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| For
Immediate Release: March 10, 2004 |
Contact: |
Harald Stavenas |
OPENING STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN MCHUGH
Total Force Subcommittee Hearing on
Adequacy of the Force.
This subcommittee for several years has had deep concerns about the inadequacy of military manpower levels to meet the full range of requirements of the nation's military strategy. Given those concerns, we have moved in each of the last two years to increase active manpower authorizations over the levels requested in the budget. Furthermore, we have also urged the Department of Defense and the military services to finish the numerous manpower-related study and analyses efforts and get on with the business of implementing changes to address the glaring shortfalls of military capability, force structure and manpower.
I guess the adage "Be careful of what you wish for" is an appropriate one today. We asked, pushed and prodded DOD and the military services to begin the process of change and, as will be evidenced by the testimony today, there has been an explosion of change across the services. It is staggering both in scope and complexity given the context in which it will have to take place.
That context today, and for the foreseeable future, is that each of the military services is simultaneously being required to carry out four different missions:
1) Fight the Global War on Terrorism, which in part has become a challenge to sustain (over an extended period) a deployed force in excess of 100,000 personnel;
2) Reset and reconstitute forces returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and maintain the readiness, capability and manpower to perform the full range of military functions - other than the Global War on Terrorism - required by the national military strategy;
3) Shed Cold War processes and structure and transform itself to meet current and future requirements; and,
4) Sustain the viability of the all-volunteer Total Force (active, guard and reserve) in a wartime environment that portends high operations and personnel tempos for years to come.
Furthermore, in the case of two of the military services - the Navy and the Air Force - efforts are underway to reduce manpower levels.
To successfully achieve change within the isolated context of any one of the requirements above would present significant challenges for a service. Attempting successful change while doing all these missions simultaneously will be an exceedingly difficult undertaking.
Indeed, the subcommittee's intent during this hearing is to examine service proposals for change and reform that impact all these requirements. We want to assess not only what changes each service is undertaking, but also how well the services are progressing. Clearly the subcommittee is concerned with assessing the adequacy of the current and future programmed military manpower and force structure in the Total Force (active, guard, and reserve) to provide and sustain the full range of capabilities required by the national security strategy.
Ultimately, the subcommittee will have to make decisions about supporting or modifying the various service and DOD manpower initiatives, so today's hearing is an opportunity for the joint staff and the service witnesses to sell us on why their plans make sense for improving the adequacy of our military services.
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