c-span "q&a." >> next, the confirmation hearing for three senior military nominees i'm a northern command, the afghanistan international security assistance force, and u.s. special operations command. they took questions from members of the senate armed services committee topics included border security in the ongoing situation in iraq and syria. this is just under 2.5 hours. [inaudible conversations] , laud[inaudible conversations]

>> good morning, everyone. the committee meets today to consider the nomination of admiral william gordon and the north american aerospace defense command. this includes the international

security force and the commander of united states forces in afghanistan and the lieutenant general in the special operations command and so welcome to all of you, to each of you and we thank you for your many years of great service to our nation and your willingness to continue to serve in these situations. our senior military officers are asked to undertake long hours in the men's workloads and the noisy due to your success in these roles would not be possible without the success of your families please feel free to introduce those members who are with you today and when it comes she your turn.

all three nominees have impressive records of service and are well-qualified for well qualified for the positions to which they have been nominated. admiral gordon has been the forces command and the director of the joint staff and the commander of u.s. naval central command this week. general campbell has been the vice chief of staff of the 101st airborne division in afghanistan. and he has been the commander of the joint and this includes some of these demanding positions.

this includes supporting natural and man-made disasters. this includes the commander of norad and providing aerospace warning and control general campbell will assume his position in a time of significant transition in afghanistan. and he will be tasked with implementing withdrawal by the end of the year while supporting counterterrorism operations to assist the afghan security forces as they continue to assume responsibility for their nation's security. but to have this political stance and the allegations of election fraud, this includes

throughout the country. the two candidates have stated publicly and personally of a comprehensive audit that is needed and they both agree upon that. and they will abide by the results. regardless of the audit process, it is the duty of the election commissions to move forward to identify and eliminate fraudulent ballots so that they can announce a credible election results. i appreciate hearing these views and they will assume the home of a sustained high tempo for nearly 13 years or more.

and as we draw down our forces in afghanistan, we will need to give attention for the role and their ability to carry out the counterterrorism mission in afghanistan. so we look forward to hearing from you how you will address these challenges while also ensuring that the men and women of special operations communities are not shoulder and an undue burden. and so we want to thank her nominees again for being with us to our nation and we look forward to your confirmation. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we think you'll for the time you have given me and general campbell is the commander of you oversee.

in the recent presidential election includes widespread voter fraud. in this includes the province here. and they went from 17,000 votes that were passed in the future election and this includes other influence that is greater in rural areas during the last election. and this includes a larger percentage of turnout in the rural area than in an urban area. and so you have voter fraud and i am very much a part of the

perception of the people in afghanistan. and i'm sure that you agree with that. i am also going to cover the draw down our forces based on the timeline and the facts on the ground and we are hopeful not make the same mistake again. it is clear that they are now operating in more countries and control over territories than ever before and this includes the state even through the world and serving as a breeding ground for the next generation of jihad is and it's only a matter of time and they will return back home when they are ready to perform and i have a top

priority and i am concerned and want to hear your views on this missile threat from north korea and iran. this includes the homeland missile defense system to protect us against these of our adversaries. in this includes nuclear weapons arsenals and public intelligence reports. this includes the use of nuclear weapons by 2013. especially that they would have the ability to produce a weapon and delivery system by 2015. so that has to be a major

concern the we are all familiar with at this time. so we look forward to hearing from the nominees with these difficult problems. >> thank you very much, senator inhofe heard now we will speak to admiral. >> good morning, mr. chairman, undistinguished numbers of the committee, is the owner to appear before you today and i'd like to thank the president for nominating me and if confirmed i look forward to serving of the northern command and commander of the north american aerospace command. i joined this morning by my wife and i would like to introduce her. we went to college in orange

park, florida, she is active and she holds the clock of our nation together. this includes how remarkable she is and i would not be here today without her. over the last two years my good friend has led the norad teams with distinction and if confirmed i look forward to building these trivet adverts and i'd like to make two points before receiving your information and there is no greater responsibility for a military office or to defend the nation that we call home. and this includes providing support to federal levels when the american people are in their need. and i would like to passionately execute them.

