Transcripts For CSPAN CSIS Discussion On Indo-Pacific U.S.

Next a virtual discussion on current u. S. Strategy in the indopacific region. We heard about u. S. Relations with china and india, the impact of covid19 in those countries, and u. S. Troop withdrawal from germany. Held during a virtual discussion by the center or strategic and international studies, this is half an hour. Good morning. Im cynthia nics. Im happy to have with me general james mcconville. Gen. Mcconville its great to be here with you. Dr. Hicks i know we have a time ount of your ms. Hicks, i know we have a limited amount of your time. Theyre not often thinking about the pacific. Is the pacific really a priority for the army . What does it mean if it is . Gen. Mcconville historically were focused on europe. With the National Defense strategy puts the indopacific a top priority, its certainly a priority for us. When we take a look throughout the pacific that was my first overseas trip as a chief in september, 2019. I just did my first trip with covid out into the region and when you look at the region, great competition and in the people. Its all coming together in peace through strength. Hicks when you talk about the pieces of this, what do you think are the priority yourself hearing from the joint force about what the army needs to be delivering or able to deliver particularly in this context of the focus on what some have called the continuum of conflict or gray zone competition scaling up to deterring significant work there . Gen. Mcconville i think as we talk to the combatant commander, how do we help the commander complete and the way we do this is we provide certain capabilities. Those capabilities are things like the Security Force Assistance Brigades. We can summon them to the region, they can advise and assist our allies and partners, develop strong relationships to help them. Also some other capabilities, theres a new organization that provides the ability to do longrange precision and if we get to a conflict they have the ability to do long reign fires which will help deterrence but also enable our other joint partners, enable maritime or air antiaxisuver against Aerial Defense capability. Ms. Hicks whats the concept for how those Multidomain Task forces would operate in the pacific . Is that settled or something youre still working on . Gen. Mcconville thats something were still work on as far as the exact positioning. We do have some capability in extremely longrange decision to give certain effects. But that capability as far as the acquisition is still being etermined. Ms. Hicks as i said i know youve come from the region recently. Youve been there previously. What are you hearing from your counterparts in the Ground Forces and the armies of the pacific and what theyre looking to have from the United States and from the army specifically . Gen. Mcconville what they want is a strong friendship, a strong partnership. They want a free and open indopacific. They want to be able to have a stable and secure area theyre concerned about neighbors and no one wants to have any kind of conflict out there as we all know theres so much trade going on, its so important to the global economy. But they do want, its in their interest to have a safe and open indopacific. Thats what they want us to help them with. Ms. Hicks theres a significant contribution of army forces in orea, south korea, im racking my head to think, are you find theres appetite for more forces on the ground . Or is it more of the extra in the category of exercises and activities and engagement at the senior level with you and your subordinates . Gen. Mcconville i think its a range of activities. It stops at the International Military education and Training Programs where they come to our school, we work very, very closely there. Military nterested in in purchasing equipment so theres interoperability between us. Some are interested in once getting the equipment that we have advise and assist capability that could enable them. Others will train with us. They want to come to our combat training center, some want us to train with them in their country. Theres a variety of things we are doing to increase that capability between the partners depending on what their desires are. Ms. Hicks the other mige dynamic is china itself. North korea as well. Can you talk a little bit about in the case of china how you think that u. S. China dynamic, particularly as it relates to the army and your mission set, what does success look like in terms of how you position, what youre doing with allies and part of the joint force . Gen. Mcconville ive talked to allies and partners in the region, the last thing anyone ants is some type of conflict. We all need to work to avoid that type thing. But at the same time, many of these countries, they do want in the pacific because they need to have access, they need to be able to do the things they need to do for their economy. So what theyre interested in is really stability and security in the region. Nd so all can prosper. Ms. Hicks china most recently for folks watching ground force efforts and the p. L. A. Has gotten into border incursions with india, not the first time those have happened, there are historical border disputes, but they were deadly. Its a growing element of the security environment. Can you speak to the degree to which youre focused on the indiachina dynamic . Gen. Mcconville i think india is a very important country in he region. We used to be the Pacific Command. Now its indo Pacific Command reflecting just how important and there ndia are a lot of common interests and as a result i think theres opportunities for that relationship, that partnership