During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) discussed the readiness of the nation’s joint forces.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I'm going to wrap up here with just a few more questions. Again, thanks for the patience.
00:04This has been a really good, enlightening hearing, and I appreciate all the
00:10witnesses' testimony and frank discussion of our readiness challenges.
00:16General Spain, I'm going to turn to you a little bit on contested logistics.
00:20Ms. Maurer talked about it. We all deal with it, all the services, but the Air Force,
00:26I think in particular with its tanker fleet, is particularly challenged because
00:33tankers are so important. The previous Secretary of the Air Force committed,
00:40after the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and many others over the last several years,
00:45we're going to be moving more KC-135s to Eielson, but what is the sense of your tanker fleet
00:53at large, and how can we be addressing that, and can you commit to me to keeping that timeline and
01:01getting those four tankers? I think one has already been moved to Eielson, but we need
01:08three more with over 100 fifth-gen fighters in Alaska. As you know, our Air Force is doing a
01:16fantastic job, real-world missions, very regularly intercepting Russian bear bombers in our ADIZ,
01:24Chinese and Russian strategic bombers in our ADIZ. Our military, our Air Force,
01:29has done a great job up there, but as you know, those intercept missions are not easy,
01:33and we need tankers, but we need tankers throughout the world, so what's the situation there?
01:41Thanks, Senator. I appreciate the question. As you are fully aware, we're committed to the KC-46
01:46program. Eighty-nine aircraft on the ramp today and recent deployments have been wildly successful
01:53in their ability to offload gas to a multitude of receivers, both in theater and around the world.
01:58For the KC-135, obviously, we did some re-engineering and service life extension
02:04in the 80s and the 90s that will keep the platform flying for decades to come, but we are
02:09also fully committed to tanker recapitalization post the KC-46 program. Right now, we're on track
02:17to continue to procure 15 KC-46s a year, and we're continuing to move the tanker recap
02:24acquisition strategy forward and will continue to do so, and to your point, we are continuing to
02:31move down the path to bringing the remaining three KC-135s to Eielson for the reasons that
02:36you mentioned. We have some work to do with the department on some notifications, but beyond that,
02:41we'll be able to move relatively quickly. Great. Keep me posted on that. That's very important.
02:45General Mingus, we talked about the 11th Airborne Division, Arctic Angels. I'd like just to get
02:53an update from your perspective on how that unit's doing. I try to touch base with them a lot.
03:01From what I can tell, they seem to be very motivated, and now that that's a war fighting
03:09headquarters, any other additional personnel that we talked about coming to that unit in Alaska,
03:16and then any other thoughts about an additional multi-domain task force that you're looking at
03:23placing? I know that you were looking at Alaska for a multi-domain task force at one point, but
03:27just to update on really the operations and morale of the 11th Airborne Division,
03:34who do a great job in my state. Thanks, Chairman. I know you're proud of them, and we are as well.
03:40Their trajectory still continues to move in a very positive direction, both on the suicide front,
03:46also on the people side that you and I talked yesterday, but also on the operational side.
03:50Multiple warfighter exercises, they just demonstrated their ability to self-deploy
03:55in-flight rig all the way from Alaska to Hawaii, jump in and participate in a high-scale warfighter
04:00exercise on island just a couple months ago. From an operational perspective, they continue to
04:06improve and get better every day. The other fundamental change that we made in Alaska was
04:11converting the brigade in Alaska from a striker to an infantry brigade combat team. That climate
04:16culture and the identity associated with being light fighters, Arctic light fighters, they
04:21absolutely have embraced that. It's turned the corner in that organization,
04:26and they are off on a great start. Very, very proud of where they're headed.
04:30On the multi-domain task forces, we did consider, but in the end, sir, we did not make a selection
04:37to go to Alaska for the fifth multi-domain task force. Where is the fifth multi-domain task force
04:41going to be home ported? Fort Lewis, Fort Carson, Hawaii, Fort Bragg, and Europe.
