Request before a Senate Appropriations committee. They outlined focused on people, readiness, and modernization. The development of new equipment and adopts the concepts to defeat adversaries. Through the timely enactment of defense appropriations for f y 24 on time appropriations provide the resource predictability that enables the army to execute training and operate plans effectively and efficiently for the entire fiscal year. Let me put it this way in order for the army to be all it can be. We Congress Must do our jobs. I look forward to working with senators murray and collins, the chairman and Ranking Member of the full committee for putting us in a position for success and getting the budget passed on time. The armys biggest military advantage is its people. But these are difficult times. We look forward to hearing more about how youre tackling recruiting challenges given the need to modernize in light of an ever evolving threat. We also look forward to an update about the pace of modernization. You all have my full support to develop and field, modernization, modernize but im growing increasingly worried about repeated proposals by the army to break hot production lines and destabilize the Industrial Base when we need them most. Once again, i want to thank you for your service to the country. Senator collins is not here, as you can see, she has a health education, labor and Pensions Committee mark up this morning, she may arrive later but before we get to your Opening Statements i have one quick statement, then i want to turn it over to senator moran. We heard yesterday that the, um, the moment in time we default on our debt is coming up one month, june 1. I talked about getting a budget out on time. I do not know what the people in the senate house are thinking the truth is, is the deficit needs to be dealt with in a commonsense way. What the house done has done last week is not a common sense way and makes us a weaker country. And if we continue down this line, i am very concerned about funding for the military funding for Homeland Security funding for every agency that we have within the government. And so hopefully, hopefully common sense will prevail here and we will be able to continue on the path of getting a budget out of Defense Budget in this case, by the end of september, so that you guys have the certainties not to waste a lot of taxpayer dollars. And the military Industrial Base has a certainty to know what we need and are able to deliver it on time with that. Ill turn it over to senator moran, chairman tester. Thank you. Um i would add my support for all of our efforts in this committee to make sure that we get our appropriations process completed done on time and that we avoid a continuing resolution that would be very damaging to lots of aspects of government, but particularly to our National Security. As i begin my Opening Statement, id like to take a second to recognize the three Army Aviators who lost their lives in a training accident over the weekend in alaska. Another solemn reminder of the sacrifices Service Members and their families make every day, whether they deployed or at home. Thank you both for your service to our nation and for being here today to discuss the United States armys budget request for f y 2024 general mcconville. Its my understanding that this will be your last Posture Hearing while that saddens me. It may be a pleasurable thought for you. Um this is your last Posture Hearing as chief of staff for the army. Id like to especially thank you for your decades of service in uniform to the defense of our nation. Im grateful for the relationship, the friendship that weve had, the conversations that youre willing to engage with me. And im especially grateful for your the relationship, the friendship we have had. Especially grateful for your support and Fort Leavenworth last summer. Kansans take a lot of pride in the armys presence in our state and in these installations role in the defense of our nation. Kansas communities are engaged with, supportive of the soldiers and their families who call these home. Secretary warmuth, as we discussed recently. In fact, as recently as five minutes ago, i look forward to hosting you in kansas in the near future to showcase the capabilities of kansas military posts and the support of our Army Soldiers. The United States is in the midst of one of the most challenging National Security situations of my lifetime. And the army is critical to the support of the security of our nation. The army is critical to the future of our country. This administrations armys budget request for f y 2024 does not adequately address these concerns. Assuming the best inflation estimates, the armys f y 2024 request represents a real growth rate of a negative, a negative 2. 4 . As cochair of the Senate Army Caucus and a member of the subcommittee, it is my priority that the army have the resources necessary to fill the National Security obligations. We continue to hear of the ongoing recruiting crisis within the army. The force will look different from just two years ago, roughly 35,000 below its f y 2022 authorized in strength of 485,000 soldiers. Congress should be informed of all the alternatives as the army considers options to manage the significant reduction. Lets work with you. Lets Work Together to find satisfactory solutions and help the army in its recruitment efforts. We need to overcome this deficit of soldiers. Everyone in this room wants to see the army return to a tiered readiness model. I believe the retention of Army Force Structure is critical. While for infrastructure reductions may be a quick fix solution, it will set the army back at a time when the need for a ready army is as essential as ever. Army Senior Leadership should Keep Congress aware of any changes under consideration. I want to be your ally, not your critic. The russian invasion of ukraine has highlighted deficiencies in the us Industrial Base, particularly its ability to produce an adequate munition stock and supply americans and kansas workers stand ready to support the us war fighter. I support the armys recent investment into the munitions Industrial Base. I recently had a chance to visit the former Kansas Army Ammunition plant which will have a vital role now re engaging in supporting the increased munition production needs. I also want to applaud the armys recent selection of the v 280 to be the armys future long range assault aircraft. This aircraft provides the needed speed and distance to support the army 2030. I will continue to use my position on this committee to help support the modernization of the Army Aviation fleet to keep pace with our challenges. The army is the backbone of the joint force. If the United States is in conflict, our army answers the call while air and marine superiority are essential, this is only possible with the armys presence. The u. S. Ability to project power to hold critical ground, relies upon the armys ability to compete in the pacific theater. I highlight just at least from my own perspective that