readiness. They showed up, and they delivered in the european theater. The trend in a largescale exercise. So you can never underestimate just how good our people are, and even when they are just shy of going through the wickets, i would bet on them every day and twice on sunday. Dr. Ohanlon and reach that high level of readiness, you need adequate numbers with the right specialties, the right equipment,he right and recent Training Experience and exercise experience. All those things have to be met to reach the top tier, right . Sec. Mccarthy and if they do not, you are just dialing up the risk on their performance, but if not, they will deliver even better. Dr. Ohanlon the second row, and one round in the back before we wrap up. Dan how do you see the armys role in the region differing from that of the marines, but how do you see the Army Supporting the role of the marines in the region . Sec. Mccarthy in many cases we support the marine corps logistically with air assets, some longrange precision fighters, a sustainable nature. Marine corps can show up, hit hard, having a duration within the deployment is where the challenge of the logistical background that is really where they do a lot of that together. They can do other more offensive Type Training together as well. We had a couple of hands in the back before we wrap up in about five minutes. The gentleman standing right there, and then we will work up. From the news agency of hong kong. You talk a lot about the competition between the u. S. And china. I am wondering if there is any cooperation with the pla and the u. S. Army . I know last year there was a joint drill of the humanitarian rescue between the u. S. Army and pla. Anything else . Secondly, how do you see the role of taiwan and the u. S. Armys Indo Pacific Strategy . Is there any effort between the up. Army and taiwan to step isperation when the pentagon now supporting taiwan . Sec. Mccarthy like i mentioned before, we have what we call our chief talks between the chiefs of our services, with our counterparts in the chinese government. We dont have any joint exercises or anything of that nature. With respect to the relationship with taiwan, we have they are in interoperability partner. They buy u. S. Capability. We do advise and assist training. And consistently we work that relationship through the commander and the u. S. State department. Dr. Ohanlon two years ago, i was invited to be on a panel with general brooks on the armies of the Pacific Symposium the u. S. Army had spearheaded and promoted. You still do that annually, where there is a multilateral gathering where the chinese are part of the conversation. You talk about humanitarian relief, things like that. There was a hand. Yes, please. From a service. You talked about hub and spoke, and the flexibility of sending troops in the region. Traditionally, the United States force is the largest component in the region. I was just wondering, do you look into any situation of United States, north korea, part of it being including others in the situation in the region . And also, do you see sec. Mccarthy deploy off the peninsula . Brigades, for example. Also, do you see any role of the United States force it was focused on korea deterrence, but do you see expanded no. They are focused on the peninsula. We have other formations and organizations throughout the region, and work other relationships. One more hand, and then we will wrap up. Match, defense daily matt, defense daily. How is the army thinking about annexedjen combat rea a n combat vehicle . Ranges important for our aviation fleet. I was in texas looking at a potential suitor to replace the black hawk helicopter, for example. If you look at the types of requirements that we are putting on our system, range is incredibly important whether it is a ground vehicle or a helicopter, because the nature has continually progressed. Weapons systems are becoming more capable, more lethal and have greater range, so sites are getting expanded all over the world and that is where warfare will had in the foreseeable future. Mr. Secretary, thank you have been doing for the last three years, for your new responsibilities and for coming to visit us at brookings. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] order. House will be in has been years, cspan providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court and publicpolicy events from washington dc and around the country, so you can make up your own mind. 1970 nine,cable in cspan is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. Cspan. Your unfiltered view of government. Andy purdy is chief Security Officer for huawei , he is based in washington dc and he is our guest on the communicators. Andy my primary role is internal, although i have been dern have been doing external things for the past few months, i chair the committee of key parts of the company in the United States that tries to assess and manage and control risk, help support our overall ethics and Compliance Program so that we make sure we protect huawei