in this includes building international coalitions to confront us all. so these have includes engaging me for this and this is confirmed and i will work closely with the combatant commanders and soldiers in the national guard and reserve and the governors of our state over the department of homeland security's and if confirmed i also look forward to working forward with this committee on the task requirement to defend our homeland and provide support to civil authorities. thank you for this opportunity and thank you to the members of this committee of the staff for the work that you all do everyday to provide our men women in uniform the things that they need to do and i look forward to your questions. >> binky so much for your questions. >> thank you.

established members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity and i appreciate your commitment and i am truly honored with the international security assistance force in afghanistan and i would also like to thank the trust and confidence that they have given me in supporting my nomination. i want to acknowledge the journal for the work he has done in his personal sacrifice but i also want to thank his wife who has been a true source of light and grace. she is up at walter reed with my daughter who had surgery yesterday. i want to thank her for strength and sacrifice further out her 30 years of marriage for her tireless advocacy for military families. and i could not be where i am

without her and she has so much on our families. this conflict has divided much of my career and i am honored to be considered to lead during this phase. 2003 they only had one hit in the country in command of the 101st airborne division and this led 30,000 troopers and i saw firsthand the incredible soldiers and i had hundreds of heroes to pay this under my command. and i'm absolutely committed completing this mission.

as we draw down there will be many challenges to the national security forces despite significant casualties during the 2013 and current 2014 season. they have succeeded and i am confident in this transfer of power. i also feel confident and i am committed to working with our nato members. i thank you again for your steadfast generous support and supporting the women of the u.s. military. and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much. >> ranking member, numbers of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and i am honored to be

included with those who have had a professional acquaintance and i respect and admire. i'm so grateful to michelle, my wife coming is able to be here with me today. michelle has been a constant source of inspiration to me and i could not have imagined making this journey without her. i'm deeply honored to be considered by the committee for this position and i firmly believe that special operations performs a vital function in supporting our geographic combatant commanders with unique solutions to challenging problems. i look forward to working with this committee with the special operations forces, ensuring that they remain the best in the world and i thank you again and i look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you very much and now

i will will ask the standard questions that we ask of our nominees. and first, if you would talk about this and do you agree when asked to give your personal views even of those differ from the administration in power? have you seen any duties are undertaken any actions to resume the outcome of the information process? and were you want to ensure that we will establish this requested communications for the records and hearings and will you cooperate in providing the congressional request. >> yes, sir. >> will those witnesses be protected for the ratings and

ratings? >> yes, sir. >> you agree to provide documents in a timely manner when requested with a duly constituted committee regarding the basis in providing such documents. >> okay, let's have a seven minute first round and if necessary, please go ahead. so let me start with you. and we have a lot of barriers and successes and do you believe that it's important to follow

this before you have an approach with a realistic testing of the ground-based missile defense system to provide combatants that work as intended? >> yes, sir, i do. >> and would you agree that our highest priority is to further improve the capability of the system with discrimination capabilities? >> yes, sir, and given this, it's critical that we improve what we have to make sure that it is those are coming to the homeland. and after that we have a capacity to do that and i agree with that priority, which is to then look at future technologies to improve our abilities. >> artists understand that it's

now seeking substantially increased vod support for temporary housing at the southern border and i hope that there will be a positive response to the health and human services to have that increase support before we offer it and do you believe that we have the ability to provide this at the department of health and human services? >> we have the capacity with all that is required. >> we have a request for a significant increase. currently we are about 2600, so we can go up from that.