our country faces real and serious challenges. We need to do the things necessary to make sure we counter those circumstances. The army has a significant role. This congress has a significant role in supporting that effort. I look forward to your testimony and your responses to the questions. Thank you both. Thank you, senator moran. Well start with you, secretary warmth. You have the floor. Sen. Moran thank you in particular for your condolences for our Army Aviators it has been a difficult several weeks for our Aviation Community and as soon as we got the word about the incident in alaska i asked the chief to look into making sure that we were going to do is stand down to make sure we understand whats going on and to make sure our aviators certain share lessons learned. We are pleased to appear before you today. This is indeed has last hearing and it has been a pleasure to do three cycles of budget hearings with you, chief. So congratulations we have accomplished a lot in the last year but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We remain focused on our three priorities, people, modernization and readiness. The f y 24 budget enables us to support the National Defense strategy, provide ready forces to our Combatant Commanders and take care of our people by investing over 39 billion in procurement and r d t and e we are maintaining our momentum on our modernization programs and are largely on track to bring 24 systems across the finish line in 2023. This is a big year for long range precision fires, prototypes of the precision strike missile, the midrange capability and the long range hypersonic weapon will be in the hands of soldiers in this fiscal year. Its also a big year for next generation combat vehicles, mobile protected firepower is in production and the amp v is also being fielded. And its a big year for our integrated air and Missile Defense programs and the future vertical lift program as well. As we shift from two decades of Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism operations to large scale combat operations, were also transforming our force structure. We are going to need to adapt our force structure to make room for things like the multi domain taskforces as well. Other new units like the indirect Fire Protection capability and our mho a battalions, were a ready army and we continue to emphasize readiness in everything we do. Were funding 22 combat Training Center rotations. We have a robust exercise program and were implementing our new readiness model which helps us balance modernization, training and ongoing missions. Were also investing in preposition stocks which have served us very well in europe and will continue to serve us well in other theaters to assist ukraine in fighting russia carmi russia, the army has provided over 20 billion in lethal assistance including a wide range of munitions, radars and combat vehicles just to name a few items. One of the most important lessons weve learned from the situation in ukraine is the need for a more robust defense Industrial Base. So in our budget this year, we have 1. 5 billion to invest in arsenals depots and ammo plants. Were also working very closely with our defense partners in industry to increase munitions production so that we can continue to help the ukrainians but also very importantly to replenish our own stocks. Even as our soldiers provide lethal assistance and train the Ukrainian Armed forces, we havent taken our eye off of the pacing challenge of china. Indo may be a theater named after two oceans, but the army does have an Important Role to play there. The best way to avoid fighting a war is to show that you could win any war you might have to fight. So the army is contributing to strengthening deterrence in indo paycom every day as we campaign in the region through our exercises and partnerships. And if deterrence fails, the army will be a key player on the joint force team if theres a conflict. As important as it is to build new Weapons Systems and maintain our readiness, people are the strength of our army. This budget includes a 5. 2 pay raise and funds important quality of life improvements like family housing, child Care Initiatives and new and renovated barracks. We also of course, want to build cohesive teams of soldiers that are trained, disciplined and fit. So the army is committed to positive command climates across the force where our soldiers can be all they can be. We are also continuing to strive to prevent suicide in our ranks. Suicide is a national challenge, of course, but we have to do everything we can to reduce suicide in the army. So we are pursuing a range of initiatives to help our soldiers be more resilient. One of the most important things we can do is make sure that we have engaged leaders at every level who know their soldiers and make sure that their soldiers are connected to their leaders, to their buddies and to their families. Our army is the greatest army in the world. But to keep it that way, we have to solve our recruiting challenge, the difficult recruiting landscape we face didnt happen in a year and its going to take us more than a year to turn this around. We are laser focused on this challenge and we are not going to lower our standards to solve the problem. We are Generating Positive momentum from initiatives like our future soldier prep course, our Soldier Referral Program and our new Advertising Campaign be all you can be. Our efforts are geared towards one thing, reintroducing the army to the American Public and inspiring a renewed call to service. We very much need your help to be successful in that effort. Im proud of everything our soldiers do to protect our country and look forward to your questions this morning. This is why people remain in the army we want every young person and every parent to know that service in the army as a pathway to success both in and out of uniform whether you serve for four years are over 40 years the army offers endless possibilities. How people can help us and my answer is inspire young men and women to serve. We go with the army we have. We serve with the greatest soldiers. With your support we will keep it that way. Thank you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Last week as i said in a statement to the three soldiers over killed in alaska and as i pointed out this is on the heels of another fatal helicopter accident cost nine lives february 2 two soldiers love their lives. Lost lives. You issued standdown orders. Would you please give us an update on what you will be reviewing specifically . Thank you, chairman. Last year Army Aviation was the safest in history but we are only as good as our last flight. As a result the secretary and i directed a safety stand out thats an opportunity for all of our aviation commanders to bring their aviators together to take a look at the procedures that they use and to take a look to understand the type of training they are doing and make sure we have the right cruise in place and that we are taking steps, crawl, walk, run to get some of what we