Prepared Statement Of
GEN. HENRY H. SHELTON
CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF28 June 2001
It is an honor to report to the Congress today on the state of America's Armed Forces. As every member of this committee knows, our Nation is blessed with an unsurpassed warfighting force that has been actively engaged over the past year supporting America's interests around the globe. I am extremely proud to represent the young men and women of our Armed Forces. They serve our country selflessly, away from home and loved ones, and are frequently put in harm's way. They personify America at its very best.
It is those young soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who will fight tomorrow's wars with the strategy, force structure, doctrine, and equipment that we develop today. For them to do what we ask - to remain the best in the world - we must give them the best tools. This means ensuring that they always have the resources necessary to be trained, armed, and ready. It means properly compensating them today and tomorrow. And, it means recapitalizing our weapon systems and infrastructure, and modernizing the force to meet tomorrow's challenges. As we consider the choices ahead, may we always remember that our great people have the most at stake in the decisions that we make here in Washington.
In this Posture Statement, I will address two broad topics: (1) Sustaining a Quality Force, concentrating on those programs that are critical to maintaining the force; and (2) Building Tomorrow's Joint Force, what we are doing today to prepare for tomorrow's challenges.
I. SUstaining a quality force
America's best and brightest must continue to answer the clarion call to serve if our Nation is to remain the strongest force for peace and stability on the planet. It is the quality of our people that gives us a decisive edge over our adversaries and to sustain this qualitative edge we must support our personnel with continued investments in pay compensation, health care, housing, and other quality of life programs.
Compensation Gains
As a result of compensation gains in FY00 and FY01, we have made great strides toward improving the standards of living for members of our Armed Forces. With the significant support and help of this Committee, Congress, and the Administration, the FY01 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provided one of the largest pay raises in recent history, and allowed us to greatly reduce out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for off-base housing, instituted retirement reform, and implemented pay table reform.
That same level of outstanding support was evident in the FY01 NDAA. The 3.7% pay increase maintains our commitment to close the pay gap between the military and their civilian counterparts. Additionally, the FY01 NDAA provided $30M in Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to further reduce OOP expenses to less than 15%. The opening of the Thrift Savings Plan to military members, the implementation of a monetary allowance for military members currently receiving food stamps, and revising the enlistment/retention bonus authority has also demonstrated to our forces a commitment to their quality of life. This helps us attract and retain quality people.
We need to sustain the momentum of the past two years. The pay raise slated for FY02 and your continued support of our efforts to reduce OOP expenses for housing to zero by FY05 will further improve the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families. This is not only important for their well being, it is equally important to our efforts to recruit and retain a quality force.
Military Health Care
One of the most valued recruiting tools any major corporation can offer a potential employee is a comprehensive medical package. DoD is no different. Congress and the Administration have done much over the last year to address the health needs of our active duty and retired servicemembers and their families. As in the civilian sector, healthcare costs for the military community have continued to rise rapidly. Passage of the FY01 NDAA demonstrated Congress' commitment to honor the promise to those currently serving and to those who served honorably in the past. I appreciate the support of Congress for this effort.
We are pursuing full funding of healthcare costs as a strong signal that we are truly committed to providing quality healthcare for our active duty military members, retirees and their families. This commitment will have a profound impact on all who wear our uniform, and will encourage those who are considering a military career. It is also imperative that we fund healthcare benefits for retirees and their families in such a manner that this funding no longer competes with operations, force structure, and readiness. This will honor the national commitment we made long ago to our military retirees, without impacting the readiness and military capability of today's force.
Additionally, the Joint Chiefs are working with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in seeking business practice improvements and implementing the new benefits identified in the FY01 NDAA. And, beginning in FY02, TRICARE will pay costs not covered by Medicare for over-65 retirees and their families.
Housing
Housing continues to be a core element in our efforts to improve the quality of life for our service members. All our men and women in uniform deserve adequate housing. The Services remain on track with plans to eliminate inadequate housing for unaccompanied enlisted personnel by 2008. The situation for family housing is more challenging. Last year, the Service Family Housing Master Plans deemed almost 61% of family housing units inadequate. The Services are revamping their respective Family Housing Master Plans to revitalize, privatize, or demolish these inadequate units by 2010.
