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Pilots in the air force. He spoke about military readiness and modernization earlier this month at the h heritage foundation. Its about 45 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, and it is a pleasure to see all of these smiling, handsome faces out here at heritage. And i am going to take a moment to introduce a man who actually needs no introduction. Ive known general goldfein for 25 years. We went to Fighter Weapon School together. Actually, it was 25 years ago this month. We were in the throes of, im sure, the second phase of training. And having the time of our lives. General goldfein has flown combat aircraft. He went in from Shaw Air Force base into desert storm and has some Great Stories to tell on that, if you have a moment after this event is done. He went on to several assignments. He commanded a squadron in combat, as a squadron commander, led through the highs and lows of that. He commanded a component, which is an air force level in combat. And now he leads the United States air force in combat today. It is my pleasure to welcome my good friend, and the chief of staff of the United States air force, general dave goldfein. Thanks. Well see how long it takes us before were both talking like this. Its broken down already. Im going to take a couple minutes to ask a question. Our forum from there, 40 minutes into the presentation, well open up to questions in the audience and see where this goes. Audit to be a fun conversation. So general goldfein, readiness is the number one item on the docket for todays conversation, and its one of the biggest conversations in congress on the hill. And throughout the United States. In testimony last spring, during your confirmation testimony, you told congress that less than 50 of your combat force was ready to go to war in the full spectrum combat situation. General nolan, a week and a half ago, actually put a rider on that and said 4 of 56 squadrons, active duty, guard and reserve, were ready for that level of combat. I just returned from two weeks in europe, and i had the opportunity to spend time on your old stomping grounds, and talking to a bunch of Fighter Pilots. And ive got to tell you, i was really impressed. I saw that the Readiness Level and the energy in those guys was just like we knew it way back when. I have the overall impression that the components forward, are doing actually pretty well. But i think its coming at a pretty high cost of the folks here in the states. Could you talk a little bit about how were doing with readiness, and flying hours for our Fighter Pilots . Yeah, thanks. You know, when you have a discussion about readiness, because its a rather complex dialogue, you actually have to start with the answer to a question, ready for what, where and when. Perhaps the most important part of that is ready for what. Because if you were to ask me the question, which is something i think you saw when you were forward, are we ready to continue the Current Campaign against violent extremism. Primarily in the middle east. And continue at that pace for some years to come. My answer is, that is absolutely yes. Because that is my singular focus. If you were to walk just like what you saw when you were forward in europe, if you were to walk the line in korea, or at bagram in afghanistan, what you would see would be very high levels of readiness. Because these are our fight tonight forces. And so we have the appropriate supervision, the parts that we need. Weve got the things that we need that when you generate for an air force, those things that you have to invest in to generate and sustain readiness, are all fairly high levels. But theres a billpayer. And the billpayer very often are bases back home that actually contribute back home, meaning in the United States, that actually contribute the forces that then go forward. To enjoy that high level of readiness. So back to ready for what . I can actually accept that risk. If thats what my focus is. But once you start getting in the business of simultaneity, and start looking at doing more than one thing, then the Readiness Challenges start to surface. Because the force that you rely on to go into that next contingency is the one thats actually generating the readiness that we have forward now. So, for instance, in the air force, you know, if you remember when we went into desert storm together, we had 134 squadrons. Im just looking at fighters. Im not even talking about the remainder of the air force and all of the diverse missions we do. We had 134 squadrons in the air force and deployed 34 forward. Today, grand total, we have 55. So if you take a look at the just the numbers of squadrons you have available to contribute to the Global Campaign plans, were at a point now in the air force where we have just gotten so small that the rubber band has stretched pretty tight. I will tell you that since last year, when i testified during my confirmation hearing, we have put a concerted effort towards getting at all elements of readiness. Its been our number one priority. Its why you hear me talking so much about people. Because the reality is, as we have gotten smaller over the years, our formations have thinned out, and so right now my number one priority that moved the readiness back to where it needs is to increase the numbers we need in our formations to get to the point where we now have troop to task assessed right relative to what the nation is asking us to do. So we have seen some improvement. Well continue to swing away at it. We do look better than we did last year. Very important that as we heard last week in the hearing we had, very