and those discussions are certainly possible in the future. Ms. Hicks what are the priorities that youve heard if youve heard them yet from the indians again with regard to their Ground Forces or cooperation with the army . Theres been focus on the indiapakistan dynamic, are they still focused on their Ground Forces . Gen. Mcconville i think, yeah irk had to talk to the Ground Forces so as we talk to the indian chief of staff of the army hes certainly focused on the Ground Forces. Then as we have discussions were looking for common interests. How we can improve registrationships. Ms. Hicks lets look at the trip you just came from. You met with counterparts in a couple of other countries in southeast asia. Can you speak a little bit about what you heard in the midst of covid and in the midst of this competition between the United States and china . Gen. Mcconville first of all, you know, many of the countries are very, very concerned about covid. Covid has affected the entire globe. In my travels i was tested many, many times, on National Television in tieland, just to make sure as we move through the region that covid is not is not spreading. So all the countries are very, very concerned with that. Were all, you know, aggressively working on some type of vaccine and some type of they are putetoik do that. Theyre interested in what were doing. Once we discover that we could share, again, most partners again are very concerned with some of the activities, theres been limited capability to do the things they need to do for the economy to have free and open trade. Thats their biggest concern. They dont want to have to choose between partners when it comes to the economy, theyre all dependent on partners out there for the economy, you have to respect that, and respect their interest. Ms. Hicks with covid being such a predominant factor in the environment and the degree of Chinese Influence Campaign activity around it, are you looking at, i would just call it health diemployee may diplomacy as something the army can help provide to allies and partners lacking for help on whether its vaccine or therapeutics or logistics, anything like that . Gen. Mcconville i think theres opportunities there. As we build relationships with these countries and certainly if were doing some very aggressive work with operation warp speed get a vaccine and therapeutics to help treat that. We have that capability, we certainly were doing some share right now in the region that the indo command is working on. Ms. Hicks one of the big issues right now at this point, we have the National Defense authorization act through both chamber we obviously are awaiting the end game if you will, which involves conference and the president s signature, etc. But i think we have a yen sense of the overall budget topline and theres a lot of talk about regardless of what happens in the national election, theres certainly pressure on defense. Are you concerned about the armys ability to deliver in the Pacific Related to defense topline . Or would you describe concerns n a different way . Gen. Mcconville i suggest every 40 years need to transform the army. We did it in 1940, did it in 1980, now were in 2020. We have some major modernization efforts going on. Not just new equipment, new doctrine, new organizations, Talent Management program. All these things are coming together. Theyre going to set the course for the next 40 years. Theyre going to allow us to have great competition. I think its very, very important to continue these efforts in the top line and resources can allow us to do hat. Ms. Hicks what are the priorities that you have, broadly and what are the focus for the indopacific competition die namic . Gen. Mcconville a lot of people think when you talk about transformation and modernization youre talking about new equipment. I think its much more than that it really starts with a concept for how were going to compete and how were going to fight. At the joint level, were coming up, developing Main Operations concept that recognizes that in the future we will be contested in every single domain. On the land, in the sea, in the air, in cyber, and in space. Our contribution that were developing in the Main Operation concepts, were working very, very closely with joint partners to make sure that we synchronize with our concepts. And then from the concepts were developing new units. I mentioned the task force thats going to get us long range precision effects and long range precision fires. Were standing up Assistance Brigades so every one has the capability so it can they can advise and assist. Lets take a hard look at how were going to do Information Operations in the future because we know that our competitors are doing disInformation Operations all the time. And take a look at how we twain. Take advantage of the technology. So we we used to have what we call combat training areas, now we have cyber ranges so we can practice what were doing in cyber. Were using Virtual Reality and augmented reality to trabe soldiers to take advantage of priorities with long range precision fire, new vehicle to replace the bad lee, we have two new aircraft coming in were retiring all our sensors to sy our sensors and shooters together. Our air and missile default, were looking at lasers, microwaves, putting things to together to handle any type of threat. Weaver doing things to make our soldiers more lethal. With some of the systems were developing for ground. I think most importantly were doing a lot in talent we feel talk about new stuff. But its our Industrial Age Personnel Management system to a count management system. As far as when it comes to transformation and getting