>> general campbell, you have given us your assessment of the performance of the afghan national security forces. and during this we secure the recent elections and can you expand on that a bit? >> yes, i was in afghanistan in april, but i have kept in contact with them on the ground and we'll talk to them about the afghan security forces in anything i have heard to commanders on the ground, the security forces have continued to progress in all their capabilities. ..

is that correct? >> i was not in on the decision making, but i support the numbers. i think that shows we will continue to have a presence in afghanistan for the next couple of years. i think that is good. >> you also said that you support the pace of reductions outlined by the president with an understanding that we should continue to validate the assumptions and assess the conditions on the ground as the drawdown takes place. do i understand from that the you will recommend changes in the pace of the drawdown f you

find in your best military judgment that the pace should be modified? >> sir what this committee expects of me and what i wrote to soldiers on the ground is my true assessment of how the mission is going. i will provide that input. >> and if you determine in your best military judgment that the pace should be changed and that the dates should be changed you would then make that recommendation? >> i will provide my best military advice on the pace of change and the drawdown. >> even if it differs from the current pace? >> that is what you expect me to do. absolutely. >> after 2016 the u.s. military presence in afghanistan is planned to be combat the moment, and normal and the sea bass presence. it has also been reported that the size of the future office of security cooperation in afghanistan could be as large as 1,000 personnel. i question the plans for post

2016. if at any point in your military judgment circumstances change or assumptions underlying the post 2016 plan don't prove valid will you also let those above you in a chain of command no? >> absolutely. >> general, there is going to be a consolidation of locations inside of afghanistan, and i want to get your view as to how that consolidation is going to impact the ability of the teams, airborne is are to reach remote provinces like could are and nuristan where al qaeda has sought safe haven.

>> mr. chairman, we have been closely following the plans that the general and his staff have made. iss we have adequate locations at this time to continue to do the operations counter-terrorism and partnership operations that we need to continue to do to continue to apply the pressure against the networks that we are dealing with. >> okay. give us your understanding of the progress and training of the afghan special operations and the timeline for achieving their full operational capability? >> my command has been responsible for training a portion of the special operations forces. i assess that we are moving quickly and effectively to make them capable partners on the battlefield, not only their ability to execute operations but more importantly the ability of their leaders to direct operations and possibly surmise the execution. i think we are making good

progress. i have long watched the special operations can decks and have been hugely impressed by their ability to conduct operations and to be with their afghan countrymen and work very, very closely with them. iss that we are on the right path with them. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. during my opening statement i made a comment. could not recall which province it was. the vote count went from 17,000 in april to 170,000 in this runoff which is absurd. i mean, we all know that that could not have happened and certainly the afghan people know that, too. and then the turnout in -- i don't think we can find a place where the turnout is greater in the rural areas that it is in the urban areas.

this strength in the rural areas, and it was three to one in urban areas. we know that is not true. if there are so many of these deficiencies i am sure that the afghan -- that if ethnic groups have the same concerns i do and hopefully as you do. push really hard to get an audit to, a genuine on it, one that has oversight from outside groups. i ask you first of all of you think that is a good idea and secondly what would happen if the people do not understand and appreciate chris' as a legitimate election. >> thank you for the question. as you know, this is the run of. the first election in april. it is absolutely critical that afghan people and the rest of the world see this as a viable, transparent election process.

>> don't you think they see it now as viable and transparent? >> they come to edify this audit . >> okay. that's good. >> you and i talked about africa we remember when the continent of africa was not workable. we understand that. the problem is they don't have their own resources. in the opening statement i commented that a lot of people from africa are sucked up into this war. they will return as hardened fighters. does this concern you? without the resources the when i talked about. what are you going to do? >> senator, thank you. certainly does concern me, as we

discussed. and i think what we can do, why we continue to prioritize our precious is are resources that are using a variety of locations is continue to build relationships on the ground that will allow us to assist our partners where we can to provide information, to share information. returning fighters. >> i think that's right as i told you, as you already knew, they only have the is our capability to meet 11% of the needs that they have in the continent. >> senator rodriguez and i talked frequently, and i do agree. >> are you prepared to try to come and express that so that we can try to get -- >> if confirmed by look for to working with this committee to address that.