important for the Service Chiefs that sequester is repealed and we actually get a stable budget that we can plan for. And that, quite frankly, is the most important impact we can have on the readiness. Thank you for that. The sequestration is a big deal. And having the wherewithal to pull that is going to be something to watch and something well certainly be pushing for here at heritage. Ive got a slide that just went up and you can see it here, sir. And its talking about retention of pilots. And this is one where the demand of for pilots across the spectrum of military and civilian employment is quite high right now. And the shortage of pilots is becoming a large issue. Right now i believe the air force, latest numbers from general grasso are 1,000 pilots short of a 3,800pilot requirement and the active duty inventory. Could you talk a little bit about that for me . And i may have a followon. Yeah. So right now, important to note though, for us as an air force, one of the things im really proud of, we are truly one air force with throw components. And we have guards that can contribute to operations around the world. Quite frankly, i as the chief of staff of this one air force, we cannot do the job that were doing without our guard and reserve right there with us. But pilot shortage, i have called it a crisis. But i will tell you that it is a National Level issue that im trying to approach from starting off at a National Level. Because this is just a this is a supply demand mismatch. The nation right now is producing less pilots that we need to be able to service commercial, business and military aviation. And so youve got to start this dialogue at the National Level. And have enlisted the help of congress to work with me as the lead airman on behalf of the my fellow joint chiefs, because were all affected by this to say how do we first get at a at a level where we can look nationally and incentives to be able to increase the supply to better meet the demand. And then you take a look at what were doing within the military. And for me, its a balanced approach of quality and service and quality of life. Quality of life tends to be those things that we do to incentivize a family that tends to want to stay with us. Removing financial burdens. Its approaching aviation bonus. All of those things that go into, you know, sitting around that Kitchen Table and having a discussion about whether you stay or not. Quality of service. Equally important. And i believe that morale is inextricably linked to readiness. And where you mentioned you are walking the line at spang dollim, if you felt like morale is high, its because were ready to keep readiness at a high level. Pilots who dont fly, controllers who dont control, they wont stay with us. And so getting the Readiness Levels up so were able to actually make quality of service for the largest incentive for getting our pilots to stay, for me, is where im focused. And there will be there is not going to be one big program or thing that were going to do thats going to make pilots stay with us. Its going to be 100 little things. Its going to be a journey were going to be on for the next ten years. So what ive told our team is theres no such thing as a bad idea. Lets not waste a good crisis. Lets look at every single option and opportunity and perhaps most important, lets listen to the force. And so were out there aggressively talking to the force and saying, all right, what is on your mind . What are the things that are frustrating to you . You know we you may know we have taken a swing at some things i would put in the category of just irritants. You know. Additional duties that have piled up on this smaller force thats actually detracting from readiness, not adding to it. Were going after those. Significant number of computerbased training modules and ancillary training that, again, actually doesnt improve your readiness, it detracts from it. Decision authority thats been moved up, away from squadron command, which is the heartbeat of our air force that we need to push back down and ensure that the force knows that we absolutely trust them to make the decisions that they need to make. Looking at precipitationive regulations and asking ourselves how many of those are actually detracting from readiness as opposed to enhancing it. So all of those things and more. We are not going to stop swinging at this until we get it right. I had the opportunity to talk with 15 of your Fighter Pilots. Really an incredible conversation. Seeing the fire in their eyes and plugged back into that universe for a while. And we talked about several things, and retention was one of them. And you have three initiatives that are out right now. And the first of those initiatives really caught their attention. And you got them. That initiative is to reinvigorate the squadron. You touched on that a little bit. But let me just add a twist to it. Theyre going to give you one more assignment. Every person who is on the cusp of being able to stay or go, theyre going to give you one more assignment, because they believe in you. But theyre afraid of the mire and the bureaucracy that is here in this city. And theyre wondering just how well youll be able to get through that to get them what they need. And invigorate that squadron. Could you talk a little bit about, no kidding, things youre going to make happen this year . Yeah. Well, ill tell you one thing. That actually would be a little concerned with. And that is i dont really want this to be totally associated with the chief staff of the air force. Now, im going to keep swinging at it institutionally. And i have a pretty good swing. And im not going to