the force ready for the next 40 years, the most important things we do is account management. Were taking Industrial Age Personnel Management system in place and moving to a 21st century Talent Management system thats going to allow us to compete for talent where we no longering more everyone as interchangeable parts. We actuallying more individuals by their knowledge, skills, may havor and preferences which is blasphemous in the army that we want to know what people want to do and where they want to go but we think thats important for the future to put the people we need in the right job, right place. So were moving adressive aggressively in that area. Ms. Hicks presumably there are losers in a constrained budget environment. What are the areas where you feel you can gain more efficiency than you have in the past or where youre deprioritizing to make room for major pushes both in funds but also in the attention of Senior Leadership for the transformation of Human Capital takes an enormous amount of attention. What is allowed to maybe just be a little less prioritized right now . Gen. Mcconville one thing were looking at is success. You look at the systems we have that some would like us to continue to purchase. We know that we have discussed that we cant buy new old stuff, so to speak. We have to take a look at the systems. We can cant have everything. So thats why we have our modernization priorities. We know we need long range precision, thats our number one priority. So with developing hypersonic capability right now, been successful in the past. Were going to have mid range missiles that can sink ship, we think thats important for the tiaxis capabilities that we made. And they are tactical fires with extended range cannons. They have to happen. So some of the things that may be incremental improvements in our current systems we wont be able to invest in though some would like us to. Ms. Hicks let me ask you one more question from me an then ill switch to audience questions. There have been obviously a lot happening inside the United States in the last six months and particularly in light of the black lives Matter Movement protests and then the Civil Military relations elements that were tied up particularly in Lafayette Square incident. There are challenges to the u. S. Brand overseas. Certainly we have challenges with the brand at home. But youve as i said just come from the indopacific. Its a region we want to have influence in in addition to europe and elsewhere. Whats the army doing to do its part to make sure that the u. S. Has a legitimate brand itself d that it actually can be its linked with that brand overseas . Gen. Mcconville when it comes to the military we feed to do the right thing the right way in all circumstances. As far as employing regular army troops thats only to be done as the absolute last resort. In this case we did not deploy army active troops. We worked closely with Law Enforcement and had military advice. Even the National Guard should only be employed as a last resort. I think certainly governors and mayors mayors are taking a look at that. As we talked to other countries and other militaries we have that discussion. Make sure they understand that the the purpose of the United States army is to protect the nation, not to police the nation. Thats what we have Law Enforcement, and we should leave policing the nation to Law Enforcement. Ms. Hicks there have been quite a few diversity initiatives i know that have been brought up from secretary esper and inside the services. Can you share a little bit about what the army is doing in this regard . Gen. Mcconville absolutely. First of all, the army is a very Diverse Service and its not just its about inclusion. Diversity is numbers. We have 20 of our force is africanamerican, 200,000 soldiers, very, very important. 14 is hispanic. Again, very, very important. And 18 are women. O thats 180,000 women. 40,000 latinos. What we want to have is inclusion. So we put together project inclusion, been working on this for quite a while. It shows how we compete far diverse army and how do we make sure that that diversity makes it all the way up to the top so people can see that. We have programs in place for that when it comes to programs as far as when we look at racism in the country and social injustice. What are we doing to get at that . Youre not allowed to fly certain flags, things that are divisive, were taking a look at that on the systemic side how do we make sure that everyone has a fair chance . We took photos out of promotion boards because there was some unconscious bias. For our command Assessment Program an counselors command Assessment Program we do a blind board so people cant see what the person looks like. We want to make it as fair as possible. Of systemic ot procedures in place to help make sure everyone has a fair chance in the United States army. Ms. Hicks great. Let me get to the audience questions. E have quite a few here. Theres one on the armys propensity, the questioner would put it, to travel heavy. And the question is what is the army vision for shiptoshore in the indopacific that doesnt exquisite, elts shall we say. Gen. Mcconville we have all types of forces. Light fores, airborne forces, quite heavy forces. Each comes with a logistical trail and ideally the lighter you go the less you have but it also brings with it less combat power. What were doing is tailoring our units and logistics to cut that down. The other thing is how we do logistics. Were taking advantage of a lot of the technology in place. So manufacturing. You can make your own parts so you dont have to bring a bunch of parts, you can make the one you need. Visual