President bidens 2024 budget request before a Senate Appropriations committee. They outlined their focus on people, readiness and modernization and discussed investments with joint forces in the indo pacific region. Testified on president bidens 2024 budget request before a Senate Appropriations committee. They outlined focused on people, readiness, and modernization. 300 million below last years but 11 billion more than the year before that. Worldwide challenges threads constantly evolving. The armies the future is to transfer the army into the army of 2030. This transformation includes organizational forces in the development of equipment and new concepts to defeat our adversaries. We can best help the army on its path through the timely enactment of the defense appropriations bill for fy 24. Appropriations provide to allow the army to execute and operate execute plans appropriately. 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 and for putting us in a position of success and getting this passed on time. The army biggest militaradvantat these are difficult times. We look forward to hearing more about how youre recruiting challenges. Given the need to modernize in light of a never a vaulting threat, we also look forward to an update about the pace of modernization. You all have my full support to develop and field modernization and modernize. But im growing increasingly worried about repeated proposals by the army to break hot production lines and destabilize the Industrial Base. I want to thank you for your service to the country. Senator collins is not here. She has Health Education labor and Pensions Committee markup this morning. She may arrive later, but before we get to your Opening Statements i have one quick statement and then i want to turn it over to the knitter moran. We heard yesterday that the moments 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, the deficit needs to be dealt with in a commonsense way. What the house has done last week is not a commonsense way and makes us a weaker country. If we continue down this line, im 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 to getting a budget out by the end of september so that you guys have do not waste taxpayer dollars. With that, i will turn it over to senator moran. I would add my support for all of our efforts in this committee to make sure we get our appropriations process completed, done on time and that we avoid, my Opening Statement i will to take a second to recognize the three Army Aviators who lost their lives in a training accident over the weekend in alaska. Another reminder of the sacrifices servicemembers and their families make every day whether they are deployed or at home. Thank you both for your service to our nation and for being here to this here today to discuss the United States armys budget request. General, its my understanding that this will be your last Posture Hearing. While that saddens me, it may be a pleasurable thought for you. This is your last Posture Hearing as a chief of staff for the army. I would like to especially thank you 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 you are willing to engage with me, and im especially grateful for your relationship for your support and for leavenworth last summer. Kansas communities are engaged with support of the soldiers and their families who call these post home. Secretary warmups, i look forward to hosting you and kansas in the near future to showcase the capabilities of the kansas military post 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. Army is critical to the future of our country. This administrations army budget request for fy 2024 does not adequately address these concerns. As a mean assuming the best inflation estimates, the armies fy 2024 request represent a real growth rate of 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 applications. 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 fy 2022 authorized and strength of 485,000 soldiers. Congress should be informed of all the alternatives as 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. No one in this room wants to see the army return to a tiered readiness model. I believe the retention of our meat force structure is critical. While 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 u. S. Industrial base, particularly its ability to produce an adequate munition stock and supply americans and kansas workers stand ready to support the u. S. War fighter. I support there were the armys recent investments into the Munitions Industrial base. Are easily had a chance to visit the former Kansas Army Ammunition plant which will have a vital role now we now we engaging in supporting the increase munition production needs. I also want to applaud the armys recent election of the v2 80 to be the armys future longrange assault aircraft. I will continue to use my position on this committee to help support the modernization of them Army Aviation fleet to keep pace with our challenges. Army is the backbone of the joint force of the United States if the United States is in conflict. Our army answers the call. While air and marine superiority are essential, this is only possible with thes 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. You have the floor. Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to build the army of 2030 and 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 a stand down to make sure that we understand exactly whats going on and you can make sure that our aviators share Lessons Learned from these recent incidents. We are very pleased to appear for you to appear before you today. This is indeed his last hearing and it has been a pleasure to do three cycles of budget hearings. So congratulations. We have accomplished a lot, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We remain focused on our three priorities. The fy 24 budget enables us to support the National Defense strategy, provide ready forces and take care of our people. By investing over 39 billion in procurement, we are maintaining our mormon momentum and are largely on track to bring 24 systems across the finish line 2023. This is a big year. Prototypes of the precision strike, the mid capability and hypersonic weapon will be in the hands of soldiers in the fiscal year. It is also a big year for combat vehicles. Firepower is in production and the field is being as we shift from two decades to large state largescale combat operations, we are transforming our structure. We are going to need to adapt our structure to make room for things like the Multidomain Taskforces as well as other units and our battalions. We are a ready army and we continue to emphasize readiness and everything we do. We are funding 22 combat Training Center rotations. We have a robust exercise program and we are implementing our new model which helps us. We are 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 infighting pressure, the army has provided Legal Assistance including a wide range wide range of radars and combat vehicles to name a few items. One of the lessons weve learned is the need for a mo brooks more robust defense base. We have 1. 