Congressional support for DoD's three-pronged strategy to improve family housing has been outstanding and is greatly appreciated. First, the initiative to raise housing allowances to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for our servicemembers has provided welcome relief to the force. Second, creating smart partnerships with the private sector makes defense dollars go further and effectively frees up resources to revitalize existing housing. Finally, your continued efforts to fund our construction and privatization programs will pay great dividends by ensuring our servicemembers and their families can live in respectable accommodations.
There is an inseparable, direct link between personal and family readiness and our total force combat readiness. Your continued support of these and other quality of life programs will provide substantial returns in retaining not just the member, but also the family.
II. BUILDING TOMORROW'S JOINT FORCE
In this section, I present some of my thoughts on those actions we are taking today, to build tomorrow's joint force. In my view, these are the critical enablers for any new defense strategy designed to confront the challenges of this 21st century.
Modernization
While recent funding increases have arrested the decline in current readiness, our modernization accounts, which are critical to future readiness, remain under funded. Solving this problem has become my most urgent priority.
Modernization will help reduce our capability concerns by leveraging advanced technology to improve interoperability. Also, newer, technologically advanced Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) collection assets, communications systems, and logistics support systems will help reduce manpower requirements while simultaneously improving the CINCs' warfighting capabilities. Modernization is also necessary for improved operational flexibility and to ensure that we retain a technological and qualitative superiority on the battlefield.
We must modernize our force; however, we must not sacrifice current readiness to do it.
Recapitalization of Force Structure
After the Cold War, we made a conscious decision to cut procurement and live off the investments of the eighties as we reduced force structure. Between fiscal years 1993-98, approximately $100 billion was taken out of DoD procurement accounts. The 1997 QDR Report identified a potentially serious procurement problem if we did not increase investment in new platforms and equipment. A goal of $60 billion in procurement was established as an interim target to recover from the sharply reduced procurement spending in FY93-98. Last year, for the first time, this interim goal was achieved.
However, several recent studies, to include one by the Congressional Budget Office, have concluded that $60 billion is not sufficient to sustain the force. Since the QDR will determine the strategy and size of the force, I cannot give you a precise recommendation on the additional amount required. What is clear today is that we must accelerate the pace of replacing our aging and worn systems if we are to deliver the right capability to meet future challenges. We simply cannot continue to defer procurement and continue our usage at existing rates if we expect our force to meet all of our 21st century commitments.
Recapitalization of Infrastructure
Our vital infrastructure is decaying. The understandable desire for a post-Cold War peace dividend forced us to make hard choices that redirected funds from military facilities and infrastructure accounts to support immediate readiness requirements. Years of belt-tightening have increased the risk of facility failures and have added to the costs of upkeep.
Within civilian industry, the replacement, restoration or modernization of physical plant assets is accomplished in roughly a 50-year cycle. The rate of investment in DoD infrastructure has fallen to a level that requires over 100 years for recapitalization. We must find the resources to accelerate the recapitalization of our infrastructure to avoid further damage and degradation. A sustained period of increased funding is required to develop a modern infrastructure capable of supporting our 21st century force and the next generation of weapon systems.
In its current state, the DoD infrastructure is still capable of supporting the National Military Strategy; however, in some locations, we face a high risk of operational limitations that may affect mission success. Throughout DoD, installation readiness is at an all-time low. In fact, 60% of our infrastructure is rated C-3 (some failures) or C-4 (major problems). It is particularly alarming that the current condition of training and operational facilities is lower than any other facility category in DoD. Usage restrictions and the shortage of required training ranges and operating areas slowly but inevitably degrade the readiness of our operational units. The poor material condition of facilities also directly contributes to lost or degraded training opportunities.
In sum, our deteriorating infrastructure continues to impair readiness and detract from the quality of life of our service members and their families. I ask you to support our efforts to fix this problem, because it effectively reduces the efficiency of our uniformed and civilian workforce and further lowers retention rates for highly qualified and otherwise motivated personnel. A world class fighting force requires mission-ready facilities.
Additionally, we sorely need further base closure rounds as part of our overall recapitalization effort. According to the April 1998 DoD BRAC Report, we have 23% excess base capacity in the United States, a situation that directly impacts the ability of the Service Chiefs to provide, train, maintain, and equip today's force. By removing validated excess capacity, we could save $3 billion per year in the long-term. This money would then be available to fund appropriately our remaining bases and help fix the remaining infrastructure.