>> okay. that sounds good. the chairman talked-about the program and the fact that we need to have more updates to modernization and all of that which we have been talking about in this committee for a long time. traditional funding it's not in my opinion nearly adequate. in terms of the resources that would be available, where do you think we are now what that program? making sufficient investments in the maintenance and reliability. >> yes, sir. >> investments in see the proper maintenance and modernization of the easing to beyond. the second one to an investment after that would be to prove again the vehicle at self that

allows us to better discriminate . >> funding has declined from 2 billion to about half that. does that concern you? >> yes, sir. that does concern me. the priorities -- the first brewery should be a necessary investments. >> i appreciate that. these kind of controversies. they're is a big difference of opinion. concerning bmi 17. we have several. i have looked into it and kind of agree. the afghans lack the capacity and personnel in numbers and expertise to operate and maintain the existing and planned special missions. if we were to change what position would be be in in terms of training, if we were to drop

in new vehicles and discard that particular program? >> if we change apart our platform to the afghans we would be several years behind. all the training program. >> that's not -- i have a real hard time taking about it. is there now. they're trained now. more popular to say this would go into another group of vehicles. i think it is significant. eve of a you could actually be years behind. >> on the ground. garcia agrees. >> absolutely. providing the afghans with the capability distress, to get out to my to go after the insurgents for the afghans and provides coalition for a -- coalition forces protection. i know he is concerned about the

loss and what it does to the coalition force protection and the ability of the afghans to get out and conduct their missions. >> i appreciated. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you and your family's fear distinguished service to the nation and the men and women in the. constantly on the cyber attack. north, plays a critical role in defending the homeland from any type of attack. the exercises, the regular basis to assure that you can respond to these threats? >> yes, sir. their responsibility is to make sure -- to ensure that our

systems, our defense systems are operable to the assurance the weekend to the command-and-control and the facilities are protected to military facilities are able to defend themselves. we work closely to make sure that happens. our second responsibility and confirmed that north, is to respond to the physical responses to a cyber attack, the civilian. and we exercise that throughout the year under our defense of simple stories on how well we can respond. >> there's a gap because a lot of the targets that would be prime on the list would not be facilities but financial institutions, public utilities, transit systems. have you coordinated and a planning level, none operational level of how you might offend? >> those would be to the state of the power grid, the water, to

the rail, all of that. we are responsible for responding to the physical consequences of that. that is similar to defense support of civil authorities for earthquake, whether, things of that nature, the responsibilities. >> final question, who is responsible for the active defense? >> for our civil infrastructure, it is, to be honest, homeland security has a responsibility. it is my professional opinion that we are a little bit behind, we as a nation are behind. >> to you have a coordination with homeland security? again, if they are the ones responsible there should be at least a joint planning effort, not just response but in deterrence or prevention. >> homeland security is our closest interagency partner. our response is there, but i do not know if we have a formal coordinating. if confirmed will make sure and

a stand that. >> general campbell, your experience on the ground in a canister and will be absolutely critical should we go forward. there are so many different aspects, the one i would like to give her opinion upon, they have undertaken significant effects of the operation in what was formerly referred to as the tribal areas. they will play a key role in anything that happens. can you give me your impression now on whether and how you might work with them? >> thank you for the question. you're absolutely right as to the you cannot talk afghanistan unless you talk pakistan as well. it is critical to have that partnership not only with the coalition but more importantly between afghanistan and pakistan i can only speak for my time in 2011. and of the coordination and cooperation continues to get better. the tactical level right on the border, the colonels, the brigadier-general some of the work that daily and continue to progress. we have pakistan talks, and i