are going after and to realize that this is a very dangerous business and unlike operating a vehicle close to a curb with aviation if you make a mistake or something happens it can be catastrophic. We need to bring that safety philosophy back into the cockpit and make sure we are able to do that. Assuming that the standdown will result in some solutions to the problem whether its in safety or improved training how long do you think it will take to implement anything that comes out of this standout . I think it will be over in the next couple of days. We are expecting immediate results. In addition to the lives that were lost, avian accidents since 2020 have cost about 600 million in equipment. Are you appropriately funded for some of the training the general talked about . Yes. We have been funding our flying hours for the last few budgets that we submitted. So we have put in investments and to making sure we have sufficient resources for our simulators, our flying hours for all of our pilots. There are challenges of course in terms of looking at spare parts and maintenance and all of that so i think one of the things we need to look at his are our pilots getting enough flying hours but we have to make sure that the aircrafts of ready to fly. There are a lot of pieces that fit together in that but we are investing fully in that, in my view. Any money available to can you to invest fully in that . Yes. You informed this committee about maintaining, when you talked about your Opening Statement i highquality army based on the latest recruiting data that number looks to be further reduced to about 452,000 which by the way we should have an except exec number on that. We understand that goal may not be reached. Where do things stand with Army Recruitment . Are using a positive connection with advertising and bonuses with men and women signing have for the army . Were seeing improvements in our recruiting situation. We are better off this year than before the previous year. At the same time the chief and i sent a very ambitious goal of 65,000 recruits this year we are not going to make that goal. We are doing everything we can to get as close to it is possible that we are going to for short of that. As i said in my Opening Statement, we didnt get into the situation in a year and its going to take us more than a year to rebuild our recruiting and we are going to have to look at as i also mentioned in my Opening Statement, the implications for our force structure and our readiness level. Through our analysis process we are looking at how to bring down that over structure and to make sure we are meeting our units adequately. One followup question, you have a new personal system personnel system. Its expected to be kicking off soldiers off of tricare its not ready to provide accurate strength numbers. This is not a good thing. Its not a good thing for a couple of reasons. First of all, this is information the new system should be able to do without a lot of screwing around. Quite frankly, its not giving you the numbers to be able to track and mask solid eight consolidate recruitment. Thats a problem. How are you able to track these without solid data . It took us six years to build sa and it brought together 40 different systems. Thats why we have glitches like the soldiers with tricare but we have worked through that. We have a team working all of the specific areas that have emerged. The challenge with our recruiting numbers is more than our models incorporating new initiatives we are taking on. We know how important it is to the subcommittee to get the data and we will work with you to get it to you as soon as possible. I appreciate that. Senator moran and i served on the v. A. Committee. If i have one major pain in my behind, its computer systems. It doesnt matter if its v. A. , military, and doesnt matter if its Montana State text system. Theres always something wrong. I just, its just not, its not something that can make the army only can be or the v. A. All it can be either. So with that i will turn it over to senator moran. Sen. Moran thank you for concluding the conversation indicating the pain with the computer systems. Let me start with both of you. If we are not going to meet our recruitment goals, that means consequences in a practical way to how the army operates. What can you tell me first as someone interested in the overhaul wellbeing of the army what you are thinking what are your plans that will alter the structure of our army across the country and around the globe . And then, as the senator from kansas, tell me what concerns, if any, i should have about what those changes mean to installations and the assignment of soldiers to places, to bases to post across the country. Is this a consequence that will have a modest impact across the board . Or a consequence in which you will be making decisions about who stays the same, who gains and who loses . Thank you, senator moran. Let me try to answer that concisely. We do not want a hollow army. Part of the hard work of the army in the next couple of years will be bringing down the over structure. To be closer to the actual amount of faces, soldiers that we have. Frankly, we have to undertake the transformation in any case because we have to make room for some of the new types of structure we need for the army at 2030. What we are trying to do is basically spread out some of those changes. For example we did sort of what i call a Peoples Night Court where we basically went and looked at all the different types of soldiers in units and so do we need to have 60 cooks or can we use 40 cooks . We have looked at what we call unit priority and we looked at the units we have used very heavily as opposed to those we may have used less frequently and those are areas we can probably do some thinning out. The reality is our concern is for hundred 55,000. Around the country right now the number of actual soldiers is fewer than the authorizations there. We will be able to make many of these changes without it having a large impact to any of the major installations. But, if we dont turn our recruiting situation around i cant guarantee you that the army will have to make some more substantial reductions. Weve got to make sure our units that are on the Immediate Response force are manned your planning and conversations, have gone to the point where you are discussing what significant changes might take place if recruiting doesnt take around . Sec. Wormuth we havent come to any firm conclusions. We would like to avoid making any large structure changes. It can be hard to reverse that. It can be very hard to reverse that. What time frame, when could this committee have a view as to what your thinking is . Sec. Wormuth we will probably come to you in the next few months and talk with you about how that is looking. That would be before a decision is made . Sec. Wormuth we have a document which helps us look at finalizing the changes. We would talk to your staff about how that is looking. Sen moran when does the decision have to be made for this to