Committee will come to order. Last week, the Committee Held classified and unclassified sessions on the state of the world or more accurately, the state of the world environment in which the American Military must operate and u. S. National security must be protected. I was struck by the essential point general petraeus made that we face many threats and can overcome any of them except perhaps what we do to ourselves. Today, we turn to the state of the u. S. Military. I continue to be concerned and sometimes even disturbed by evidence that is accumulating on the damage inflicted upon our military in recent years and the stresses our forces are under. That damage comes from a variety of factors including budget cuts of 20 , continuing resolutions, the failure to recognize or at least admit and then address mounting readiness problems as well as the shrinking size of the force while keeping the tempo of operations high. There is certainly plenty of blame to go around between both parties and both the executive and legislative branches for this state of affairs but now with a new administration and a new congress, we ves an opportunity to begin the repairs. To do that, we need a clear understanding of the state of our military and the immediate trends that challenge us. For that, we turn to the advice chiefs of each of our services and we ask that each of you provide this committee your best professional military judgment in answering the questions we pose. As was emphasized last week, the world situation is dangerous and complex. This is no time to exaggerate or to underplay the challenges before us. Only by facing them squarely can we meet the obligations all of us have to the constitution, to the men and women who serve, and to the american public. I would now yield to the distinguished acting Ranking Member, the jat from tennessee for any comments he would like to make. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I would like to ask unanimous consent that the Opening Statement of the real Ranking Member mr. Smith be inserted in the record. Without objection. I think we all realize that few subjects are more important for the future of the nation than the readiness of our military forces. And i hope that we all know that few things are more detrimental to that readiness than sequestration. So i share the chairmans hope and im not ready to be optimistic yet but i hope that we can deal with sequestration this year and end it permanently. So its going to be up to the folks on this committee, the largest committee in the house of representatives to make sure that our impact is felt in ending it sequestration. Thank you will, mr. Chairman. I look forward to the testimony of the witnesses. Thank you, sir. Im pleased to welcome each of our Witnesses Today and also to express, i know, the committees appreciation for your service in this job and for each of your service to the country. Without objection, your complete written statements will be made part of the record and let me just briefly flous sbous general daniel al then advice chief of staff of the arm, william moran, advice chief of operations. And general glen walters assist isnt command dant of the marine corps. Thank you all for being here. We would be interested in any opening comments each of you would like to make. Well start with you, general allyn. Thank you, chairman thornberry and congressman cooper, distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the state of your United States army. I appreciate your support and demonstrated commitment to our soldiers, army civilians, families, and veterans. And look forward to discussing the strength of our army with you today. This is a challenging time for our nation and certainly for our army. The union i polar moment is over and replacing it is a multipolar world characterized by competition and uncertainty. Today, the army is globally engaged with more than 18 thousand supporting Combatant Commanders in over 140 worldwide locations. My recent travel i visited our soldiers in 15 countries since veterans day reinforces that the army is not about programs. Its all about people. Our people executing Security Missions all around the globe. The strength of the all volunteer force truly remains our soldiers. These young men and women are trained, ready, and inspired and we must be similarly inspired to provide for them commensurate with their Extraordinary Service and sacrifice. To meet the demands of todays unstable Global Security environment, and maintain the trust placed in us by the American People, the army requires sustained, longterm, and predictable funding. Absent additional legislation, the caps set by the budget control act of 2011 already return in fy18. Forcing the army tore once again draw down our end strength, reduce funding for redsiness and increase the risk of sending kund trained and poorly equipped soldiers into harms way. A preventable risk our nation must not accept. We thank all of you for recognizing that plans to reduce the army to 980,000 soldiers would threaten our National Security and we appreciate all your work to s. T. E. M. The drawdown. Nevertheless, the most important actions you can take, steps that will have both positive and Lasting Impact will be to immediately repeal the 2011 budget control act and ensure sufficient funding to train, man and equip the fy17ndaa authorized force. Unless this is done, additional top line and oko funding though nice in the short term will prove unsustainable rendering all your hard work for naught. And this uncertain environment, readiness remains our number one priority. Sufficient and consistent funding is essential to build and sustain current readiness, to progress towards a more modern, capable force, sized to reduce risk for contingencies and to recruit and train the best talent within our ranks. Readiness remains paramount because the army does not have the luxury of taking a day off. We must stand ready at a moments notice to defend the United States and its interests. With your assistance, the army will continue to resource the best trained, best equipped and best led fighting force in the world. We thank you for the steadfast support of our outstanding men and women in uniform and please accept my written testimony for the record and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Admiral. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good morning and good morning to the members of the committee. As the a privilege to be here with my fellow advice chiefs to talk about the readiness of our military. Its easier for me to talk to you in terms of simple supply and demand. As many of you know, the ongoing demand for Naval Forces Far exceeds our longterm supply. And that need continues to grow with no end in sight. Of supply is best summed up in one fact. Your navy today is the smallest its been in 99 years. That have said, we are where we are. Which makes it urgent to adequately fund, fix and maintain the fleet that we do have. And by the way, we have never been busier. A quick snapshot around the globe and youll see the navy is the nations primary deterrence policy in places like the mediterranean and South China Seas. This call for deterrence and to be ready to take action has grown. Of principally because of the Aggressive Growth from expanding naval competitors like russia and china. And when you add threats from iran, north korea, isis and others, its a very, very busy time for your navy. Our sellers have always risen to the occasion answering the call no matter the circumstances and no matter the resources. From providing food, water and medical assistance. Haiti to striking hostile sites in yemening to navy seals taking down terrorist leaders, were getting it done because thats who we are and thats what makes us the best navy in the world. But the unrelenting pace inadequate resources, and small size are taking their toll. Our testimony today may seem like a broken record. Our navy faces increased demand without the size and resources required to properly maintain and train for our future. And every year, weve had to make tough choices, often choosing to sacrifice longterm readiness to make sure we can be ready to answer the call today. We are, in fact, putting our first team on the field but we lack serious depth on the bench. This didnt happen overnight. Readiness declines tend to be insidious. From year to year weve all learned to live with less and less. We have certainly learned to execute our budget inefficiently with nine consecutive continuing resolutions. But has forced us to repeatedly take money from cash accounts that are the life blood of building longterm readiness in our navy. Its money for young lieutenants to fly high and fast. And who need air under their seats to perfect their skills in the future. Its money for spare parts so sailors can fix the gear that they have, and its money for salers to operate at sea in all kinds of conditions to build instincts that create the best war fighters in the world. With your help, we have the opportunity to change there. It starts by strengthening our foundation. Lets insure that the ships and aircraft that we do have are maintained and modernized so they provide the full measure of combat power. Then lets fill in the holes by eliminating the inventory shortfalls in ships, submarines and aircraft throughout the fleet and together, by taking these steps, we can achieve the ultimate goal of sizing the navy to meet the strategic demands of this dynamic and changing world. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to be here and i look forward to your questions. General wilson . Thank you, chairman 0 thornberry, congressman cooper and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of the secretary of the air force and chief of staff its an honor to be with you today to talk to you about the state of our air force and readiness. You american airmen are proud to be part of the most powerful war fighting team in our history. We protect our country and its interests both home and abroad. For the past 70 years, responsive flexible and agile american air power has been our nations first and most of us attainable solution in both crisis and conflict underwriting every other struxt power. We provide the nation with unrelenienting global vigilance, reach and power, in short, your air force is always in demand and always there. Look no further than two weeks ago when your air force executed a precision striking in sirte libya, killing over 100 violent extremists. This was a textbook multidomain multifunction mission. Air force space, cyber and isr warriors provided precision navigation and timing while monitoring enemy communication and movement. Simultaneously, two b2 bombers took off from missouri, flew 17 hours one way, refuelled with numerous tank hes and teamed with two mg9s to deploy precision munitions. They then flew another 17 hours home and landed safely back in the United States. Meanwhile, airmen operate 60 persistent remote lit piloted aircraft controls 24 7, 365. The unblinking eye for combatant command dperpz they remotely fly missions from the continent will United States teeming with nearly 20,000 Forward Deployed airmen to be support operations like the recent events in raqqa and mosul where our rpa fighters and bombers have conducted 92 of the strikes against isis. We did this all while simultaneously ensuring twothirds of our Nuclear Triad and 75 of our Nuclear Command and control remain robust, reliable, flexible and survivable options for the nations. During the allotted time of this hearing an average of 65 moebltd aircraft will take off, 4g 30,000 cyber connections will be blocked, 5 Homeland Defense missions will fly and three strikes against isis will occur. Each of these actions are enableal by airmen providing are timing while also providing gps capability to the worlds 3 billion users. The capabilities of our airmen provide to our nation or allies have never been more and the Global Demand for american air power will only grow in the future. American airmen remain professional, innovative, dedicated, and quite frankly, the envy of the vorld. Offer, we are out of balance. The demand for our mission and our people exceed the supply. 