would visit pakistan once a quarter. i know that general hundred and the senior leaders in afghanistan today continue to work those relationships play that will be key not only for the border patrol of counter-terrorism. >> thank you, sir. general, special operations command is operating flat out from more than a decade now. as we reset our forces, conventional forces you're going to operate at mark speed. the grave and try to suggest that there might be afraid on the force. what is your impression of the operational capability to buy the effect of these operations under force? >> senator, thank you for the question. i agree with the admirals' assessment. i do think that the forces, as you said, ben operationally active. that said, i think we continue to be very effective in the operations that we continue to

perform. key to this, i think, has been admiral mccrae's focus on insuring that we do address the pressure on our for some families and provide the mechanisms that allow them to continue to serve their country but also take care of the needs that our -- that means that are generated by years of combat in service overseas. >> and one other aspect of this is that, in a rough dichotomy, there are of all covert missions and the traditional training missions. some of those traditional training missions we shifts to conventional forces, or is that our way to lessen the pressure? >> i think that is an option for us. senator, if confirmed delacorte to working with the services, particularly the army it wino is developing regional alliance forces to would be great

partners in developing a partners across the globe. >> thank you. a final question. we have a new theater of operations, the arctic kutcher, anybody my age seemed inconceivable , but it is there. how well prepared are we? for example, i don't think we have a heavy icebreaker in the navy or any plans to build one. >> the arctic is certainly a wilderness. in order to operate we have to have the ability to communicate to navigate, sustain ourselves to men have the ability to operate ships and aircraft up there. that will require significant investment for the apartment in order to do that. we need to figure out the time that we have to put those areas and capabilities in place and palm them appropriately. but we do not have an icebreaker the navy coast guard only has one. it requires study.

it is a presidential priority. north come, it is a task commission for north come. and so my current job working with -- working very hard to figure out this particular time lines. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, senator. senator sessions. >> thank-you, chairman. i thank all of you for your service to the country. we are the finest military in the history of the world in my opinion. exceedingly well trained, very well meant. i think our modern army, navy, air force, marine leaders are more in days with their troops from more leading from the front, more attuned to what is happening and never before this, and i think that we have gone on through some very tough times and maintained our cohesiveness and morale in a way that would be difficult to have expected considering the departments that have been imposed on our

soldiers. i am proud of them. thank senator levin for his comments and questions, general campbell, you, about your duty. as we understand it in this republic to tell the truth to the congress and your superiors as you see. history also would indicate, i think, that leaders on the battlefield are ignored at great peril. you're going to have to make some recommendations in the months that come concerning production and forced policies that are going to be challenging , and we appreciate your commitment to do that. i would ask the other two, would you also answer in the affirmative as general campbell did to senator levin is questions? >> absolutely.

>> yes, senator. >> aquino, in 17, that is the russian helicopter. we are way down the line now. maybe it is too late to reverse that decision. the defense department made up its mind early kamal was rock-solid on it, refused to listen to any other suggestions about it. now we have had russia invading the crimean. so i am personally not very pleased with that decision. we talked about it yesterday. but it may be too late to reverse that decision, but that is my kayfor -- $0.2 about that issue. now general, you were asked about how healthy your forces. is it about 67,000 now?

>> senator, that is about right. growing to about 69,000. >> and we know we will be drawing down hearing different destinations a total force. is it your opinion that in a restructured force as a result of budget decisions and other decisions we ought not to reduce these special operating forces below that level? we ought to stay at or about that level of more? >> senator, as we discussed yesterday, i think the level that we are going to be at is appropriate for the task that we are being asked to perform on behalf of all of the geographic commanders out there that we support. so i think staying at the level that we are is the right answer. >> thank you.