04:50Okay. Great. Thank you. Admiral, you and I had a good discussion on ADAC the other day. If you
04:57look at a map, it's an incredibly strategic base. It's the gateway to the Arctic. It's much further
05:02west than Hawaii. It's kind of a dagger in the flank of China. Can you give me your sense on
05:11the strategic value of ADAC and any updates since you and I talked about that? Well, just for the
05:17record, sir, we went to look at ADAC from kind of a small, medium, and large warm basing perspective
05:25on what we could do in the future. With your support, we're going to send up a team to engage
05:31with the Aleut Corporation and the Department of Transportation from Alaska to really understand
05:36that to a greater level. We sent 14 ships to Dutch Harbor last year, two from the FD&F,
05:4312 from San Diego. So there's a need. I happened to speak to Admiral Papparo last night on a number
05:49of issues. This came up. We talked about the increased activity by China and Russia in that
05:55area. So to me, that lends itself to address those types of activities so we're not having
06:03to sail so far to get there. Well, I appreciate that. And again, it's not just aircraft, strategic
06:09bombers, and our ADIZ that our great Air Force is doing such a good job of addressing. It's, to
06:15your point, it's Chinese and Russian joint naval task forces in our EEZ up in Alaska. This is
06:22happening on a regular basis. The rest of the country doesn't really notice, but we notice in
06:27Alaska. We're on the front lines and we appreciate the great work our service members are doing there.
06:34And so I want to thank you on that and look forward to working with you on that.
06:40Can we get to a point, I know it was already discussed in depth, but on the on the amphibs
06:46between the Navy and the Marine Corps, you know, General Mahoney, we talked about the Marines kind
06:52of 9-1-1 kick in the door capability, but essentially that goes away if you don't have a
06:58MU-ARG that you can rely on. So Admiral, can you commit to us to work with us and the Marine Corps
07:04on prioritizing amphibs? You know, I'm just being frank here. You don't get the sense that if it was
07:12a Ford class carrier or something like that, that the maintenance numbers that GAO has reported
07:20would be so challenged. Right now, the recent GAO report stated roughly 50% of the amphib
07:27fleet was in poor condition, poor material condition, including five out of the nine LHA
07:34LHD carriers and 90% of the LSDs. Those are numbers that are shocking and they really undermine the
07:43Marine Corps' ability to do its job. And it's a team, one team, one fight, Navy-Marine Corps, but
07:49that's a real detriment. Sir, thanks for that question. I'm not satisfied with amphibious
07:56maintenance or readiness. We are committed to the 80% combat surge ready. So that's going to be
08:03all surface warships, the 80% idea? Yes, sir. But as a subset, I've asked Admiral McClain,
08:09who is the SWO boss, to really do a deep dive on amphibious ships in particular. And there's
08:15some things I discussed that we can do better there, but you have my commitment to meet that
08:21goal, to exceed that goal, and to ensure that we have a three-ship ARG ready for the Marine
08:27Corps when they embark. As a result of the Boxer and Wasp challenges, LHDs that you mentioned,
08:34I directed a study in last April and I reviewed that study in November and there's some actions
08:42were taken to get after that. Splitting up the flag responsibilities of CNMRC, which is a
08:48maintenance command as of today, and C-21. Admiral Bill Green will give command to Admiral Landeman
08:55and he will be C-21 and Admiral Landeman will be CNRMC. So focusing on that with that effort and
09:04leadership I think will help us there. But as a subset of our perform to plan for surface ships,
09:10I'm going to focus on amphibious ships. You have my commitment. Great, thank you very much for that.
09:14General, how many MEU ARGs did we deploy out of the West Coast last year?
09:2115th MEU. Was it a full complement? It was not. It was due to the issues with Boxer.
09:30Somerset sailed as a single. She was joined by Harper's Ferry. Boxer had to go back for
09:36maintenance and so it was a conga line of three ships. I believe they only operated
09:41as a three ship for less than two months. We need to fix that. My final question,
09:47it's a bit of a complicated one. General Guttmann, I'm going to give it to you since
09:57it seems to make the most sense, but it's an issue that I'm trying to figure out how we
10:03work this and it relates to the President's vision for a Golden Dome.
10:08I, as I mentioned, have drafted legislation with Senator Kramer that we're hoping is going to be
10:14bipartisan. It's very comprehensive in terms of missile defense for the country, but I think most
10:23people would be surprised that missile defense for America really, really strongly entails
10:29pretty much every service right here. Of course, there's a space-based component that's in my bill.
