House Armed Services Committee
Chairman Skelton's opening statement--January 30, 2007
"General Schoomaker and Commandant Conway, welcome to today's full committee hearing, we appreciate you being here. Today this committee will hear your testimony on how the President's recent proposal to increase troops in Iraq will affect the readiness posture of our military and what strategic risks it will entail. Today, we aren't looking at alternative courses of action in Iraq. Rather, this is an opportunity for members of this Committee and, more importantly, the American people to understand the ramifications of the President's proposed policy on those in uniform and their training and readiness.
"In July of last year I asked you, General Schoomaker, if you were comfortable with the readiness of units in the United States. Your answer then was, "No." I am very interested in learning what your opinion is today and what effect the president's new proposal will have on readiness going forward.
"We also look forward to hearing from you on the strategic implications that such a policy might have on our overall defense posture. We would appreciate your insights on the level of strategic risk that we will be accepting and any recommendations you may have to alleviate that increased risk.
"This hearing will also be an opportunity for us to explore the second and possibly third order effects that may result from the proposed troop increase. For example, how will the proposed troop increase affect unit and individual training? How will units be equipped for the fight given the equipment shortages being experienced back in CONUS? We also are interested in learning more about how the increase in troop levels in Iraq could affect the morale of the troops and their families, and what the services are doing to address potential recruiting and retention challenges that may arise as a result of this change.
"The war in Iraq has placed a large burden on our reserve and National Guard forces. I hope you will take this opportunity to explain more about the recent policy change on reserve mobilization and its impact on the deployment of troops. Over 588,000 reservists and National Guardsmen have been mobilized to date and a number of these individuals have been mobilized more than once. Our citizen soldiers are meeting the call to duty, but the proposed change in the deployment policy could have a significant impact on retention of these highly qualified and experienced individuals. We need to understand what the Army and Marine Corps are doing to address these concerns.
"Today's hearing will also include a second panel of witnesses who will provide a different perspective-a perspective from those most directly impacted by the proposed troop increase. We are fortunate to have First Sergeant Allison, who is stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington and is with a unit that has been notified it will be deploying earlier than expected as part of the troop surge. In addition, we have two Marine spouses, Mrs. Shuster and Mrs. Zimmerman, whose husbands are with a combat unit that will be extended to support the increased troop levels in Iraq. These individuals are directly affected by the President's proposal to increase the troop levels in Iraq, and I look forward to hearing from them on the challenges that they face as a result of the President's recent announcement.
"Gentleman, these are important topics that we need to understand and I look forward to hearing from you. I want to remind members that this is an open session and General Schoomaker and General Conway may not be able to directly answer certain questions of a sensitive nature. I urge members to remain or to return for our second panel and to remember that we will adhere strictly to the five-minute rule. Now, let me turn to the Ranking Member, Mr. Hunter, for any comments he would like to make."
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