admiral, i understand recent tests in the pacific of our missile defense system was very successful in solving some complexities. it was still effective. what can you tell us about that? >> i have limited detail in my capacity right now. i do know that it was a successful test, one of the most complex. that gives us better confidence in our ability. >> the technology. >> yes, sir. >> i think that is important. we have had some concern about it to kill technology. it has been proven in the past, but we were concerned about it. the successful test is important because it represents a newer and more effective system, i believe. you and i talked about your

belief that with regard to making a decision to launch which would be your decision. >> that's correct, sir. >> if we have an incoming missile you would be the person to make a decision. >> north top commander of the trigger. >> yes, sir. >> how do you plan to ensure that that system works well, that quick decisions can be made 24 hours a day? you gave me an indication yesterday. i thought it would be good to share that. >> you test and exercise what is important, sir. you need to test an exercise that entire weapons system and all the muscles involved with making that an effective engagement to be do need to test and exercise it continually. a key element is the exercising of the command and control because the window is so narrow from the detection to win the decision as to be made. if you don't exercise everyone in that chain of command

routinely you are not going to be able to make or have the confidence he will make that decision anti. >> i think you are exactly right. we have certainly invested tremendous amount in the system and don't need to have a glitch in the management of it that would neutralize its value. general, it is going to be such a challenge. thank you for your continued service. i am pleased that you have extensive knowledge of afghanistan, and i believe he will be in a position to be most effective. senator mccain predicted in 2011 openly and directly that we would pull out so rapidly in iraq as we ended up doing that there would be grim consequences these grim predictions, unfortunately, have been proven true. we will be watching and

remembering and the soldiers you have less than the soldiers that have been wounded and to have lost their lives in afghanistan. and we have reached a point where i believe that country can be successful, but it is fragile can you give us your best judgment of what the prospects are for establishing a decent government that is not hostile to the united states? >> thank you for the question. the key point is we will have a continued presence for the next couple of years. alec for getting over there and making my assessment. there are two missions that are being worked as we move to a 2014-15, training advisement, higher level, and a counter-terrorism. i will continue to work hard on those conditions and give you my best military advice. i think we have time to continue to work on those gaps that the general and the team have identified. there has been a great progress

by the afghan security forces. >> well, that mission is not to get his zero trips at a certain date. our mission is -- well we have committed to invest it in and bled and resources, a successful outcome. i hope that we don't lose sight of that. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to the witnesses and their families were your service. general campbell, i am on the foreign relations committee and cochaired a subcommittee meeting in afghanistan a few months ago. general allan said, and this was a surprising bit of testimony. he was one of our witnesses. he viewed corruption is more of an existential threat and terrorism. terrorism and the taliban are threats, but he huge corruption as a more significant threat. i filed that away, but as i have watched what has played out in

terms of the presidential elections i found to be an interesting observation. the taliban and threatened to disrupt the elections. they made effort to, but there were not able to. i give credit for doing a good job of protecting the physical security of the elections. the elections have been threatened by allegations of corruption of the process by political leaders, potentially the outgoing karzai administration. am i correct in my view that the interception -- the nsf did a pretty good job of protecting the physical integrity of these elections despite the taliban and pledged to disrupt them? >> absolutely. thank you for the question. the afghan asset security force has protected all the polling sites. based on the number of incidents that i read about, talking to commanders on the ground, they did an excellent job. the progression from where they were and where they continue to go continues to keep parent is a

great news story but it is because of a great man would have a coalition. so it is not by happenstance but because of this great work. they continue to work at. you're absolutely right. >> i think it is important for members of this body in committee to recognize the challenges going forward are not simply military. the nsf is performing at a level where they can protect the physical integrity of the elections are still called into question because of political corruption. there are other tools we will need to explore. i wish you well and look forward to working with you you and i talked about the other day. i am concerned about the force and the fraying of the force after the incredible amount of work that has been done.

at a veterans round table. a widow whose husband was a special forces veteran. he came and talked about the stress on the mend their family. if you could share a little bit more. you are so familiar with these folks of the challenges they are under. as the head of this command you intend to deal with those issues of for people who are active but then once people separate from special forces. i know that you, you know, you have a continuing commitment to them. >> thank you. i certainly do think that the pressure that has been put on the force is not exclusive to our special operations force. that said, i think that there are some things that we ask special operators to do, manners in which they operate, the secrecy with which they operate that do not allow them the normal opportunities to talk about things afterwards.