let up up institutionally to make sure we push the chains thats required. But do you know where the most powerful impact is going to be . Its not going to be at the chief of staff of the air force level. I during the 73 Wing Commanders across the active guard and reserve. And i said, hey, i want you to leave here with two we talked a lot about this whole idea of squadrons. And when do we identify someone who we think has the potential for squad and command . And then what do we do with them . And what Development Opportunities do we have . How do we manage that talent . And once they get into squad ron command and theyre leading at the most important level of command, what do we do to ensure were part of their brain trust that were invested in their success. Because the mission of the United States air force, succeed or fail, is at the squad ron level, i believe. And the organizational chart of the United States air force, as i see it, im at the bottom. Squadron commanders at the top. And everybody else is in support. So but so i had all of the Wing Commanders together. And i said, listen, i want you to leave with two messages. Number one, i trust you. I completely and totally trust you. We hired you because we trust you, and your gut. And message number two, because i trust you, dont wait for me. Do not wait for the chief of staff of the air force to come and get after this. You start swinging away at your level, you know. I send out examples of Wing Commanders out there who are really leaning forward and getting after this. One of the you know, one of the messages that was out there was great was when the commander said, hey, chief staff of the air force said were getting rid of all duties not directly related to our mission. So page 2, you find all of the additional duties no longer theyre going to be doing. Quick question. Call me. So i sent it ought to all of the Wing Commanders. I said, go along. You know, thats exactly what im looking for. Weve got to be thoughtful about it. But i trust the Wing Commanders entrusted with the mission to get after this. So i dont actually want the force to be relying on the chief of staff of the air force to deliver. Im going to swing away at it, and im serious about it and im passionate about it. This is going to be a fullcourt press of all of the elements. I think the folks are going to be really happy to hear that statement once it hits the street and well hear shortly. Im going to put up another slide and show how our retention numbers are going to become more challenging over time. 3,800 is going to be the requirement up by 150 or 160 or so from this year. And were going to end up with a shortage, the air force will, of over 1,000 active duty Fighter Pilots. So you have this opportunity, and this at the wing and the air force and all the way up to your level to make changes, to get people to want to stay. But if that doesnt work out, there is talk right now, and its the worst kind. You and i have been in the air force when we have executed stop loss. Could you talk to me about stop loss, where we are, and what would trigger maybe your desire to go to the secretary of defense and say, boss, we need to think . Yeah. So thats the most important part of the discussion, is that this is not anything that lives within the authority of a chief of service. This is a secretary and a president ial decision in times of emergency. And so theres a little bit of chatter on the net right now about me considering stop loss. I want to make it as clear as i possibly can to everyone here and everyone listening. That i am not considering stop loss. I am not considering that. I its a tool in the secretarys tool bag to use in a when we were in a state of emergency. Were not in a state of emergency. And the reason it got into the news, most recently, is that there was a discussion until one of my commanders had, and discussed as one of those tools. Is that a tool . Thats how we answered the question. And that got linked to, okay, chief staff of the air force is going to consider stop loss. No. The reality is, this is this is a challenge. Its also a great opportunity. Because it presents again, lets not waste a good crisis. We were taught that in weapon school. So this is an opportunity for us to get out there and actually squint with our ears. And listen to the force. And figure out what are the irritants that is keeping them from being able to be the very best he can they can be and have the quality of service that makes this business of serving in the profession of arms something that you want to stay in. And so much of that is associated, i think, with our culture. And our culture is the heart of our culture is at squadron. Its where you and i learned how to be an airman. Its where our young airmen learn how to be airmen. Its where the commander has the most impact. Its where we generate readiness. Where innovation begins. And so when you hear me talking about revitalizing squadrons, given squadron commanders and that command team, the senior nco, the spouse, the commander, the tools, the resources they need to be able to build the culture in their organization, where the right things are easier and the wrong things are really hard. And then it means something to be a thunderbird, and it means something to be a thunderbolt. And it means something to be a bulldog. And it means something. Because the culture of that organization is such that you feel part of something really special. And weve got to remind folks that and i dont doubt that this is the case for many of you here. You know, when i talk to folks who work in who have jobs, especially those who do civilian jobs and work part time