U. S. Army secretaryrn christe wormuth and army chief of staff general James Mcconville test of adam President Bidens 2024 budget request before Senate Appropriations subcommittee. During their 90 minute hearing that outlined the focus the focus on people, redness and modernization. Will call this committee to order. I want to thank secretary wormuth and general mcconville for being here. Welcome back to both of you. We appreciate your leadership in our nations army look forward to discussing the armys Budget Priorities for fy 20204. Before we begin a like to express my condolences to the entire army family following last weeks tragic death of three soldiers and helicopter accident in alaska and i comes on heels of recent death of nine soldiers following a midair collision of two helicopters in kentucky. Ensuring a brave men and women in uniform have access to the best training and equipment they need is a priority of this committee. I have wanted to do more from him about your order for Army Aviation unit to complete 24 hour safety standdown and any corrective actions you plan on taking. The fy 24 budget request for the department is 185. 5 billion which is 300 million below the not enacted in fy 23 and nearly 11 billion more than elected that enacted in fy 22. So let me repeat that. 185. 5 is 300 Million People last years but 11 billion more than the year before that. Worldwide challenges and threats are constantly worldwide challenges and threats are constantly evolving. The armys response in battlefield to the future is to transform the army into the army of 2030. This transformation includes investments in people, reorganization and development of new equipment at adoption of new concepts to defeat our adversaries. We can best help the army on his path to transform to the army of 2030 through the timely enactment of a a defense appropriations bill for fy 24. Ontime appropriations provide the resource predictability enables the army to execute training and operate plants effectively and efficiently for the entire fiscal year. Let me put it this way. In order for the army to be all that can be we Congress Must do our jobs. I look forward to working with senator murray come senator collins, Ranking Member takano committee putting us in a position for success in getting the budget passed on time. The armys because noo two advantage is its people but these are difficult times. We look forward toe hearing moe about how your tackle recruiting challenges are given the need to modernize in light ofn 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 capabilities but im growing increasingly worried about repeated rules by the army to break our production lines and destabilizing bases will need the most. Once again what to thank you for your service to the country. Senator collins is not here as you can see. She has a Health EducationLabor Pension Committee markup s morning. She may arrive later but you forget to your Opening Statement i have one quick statement at a want to turn over to senator moran. Wei heard yesterday the moment time we default under debt is coming up one month, june 1. I talked like getting a 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 the common sense way. But what the houses in last week week is not a common sense way. Makes us the 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, Defense Budget in this case by the end of september so that you guys have the certaintio waste a lot of taxpayer dollars and military Industrial Base has a certainty to know what we need and are able to deliver it on time. Without ill turn it over. Chairman tester, thank you. I would add my support for all of our effort in this committee to make certain that we get appropriations process completed, done on time and we avoid a w continuing resolution that would be very damaging particularly to our National Security. As i begin my Opening Statement i like to take a second to recognize the three Army Aviators who lost their lives in a training accident over thena weekend in alaska. Another solemn reminder of the sacrifices of his limbs and families make every day whether deployed or at home. Thank you both for your service to oura nation and for being he today discussed the United States armeys budget request for fy 2024. General mcconville is my understate this would be her last Posture Hearing. While that saddens me may be a pleasurable thought for you. This is her last Posture Hearing of chief of army for the district chief of staff of the army is like to thank you for decades the service in uniform in the defense of our nation to ungrateful for the relationship and friendship weve had, the conversations youre willing to engage with me and im especially grateful for your visits to fort riley and Fort Leavenworth last summer. Kansans take pride in the armys present in our state and in these installations role in the defense of our nation. Kansas communities are engaged, supportive of the soldiers and families who call these posts home. General secretary wormuthe discussed this recent five minutes ago i look for to hosting you in kansans in the near future to showcase the capabilities that kansas military posts and the support of armeys soldiers. United states is in the midst of one of the most challenging National Security situations of my lifetime, and army is critical t to the support of the security of our nation. The army is critical to the future of our country. This administrations armeys budget request for fy 20,204th does not adequately address these concerns. Assuming the best inflation estimates the armys fy 2024 fy4 request represents a real growth rate of a negative negative 2. 4 . As coach of sin army caucus and member of the subcommittee it is my priority that the army have the resources necessary to thought National Security obligations. We continue of the ongoing recruiting crisis within the army, the force will look different from just two years ago roughly 35,000 below its fy 20202 authorized industry the 485,000 soldiers. Congress shouldl be informed of all the alternatives as he army considers options to manage the significant reduction here lets work with you, together to find satisfactory solutions and help the Army Physician recruitment efforts. We need to overcome this deficit of soldiers. No one i think its true industry wants to see the army return to a tiered readiness model. I believe the retention of Army Force Structure is critical. Reductions structure may be a quick fix solution that will set the army back at a time when the need for a radio 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 credit. The russian invasion of ukraines highlighted deficiencies in u. S. Industrial base particularly as its ability to produce munitions, stocks and supply. Americans in kansas workers stand ready to support use war fighter. I i support the armys recent investment into the munitions Industrial Base. Recently had a chance to visit the former Kansas Army Ammunition plant which will have a vital role now reengaging in supporting the increase munition production needs. I also want too applaud the armys recent selection of the the armys future longrange assault aircraft. This aircraft provides the needed speed and distance is aboard the army 2030. I will continue to use my position on thiss committee to help support the modernization of the Army Aviation fleet to keep pace with our challenges. The army is a backbone of the joint force if the United States is in conflict army answers the call. While air and marine superiority are essential this is only possible with army, with the armys present. The u. S. Ability to project power tools critical ground relies upon the