we do have to address that aspect of it when it comes to our special operations forces and families and making sure that we provide those appropriate owlets for the. as we talked about the other day , the special operations command does have a care coalition which is designed to take care of our members, our wounded physically or otherwise in these situations. and i think that is a great way to continue to take care of folks while they are in the service and beyond. i think continuing to look at veteran organizations outside of the military is also a great partnership that we need to have in place. i am a familiar with some organizations to retired military people and just concerned americans in the communities who are willing to work with and reach out to our veterans across the country to ensure that they and their families are well taken care of. if confirmed, senator, i look

forward to continuing to strengthen those relationships and it sure that our numbers on active service and beyond active service are continuing to get the care that they require. >> thank you. let us know the strategies that we can help as we pursue that important goal. one more comment. i just want to offer my congratulations. we traveled to the middle east in february commanded many nations we heard over and over again about the value of u.s. special forces in trading. i imagine in the context of the defense budget. the training that our special forces do with other nations has had to be a drop in the bucket, but the value of those investments is significant. we certainly heard a tribute to that during our travel. >> thank you, senator. i attribute that to our people. they are our most precious and important resource.

and we allow them to get out and do their jobs they always amazed us into fantastic things. >> thank you in your testimony today you talked about the mission of north, in terms of protecting the homeland. it is obviously becoming clear just read the headlines that one of the most important borders in the world is the border now between the united states and mexico but between mexico and central american neighbors whose children are fleeing violence and games and trying to come to the united states. talk a little bit about the u.s.-mexico military relationship and how that relationship can potentially deal with some of those border issues on mexico's southern border. >> yes. my current capacity and unable component. we work closely with the mexican navy.

ahead the admiral and headquarters. i say that the relationship fees with the navy in the army is much better, a strong and growing relationship thanks to the leading edges. it is important. it is a small, the same confidence that you just mentioned would special forces that will pay us long-term dividends. moving at a pace that they are able to go matt, doing the things that they find important. i feel like we are in a good direction and a positive trend. >> to the view that border on their south -- >> they talked with my -- my discussions with leaders. they see the border to the south as the bigger issue. that is causing a disruption in their society. they're focused. that means that the relationship

has to be strong to insure there is no scene that can be used against us. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. gentlemen, thank you for your continued service. so your families, thank you for sharing your husband's with us. we know that this is an obligation. appreciate very much your allowing is to have their leaders. general campbell, i will tell you exactly what i told lower in austin. has he was going to make sure that we close it down the right way, that was the most dangerous command of all because as you pull out troops the situation becomes more dangerous obviously

a think you'll have that same situation, but you're the right person to meet that challenge. we look forward for your continued. something took place recently that gives me a little bit of concern. the release of about a dozen individuals from the prison. ten of those dozen or pakistan niece. i understand all of these dozen or returned to their own countries. can you tell us anything about the release of those detainees, why it was decided to release individuals that we know are hard-core combat enemies of the united states? >> i don't have the exact details. i know that there are a third country nationals in afghanistan over time we had to return back. i don't have details.

working with the different countries, the state department to man the country of afghanistan to make sure that when we do release individuals that there are mitigating effects. >> believe we have 38 non afghans still at that prison, all of which are pretty hard core enemy combatants. have you been briefed on plans to release the remaining? >> i know the number 38. i know that there is a figure within that that is determined to be hardcore. i don't know the plan, how we will release them, but if confirmed that will make sure that i am tied into that process that is more than just a military peace. that is a government operation. >> assume this command, you are obviously going into a time when we will have a new president, the political winds are shifting somewhat.