for the air force, reserve or the guard, i often ask the question, i say, okay, so tell me which company you work for and theyll tell me. Okay, so show of hands. How many of your companies actually have called and checked in on you or your family when youve been on a trip . And rarely does a hand go up. I said, how many times has somebody from your company swung by your house to see how your family is doing, you know . And the answer very often is its not always. Some most of the time, the answer i get is, its just not they dont do that. And you know, its not because theyre bad or evil. Its because its not their culture. Thats our culture. Thats what we do. I want to make sure that airmen know that this that the airmen to the right and left are the finest men and women they will ever serve with. And this is the time in their lives when theyre going to be theyre doing something much bigger than themselves. And i joke with airmen when i do allcalls. As a retiree in training, i know that, you know, were all going to be in the mall some day, right . And its easy to find a retiree, right . Because we all buy silly vests and put pins on that, right . So you and i will be in the mall one day. And if you ever walk in and find two vets talking, in the mall, saunter up and listen to what theyre talking about. Theyre not talking about the kids or the grandkids. Theyre not talking about the businesses they started. Theyre not talking about other things. Theyre swapping war stories. Why is that . Its because that was when they were the most alive. Its when they were part of something big. Its when they served. They were defending the nation. The job. And so i think if we can capture that, were going to keep our were going to keep our folks. Fantastic answer. You know, you are a wonderful speaker. But thats two questions sorry. In 58 minutes. Im going to throw that out here. Were going to talk were going to talk real quickly about maintenance and how important this is. On the right side of this slide, you can kind of see two different graphs. One is in blue, and that is during the carter administration, that dip you see there and the force of those days. And then the red numbers, you can actually see the sortiey how many times you use an airplane in a given month. And those numbers are really starting to come down. And theyre coming down for a couple of reasons. One is parts, one is money for that. But one of the biggest, i think, and you may agree with me on this, is our incredible maintenance folks. Were now 4,000 people short of maintainers in the air force, and training them up to a level where they can actually be supervisors and start signing off of bigticket items is a big deal. Could you talk to me talk to the audience about what were doing to retain our maintenance . Yeah. So were doing a lot of the same things were doing on the pilot force in terms of really tapping into this cultural piece. But one of the things that were really looking hard at is, one, how do we bring more maintainers in. Because you cant escape the math problem. There is a fundamental math problem. When you and i were flying when we were young, think about this. We would show up at the aircraft and there would be two crew chiefs, primary and dedicated. And then we would taxi to the runway and there would be a Different Team doing last chance we called it, pulling pins. And then we would take off, do our sortie flight location and another crew waiting for us there. So heres what happens today. You taxi slow. Because the same single crew chief has to get in the van. And then fly slow, because that crew chief has got to get in the c17 and fly to the destination. The challenge is it masks the problem. Right . Because if you go back and look at the stats, did you take off on time . Yes. Did you fly your sortie . Yes. Right . But did you do that on the backs of those young men and women who were out there turning wrenches of the airplanes . Yeah. Weve got to get more people and make sure weve got again, that Cultural Family approach to this business. The other thing i dont know. Im going to try to be quick on this one and help you out. But its changed a political bit since you and i flew. Weve got to acknowledge the fact that when you and i flew, we went to the simulator to do basic work. And then we got in the airplane to do advanced work. Fifth generation aircraft, were starting to already see a reversal in that. And i see that simulation in the environment were building and the virtual space is actually becoming some of our most highend training. And were already counting that as part of the number of sorties. Well, thank you. Really a great answer. And i want you to know, theres been a big transition since ive sat on the stage. I went from, you know, a an observer, talking about the air force and this man has swept me back up into using the terms our. So i wanted you to know that its infectious. So thank you for being here with us. Nuclear enterprise. Completely different subject. And this is one where you talked on several forums about the command and control infrastructure about how we have got things in our missile silos that go back to the 1960s. And youve used the floppy drive as an example of that. Of something that no young person today even would recognize. But its effective. Right now were getting the mission done. It is secure. Could you talk to us about what the real impact of having those dated facilities and that dated equipment is on our air force. The challenge we have is that we built we built this in the early 60s. We updated it one time in the 80s. And we really havent touched it since. So the fact that the bills are coming