National Defense<\/a> strategy puts the indopacific a top priority, its certainly a priority for us. When we take a look throughout the pacific that was my first overseas trip as a chief in september, 2019. I just did my first trip with covid out into the region and when you look at the region, great competition and in the people. Its all coming together in peace through strength. Hicks when you talk about the pieces of this, what do you think are the priority yourself hearing from the joint force about what the army needs to be delivering or able to deliver particularly in this context of the focus on what some have called the continuum of conflict or gray zone competition scaling up to deterring significant work there . Gen. Mcconville i think as we talk to the combatant commander, how do we help the commander complete and the way we do this is we provide certain capabilities. Those capabilities are things like the Security Force<\/a> Assistance Brigades<\/a>. We can summon them to the region, they can advise and assist our allies and partners, develop strong relationships to help them. Also some other capabilities, theres a new organization that provides the ability to do longrange precision and if we get to a conflict they have the ability to do long reign fires which will help deterrence but also enable our other joint partners, enable maritime or air antiaxisuver against Aerial Defense<\/a> capability. Ms. Hicks whats the concept for how those Multidomain Task<\/a> forces would operate in the pacific . Is that settled or something youre still working on . Gen. Mcconville thats something were still work on as far as the exact positioning. We do have some capability in extremely longrange decision to give certain effects. But that capability as far as the acquisition is still being etermined. Ms. Hicks as i said i know youve come from the region recently. Youve been there previously. What are you hearing from your counterparts in the Ground Forces<\/a> and the armies of the pacific and what theyre looking to have from the United States<\/a> and from the army specifically . Gen. Mcconville what they want is a strong friendship, a strong partnership. They want a free and open indopacific. They want to be able to have a stable and secure area theyre concerned about neighbors and no one wants to have any kind of conflict out there as we all know theres so much trade going on, its so important to the global economy. But they do want, its in their interest to have a safe and open indopacific. Thats what they want us to help them with. Ms. Hicks theres a significant contribution of army forces in orea, south korea, im racking my head to think, are you find theres appetite for more forces on the ground . Or is it more of the extra in the category of exercises and activities and engagement at the senior level with you and your subordinates . Gen. Mcconville i think its a range of activities. It stops at the International Military<\/a> education and Training Programs<\/a> where they come to our school, we work very, very closely there. Military nterested in in purchasing equipment so theres interoperability between us. Some are interested in once getting the equipment that we have advise and assist capability that could enable them. Others will train with us. They want to come to our combat training center, some want us to train with them in their country. Theres a variety of things we are doing to increase that capability between the partners depending on what their desires are. Ms. Hicks the other mige dynamic is china itself. North korea as well. Can you talk a little bit about in the case of china how you think that u. S. China dynamic, particularly as it relates to the army and your mission set, what does success look like in terms of how you position, what youre doing with allies and part of the joint force . Gen. Mcconville ive talked to allies and partners in the region, the last thing anyone ants is some type of conflict. We all need to work to avoid that type thing. But at the same time, many of these countries, they do want in the pacific because they need to have access, they need to be able to do the things they need to do for their economy. So what theyre interested in is really stability and security in the region. Nd so all can prosper. Ms. Hicks china most recently for folks watching ground force efforts and the p. L. A. Has gotten into border incursions with india, not the first time those have happened, there are historical border disputes, but they were deadly. Its a growing element of the security environment. Can you speak to the degree to which youre focused on the indiachina dynamic . Gen. Mcconville i think india is a very important country in he region. We used to be the Pacific Command<\/a>. Now its indo Pacific Command<\/a> reflecting just how important and there ndia are a lot of common interests and as a result i think theres opportunities for that relationship, that partnership and those discussions are certainly possible in the future. Ms. Hicks what are the priorities that youve heard if youve heard them yet from the indians again with regard to their Ground Forces<\/a> or cooperation with the army . Theres been focus on the indiapakistan dynamic, are they still focused on their Ground Forces<\/a> . Gen. Mcconville i think, yeah irk had to talk to the Ground Forces<\/a> so as we talk to the indian chief of staff of the army hes certainly focused on the Ground Forces<\/a>. Then as we have discussions were looking for common interests. How we can improve registrationships. Ms. Hicks lets look at the trip you just came from. You met with counterparts in a couple of other countries in southeast asia. Can you