10:36There's an Army component. General Mingus, you certainly know the 49th Missile Defense Battalion
10:44is a U.S. Army battalion at Fort Greeley that really protects the whole country right now.
10:48I love their motto, the 300 protecting the 300 million, but all the ground-based missile
10:54interceptors protecting our country are at Fort Greeley. This bill would dramatically plus that up.
11:01Admiral, this bill has a lot of Aegis Ashore focus in Hawaii, for example, and other places.
11:11And then, of course, General Spain, the Air Force plays a huge role in missile defense.
11:18So my question is, as we're working on this, I brief Mike Waltz on our bill. I brief
11:24Secretary Hegseth on our bill. I've even briefed President Trump
11:27on the legislation that we put together after the executive order came out. So I know the
11:33Pentagon's really getting on this, but how do we coordinate? What's your sense? In general,
11:39I'll start with you as a Space Force service here. What's the best way to try to integrate
11:47and work together? This committee wants to work with all the services,
11:50but it is an integrated effort. It literally is Space Force, Air Force, Army, Navy, the Marine
11:56Corps, I'm sure has some tactical element to it, General Mahoney, but this is a full service
12:03approach. What's the best way that we can work together legislatively, of course,
12:11with the President's executive order, but the full Pentagon integrating the different services,
12:16all of whom play an important role? I think a lot of Americans would be surprised that
12:21you know the cornerstone of missile defense, which is in Alaska,
12:25all the ground-based missile interceptors commanded by the Army, all the major radar
12:31sites, particularly the clear Space Force Air Station with the new long-range discrimination
12:37radar. How do we integrate that, General, and if anyone else has a thought on that? It's a
12:44really important issue. It's a really good vision that the President has put forward.
12:49We just need to operationalize it between the Pentagon, the Congress,
12:56and we need to get on it. And Ms. Maurer, if you have a view on this as well, I'd welcome that.
13:02So, General, why don't we start with you? Final question, I promise, but it's an important one.
13:09Thank you, Senator. It is, let me start with, it is a very bold vision that's going to have a lot
13:16of complexity to it, as you said. Good news is we just met with the Vice Chairman yesterday in the
13:22Joint Requirements Oversight Council, so we had all the combatant commands, we had the OSD staffs,
13:27we had the service staffs, we had NGA, we had MDA, and the National Condescense Office all present
13:32in that room talking about what is it going to take to get after something of this magnitude.
13:37I would compare this, the only time that I can think of in the history of the United States
13:41where we have gone after something this complex was the Manhattan Project. That's how complex
13:46this capability is going to be. But I'm going to tell you, it's not complex because the technology
13:51is going to be hard. It's complex because the number of organizations and a number of agencies
13:55that need to be involved, as you said as you're going around through your question. Organizational
14:00behavior and culture are going to be our two biggest challenges. The way to get through
14:04organizational behavior and challenges is we got to make sure, first and foremost, that we have one
14:09entity in charge that has the full support of the nation, from the President, from the Hill,
14:14and from the American people on down. That person or that entity needs to be empowered and
14:21resourced to make decisions across organizational boundaries. And is that, do we have that yet?
14:27We do not have that yet. That is what was in discussion. That's what we talked about yesterday
14:31with the Vice Chairman. We're going to talk about it next week with the Deputy Secretary
14:34of Defense. Good. And the Secretary of Defense owes an answer back to the President by the end
14:39of March. Good. And we are on path to do that. But not only is it an organizational challenge
14:44between agencies and services, but we also need to bring the full blunt of our industrial base
14:50into the equation and empower them to be successful, harness their innovation. That
14:54means we need to embrace the non-traditional contractors and get their ideas and get their
14:59capabilities on the table. By the way, they're really motivated, those non-traditional contractors
15:04to play an important role here. So I'm really glad you're highlighting that. Yes, sir. We've
15:08had numerous industry days. I've taken numerous meetings. The Missile Defense Agency had an
15:12industry day trying to look at the whole of the U.S., not just the government, but the whole of
15:17the U.S. to get after this problem. We are also having conversations with our allies. Can the
15:22allies bring capabilities to the table? The Canadians are very interested in partnering
15:26with us on the protection of the homeland. They would like it to be the protection of the
15:30continent. So we're having those kind of conversations as well. It would be great to
15:33see the Canadians participating and helping fund missile defense right now. It's my distinct
15:39recollection that they don't participate hardly at all. They don't do anything on NORAD missile
15:45defense. They do participate in NORAD. They do not participate in the Missile Defense Agency.