TRANSFORMATION
Joint Vision 2020
Our future force must be a seamless joint force and our roadmap for achieving this joint force is detailed in Joint Vision 2020 (JV 2020). Although the Services are busily engaged in the transformation of their respective forces, in my view these individual transformations will be most effective operationally only if they mesh fully with the more encompassing joint transformation called for in JV 2020.
A key feature of this transformation will be the implementation of dominant maneuver, precision engagement, focused logistics, and full dimensional protection in the context of Joint Task Force (JTF) operations. Today, we successfully execute JTF operations when they are needed. But, in my view, we will be more responsive and agile in the future with JTF operations as our "national military core competency." This goal will not be achieved through technology and materiel solutions alone. It will also require intellectual innovation and the development of doctrine, organizations, training and education, leaders, people, and facilities that effectively make use of new technologies.
Using JV 2020 as a conceptual template, the goal of our joint transformation effort is a force that is dominant across the full spectrum of military operations. DoD is seeking to transform its forces to meet future challenges through a comprehensive plan that integrates activities in several areas:
· Service concept development and experimentation efforts;
· Joint concept development and experimentation designed to integrate Service capabilities where possible and develop joint solutions where necessary;
· Implementation processes in the Services and joint community to identify rapidly the most promising of the new concepts; and
· Science and Technology efforts focused on areas that can enhance US military capabilities.
This overall transformation effort is not focused solely on US military capabilities. USJFCOM has developed an aggressive plan for outreach to multinational partners as well. Our objective is to bring allied perspectives into the concept development process to facilitate our future ability to operate effectively within a coalition environment.
Based on joint experimentation and implementation programs, we expect to see some new capabilities that will be operational well before 2020, while other promising concepts will continue to be explored and developed. Our overarching goal is to bring these various capabilities together in a coherent and synchronized fashion.
other transformation issues
Logistics Transformation
Our goal for logistics transformation is to provide the joint warfighter real-time logistics situational awareness by leveraging technology and optimizing logistics processes. The Defense Reform Initiative Directive #54, Logistics Transformation Plans, establishes a framework of objectives and a means to measure progress toward accomplishing this goal.
Ultimately, we must create a network-centric environment in which data can be accessed in real time at its source. This network-centric environment will provide the warfighter with operationally relevant logistics information necessary to make accurate, timely decisions and to maintain our military advantage into the next decades.
Mobility
We are making significant improvements in our ability to deploy forces. Our fleet of 35-year old C-141s is being replaced with C-17s, and numerous conventional break-bulk cargo ships are being replaced by Large Medium Speed Roll-on Roll-off ships. However, we foresee increased challenges and stresses to the mobility system. These challenges were carefully examined in the comprehensive two-year Mobility Requirements Study 05 (MRS-05). The study determined that programmed strategic lift capability falls short of requirements for both CONUS and inter-theater missions. MRS-05 also determined that increased capability is needed within theaters to move equipment and supplies forward from pre-positioning sites, airports, and seaports. Consequently, we are aggressively pursuing policy changes, host-nation agreements, and, where necessary, considering new equipment as part of the 2001 QDR to ensure timely force deployment. More than ever, Congressional support of strategic lift is needed if we are to build a national mobility capability sufficient for our current and future needs.
Joint Interoperability
We have made progress in the area of interoperability with an overall effort focused on creating a force that is ready to fight as a coherent joint unit, fully interoperable, and seamlessly integrated. Our long-term goal is to require that interoperability be "designed in" at the beginning of the development process rather than "forced in" after the fact. We intend to achieve this goal through improvements in the requirements generation process, including establishment of interoperability Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and Information Exchange Requirements (IERs) in systems development. A requirements-based Joint Operations Architecture, well grounded in joint doctrine, will provide a roadmap for addressing interoperability issues across the full spectrum of capabilities. These efforts will enable DoD's senior leadership to focus more on interoperability and integration of the joint force.
INTELLIGENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS TRANSFORMATION
Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance
Achieving and maintaining a decisive advantage in our ability to access, gather, exploit, and act on information remains a critical aspect of our combat capability and readiness. A full spectrum ISR capability is the mainstay of that concept. To achieve this, we need to place more emphasis on the capability to "watch" or "stare at" targeted objectives with collection systems able to monitor, track, characterize, and report on moving objects and dynamic events as they occur in the battlespace. In other words, a constant rather than periodic sensor access is required.