live up to the consequences of less strength . Sec. Wormuth it looks five years out, we wont have to make final decisions about any significant changes until 2025. We need to start thinking about that. We want to make sure our brigades are adequately manned. Sen moran you understand why this is a significant topic of conversation for the country, the committee, for you. I appreciate that. General mcconville, anything you want to add . [indiscernible] gen. Mcconville as we take a look at getting ready for the next fight that we see, we are moving from counterterrorism, irregular warfare, those types of systems that would be valuable in largescale combat will be more important. We are developing long strange fires, other systems, we are going to do this on a flat budget and there will be decisions of what that looks like. The concern we have is and strength, it may not be a structure change but we cant fill units, they may be may be at 70 percent strength. You dont have the soldiers filling those rings, that is what we are concerned about. Thank you both for being here. I want to start with the status of the lease negotiation with the state of hawaii, 1964, the u. S. Military was awarded a 65 year lease for 23,000 acres of hawaii state lands for one dollar. We are now coming up on the potential renewal of that lease. I think we are all in agreement that the people of hawaii are entitled on a fair deal on all leasing moving forward. Many of these leases expire in 2029, that includes training areas. Where we are all landing is that promoting our National Security and treating the citizens of the state of hawaii with fairness and respect are not mutually exclusive. They are completely intertwined. Could you give me an update on the status of the negotiations . Sec. Wormuth we have two Environmental Impact statements that are underway that are relevant to looking at the lease agreements. Those will be completed at the end of this year. The next step would be for the army to be looking at what we would come forward with for the final agreement. That decision wont come forward until 2025. We have time to be talking with when i was in hawaii, i met with the governor, had a discussion with him. I met with members of the native hawaiian community. We are trying to engage with all of the different stakeholders in hawaii to understand what the shape of an arrangement might look like. Sen schatz we all agree hawaii is entitled to the same guarantee of Homeland Defense as every other state. The army expands a line of sight to intercept missile threats, is there a way it could apply to the defense of hawaii . Gen. Mcconville it is a potential consideration, i am not aware of anything right now. It is a Game Changing technology that allows us to integrate senses and shooters for air Missile Defense. We can take a look at it. Sen schatz there is a lot of talk about the defense of guam. I support that. Hawaii is the homeland, it is not an insular area, it is the 50th state, it is the home of Marine Forces pacific, even if if it even if it is difficult and expensive, we need to have i get that it was abandoned for legitimate reasons. I want to flag that as we are gaming out our scenarios, we are focusing on the central and western pacific and the continent. Hawaii deserves protection two. On recruiting, following up on what senator moran talked about. You are going to fall short. You are doing what is necessary to try not to, but i think its fair to say the pacific is the priority area. Although i know you are predecisional, i would like you to talk in conceptual terms about how you will absorb production in the number of Army Soldiers in which is with the indopacific strategy . Sec. Wormuth its important to realize the actual number of soldiers at places like fort riley, fort, is below the number of authorizations on the books. We have the soldiers we already have. What we are trying to do is look at as we think about the new structure we need to build, the Multidomain Task forces the integrated air and Missile Defenses, we are looking at where can we shed types of structure that was useful for counterterrorism but we dont need as much of it right now. To make room for new structure. The way we have gone about that, we have looked at people optimization. There are places where we can spin out across the structure. We are also looking at the units that are underutilized, those are candidates for elimination. All of this will be spread around our major installations. National Defense Strategy requirements are primary. We have to be able to have the readiness levels and structure we need to execute the strategy. Paying attention to the indopacific is core to that. Thank you both for being here today i wanted to take my time to ask a few questions about the future vertical lift program. It is the first opportunity to talk about this in this subcommittee. As you know, i made a series of requests of the army to get a briefing on a award, and was denied that briefing by the army multiple times. This subcommittee and appropriations subcommittee has to guard our equities when it comes to getting information from the army and the administration when it comes to contract awards. The regulations governing the awarding of contracts carves out a specific role for congress to be briefed on matters. I hope this committee will continue to work on what i think is a misaligned equilibrium between the administration, department of defense and this committee. I wanted to talk to you about this specific award. I have parochial interests, this is a contest between three competitors, it went to the bell program. I want to talk to you about my concerns regarding tilt rotor aircraft. Past performance did not factor in to the contract, this committee will be charged with picking up the full cost of this new program. They have a miserable performance record over the past few years. They are supposed to have a Mission Readiness of 82 , but it has been at 56 . It went from 33 million to most 100 million, the cost per flight of the v22 is 10,000 per hour. What was interesting about this contract award is that the bid that came in from textron was twice the amount then the bid that came in from sikorsky. This history is going to cost taxpayers errs more than the original bid. We are going to have a hard time being able to fund the full cost of this award. You have any information as to why the army did not take past performance of till rotor aircraft into account when awarding the contract . What do you say about my concerns that if the cost curve on this new helicopter, which is a Foundational Program for the army, we are in for big costs that we will have to bear on the subcommittee. Sec. Wormuth i completely support the oversight role of congress. We want to be good partners with you in terms of being entrance parents. If you had not received a detailed briefing, i will make sure that the team gets up to talk with you about that. My understanding is that the things that were valued in the Selection Process date include looking at