armys ability to compete in the pacific theater. I highlight at least my own perspective that our country faces real and serious challenges. We need to do the things necessary to make sure we counter thoseo circumstances if the army has a significant role. This has a significant role in supporting that effort. I look forward to your testimony and your response to the questions. Thank you both the. Thank you, senator moran. We will start, secretary wormuth. You have for. Thanknk you. Good morning chairman tester, senator moran and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for your ongoing support as m we continue to buid 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 and alaskan i asked the chief to look into making sure that were going to do a standdown to make sure we understand exactly whats going on here and we can make sure our aviators share Lessons Learned from these recent incidents. We are both pleased to appear before you today. I want to thank general mcconville west decades of service and leadership in the army. This is indeed his last hearing and it hasas been a pleasure too three cycles of budget hearings with you, chief. So congratulations. Weve 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 fy 24 budget enables us to support the National Defense strategy, provide ready forces to ourur combatant commanders, d take care of our people. I investing over 39 billion in procurement we are maintaining our momentum on her modernization programs and are largely on track to bring 24 systems across the finish line in 2023. This is a big year for longrange precision fires. Prototypes of the precision strike missiles, the midrange capability and the longrange hypersonic weapon will be enhanced soldiers in this fiscal year. Big year for nextgeneration combat vehicles, mobile protected firepower is in production and the empathy is also being fielded. Big year for our integrated air Missile Defense programs and the future vertical lift program as well. As we shift from two decades accountants urgency and counterterrorism Counterterrorism Operations to largescale combat operations were also transforming our force structure. Were going to need to adapt our force structure to make room for things like the Multidomain Taskforces as well as other new units like the indirect Fire Protection capability and are battalions. We are ready army and we continue to emphasize readiness in everything we do. We are funding 22 combat Training Center locations. We have a a robust exercise program and we are implemented a new readiness model which helps us balance modernization, training and ongoingon missions. We arere also investing and reposition stocks which have served us very well in europe and will continue to serve us well in other theaters. To assist ukraine in fighting russian the army has provided over 20 billion in Legal 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 a need fore m. O. Robust defense Industrial Base. So in our budget we have 1. 5 billion investment arsenal depots and ammoot plants. We are also working very closely with ourur defense partners and industry to increase munition production so we can continue till the ukrainians but also very poorly to replenish our own stocks. Even asle her soldiers provide Legal Assistance and training the ukrainians on forces we havent taken our eye off of the pacing challenge of china. Indopacom may be a a theater d after two oceans but the army does have an Important Role to playth 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 strengthen deterrence in indopacom every day as we campaign in the region through ours, exercises and partnership. And if deterrence fails the army will be cheaply on the joint force team if theres a conflict. As important as it is to build new weapon systems and maintain our readiness, people are the strength of our army. This budget includes a 5. 2 pay raise and funds important qualityoflife improvements like family housing, child Care Initiatives and new and renovated barracks. We alsoo of course want to build cohesive teams of soldiers that are trained, disciplined and fit so thehe army is committed to positive command climate across a force where our soldiers can be all they can be. We are also continuing to strive to prevent suicide in our ranks. Suicide is ale national challene of course butou we have to do everything we can to reduce suicide in the army. Weid 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 we have engaged leaders at every level the no,t sir soldiers and make sure that their soldiers are connected to their leaders, to their buddies and to their families. Our army is a great his 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 theit year and is going to te us more than a year to turn this around. We are laser focused on this challenge and werend not goingo lower our standards to solve the problem. We are Generating Positive momentum from initiatives like our future soldier prep course, Referral Program at a new advertising campaign, be all you can be. Our efforts are geared towards one thing, reintroducing the army to the American Public at 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 o morning. Thank you, madam secretary. Next we have general mcconville. Madam secretary thank you for leadership. Chairman tester, senator moran, distinguish merge of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to be here today and for your continued support. We appreciate your condolences and our condolences go out to the families to or following a ditch and lets get turned on existing one purpose, that is to protect the nation by being ready to fight in with our nations wars as a mother joint force. To do this the army has set three clear priorities. People, readiness and modernization, or in other words, future readiness. We have remade aggressively committed to these priorities while inching the nations call during every crisis and every challenge. Issued the Army Continues to undergo its greatest transformation in almost 50 years. We delivering on modernization because we have been consistent and weve been persistent on our modernization priorities. Last year we official update or our capstone for fighting doctrine to multidomain operations which incorporates convergent lessons from ukraine. We continue to stand new organizations to support a new doctrine. Last june we reactivated the historic 11th 11th Airborne Division in alaska. September we kept our third five Multidomain Taskforces. We are on track to field 24 signature weapon systems in fy 23. But at the end of the day we must get the right people in the right place an in order for f these initiative to be successful. This is why people remain the armys number one priority. We want every young person in and everything to note service in the army as a pathway to success both in and out of uniform. Whether you serve for four years or user for over 40 years the army offers endless possibilities. Were not only profession of arms for her profession of professions. You can be whatever you want to be in the United States army. In fact, you can be all you can be. I am often asked how people can help us, answer is an spike in maine dash ofir young men went o sir. We go with the army we have picked the army we have is a worlds greatest fighting for us because we serve with the worlds greatest soldiers. With your continued support with when to keep it that way. Thank you and i look forward to yourur questions. Thank you each for. Your testimony. Last week as i said in my Opening Statement, three soldiers were tragically killed when their helicopters collided and a Training Mission in alaska. As i also pointedan ou