speak a little bit about what you heard in the midst of covid and in the midst of this competition between the United States<\/a> and china . Gen. Mcconville first of all, you know, many of the countries are very, very concerned about covid. Covid has affected the entire globe. In my travels i was tested many, many times, on National Television<\/a> in tieland, just to make sure as we move through the region that covid is not is not spreading. So all the countries are very, very concerned with that. Were all, you know, aggressively working on some type of vaccine and some type of they are putetoik do that. Theyre interested in what were doing. Once we discover that we could share, again, most partners again are very concerned with some of the activities, theres been limited capability to do the things they need to do for the economy to have free and open trade. Thats their biggest concern. They dont want to have to choose between partners when it comes to the economy, theyre all dependent on partners out there for the economy, you have to respect that, and respect their interest. Ms. Hicks with covid being such a predominant factor in the environment and the degree of Chinese Influence Campaign<\/a> activity around it, are you looking at, i would just call it health diemployee may diplomacy as something the army can help provide to allies and partners lacking for help on whether its vaccine or therapeutics or logistics, anything like that . Gen. Mcconville i think theres opportunities there. As we build relationships with these countries and certainly if were doing some very aggressive work with operation warp speed get a vaccine and therapeutics to help treat that. We have that capability, we certainly were doing some share right now in the region that the indo command is working on. Ms. Hicks one of the big issues right now at this point, we have the National Defense<\/a> authorization act through both chamber we obviously are awaiting the end game if you will, which involves conference and the president s signature, etc. But i think we have a yen sense of the overall budget topline and theres a lot of talk about regardless of what happens in the national election, theres certainly pressure on defense. Are you concerned about the armys ability to deliver in the Pacific Related<\/a> to defense topline . Or would you describe concerns n a different way . Gen. Mcconville i suggest every 40 years need to transform the army. We did it in 1940, did it in 1980, now were in 2020. We have some major modernization efforts going on. Not just new equipment, new doctrine, new organizations, Talent Management<\/a> program. All these things are coming together. Theyre going to set the course for the next 40 years. Theyre going to allow us to have great competition. I think its very, very important to continue these efforts in the top line and resources can allow us to do hat. Ms. Hicks what are the priorities that you have, broadly and what are the focus for the indopacific competition die namic . Gen. Mcconville a lot of people think when you talk about transformation and modernization youre talking about new equipment. I think its much more than that it really starts with a concept for how were going to compete and how were going to fight. At the joint level, were coming up, developing Main Operations<\/a> concept that recognizes that in the future we will be contested in every single domain. On the land, in the sea, in the air, in cyber, and in space. Our contribution that were developing in the Main Operation<\/a> concepts, were working very, very closely with joint partners to make sure that we synchronize with our concepts. And then from the concepts were developing new units. I mentioned the task force thats going to get us long range precision effects and long range precision fires. Were standing up Assistance Brigades<\/a> so every one has the capability so it can they can advise and assist. Lets take a hard look at how were going to do Information Operations<\/a> in the future because we know that our competitors are doing disInformation Operations<\/a> all the time. And take a look at how we twain. Take advantage of the technology. So we we used to have what we call combat training areas, now we have cyber ranges so we can practice what were doing in cyber. Were using Virtual Reality<\/a> and augmented reality to trabe soldiers to take advantage of priorities with long range precision fire, new vehicle to replace the bad lee, we have two new aircraft coming in were retiring all our sensors to sy our sensors and shooters together. Our air and missile default, were looking at lasers, microwaves, putting things to together to handle any type of threat. Weaver doing things to make our soldiers more lethal. With some of the systems were developing for ground. I think most importantly were doing a lot in talent we feel talk about new stuff. But its our Industrial Age<\/a> Personnel Management<\/a> system to a count management system. As far as when it comes to transformation and getting the force ready for the next 40 years, the most important things we do is account management. Were taking Industrial Age<\/a> Personnel Management<\/a> system in place and moving to a 21st century Talent Management<\/a> system thats going to allow us to compete for talent where we no longering more everyone as interchangeable parts. We actuallying more individuals by their knowledge, skills, may havor and preferences which is blasphemous in the army that we want to know what people want to do and where they want to go but we think thats important for the future to put the people we need in the right job, right place. So were moving adressive aggressively