lower technical risk, because of the fact that in the past if the technical risk is higher, that means the cost is higher. The sustainment cost is higher because they are not appropriately ached into the competitive process. One of the reasons that we selected the aircraft was because it was assessed to have lower technical risk. Even though the bid from sikorsky was lower. It was a best value computation, not based on price. We in the army had considerable concerns about the visibility in the design process that came from sikorsky. I can get back to you in detail in terms of how we incorporated past performance of the osprey into the calculations. We emphasize the importance of having lower technical risk. Sen murphy i would note that our subcommittee has a gao report, whether risk is being properly calculated, when awarding a Program Within the future of vertical lift aircraft process. It comes to the conclusion that the army is not properly identifying longterm risk on these programs. I look forward to being in a dialogue about this report and getting a sense of how much this is going to cost the taxpayer. Have you been briefed by the defense apartment . I have. Would you yield to the chairman of the full Appropriations Committee . Absolutely. I do appreciate that. Let me say, german tester, and vice chair collins, i am glad to join both of you to keep talking about the investments that we have to make to support our troops and keep our country safe. These hearings are so important to remind us that we need to return to regular order and pass our nations funding bills in a timely way. I will keep saying that until we get to a regular order. If we are going to stay ahead of our competitors, our investments have to keep up, not fall behind. I am glad we have this opportunity to hear from our witnesses about what that means for the army. And how we support our servicemembers and their families, like the troops into my home state of washington. Its important that this conversation focuses on getting our military families the support they need, like a child care, Mental Health care, good housing and schools. We have to make sure we are keeping men and women in uniform safe. Heart goes out to the families of the soldiers lost in the relation recent Helicopter Crashes. They expect to hear more following the review of the safety procedures. At the end of the day, we heart of the military isnt our weapons or equipment, it is the brave and talented men and women who put their lives on the line. I just want to thank each of you for your service to this country, this committee has a deep appreciation for everything our servicemembers do to keep their members safe. Let me ask a few questions. Secretary wormuth, and my home state, we are seeing issues with the availability of suitable housing. Especially at j blm. As many as 250 servicemembers spend 34 months in hotels while they wait for a home on base to become available. These servicemembers and their families have to have safe affordable places to live. I want to ask you what you are doing to make sure that Housing Needs are being met both on and off base. Sec. Wormuth availability of housing as i challenge in a number of locations. We are doing a few things. This budget has 690 Million Dollars for housing. We have Privatized Housing that we work with the five Different Companies that provide that housing. We are constantly looking at how can we invest more, how can we encourage those companies to invest more so we are able to generate more inventory at places like a blm. We are pushing osd to reopen how they calculate the housing allowance. This goes to being able to afford housing off coast. The way we have calculated i am not comfortable with how we are doing vah. We are going to look at it, in some cases, we may need to raise the bah rates to allow our soldiers to afford housing. Chair murray eight department of defense review that was finished last year found the Drinking Water supply in 24 installation spaces 135,000 servicemembers a year to Dangerous Levels of chemicals linked to cancer. The presence of these environmental contaminants on installations and their surrounding communities is a huge concern of mine and many others. Especially with some of the worst contamination levels at j blm. Are there barriers you have identified in cleaning up these contaminants . Sec. Wormuth to my knowledge there are not barriers to cleaning it up. There are cases where Drinking Water is not found to be safe, we will work with the affected area to get access to safe Drinking Water. Whether that is by looking at new wells or other ways to solve that problem. I am aware that the epa is contemplating making changes to how it assesses what is a safe level of pfap. Chair murray are you chording with the epa to make sure the army is testing . Sec. Wormuth im sure that we are coordinating with the epa, if they changes what they determine to be a safe standard, that will have application implications for us. Chair murray thank you very much. Thank you for both of your service. Are you aware that the administration has released a draft regulation that would warn have contractors report on Greenhouse Gas admissions emissions. Are you aware of that regulation . Sec. Wormuth i dont think i am aware of that specific proposal at this time. It has not come. If we are going to make people track based on emissions, arent we starting to prioritize emission standards over weapons performance . Sec. Wormuth without seeing the specifics of the draft, i cannot speak to the implications. If contractors are being asked to track their emissions and report them, thats a different then having a consequence if there levels are deemed to be not acceptable. I would 9 need to know a little more. Sen. Hoeven tracking emissions, we are now going to make that a factor in deciding which ones that the military procures . Once that affect the effectiveness of those weapon systems for warriors and the cost . Sec. Wormuth i hesitate to comment on it. Obviously our soldiers need to have the best possible equipment to defend the country. I would want to make sure that is what we would put our emphasis on. Sen. Hoeven thank you. General, i was in south korea and taiwan. Taiwan has ordered and is paying for billions of dollars worth of military hardware they want to use to counter aggression by the prc in china. We are working with other allies in the indopacific, japan, philippines. To deter chinas aggressive behavior. One of the issues is getting those munitions, its not just about monetizing our forces, which we must do, its also providing enhanced armaments to our friends in the indopacific. By the same token we need assistance to be provided to ukraine, but they are needing to procure weapon systems as well. We are modernizing our forces. That puts a strain on the supply chain. What are we doing, what can we do to expedite that, which is crucially important in ukraine, in the indopacific, and our own forces and making sure they have the best armaments. Its important that we invest