due, upgrade this, shouldnt be a surprise to anyone. And we know we built the Nuclear Enterprise sequentially over time. We didnt have all three legs immediately. Came out of world war ii with a bomber leg. Then we developed a missile leg in the early 50s and then we built a submarine leg. And each one of those legs in the try ad brings a certain attribute. Responsiveness, flexibility, survivability. And so im one that believes that you need all three legs to have a viable deterrent. And deterrents well, the technology and the tools have changed over time. The math equation hasnt. The math equation of deterrents is capability times will. And the times is important in the politics, because it to be zero equals zero. So as we look at the Nuclear Enterprise, the developments we need to make it upgrade it im one that believes if you go back and look at history, world war i, world war ii, you lost75 million people. That adds up to 33,000 lost every day in those two wars. Since Nuclear Weapons we have not seen that kind of loss of life on anywhere near that scale. So we have got to and the timeline of the president s Nuclear Posture review couldnt be better, because its time for us to take a look at this enterprise under this administration and look at exactly where it needs to go. You talked earlier about pilots love to fly and maintainers love to maintain and theres a pride associated with that. Our missile silos and the missiles themselves are becoming hard to look at. Cru crumbling infrastructure and the likes. Can you talk about the morale piece . I want to assure you and everybody else listening our job one is safe, secure, reliable Nuclear Weapons, and despite issues we have with the infrastructure, we remain ready today. As we sit here right now, weve got young lieutenants sitting up in fe warrant and they are guarding. They are responsible for the most destructive weaponry on the planet, and they are ready. But the challenge i think we have going forward, again, is to ensure that we dont have a say do gap between what i just said, which is job one is to ensure that we have a safe, secure reliable Nuclear Program and get the president where he needs to be, when he needs to be there, and he stays connected to the enterprise. Thats air force responsibility with the Navy Submarine leg. We dont have a say do gap between saying thats important and not treating it important in terms of the air force. I would argue that morale right now is on the rise. I am not willing to declare a victory. I think we just got to, like the previous conversation, we got to keep swinging away at this, listen to our folks, and make sure they understand they are of huge value. Weve got about five minutes me and you time left, so if i could ask a really challenging question. Theres three areas that if you were to look at how we allocate money in any one of the services, rebuilding readiness is a pile of money, recapitalization is a pile of money, and then theres the Nuclear Enterprise, which is a pile of money. I have done a little homework and talked to folks on the air staff and on the hill, and the estimates are pretty staggering that if we were to rebuild our infrastructure, our readiness, and our Nuclear Enterprise back up to the level where were hitting long balls all the time, were looking at on the order of 20 billion a year for each of those areas for seven to ten years. Thats 60 billion for the air force alone and a baseline budget that has just over 600 billion in it this year. Can you talk to me a bit about the financial challenges and your priorities for applying that money . You know, the most important thing we can get from congress is a budget. Is a budget, because for a service chief, you know, the sand box that i work in is capable of capacity to readiness and i have to make strategic trades within those three bins to be able to build the best air force we can build. Continuing resolutions or continuation of oneyear budgets completely undermines the Service Chiefs ability to plan for the future. My job is to be a good steward of mom and dads tax money and produce the best air force i can produce for the resources were given. But if those resources dont come until the last half of every year, which has been the case now for eight years running, last twothirds of every year, and ive only got that money in oneyear increments, you cant plan against that. And thats just what it does to a Service Chiefs ability to plan and build a force for what we need. Think about what it does to industry when i jockey this throttle, right, from full up to back and tell them, hey, listen, im not sure for the sophisticated workforce you have to have on to build, you know, a decision guided munition. Pretty sophisticated workforce. Im not sure exactly what i can buy from you next year, but im hoping to buy this. That ceos got to manage that workforce, so it just wreaks havoc on Service Chiefs and ceos ability to plan. So for me, rather than talking about a specific dollar amount, what i talk about first and foremost is weve got to get back to getting budgets. Big ticket item for us to walk away from. Got two minutes left of our time. Would you like to talk a little bit about space . I dont know if you know this, ladies and gentlemen, but general goldfein is the king of space, and i say air force and actually all of the services. So if you would, sir, fire away. Yeah, thanks. So, the reality is in 2007 china launched an antisatellite missile. And created a debris field that were still living with today, 300,000 individual particles, and space on that day, i would argue, became both a congested and a contested place. It is a war fighting