in that area. Ms. Hicks presumably there are losers in a constrained budget environment. What are the areas where you feel you can gain more efficiency than you have in the past or where youre deprioritizing to make room for major pushes both in funds but also in the attention of Senior Leadership<\/a> for the transformation of Human Capital<\/a> takes an enormous amount of attention. What is allowed to maybe just be a little less prioritized right now . Gen. Mcconville one thing were looking at is success. You look at the systems we have that some would like us to continue to purchase. We know that we have discussed that we cant buy new old stuff, so to speak. We have to take a look at the systems. We can cant have everything. So thats why we have our modernization priorities. We know we need long range precision, thats our number one priority. So with developing hypersonic capability right now, been successful in the past. Were going to have mid range missiles that can sink ship, we think thats important for the tiaxis capabilities that we made. And they are tactical fires with extended range cannons. They have to happen. So some of the things that may be incremental improvements in our current systems we wont be able to invest in though some would like us to. Ms. Hicks let me ask you one more question from me an then ill switch to audience questions. There have been obviously a lot happening inside the United States<\/a> in the last six months and particularly in light of the black lives Matter Movement<\/a> protests and then the Civil Military<\/a> relations elements that were tied up particularly in Lafayette Square<\/a> incident. There are challenges to the u. S. Brand overseas. Certainly we have challenges with the brand at home. But youve as i said just come from the indopacific. Its a region we want to have influence in in addition to europe and elsewhere. Whats the army doing to do its part to make sure that the u. S. Has a legitimate brand itself d that it actually can be its linked with that brand overseas . Gen. Mcconville when it comes to the military we feed to do the right thing the right way in all circumstances. As far as employing regular army troops thats only to be done as the absolute last resort. In this case we did not deploy army active troops. We worked closely with Law Enforcement<\/a> and had military advice. Even the National Guard<\/a> should only be employed as a last resort. I think certainly governors and mayors mayors are taking a look at that. As we talked to other countries and other militaries we have that discussion. Make sure they understand that the the purpose of the United States<\/a> army is to protect the nation, not to police the nation. Thats what we have Law Enforcement<\/a>, and we should leave policing the nation to Law Enforcement<\/a>. Ms. Hicks there have been quite a few diversity initiatives i know that have been brought up from secretary esper and inside the services. Can you share a little bit about what the army is doing in this regard . Gen. Mcconville absolutely. First of all, the army is a very Diverse Service<\/a> and its not just its about inclusion. Diversity is numbers. We have 20 of our force is africanamerican, 200,000 soldiers, very, very important. 14 is hispanic. Again, very, very important. And 18 are women. O thats 180,000 women. 40,000 latinos. What we want to have is inclusion. So we put together project inclusion, been working on this for quite a while. It shows how we compete far diverse army and how do we make sure that that diversity makes it all the way up to the top so people can see that. We have programs in place for that when it comes to programs as far as when we look at racism in the country and social injustice. What are we doing to get at that . Youre not allowed to fly certain flags, things that are divisive, were taking a look at that on the systemic side how do we make sure that everyone has a fair chance . We took photos out of promotion boards because there was some unconscious bias. For our command Assessment Program<\/a> an counselors command Assessment Program<\/a> we do a blind board so people cant see what the person looks like. We want to make it as fair as possible. Of systemic ot procedures in place to help make sure everyone has a fair chance in the United States<\/a> army. Ms. Hicks great. Let me get to the audience questions. E have quite a few here. Theres one on the armys propensity, the questioner would put it, to travel heavy. And the question is what is the army vision for shiptoshore in the indopacific that doesnt exquisite, elts shall we say. Gen. Mcconville we have all types of forces. Light fores, airborne forces, quite heavy forces. Each comes with a logistical trail and ideally the lighter you go the less you have but it also brings with it less combat power. What were doing is tailoring our units and logistics to cut that down. The other thing is how we do logistics. Were taking advantage of a lot of the technology in place. So manufacturing. You can make your own parts so you dont have to bring a bunch of parts, you can make the one you need. Visual Intelligence Systems<\/a> on our Weapons Systems<\/a> so you dont change parts until you absolutely need to. You get the feedback and then you have a system that only brings the parts forward that you need. Were doing much more on efficiency when it comes to fuel with vehicles and even looking at how we can get hybrid type vehicles. So we recognize the challenge of logistics and as we like to say logistics drives what we need to do moving in the nfingts age when it comes to logistics. Ms. Hicks great. I have a question on india and ts on the quad which is the