in organic Industrial Bases. For the long term. Sen. Hoeven we need to expedite the production now. What can we do to protect expedite the production . Gen. Mcconville my response, the Defense Industry does not operate on enthusiasm, they want longterm contracts. When they see that, we are starting to ramp up. Some of the systems we are doing right now, its important that we project outwards. And with multiyear contract that helps, when they invest this year, they will have a 35 year funding stream that will allow them to invest and ramp up capabilities. We need to work with our allies to make sure they are doing the same thing. These countries need to have the capabilities, Weapons Systems, a competence in those weapon systems, and soldiers need to have the will to fight. Sen. Hoeven are we providing the assistance in terms of the Weapons Systems request by ukraine to end the conflict, so they can be successful, rather than a stalemate . I ask you sec. , and you general. Sec. Wormuth i believe we are providing ukrainians with what they need. We are giving them systems. Sen. Hoeven when versus stalemate. Sec. Wormuth we want to see the ukrainians prevail, that is in the Natural National interest for the u. S. We cannot let there can be a president of being able to declare that a country doesnt exist. We need to give them the equipment they need to defeat the russians, i think we are doing that. Gen. Mcconville its also the training, we are seeing a lot of higher level combined arms training, up to the parade brigade, we have increased their capability to have combined arms operations. It was worth waiting for. Secretary wormuth, i am sorry senator murray isnt here, your response on the testing of our servicemembers was not accurate. I have been trying to get that done through the ndaa for several years. What we are being told by the dod is that we dont have the capacity to do that and there has been opposition from the dod. I hope i intend to send that to senator murray so she knows we are not doing that. Your advocacy would be very much appreciated. For both of you, when you appeared before the Armed Services committee, i asked why the army had failed to include full funding for the enhanced night vision goggles, binoculars. Congress stepped into a restorative the 300 million. Senator murphy talked about the gao report, there is also one on the potential impact of what will happen if system gets fielded before it is ready and the potential for men and women in the military not to make use of that because there is so much concern. How do we explain the fact that you havent requested funding for the emvgb . Between on thank it is working well, as we are talking about his question about the defense Industrial Base, and as you replied, they are concerned about contracts. When we say two companies, we want you to produce these, they gear up to do that, and the contracts are not forthcoming, it sends a message that we cannot to be counted on and we dont need what is being proposed. Tell me again, i dont feel like i have gotten an answer on why you are not requesting funding for the emvgb program. Sec. Wormuth i will try again. First of all i want to emphasize that the emvgb is a great system. The pentagon had a take your child to work day at work last week, we had many systems that kids could look at. The emvgb was one of them. Sen. Shesheen that doesnt surprise me at all. Sec. Wormuth our soldiers like it and they are comfortable with it. We have a finite amount of resources that we can apply to modernization. We are having to make choices. That is relevant, whether it is about vehicles, or wearable tech for our soldiers. What we are trying to do with the emvgb, is strike a balance. Does more than what the goggles do. It allows our shoulders soldiers to train, rehearse and fight in a synthetic training environment. Sen. Shesheen its not ready yet. Sec. Wormuth we are still working on it. If Congress Gives us the money we requested in this years budget, we will use it to work with microsoft to get the system to a place where our soldiers will want to use it. If microsoft isnt able to do that, he will not develop the program further. I know the gao report talks about 22 billion, sen. Shesheen and the armys own report. Sec. Wormuth we are not going to spend 22 billion on a system if it doesnt work. The chief and i believe this is important Wearable Technology for our soldiers. We want to see if we can get it to a place where it is going to be desirable for our soldiers. Think it can be. If microsoft knows, this is it, they either get it or we will move on. Gen. Mcconville enhanced night vision goggles arrivals cuttingedge technology. If we go back to the first goggles, they were big clunky things, how far we have taken the technology is great. To me is transformational. It will change how soldiers take part in the battlefield. If we want to get that edge that will transform however soldiers, that is the tradeoff,. Sen. Shesheen it is not working at. It is not working yet. We are shortchanging the people who need the Current System that does work. Thank you both for being before the committee here, i joined other collies in expressing sadness and condolences at the loss of life with the Helicopter Crash in alaska this week. Families are grieving comedy families are grieving, we are all grieving, there is great deal of grief will come through. I am looking forward to being with you in alaska on friday, hopefully the opportunity to be there at fort wayne. Secretary wormuth, i know we have in place this stand down for a. Of time. I am hoping that this stand down will achieve the desired outcome, which is to determine the safety, and not just a messaging tool. We recognize that not only, this hordes of this horrible tragic incident, and others. Do you care to comment on that . Sec. Wormuth the safety stand down, will allow all of our aviators to focus on safety, to review their procedures, make sure they are doing everything that they should be doing. That will involve more than just a messaging. There will be investigations, there is already one underway at the crash at fort campbell. We will probably learn additional insights from those investigations that we will make sure the aviation immunity has. Sen. Murkowksi let me ask a couple questions about provisions within the 2023 ndaa, this is under 603. We authorize policies we are hoping will improve the quality of life of soldiers that are stationed in alaska. I have been told that there has been no guidance released for how and when these new policies will be implemented. My concern is we have a Service Members who are missing out on these timelimited incentives that are designed to help alleviate hardships that are inherent with being in the north. One is the provision that allows for coldweather cold weather a special duty pay. The second is the requirement that the secretary numbers eligible Service Members for the cost of airfare to travel to their home of record when they are assigned to alaska as a duty station. Can you give me any