Mr. Banks without objection, so ordered. I want to welcome everyone to this hearing of the military personnel subcommittee. Todays hearing is focused on admissions, curriculum and diversity of thought at the military Service Academies. I want to thank our witnesses for being with us today. I hope this hearing provides an opportunity for our members to have a Productive Exchange with our witnesses and provide answers to their questions. First, let me say i believe our cadets and midshipmen are some of the best and brightest scholars and athletes our nation has to offer. Each year a small group of americans know their path wont be easy, that it demands sacrifice and hard work and in the end, nearly a decade or more of service to this great country. And that is why we are here today, to ensure that our cadets and mids are getting the first class education and the elite military training that they need. But i do have some concerns. All of the military Service Academies use race as selection criteria. As Justice Roberts said only last month when striking down affirmative action, quote, eliminating Racial Discrimination means eliminating all of it. And the equal protection clause applies without regard to any differences of race, of color or of nationality. Its universal in its application. I believe racebased admissions in any form violates a constitution and the military Service Academies must ensure immutable characteristics like race, like color, have no bearing on a candidates ability to tackle the rigors of the military Service Academy. It is for this reason that i am particularly proud of the house of representatives work last week. The ndaa strongly affirms that admission to our Service Academies must be on the basis of merit, not on skin color or ethnicity. We need the best and brightest regardless of race, nothing else. Im also concerned that diversity, equity and inclusion as well as theories like gender theory, Critical Race Theory, the list is endless, have replaced a foundation of scientific facts and academic rigor. Brand new air force cadets are taught inclusive language. They are told to use parents, caregivers, guardians, instead of mom and dad. They are also told to use partner instead of boyfriend or girlfriend. This would be laughable if it wasnt so dangerous. Instead of being inclusive, it simply makes words meaningless. It undermines academic rigor and the pursuit of scientific truth in an engineering school. And at the Naval Academy, instructors learn how to create safe spaces for students to fend off triggering materials, protect them from microaggressions and shelter them from violent words. Never mind that these students may one day lead sailors and marines into battle where there are no safe spaces and triggers send real bullets downrange. All of this, the inclusive language, the safe space, the microaggressions, may hide under a sheen of inclusivity, but it is actually an ideology which serves a purpose. That is, to remake society according to one moral vision. Where truth is mallable. Words do violence. And the answer to one plus one depends on your identity, not reason and fact. Finally, i am concerned about how a focus on race, identity and other d. E. I. Programs impact the education of our cadets and mids. How can a cadet or even instructor express an opinion outside the accepted ideology without being afraid of ridicule or being oft that sized . Or worse ostracized . Or being worse or worse, being called a racist. Universities have websites dedicated to calling out students and professors on campuses for microaggressions, publicly shaming them. Im afraid that the Service Academies arent much different than these other elite universities. Where dissent has been silenced and the free flow of ideas, a hallmark of Higher Education, has all but ceased. Im deeply concerned with the path our military Service Academies are on, particularly if they continue to violate the constitution and use race as a factor in admissions. Im also concerned about the future success of our cadets and mids considering the focus on divisive diversity programs that elevate the importance of identity over that of duty, honor and service. Before hearing from our witnesses, let me offer Ranking Member kim an opportunity to make any remarks as well. Mr. Kim thank you, mr. Chair. I want to welcome our Witnesses Today and look forward to your testimony. I also want to thank vice admiral buck for hosting my brief visit to the Naval Academy earlier this week. I hope to visit the rest of the military Service Academies in the near future and during my visit to annapolis, i had a chance to be able to meet with recent graduates, current midshipmen, members of the faculty. A lot of what i got to see and the conversations we had painted a very different picture than the picture the chairman just went through. Very oftentimes, when were talking about this here in congress, it makes it seem like every single class and every single training session, every single element and hour of the day, whether its the military academies or other colleges and universities, is being spent talking about diversity, talking about d. E. I. , talking about these different issues that well be talking about today and that just simply isnt the case. Thats something i heard point blank from a lot of the mid shpman, from midshipman, from recent graduates, from the faculty. And when it came to admissions as well, talking about the whole person and how we can look at how we develop leaders for our country Going Forward. That was the focus. Its not saying that were only looking at the issues of race, only looking at these issues that were talking about today. I just feel like weve been in this hearing room several times already talking about these issues over and over again this year. When i talked with some of the midshipmen and they raised other issues that are legitimate for us to focus in on about how we can improve their leadership training, their academics, but were not getting to those types of issues and those priorities because we constantly keep coming back to this. So, look, i just want to say, its important for us to just constantly think about what role Congress Plays when it comes to supporting this training and the development of our future leaders. Yes, we should be thinking about what we can fund, what we can support. But our job here is not to micromanage the faculty, micromanage the admissions process, be able to give them the tools, thats what we should be doing. But i think so often were here in this hearing room trying to say that were we know better than those that are living this day in and day out. And i find that to be a characteristic of human being ris that i find hubris that i find too often here in congress, trying to dictate how some of the most extraordinary leaders, some of them we have in front of us today are trying to guide our country Going Forward. So, look, were going to have a lot of challenges getting through this today. Im sure there will be some tense moments. I just ask us to please kind of think through the fact that every Single Person before us today is sharing the same goal that we have, which is how do we make sure that we have the kind of leadership that we need Going Forward to keep our country safe, to have a Strong National security . Were all in it for that same reason. So lets make sure we keep this civil, we keep this respectful, and recognizing that we have a lot of challenges Going Forward here in congress, but hopefully we can do this today in a way that doesnt devolve and doesnt get out of control. So with that, ill yield back. Mr. Banks i thank the Ranking Member. Each witness will have the opportunity to present his testimony and each member will have an opportunity to question the witnesses for five minutes. We respectfully ask the witnesses to summarize their testimony in five minutes or less. Your written comments and statements will be made part of the hearing