26 years of continuous combat has limited our ability to prepare for the future against advanced future threats. Scenarios with the lowest margin of error and the highest risk to National Security. This were nonstop combat paired with the budget instability and lower than plan to lines has made the United States air force the smallest, oldest equipped and least ready in our history. Weve attempted to balance risk across the force to maintain readiness but forced to make unacceptable trades between readiness, forestructure and modernization. Todays global challenges require an air force ready not only to defeat violent extremism but prepared to of mobilize for any threat the nation may face. Ill quote general Douglas Macarthur as he escaped the philippines in 19427 he said the history of failure in war can be summed up in two words. Too late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy, too late in realizing the mortal danger, too late in preparedness. Distinguished members of the committee, preparedness or readiness cannot be overlooked. Your air force needs congressional support to repeal the budget control act and provide stable, predictable funding. Its critical to rebuilding our militarys full Spectrum Readiness which is the number one priority for the secretary of defense. We need to act now. Before its too late. On behalf of the chief of staff and secretary of the air force, and the 660,000 active guard reserve and civilian airmen who serve our nation, thank you for your tireless support for us. I look forward to your questions. General walters. Ing. And distinguished members of the House Armed Services committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today and report on the readiness of your marine corps. The marine corps makes dedicated to our essential role as our nations Expeditionary Force and readiness. We focused investment on ensuring marines were prepared for the fight and they were. Today, our operational tempo remains as high as it was during the peak of our operations in iraq and afghanistan. Our continued focus on deployed combined with the fiscal uncertainty and funding reductions leave your corps facing substantial challenges. Your marine corps is insufficiently manned trained and equip the across the depth of the force to operate in an operational environment. Due to years of fiscal constraints, the corpss fundamentally optimized for the past and sacrificed modernization and infrastructure to sustain our current readiness posture. In addition to increased resources, we require your support in three key areas to regain the levels our nation requires of us. Over the past 18 months, we have identified various end strengths and associated capabilities and modernization required to operate in the threat environment characterized by complex terrain, information warfare, electromagnetic signatures and a could be tested maritime domain. We need to etch increase our end strength. We are confident an increase of 3,000 marines pore year maintains a rate of growth consistent while maintaining our high standards. Our bases, stations and installations the platforms where we train and generate our readiness. The continued underfunding of facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization in military construction continues to cause progressive degradation of our infrastructure and creates increased longterm cost. We have a backlog of over 9 billion in deferred maintenance for our infrastructure. We require up to date Training Systems ranges and Facilities Support the fueling of new yimt and Simulation Systems that facilitate improved training in standards and readiness. Supporting the joint force requirements of the past 15 years consumed much of the useful life of our legacy systems and fiscal uncertainty and reduced defense spending for significant delays in our modernization efforts. There is significant cost associated with maintaining and sustaining any legacy system without a proportional capability increase associated with that investment. Of as we continue to spend limited fiscal resources to sustain the legacy you systems developed for threats of 20 years ago, we risk steadily losing our competitive advantage against potential adversearss. We need to modernize our aircraft and vehicle fleets soonest, installing amphibious ships. If forced to continue to pursue the path of investing in legacy systems in lieu of modernizing our force, we will find our marine corps optimized for the past and increasingly at risk to deter and defeat potential adversaries. On behalf of all of your marines, sayers and civilians that support their service, we thank the congress and committee for the opportunity to discuss the challenges your corps faces. While much work needs to be done, the authorizations within coupled with the sufficient funding and repeal of the budget control act will but put us on a path to build and sustain our corps for the 21st century. Thank you. And i look forward to your questions. Thank you. I want to briefly touch on some of the facts, largely in yalls written testimony but also some press report and ill just go down the line. General al lin, in if your written testimony, it says only about onethird of the brigade combat teams and onefourth of our combat aviation brigades and half of our Division Headquarters are ready. And then you say, only three brigade combat teams could be called upon to fight tonight in the event of a crisis. Now, i think we have 58, right, brigade combat teams and your testimony is that only three of