Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - The Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Request
Federal News Service
HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: THE FISCAL YEAR 2005 DEFENSE REQUEST
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JOHN WARNER (R-VA)
LOCATION: 325 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.
WITNESSES: ADMIRAL VERNON CLARK, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS; GENERAL MICHAEL HAGEE, U.S. MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT; GENERAL JOHN JUMPER, AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF; GENERAL PETER SCHOOMAKER, ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF
BODY:
SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And gentlemen, thank you for your service to the nation and to your individual branches of service. My theme will be reminiscent of many that are here today. The most remarkable thing about this budget is what it leaves out, not what it includes. Leaving out the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving out the deliberate increases as a result of 30,000 additional Army troops that we're committed to. I think it's a deceptive way to finance the operations of the military, and I think it has practical ramifications also. And it impacts the Army most specifically, and the Marine Corps to similar degrees.
General Schoomaker, as I understand the way we are financing operations today, is that this budget proposal will cover the routine operations of the Army through the '05 year. But operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and other contingencies are being funded out of the '04 supplemental?
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: That's correct, sir.
SEN. REED: At the current burn rate, when do you run out of '04 supplemental money? What day or month or --
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Sir, we are funded through the end of this year, at the burn rate-through the end of the fiscal year. And --
SEN. REED: So you are funded till June-till, excuse me, September 30th.
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: End of September, yes, sir.
SEN. REED: So if this supplemental is delayed past September 30th, say the end of November, or even delayed until the following year, which is customary nowadays when we consider legislation November/December timeframe, you will burn out all the money that's appropriated?
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: That's correct, sir.
SEN. REED: In trying to balance the commitments and the demands, do you anticipate cutting down base support operations as a way to cover shortfalls?
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Sir, I-quite frankly, I only have visibility of what we have. I don't know what OSD has available to it to do it. But I am concerned-and I think this is what you're getting to-on how we bridge between the end of this fiscal year and whenever we could get a supplemental in the next year.
SEN. REED: Thank you.
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: And I do not have an answer for exactly how we would do that.
SEN. REED: Admiral Clark, do you have similar concerns?
ADM. CLARK: I do not, because I do not have that kind of surge requirement at the time. If I had to increase the pace of aviation operations, then I would need additional resources. I do-we'll end up being the party that pays for the Marine Corps transportation, and so that's a small amount that we will have to deal with. We expect to be covered by the '04 supplemental for this movement, and then the next year we'll have to deal with when they will be coming home.
SEN. REED: General Hagee, your comments?
GEN. HAGEE: Sir, I share the chief of the staff of the Army's concerns about this.
SEN. REED: General Jumper?
GEN. JUMPER: Sir, so do I. We will have-we are funded through the end of FY '04, and then we will have to either cash flow or find a way to bridge until any potential supplement in '05.
SEN. REED: So if we don't see a supplemental up here middle of the summer, given the way we work, you gentlemen to varying degrees are facing a funding problem beginning September-ending-well, beginning October 1st-is that fair?
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Yes, sir.
SEN. REED: Admiral Clark, just for the Navy?
ADM. CLARK: Based on what I said last time, I don't have any requirements that I know of at this time, but I might have a small transportational --
SEN. REED: General Hagee?
GEN. HAGEE: Yes, sir, we will have a challenge during that first quarter. We would take actions like General Jumper mentioned, forward funding or cash-flowing it until the supplemental became available.
SEN. REED: Let me ask another related question. This goes against the Army, because they're bearing so much of this burden, and bearing it extremely well, general. The secretary of Defense had a chart at the last hearing which he was going to use, I guess, to talk about the end strength increases. But what I find remarkable is that from September '03 to December '03 the Army lost 10,000 soldiers, at a time when stop-losses were in place, at a time that we were contemplating at least increasing the number of soldiers. I'm concerned that this is-this trend, if it continues, will be serious in terms of manning the forces, regardless of whatever end strength and by whatever means we achieve, coupled together with the anticipation in July, when IF I finishes, of significant recruitment problems and retention problems. Could you comment upon that, General Schoomaker?
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: I'm not familiar with the chart you just held up, and I don't know about losing 10,000 forces. We --
SEN. REED: But let me just-this is the secretary of Defense's chart, with the end strength of the actual Army statutory-excuse me, actual Army end strength. They show in September '03 499,301; December 490,174 -- a loss of about 10,000 personnel and end strength. That's his chart.
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Sir, that was-our statutory end strength at the end of last year was 480,000.
SEN. REED: I'm probably being confusing. The numbers I refer to is the actual end strength, not the statutory end strength.
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Yes, sir, and that's temporary end strength within their authority, within the authority of the secretary of Defense, has grown.
SEN. REED: I'm not questioning the legality. It appears to me we lost 10,000 soldiers, real boots on the ground, at a time we had stop-loss orders in effect, at a time in which we were trying to begin our recruitment for these additional soldiers. That's --
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Sir, they're not related. That's what I'm trying to tell you. We have met our retention and recruiting goals at 100 percent of the force. The force waxes and wanes based upon who we're mobilizing, who we're moving.
And it's been as high as twice that number during part of it.
SEN. REED: If you could provide me a more specific written response --
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Yes, sir, I will.
SEN. REED: -- and I will provide more specific questions, perhaps. But if you just look at the lines here, you know, we are increasing actual end strength month by month for the last year. We hit a peak in December of last year and we star going down. And if the next report for January-February-March shows continued deterioration in actual end strength, I think it undercuts your ability to conduct your mission and it raises a serious problem.
And I'll just stop there.
GEN. SCHOOMAKER: Yes, sir.
SEN. REED: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.