information in terms of when soldiers can expect to receive the cold weather pay or the reimbursement for eligible travel . Sec. Wormuth on the cold weather pay, the army has been providing that pay to soldiers since 2020 through our remote location incentive pay. I dont have the acronym off the top of my head. If you are above 53 degrees north, fort greeley, single soldiers get 2000 dollars, and soldiers with dependents get 4000. Sen. Murkowksi this provision in ndaa was in addition to that. Sec. Wormuth my understanding, i am not an expert, there is concern with osd that we will be double counting. I would be happy to work with you and your office if you think the amount of the current incentive is not sufficient. I think there is concern from osd about creating a second sen. Murkowksi we need to talk about this quickly. This is not about double dip, this is about addressing the realities that come when you are in these cold weather and environments. And the ability to take care of yourself and your family. Sec. Wormuth the travel piece is in draft right now, ive heard personally from soldiers how important it is to fly home. I will commit to you to look to see if we can speed that up. There is no issue, its just going through the process. Sen. Murkowksi these are questions i will be asked when im up there. The more information the better. Thank you mr. Chair, thank you both for being here, i appreciate your service. I would add my voice of concern for the accidents we have seen, you are working im sure it hurts everybodys hearts. I wanted to ask about munitions, general mcconville. How has the ukraine conflict helped assess the performance of existing Army Munitions and assumptions about requirements for the future fight . Gen. Mcconville as far as our performance, it is showing, things like high mars have become game changers. The u. S. Weapons systems have been in great demand and are working well. The usage rates have gone beyond what we have historically used. We have never used the amount of 155 rounds. Standing up our organic Industrial Base so we can manufacture, to get our stock rates up to what we think we may have to use in largescale combat operations. Sen. Capito would you say, and terms of our capacity now, if we were to be engaged hypothetically and something where we need those munitions for our own purposes, are we ready to do that . We are not bleeding ourselves down to where we are not ready, but we need to replenish . Sec. Wormuth as we have looked at the request for support, we have weighed that carefully. We are not giving away more than we can afford to. We have been creative to give them as much as we possibly can without going too low in our stockpiles. We have a lot of work to do in regenerating our Industrial Base. That is why we are investing 1. 5 billion in this budget to invest in our own organic Industrial Base. I think we are rebuilding the capacity now. That will serve us well in the future. Sen. Capito in West Virginia we have good resources that can help with that. Lets talk about recruitment. I understand in august, you stood up a pilot program, the future soldier prep course, to help individuals improve to the standards rather than lower standards. How does that working, are you getting a lot of uptake on it, is it making improvements . How do you see that program . Gen. Mcconville i think it is transformational. One thing we have done is made a blood both, we are not going to a lower standards. This is important, to invest in young men and women. We talk to recruiters who said they were having trouble passing the sat for the military, and meeting the physical requirements because of a body weight. We have had a 2000 go through the program right now, we are seeing 895 success rate, i think it is the future. Not only are they meeting the standards, they are exceeding and going on to do good things in the army. I think its something we need to look at as a potential for its expansion sen. Capito . When you are looking at a High School Class that is looking at pursuing the army, how does somebody find that . Do you have to be in a recruiting program . Gen. Mcconville its very accessible, you can go on the internet, you can go to a local recruiting station, if you are having talent having challenges with the test, we can help you. Sen. Capito hundreds of soldiers for the 101st airborne came to West Virginia for unique training experience. They got their hands on Developmental Technology and use it in a realistic training environment to provide feedback. I dont know if you are aware of that training exercise, and if you have comments on that. Gen. Mcconville im privy to the 101st airborne, having students go out to West Virginia is important. But also for the exposure. One thing we need to work on is making sure people get exposed to our soldiers so they know the what in the military is about. The value is for the soldiers to get a hand on the new technology so it is not stuck in a developmental phase, and you can see, and a real situation, what is going to work and what isnt. So we can get them into the actual production phase. Thank you very much. Thank you chairman. Its good to be with you all, we appreciate all of your hard work. I understand general, you are retiring. We appreciate you and your service. You have had an outstanding career. We also appreciate your family, these are family affairs, the sacrifices they have made through the years. It is always good to talk about the budget, trying to figure out what your priorities are, and we can how we can help you as you work through this. You have been focused on maintaining readiness and modernizing the army for future conflict in the pacific. After recently visiting the leaders in the pacific, i learned the importance of the Army Supporting the joined forces in the pacific. Can you highlight the importance of the armys future role in the joint fight in the pacific . Gen. Mcconville the army has a Critical Role in the indopacific, along with our joint partners. Some of the things we do, long range position fires, contested logistics, providing ground troops, and working with our allies and partners on the ground to increase their capabilities and competence so they can defend their country. Where the american soldier goes, it reensures those armies that we deal with, they have the confidence to fight. Sen. Boseman what in the budget support to the armys role in the joint force and where does it assume risk regarding the indopacific . Sec. Wormuth im happy to speak to that. We are making a lot of investments in this years budget aimed at the invoke as to the indopacific. We have over a hundred 50 million in this years budget for Army Prepositioned equipment. We are investing in new composite watercraft that will allow us to take supplies and move it around. And in terms of our programs, we are investing in the long range position fire programs. We are investing over 550 million in integrated air and Missile Defense program, things like patriot. We are also looking at deep sensing capabilities, our