u. S. Indiaaustraliajapan this concept of the four nations working together. What is your view on how india can contribute to a quad or you can broaden it to multilateral approaches with the u. S. To neutralize chinese influence in the indopacific . Gen. Mcconville all those countries are extremely important in the region. As we follow, with the diplomacy and the strategic relationships. What i think we provide is good military to military relationships. For my role its really with the chiefs of staffs. If you take a look at the army is very, very important in these regions, the chiefs of staff are important. Having a strong milltomilitary relationship with my coubt parts and finding out where we have common interests and where we can Work Together<\/a> is very, very important. With those chiefs we have good relationships. Ms. Hicks another pacific question. This one from todd of the army times. Could you please discuss your thoughts on stationing a rotational use of Army Personnel<\/a> as it relates to partner nations in the first, second, or third island chains advance model, for example. How critical is it to have u. S. Forces in the first island chain or in partner nations such as thailand . Gen. Mcconville i think its ery important that we have relationships with countries inside the frs island chain, and we do. And as far as the ability to do exercises and train we think thats very, very important. We think its very, very important to have advisors with our partners and allies. You know, we take a look at who actually have defense agreements with. Theres seven in the in our country as a whole. Five of those are in the region. So when you think abouta pan, philippines, the republic of rea, thailand and us a trail ynew zealand, those are countries that we have defense agreements. So we think its very, very important to make sure those partnerships are strong and we Work Together<\/a>. Ms. Hicks i have question in the region, and this one is about india and its ability to contribute through what is called the quad, the notion of the u. S. Australiajapanindia multilateral set of networks that can work in the defense realm. So yen, whether through the quad or otherwise, what is your sense of how india might be best able to help as the questioner asks, neutralize, quoteunquote, chinas influence in the indopacific . Gen. Mcconville i think india is a very important country in the region. Wing rerecognize that by defining the pacific as indopacific right now. We do have defense agreements others. An and i think adding india if theyre willing and can make the agreement that would be verying very helpful for the stability and security in the region. Couple on nd now a basing arrangements. We talked about some of these. One specifically on the europe, particularly the germany basing decisions. The question reads as stated in the pentagons strategic approach the region, the indopacific region is d. O. D. s priority feeder. How will this affect the forward posture in europe in the foreseeable future . To what extent is the trump administrations decision to withdraw troops from germany related to this . And what kind of capabilities are critical for deterring russia that the army should still be providing . Gen. Mcconville i think were basically looking at the pacific, we know that theres been acknowledgments made actually today on units that need to be coming out of europe, going back to europe. Were going to have to do a posture review. Right now we have enough forces committed in the pacific to do what we need to do and what we do in the army is actually developing those new units that we think are critical like the Multidomain Task<\/a> forces that ewith think in the future are going to provide us the capabilities we think we need for longrange decision effects and longrange decision fires if required in the region. Ms. Hicks i think the questioner was also interested in what european what capabilities would you like to see europe developing in light of the fact that the United States<\/a> has set the indopacific as its priority theater . What would you hope others can provide in support of the Common Security<\/a> goal we was in europe . Gen. Mcconville wed like all the countries to work very closely together as we take a look at competition. Whether its preemptive in nature or defensive . Gen. Mcconville i think, you know, we want capabilities. When it came to longrange precision fires. We are developing a hypersonic capability which has a very long range. Were developing mid range capabilities that will have an antiship capability. To ertainly want to bring the National Leadership<\/a> options that they can use if required for an antiaccess capability and the question becomes with the position, what the posture would be a decision that would come later. Ms. Hicks youve been so gracious with your time. I want to ask one last question. It loops back to your earlier comment you mentioned the joint concept being developed as well as the armys efforts. Is there a sense of a timeline for the process at least the first iteration of the process of the Concept Development<\/a> and what we might look for for signs that those concepts are beginning to influence Organization Design<\/a> as you mentioned and modernization . Gen. Mcconville what we see right now is really, its happening as we speak. A lot of experimentation going on monthly, even during covid, over the next year. O the concept is pg developed. Its really based on experimentation. Were bringing together joint forces elements and making sure that they can Work Together<\/a> and conduct multidomain type operations. So you can have air, you can have ground, longrange and were all