domain, and for a service chief, my job is to organize trade and equip and present ready forces to combat and commanders and those are air forces and those are also space forces. And so general john hyten, Strategic Commander whos responsible for that portfolio of fighting in space should a war extend into space, and by the way, theres no such thing as war in space. Theres just war. But we have to be ready if war extends into space, and so we are and weve been doing this since 1954 as the United States air force. But its important to, i think, understand how the way i see it is not as a competitive dialogue, because very often it quickly becomes a competition for resources and thats not where my head is. I look at this as this is an obligation i have as a joint chief responsible for the preponderance of the space force and the space architecture, 12 constellations that were flying right now as we speak. To ensure that we provide those capabilities and that we have shared access to space and that within the dialogues that occur relative to space and all the stakeholders in space, being commercial, allies and partners, defense, intelligence, that we are looking at, first of all, how do we ensure we have good strategy and policy, that then can drive concept of operations from what we always know as a con ops for operating in space should a war extend into space, and then from that con ops, how do we define requirements and from requirements then find an Acquisition Strategy to ensure we stay ahead of the adversaries who are also investing in space. And then for a service chief, again, how do i organize, trade, equip and ready forces that are prepared to operate and fight in space, should we have to. So those are all the things right now that were working on and advancing the dialogue in this town, and i look at it, quite frankly, as an obligation that i have as the joint chief most responsible for space to deliver for the joint force. Fabulous. With that, we can turn to the audience and does anyone have a question for general goldfein . We have one here in the front row. Hi, thank you for the talk, both of you. My question is specifically mr. Goldfein you mentioned earlier how the air force is myriad small duties that sack morale and reduce readiness and you want to take a swing at institutionally. What are some of those duties and how would you go about reforming that sort of culture . Thank you. Yeah, so whats happened over time in the air force, if you look at the last 16 years, for instance, we as a nation have been rather singularly focused on vinyl extremist in the middle east in terms of military operations. That changed in 2014 when we ended up with different kinds of activity. So each service had a demand signal placed on it during this time frame, and for the air force we had four key elements that we were told to increase investment in. That was space, cyber, isr, Intelligence Surveillance reconnaissance, and the Nuclear Enterprise. And if youre trying to balance your books and your budget in a time frame when budgets are coming down, youve got to go somewhere to find the money. Where we consistently went to year after year in that strategic trades between capability, kafcapacity, readin, is people, infrastructure, and conventional air power. Thats why we got small. As we got smaller, what we did is we tended to take groups of individuals and consolidate those smaller groups and moved them out of the squadron to higher levels. Thats what organizations do, but what happened over time is the people left, but the duties remained on this smaller group. So im looking at these squadrons to say what constitutes a healthy squadron, what resources do we have to give that commander, and what are the duties that we would expect that commander to be able to fulfill that are directly connected to that commanders mission . And there have been some additional duties that have come along the way that, quite frankly, have been added for good reason, but my guidance to commanders is, if you cant connect the dots between that duty and your mission, youre cleared hot to remove it. Front row . You talked a little bit about the budget. Do you think that have you had a chance to look at President Trumps budget . Do you think it goes far enough to over his administration to actually rebuild the military to the readiness youd like to see . It absolutely moves us in the right direction. Secretary of defense has been very clear on setting his priorities, so, you know, we look very, very closely in 17 at filling the readiness shortfalls. And thats been the priority focus for the department, not only in the air force, but all the services. How do you fix the readiness. And then how do you look at balancing the force and then how do you look at improving and increasing lethality of the force to do military missions were responsible for, so i would say the budget absolutely moves us in the right direction, and for a service chief, the most important thing for me, quite frankly, is to actually get a budget. Thats what counts. Weve got to get back into position of allowing a service chief the ability to plan and produce for the nation the best air force i can produce with the resources im given. Sir, despite the fact that apparently every Single Person in the United States wants a budget, it does look like we may be headed for another yearlong continuing resolution. Can you talk about first what would be the most Immediate Impact on the air force and maybe second, what would be the most significant longterm impact on the air force, if we do get another continuing resolution at the end of this month. So, for the air force, it will be about a 2. 