15:49Yeah, they need to participate in missile defense. If a rogue North Korean missile is shot
15:55into our continent, we're not going to wait to see if it hits Chicago or Toronto.
16:01We're going to shoot it down. Canada needs to step up. They haven't been on defense spending.
16:07It's been woefully inadequate as a wealthy NATO member. And they need to do it on missile defense
16:12too. I've been pressing the Canadians for years on this. They don't put any money into missile defense
16:18and it's not acceptable. The last element that I would bring to bear on here, as we start to look
16:25at the authorities and start to look at the accountability, everything we've talked about in
16:29this session today, dealing with the continuing resolution, also comes to bear. This program, to be
16:36successful, has to have funding stability. They have to know that they're going to have those
16:42resources from year to year to be successful or else they're going to be very inefficient
16:46and they're going to suffer a death by a thousand cuts through fits and starts and stops.
16:51That is an outstanding answer, General. I really appreciate that. Any other comments, Ms. Maurer?
16:56Very quickly, Mr. Chairman. We issued a report a couple weeks ago looking at sustainment of
17:00missile defense in Guam, which I think could be, in a sense, a preview of potential coming
17:05attractions. The General's point is definitively spot on about the sheer complexity of the number
17:11of organizations. That report, we had probably the most complicated org chart that I've ever put
17:17in a report that I signed out under my name because there are so many different organizations.
17:21That's just Guam, which is a small island, as you know. So getting arms around that challenge
17:27is going to be important. The second point I'd like to make is that thinking about sustainment,
17:33that needs to be part of the conversation from day one. That's been a continuing challenge in
17:38the missile defense enterprise. The Missile Defense Agency develops and purchases the technology.
17:44In theory, it's handed off to one of the services to operate and sustain. Those handoffs have not
17:49been happening in the way that they've been envisioned. In fact, that's one of our recommendations
17:54in this report on Guam is that DOD needs to spell out specifically who is going to do what and how
18:00sustainment is going to work for a Guam defense system. Great. Any other thoughts, Admiral?
18:05I'm just going to offer one thing I talked about in the JROC. We can do this. In 2008, we shot down
18:11a satellite that was deorbiting full of fuel in six weeks. The whole of government got together
18:18with agencies, the science community, and industry, and we made it happen. So we can do this. We just
18:25need to do the things that were outlined and provide clear lines at C2 and solid, consistent
18:32budgeting, and I'm convinced that we can deliver. Good. That's a great answer. Anyone else on this
18:38topic? General Steng? Senator, briefly, I agree with everything that's been said.
18:43The stitching together of the various capabilities will be the key enabler of Iron Dome and Golden
18:49Dome, obviously the scaffolding of which exists today in Air Force forces and Space Force forces,
18:57along with the Army ground-based deterrent. The integrated PEO that we have in Major General
19:04Luke Cropsey in our ABMS program and the SeaJet C2 program will be the thing that will allow
19:12each of the services to connect the effectors, the sensors, and the sense-making capability across
19:18all services and agencies. That will need to be a primary focus of this effort, along with
19:25the capabilities that each of the services will bring. Good. Well, these are great answers. You
19:29know you have a strong vision from the Commander-in-Chief. The President, obviously, is
19:35really focused on this. He mentioned it in his State of the Union last week. We will be in the
19:41budget reconciliation bill that we're working on. The DOD component is going to have a lot of
19:46funding on this, so I think it's a sense of urgency that we all need to work together on the Congress,
19:53the Executive Branch, and General. You kind of laid out a vision and the importance of
20:00some key principles, and we look forward to working with all of you and look forward to having
20:07that designated individual or agency in charge. I think it's a really important component as well.