record. With that, Lieutenant General gilland, you may make your opening statement. Mr. Gilland chairman banks, Ranking Member kim, distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the United States military academy. And on behalf of the west point team, thank you for your continued support of your military academy and our over 4400 future leaders in the United States corps cadets. The mission of the United States military academy is to educate, train and inspire leaders of character. Through this mission we are charged with forging and developing the next generation of officers to lead the United States armys greatest strength and its most important weapon system. Its soldiers. The citizens of our nation. To fight and win on the 21st century battlefield. West point is not a college or a university. Its much more than that. Because the American People expect more. We are the United States of military academy, a living, breathing, Leadership Laboratory that prepares these young men and women to build he could hes haddive teams cohesive teams. We train leaders through a values and standardsbased system that provides both the foundational military knowledge and professional skills needed to fight and win our nations wars. And the moral character necessary to lead our nations sons and daughters as army officers. Our corps of cadets, all of whom chose to attend west point, represent all 50 states and our u. S. Territories. They come from a variety of backgrounds and upbringing. But what unites them is their shared commitment to serving their country, to supporting and defending the constitution of the United States, and to our army values. It is through our shared values that we develop the leaders of character our nation and the American People expect. We edkate leaders with we edkate leaders with the skills we educate leaders with the skills instead to win on the battlefield. Through our robust curriculum of humanity and stem subjects. We provide our graduates with the intellectual foundation needed to outthink the chinese and other adversaries. West point doesnt teach cadets what to think, nor do we intellectually coddle them. Rather, we teach how to think. Pushing them beyond their Comfort Level to develop as agile, resill yents yent, resilient, critical thinkers who can lead in complex, uncertain operating environments. We also inspire the future officers who will lead our nations treasure, the men and women from across our country who chose to serve as soldiers in the United States army. Through every aspect of our developmental experience and through the interactions of staff, faculty, coaches and alumni, our cadets are exposed to the values and ideals necessary to uphold and enforce standards. To lead by example and embody what right looks like and to give soldiers under their charge the very best leadership. This is our responsibility and obligation to you and to the citizens of our nation. At the United States military academy our vision is to be the preeminent Leader Development institution. To that end we continually strive to be the Gold Standard of Leader Development. Preparing and inspiring the next generation of officers to live honorably, lead honorably, and demonstrate excellence in the 21st century army. Leaders equipped with the professional competence needed to fight and win, but more importantly, possess a tremendous character that leadership demands. I want to take an opportunity to thank this committee and your colleagues for the support as west point continues with Recovery Efforts from the recent flooding in the hudson valley. Im very proud of the hard work and efforts across the west Point Enterprise and how west point and Fort Montgomery communities have come together to help and support each other while demonstrating the grit, resilience and character the nation expects from its army. We look forward to working closely with army corps of engineers, our management command and congress as we assess the damage and look to rebuild from the significant damage that has been incurred. I thank you again for the opportunity to discuss the state of the United States military academy with you today. Id also invite to you come visit us and see firsthand these outstanding future leaders in action. Im confident that they will inspire you also. I look forward to your questions. Thank you. Mr. Banks thank you. Vice admirable buck. Mr. Buck chairman banks, Ranking Member kim, distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of your United StatesNaval Academy. The Naval Academys mission is to develop midshipmen morally, developmentally and physically and imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service. More than any organization ive been associated with in my 40 years as a naval officer, every member of the academy, our faculty, staff, coaches, understand and are committed to this mission. We strive to be the premier leadership and Educational Institution for developing naval officers who will preserve peace and prevail in conflict. I believe, and more importantly the feedback from the operational fleet confirms, that we are succeeding in our mission. And integral to that success has been the support of congress. Accomplishing this Mission Starts with our admissions process. We striving to recruit and admit young women and men reflective of the nation they will serve. Each incoming class should be a crosssection of america. And your role in this process, specifically nominating candidates for admission, is critical to our success. Knowing that we are charged with developing future leaders for our navy and our marine corps, the United StatesNaval Academy uses auto holistic process uses a holistic process, a wholeperson assessment in evaluating each candidate for a mission. This assessment balances objective factors included in each applicants application or each candidates application, such as rank, class rank, g. P. A. , evaluations from school officials, specifically their english and math teachers, athletic and nonathletic activities and achievements, leadership and candidate Fitness Assessment results, with subjective factors. These subjective factors can help forecast atry beauts suched a character atry beauts such as character and resilience we desire in our future officers. Once these young patriots swear their oath to our nation on induction day in late june every year, we have 47 1 2 months to develop them into resilient, competent leaders of character, ready for an operational environment that is increasingly dynamic. Today perhaps more so than in the past, a Firm Foundation in mathematics, physical sciences, engineering principles and knowledge of the human condition is paramount. The educational core curriculum at the Naval Academy is designed to provide a Robust Foundation in these areas for every graduate and future officer. A variety of backgrounds among our faculty, staff and, most importantly, theberry grade, creates an educational experience enhanced by differing perspectives and Life Experiences to sharpen Critical Thinking skills and prepare midshipmen to lead in diverse environments. A Common Thread throughout our curriculum is that we teach students thousand think, not what to think. The academy expects students to become critical thinkers who can come to their own conclusions based on a wide variety of perspectives theyre exposed. To thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you again on behalf of the Naval Academy. While i know many members of congress often visit the Naval Academy to meet with constituents, i too encourage any congressperson or member of staff to visit at any time. Good afternoon and on behalf of the men and women of the United States air force academy, thank you for all you do to support the development of our cadets. We are preparing leaders of character ready to take on the challenges of a rapidly changing and increasingly volatile world. I thank everyone for our collaboration and im hono