airborne isr sensing, and another 300 million in that theater. Sen. Boseman i want to touch on something senator moran touched on. The armies of fiscal year 2024 budget request is short of the 2018 National Defense strategies recommendation of 300 pre5 real growth. The budget is eight rate of 2 growth over fiscal year 2023. How can we help you, can the army afford to continue its 2030 modernization strategy without reducing force structure . Sec. Wormuth i feel that our budget allows us to do our part in the National Defense strategy, to keep our momentum on modernization, investing in readiness, and take care of our people. The challenge is going to be, as we look to the out years. The future vertical lift programs are very expensive. The optionally manned fighting Vehicle Program is expensive. As we look at trying as those become programs of record, and the army needs to field them at scale, that will get expensive. I worry, under the current budget, how are we going to manage this in the out years and take care of our people . We have a lot of infrastructure bills, not just associated with housing for soldiers and families, but power projection, its looking to 2030 and beyond where it gets challenging. Sen. Boseman thank you all very much. I will turn it over to senator moran for his close. I will submit for the record this question to both the general and the secretary. In the funded priorities list, includes 530 million for abrams tanks to a full brigade level. I would like to hear why that is not included or why it is important and see if we can be of assistance in that regard. So much of what we have talked about, so much of the capabilities of the army is dependent upon the issue of recruitment. It strikes me as interesting, why is recruitment difficult when pretension is favorable . One would think those who are serving, who are making the decision to reenlist, have encountered a good experience. But it is not translating into people who have not yet served. Is there analysis or a way to take advantage of the circumstance of which people already upping to get people to up for the first time . Sec. Wormuth thats part of our Soldier Referral Program is aimed at. We have really good retention. People who are in the army, many of them are having good experiences. We are asking them to take that story to their communities. If they are able to ring forward people to sign up and go to basic, they get points towards promotion. Some of it is about reintroducing the army to the American Public. Addressing legitimate concerns that parents have about housing, or sexual harassment. There are misperceptions about the army, that it is slowing people down. I argue it accelerates kids towards college degrees. We need to do a better job of telling our story coming we welcome your held we welcome your help for that. Ive got to ask a quick question to this is on modernization programs and the transition. The army is going to invest in six modernization portfolios to build the army of 2030, which requires funding for research, technology, prototype development, and experimentation. The army also is slashing and during programs while undergoing this modernization, the impact on the defense Industrial Base is significant. I would tell you, after all we have heard in this committee about our Industrial Base and predictability, it is contrary to that, that is being kind. What are you hearing from the defense Industrial Base and our critical suppliers in response to repeated proposals to terminate production lines in an enduring program . I mean that to be a question that i am concerned about our supply chains. One of the things we try to do in this committee is make sure there is addict ability in purchasing. That being said, there are antiquated programs that need to go away. That is perfectly acceptable and good business. The question is, i dont want this to impact critical supply chains. Sec. Wormuth its a very much in the armys interest to have a robust and healthy Defense Industrial taste. We share that. With finite resources, we are constantly having to strike a balance between putting resources towards new systems, but also maintaining our enduring programs, things like abrams, stryker. In making those choices, and setting that a balance, way the health of our Industrial Base. We have tried carefully to not make any decisions that severely damage our Industrial Base. The supply chain goes well beyond the armys organic industrial race. We are trying to work with our partners to help them rebuild their supply chains. I didnt realize things would move so fast. So much of the hearing has been focused on recruitment and the challenges, i wanted to raise a question that was presented to me last week. I met with members of the afghan female tactical platoon who were here. There are a number of afghan former Service Members who worked with us during that conflict. I was interested to hear them say they would like the opportunity to continue to serve the u. S. As you think about recruitment challenges, are there ways we can enable people like these women, who have Honorable Service and want to continue to support to the country, to serve . Sec. Wormuth i met with those women as well. They were inspiring, a number of them held up and said they would like to join the u. S. Army. We have pathways for folks who do not yet have u. S. Citizenship to join the army. My understanding is the current immigration status those women have may not be high enough to allow them to join the army at this time. I offered to write a letter to secretary of to help with their proceedings. If they are able to be granted asylum, assuming they meet our requirements, they are very skilled, the Biggest Issue will be the language requirement. We are ready and able to save them we are ready and able to receive them. I want to urge the committee to think about what we can do to help. We should give them the opportunity. I appreciate you freeing up that point. It is worth considering and finding out how we can add to making the army all it can and wants to be. I want to end my voice to all the folks saying thank you for your service, for what you have done, for being very professional in front of this committee, your testimony took only three minutes, we like that. You may not be able to retire this summer. There is a hold on all layoffs, your replacement is not confirmed and may not be unless we get a level of common sense around here to allow you to be able to go to montana and retire. We do appreciate what you have done and what you will continue to do in retirement. We appreciate boast your testimonies. Both your testimonies. We would ask you respond to questions as soon as possible. This defense subcommittee will reconvene next thursday on may 11 at 11 00 a. M. For a hearing with the secretary of defense and chairman of joint chiefs of staff. That will be an interesting hearing. Until then, we stand in recess. Information on congressional committees. Scan the code on the right to preorder your copy today. It is 29 to . 95