8 billion bill ive got to find the money for to balance out. So the first thing that will happen to the air force, it will stop our instrength growth that weve been on, that is directly at the heart of our readiness. So thats the Immediate Impact. And i will tell you thats also the longterm impact, because the longer it takes me to bring those folks on, the longer it takes me to actually start improving readiness for full spectrum conflict, which is where the secretary, you know, is focused for all the services. Any new starts will stop. You know, any of the, you know, personnel actions that were laid into that budget for those that we have committed to, because we wont break faith with our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines when it comes to pay raises and what have you, you know, we will be responsible for now finding that money. And so when you start adding up the things that you have to do to find 2. 8 billion in the remaining year, it starts doing significant damage. Got a question way back in the back row, laura. Hi, how are you . I wanted to ask about the f35 reviews that are going on right now. So specifically, the cost review and the review in response to what President Trump said about potentially finding a comparable super hornet. I know that that doesnt apply as much to the air force because youre not going to be using the super hornets, but i was just hoping you could give me an update on the status of these reviews and whether it has any bearing on how many f35s the air force plans to buy out into the future. Yeah, thanks, laura. Its actually mandated in that review and were in the process of looking at that right now, but hes doing, as he often does, more thoughtful look at the entire enterprise. Hes doing a defense Strategic Review overall, looking at the overall defense department, but hes also taking a look at having us take a look at the different the different weapon systems that are out there. Part of what i hope comes out of this review is that, you know, the reality is, we dont send single platforms into conflict anymore. So its actually not a discussion about this platform or that platform. The reality is, 21st century warfare is about sending in a family of systems that are networked together. So its not so much about the f35 versus the f18 or fourth gen versus fifth gen, its actually about how they complement each other and what the mix needs to look like, and youve got to look at the framework how were looking at Global Campaign plans and challenges, which is youve heard the four plus one, china, russia, iran, north korea, violent extremism, so as you look through that lens and then you look at the various Weapons Systems that we tie together, and for an airman, we can talk, you know, aircraft, but i will tell you as a joint chief and for the joint force its more to me about how do we tie together in new ways, you know, things that fly, things that orbit, things that steam, things that run, things that submerge, and how do you tie those together in new ways . And so thats also part of this review i believe the secretarys undertaking. Time for one more question. Yes, sir. Thank you. General, thank you for your service and your leadership. When you look at the technology around the world, you look at china with their icbm with ten warheads and our landbased icbms where you have the deteriorating technology and favor the triad, at some point the triad wont exist if we dont do something about our landbased missiles. Whats going to happen with that and where does that stand on your priority list . Right now its top priority, and i will tell you, again, were looking at it, though, part of the Nuclear Posture review i expect to have a dialogue about the role of the triad, where we are with Nuclear Command and control, because remember its what ties it all together, and is the Service Responsible for 75 of the nuclear control, that has to be in the dialogue. But i will tell you that theres a broader dialogue, which is what does deterrence look like in the 21st century . What does the Nuclear Enterprise look like as you also add to the die log our capabilities in cyber, our capabilities in space, and how do those add up in new ways in the 21st century, to enhance the way we actually deter bad behavior. And deter potential adversaries for taking a step that would not be advantageous to them. And so thats all going to be part of the Nuclear Posture review. I do believe that that, you know, if you took a look at 400 missiles that we have, missile sites that we have up in the northern tier, that are spread over literally thousands of acres, it does provide a cost imposing strategy on anybody who might consider taking us on. So thats going to be an important part of the dialogue as we look at all three of the legs. Well, thank you for your questions and your attention this late morning. And general goldfein, thank you so much for joining us here at the heritage foundation. And with that well adjourn and there should be sandwiches out in the foyer for you all. Enjoy the afternoon. In 1979, cspan was created as a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Former pakistani president Pervez Musharraf was in washington, d. C. , recently and discussed pakistans current state of affairs combatting terrorism and future relations with the u. S. , india, china, and russia. This 90minute event was hosted by George Washington universitys National Churchill library and center. [ applause ] good evening and welcome to the National Churchill library and center. My name is michael bishop, and i am the director of the

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