5 billion to invest. We are working very closely with our defense partners and industry to increase production so that we can continue to help the ukrainians that also very importantly to replenish our own stocks. Even as our soldiers provide Legal Assistance and training the ukrainian forces, we have not taken our eye off the challenge in china. Indo pay, may be a theater named after two oceans come about the army does have a number in part to play. The best way to avoid fighting a war is to show that you can win any war you might have to fight. The army is contributing to strengthening every day as a campaign in the region through our exercises and partnerships. If deterrence fails, the army will be a key player if there is a conflict. As important as it is to build new weapon systems, people are the strength of our army. This budget includes a 5. 2 pay raise and important quality of life improvements like housing, childcare initiatives and new and renovated derricks. We want to build cohesive teams of soldiers so the army is committed to positive command climb across the board 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, but we have to do everything we can to reduce suicide in the army. 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 knows their soldiers and make sure that the soldiers are connected to their leaders, to their buddies and to their families. Our army is the greatest army in the world, but the keep it that way we have to resolve our recruiting challenge. The difficult recruiting landscape he faced did not 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 moments like our future soldier prep course, Soldier Referral Program and our new Advertising Campaign be all you can be. Our efforts are geared toward one thing, introducing 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. Thank you madam secretary. Thank you for your leadership. The state was members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. And for your continued support. We appreciate your condolences and certainly our condolences go out to the family of the fallen in alaska. The army exist for one purpose and that is to protect the nation by being ready and fighting our nations wars as a member of the joint force. To do this, the army has set three layer priorities. People, readiness and modernization or in other words, future readiness. We remain committed to these priorities while answering the nations call during every crisis in every challenge. This year, the army undergoes its greatest transformation and almost 50 years. We are delivering on modernization because we been consistent and persistent on a modernization priorities. Last year we officially updated our doctrine which incorporates lessons from ukraine. We continue to stand up to organizations support our new doctor. Last june, we reactivated historic 11th Airborne Division in alaska. September, a third of our taskforces as secretaries noted, we are on track 24 signature weapon systems. At the end of the day, we must get the right people in the right place an order for any of these initiatives to be successful. This is why people remain in the army people remain the armys number one priority. Service in the army is a pathway to success both in and out of uniform. Whether you serve for four years or over 40 years, the army offers endless possibilities. We are not only the profession of arms, but we are a profession of professions. You can be whatever you want to be in the 90 states army. In fact, you can be all you can be. Inspire young men and women to serve because we get the call, we go with the army we have. Army we have is the worlds greatest fighting force because we serve with the worlds greatest soldiers. With your continued support, we are going to keep it that way. Thank you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you for your testimony. Last week, three soldiers were tragically killed when their helicopters collided in alaska. I also pointed out, another fatal helicopter accident in kentucky february 2. Two soldiers lost their lives in a Training Mission in alabama. General, you issued a standdown order and directed additional safety training. Would you please give us an update on what you will be reviewing specifically . Thank you and last year, we are only as good as our last flight. As you mentioned, weve had two tragic flights in the last month and as a result, the secretary and i directed a safety stand down. Thats an opportunity for all of our aviation commanders and senior commanders to bring their aviators together to take a look at the procedures that they use and take a look at the crew mixed to understand the type of training they are doing a making sure we have the right cruise in place and we are taking the proper steps to crawl, route crawl, walk, rhonda. To realize that this is a very walk, riu run. To realize that this is a very, we have to bring that safety philosophy and make sure we are able to be that. Assuming that the standdown results in some solutions to the problem whether its in safety or its in training, how long do you think it will take to implement anything that comes out of the standdown . Think it will come out the next couple of days. Secretary, in addition to the lives that were lost, those actions cost aviation the army about 600 million in equipment. Are you appropriately funding for some of the training the general talked about . Yes, we have been fully funding our flying hours for the last two budgets that we have submitted. For example, we have put investments into making sure that we have sufficient resources for our simulators, for our flying hours for all of our pilots. There are challenges in terms of looking at spare parts and maintenance and all of that. One of the things that we need to look at is our our pilots getting enough flying hours. But to do that weve got to make sure that the aircraft are ready to fly. There are a lot of pieces to fit together, but we are definitely investing fully and that in my view. Thank you. A little over a year ago, you informed this committee on the decision in order to maintain what you talked about in your Opening Statement. High quality army. Now based on the latest recruiting data, it looks that number looks to be reduced. We should have an exact number on that. Around 452,004 this fiscal year and we understand that that goal may not be reached. Where do things stand with Army Recruitment . Are you seeing a positive connection between advertising and recruitment bonuses . Chairman, we are seeing improvements in our recruiting situation. We are in a better situation. In the we are in a better situation than we were the previous year. 65,000 new recruits this year and we are not going to make that goal. We are doing everything we can to get as close to it is possible, but we are going to fall short of that. As i said in my Opening Statement, if we did not get into this situation in a year, and i think 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 our Opening Statement the implications of that for our structure and for our readiness level. We will, through our total army process, we are looking at how to bring down that over structure and make sure we are manning our units adequately. One followup question, apparently not ready to strengthen numbers. This is not a good thing. Its not a good thing for a couple of all, this is informa