working so we can tie and shooters together. Thats helping drive the concept were developing. Ms. Hicks i want to thank you for your time talking about the pacific, what the army has as priorities, this is a challenging environment. Its probably just going to get more challenging, so im grateful that you are there at the elm of the army and for everything that as the helm of the army and for everything that the army is doing. Eryone help me in virtchally thanking general james mcconville, chief of staff of the army. Heres a look at the plimetime schedule on the cspan networks. Starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on c span, spacex crew dragon members hold a News Conference<\/a> from the News Conference<\/a> from the International Space<\/a> station on preparations for returning to earth. On c span 2, a house subcommittee examines Sexual Assault<\/a> harass Sexual Harassment<\/a> and retallation issues and the fort hood base in texas. And on cspan3, American History<\/a> tv with our american artifacts eries looking at world war ii. Dr. Fauci us do pro tests increase spread of the virus . Do protests increase the spread of the virus half a million protests on june 6 alone that number of people. Crowding together particularly when youre not wearing a mask contributes to the spread of the virus. Should we limit the protesting . Im not sure how do we say limit the protesting . Should government limit the protesting . I dont think thats relevant to you said it increases the spread of the virus. Im asking should we limb it . Im not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way. You make all kinds of recommendations you made comments on date, on baseball, on everything you can imagine. You just said protest increase the spread, im asking should we try to limit the protests . I would leave that to people who have more position to do that. Kayen tell you government is stopping people from going to church, dr. Fauci. Yeah. Last week in the call vary chapel case five liberals on the Supreme Court<\/a> said it was ok for nevada to limit Church Service<\/a>s. Justice gorsuch said it best. Theres no world in which the constitution allows nevada to favor series palace over call vary church. Is there a way to limit one im not favoring anybody other anybody. Im just making a statement thats a broad statement that avoid crowds of any type no matter where you are because that leads to the acquisition and transmission and i dont judge one crowd versus another crowd. When youre in a crowd, particularly if youre not wearing a mask, that is its a simple question, doctor. Should we limit the protests . Government is obviously limiting people. Look. Im not theres been no violence that i can see at church. I havent seen people in a Church Service<\/a> go out and harm police officerses or burn buildings. We know for 63 day, nine week its been happening in portland. One night in chicago 49 officers were injured. But no limits to proasts but boy you cant go to church on sunday . I dont know how many time us can answer that. Im not going to opine on limiting anything. Im going to tell you youve opined on a lot of things. But i never d directly impact thetsstredsfloveed virus im asking your position on the protests. Im not going to opine on limiting anything. Im telling you what is the danger. You can make your own conclusion about. Dr. Anthony fauci along with federal coronavirus officials dr. Robert redfield and admiral roth testified today on a National Strategy<\/a> for combating the pandemic. Watch the entire hearing tonight starting at 9 00 eastern on c span. Watch our live tai daley unfit erled coverage of congress, the white house. Our countries are linked by trade and travel. On issues that matter to you. Ongoing effort to focus on a mation to save lives and meet the needs of our states, our health care workers. Along with brief ogs then coronavirus pandemic. Supreme Court Oral Arguments<\/a> and decisions. Thanks for coming out to say hello everybody. And the latest from campaign 2020. Your calls and comments welcome. Be a part of the conversation every day with our live callin Program Washington<\/a> journal. And if you missed any of our live coverage watch any time on demand at cspan. Org. Or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app. Saturday at 9 00 a. M. Nasa tv provides coverage of the fare well ceremony for spacex crew dragon before it undocks from the International Space<\/a> station. Then at 5 15, the final preparations leading to the undocking from the i. S. S. Live coverage saturday on cspan. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court<\/a>, and Public Policy<\/a> events. You can watch all of cspans Public Affairs<\/a> programming on television. Online. Or listen on our free radio app. And be part of the National Conversation<\/a> through cspans daily washington journal program. Or through our social media feed. Cspan. Created by americas Cable Television<\/a> companies. As a public service. And brought to you today by your television provider. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi<\/a> spoke to reporters earlier as negotiations with republicans and the white house continue. On an additional coronavirus package. The speaker was also asked about president trumps tweet about possibly delaying the november president ial election","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia601909.us.archive.org\/27\/items\/CSPAN_20200731_210400_CSIS_Discussion_on_Indo-Pacific__U.S._Army\/CSPAN_20200731_210400_CSIS_Discussion_on_Indo-Pacific__U.S._Army.thumbs\/CSPAN_20200731_210400_CSIS_Discussion_on_Indo-Pacific__U.S._Army_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}