Intelligence Interoperability
Intelligence interoperability is the foundation of our capability for dominant battlespace awareness. Our goal is to ensure that our forces retain an information edge over potential adversaries. To be fully interoperable, intelligence must be produced and delivered in a fashion that immediately supports command decision making and mission execution. We are gradually tearing down barriers to interoperability between intelligence and operations systems to ensure we provide the Common Operating Picture essential to future command and control. The Common Operating Picture will provide a unified view of the battlespace for the soldier in the field, the pilot in the cockpit, and the commander, regardless of location.
Intelligence Federation
The Intelligence Federation is a new concept wherein designated commands and units provide specified intelligence support to an engaged CINC during a crisis or contingency operation using a pre-planned methodology tailored to that CINC's area of responsibility and operational requirements. The concept evolved from the growing need to ensure the collective resources of the intelligence community function as a "system of systems," so that users are able to receive information tailored to their unique requirements, and with the necessary fidelity. To do this effectively, we need to create a federation among intelligence components using Joint Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures.
Global Information Grid (GIG)
The CINCs testified last year that a major warfighting deficiency in some theaters is the inability to plan quickly and execute decisively because of C4 deficiencies. I wholeheartedly agree. Simply put, our C4 infrastructure falls short of what is needed to support properly our decision makers and the men and women on the front lines. To help alleviate this shortfall, we must ensure that our warfighters have full and reliable access to the GIG from any point on the globe. The GIG is the globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities, associated processes, and personnel that we are developing to manage and provide information on demand to warfighters, policy makers, and supporting personnel. I believe that our ongoing efforts to bring the GIG online will provide the foundation for information superiority on the battlefield in the decades ahead. To that end, it is necessary to continue to invest in and upgrade the GIG infrastructure. Satellites, fiber optic cables, support of network operations, information assurance programs, and DoD's use of the radio frequency spectrum, are all tremendously important to achieving this goal.
Radio Frequency Spectrum Access
There is an important debate ongoing concerning the proposed reallocation of a segment of the DoD radio frequency spectrum to commercial users, an initiative with the potential to disrupt our transformation effort. In the last 8 years, 247 MHz of the RF spectrum for Federal use, primarily used by DoD, has been reallocated for commercial use by the private sector. I am concerned that further reallocation of frequency spectrum for commercial use, without comparable spectrum to execute DoD's critical functions, will have a major impact on our ability to execute our missions. Our success on the battlefield largely depends on our ability to use advanced communications technology to exchange vital information between decision-makers, commanders, and deployed forces.
One of the principal areas of interest to the private sector is the 1755-1850 MHz band. This band is currently used for tactical data links; satellite telemetry, tracking, and control; precision guided weapons; air combat training systems; and the delivery of voice, video, and data information to warfighters and commanders in the field. These systems are indispensable to our national defense. Some industry advocates have suggested that DoD share segments of this frequency band or relocate to another operationally suitable spectrum. I believe this proposal is problematic for two reasons. First, according to our analysis, sharing with commercial users is not possible due to interference over large geographical areas and metropolitan centers. Second, moving DoD communications to a different, but comparable, spectrum could be problematic due to the lengthy transition period required. Some national security satellites will use this frequency band well into the future. If directed to move, a more detailed cost and transition timeline will be required to ensure continuity of our nation's defense capabilities. It is imperative that we strike a reasonable and informed balance between commercial needs and military requirements. I understand that there is a White House process, led by the National Security Council and the National Economic Council, which is reviewing this issue to achieve this balance, critical for national security. We anticipate that suitable solutions will be found that are acceptable to all parties.
Conclusion
Today, even as we seek to transform our force to face an evolving security environment, our goals remain firm. We must protect America's interests, deter aggression, support peaceful resolution of disputes and most importantly, to be ready to intervene or respond to a conflict and win decisively.
This is a critically important time for our Nation as we move further into the new millennium as the only global superpower. It is clear that we have a great deal of work to do with the Administration and Congress as we develop a new NSS and support the requirements of the QDR. Our professional, highly trained, and motivated young Americans in uniform are counting on us to make the right decisions. We have an opportunity in the months ahead to build on successes, address the challenges, and sustain and support our dedicated forces. We must provide our warfighting forces with the best tools available as they defend America's interests, and we must shape a future force that will help us achieve our national security objectives well into the 21st century. Together, I am confident we can capitalize on this opportunity.
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