can you give us your analysis of the political situation now? >> both of the candidates, however eventually becomes the president has indicated that they want to have a long-term relationship with the coalition and the united states in particular. they understand the importance of our important afghanistan is that that part of the world and the impact showing that they do have a democratic process, the political transfer of power, to make sure it is transparent. everything i see is good news and rare on a good road. get through the election and identify the president and show that not only people of afghanistan but the people of the world that afghanistan has gone through this piece. a democratic afghanistan. i am looking forward to getting

over there. >> one reason i feel good, your statement earlier. i know this is bigger commitment to assess the situation on the ground and monitor it as we go along toward the end of 2016. you're going to give your recommendation, which i think will be a real recommendation. you and i obviously have had the opportunity to work closely together. it your current capacity i thank you for your lead. you have done an outstanding job. and you will continue to do that in a position with respect to the special operations command. i am concerned about high gosar. it is such an integral part of

your command now. having heard from general rodriguez recently that only 11 percent of his requirements are being met with africa. depend on other combatant commanders. another you will be facing the same situation. we have just gone through the budget, the department of defense recently. one of the requests of the air force was to reduce join star fleet by 40%. you think there was a wise decision? >> thank you for the question. a brush ride of the details. to your point, i think there is of vital need to look at our posture and it sure that we have the resources, of the resources starting with our most low density high demand all the way down to those that support our troops on the ground. they're is a need to constantly

look at those. if confirmed i look forward. affected are special operations. >> to you and general campbell, what portion of the 9800 post 2014 troops, made up a special operating, special forces operating in the ct. also tell us our goal which respects to ct operations, al qaeda and al qaeda affiliate's between now and the end of 2016 and have you think ever going to get there. >> of the 9800, approximately 2,000 of those, of those 2,000 about half of that are anticipated to be forces that would be directed supporting

this etf for. the other elements, afghanistan, i think a lot of this to insure that we have the right capabilities within that makes to continue to the operations. that will involve continuing to do unilateral operations to keep heavy pressure on al qaeda networks and other networks that are supporting them. importantly, it will allow us to maintain the relationships with their afghan partners in which we're seeing now come to full fruition in their ability to get out and conduct operations. >> anything you want to add?

able to make recommendations if we have to address those numbers of the mission changes. on the counter-terrorism side as we move forward afghanistan and their capacity in our government and what we want to get done. i look forward to working with the general and the special operation forces. we know training for counter-terrorism is important. i look forward to working. >> good morning, thank you for my willingness to serve your country thank you for taking the time to visit with me earlier this week. we talked about north tom mandel instrumental it has been in facilitating, planning, training, and coordination between the other agencies paid

as you know, we have had a number of those natural disasters in colorado. we have floods and wildfires. all losses that we suffered surely would have been greater if not for the work done before, during, and after his disasters. the forest service and many other officials. i would like to ask you for your views on these efforts and the assurance they will continue to make him a top priority. >> yes, sir. the -- i found in my career this poses sailors, marines in active, reserve command from lagard finds no greater in is our intent to help the american people and their time of need.

i think the work that the national guard have done before your fire and then during the execution and the preparation for anything that might come in the future is outstanding, and i will continue to support an effort. >> thank you for that assurance. i know we have upgraded the communication and yet there is more than we can do. let me turn to north, more broadly in its mission. what do you consider to be the greatest threat to the united states? >> as the threat to the united states and my current capacity of confirmed i think the greater threat that we have is a cyber threat. two are critical infrastructure, our power grid or banking system that, i see, is the greatest threat. the job of north, best handle of the zoo consequences.

we cannot do enough as you are aware, congress has expressed concern recently with what is seen by many as a lack of sufficient justification for budget requests, especially in light of the significant budget increases over the past decade. what are your views with respect to the congressional language requiring more detail and meaningful affirmation in the budget justification? >> senator, i absolutely agree that we should be able to defend our requests. if confirmed belfort to working with the committee to ensure that they understand what is required and when we needed. >> so you would believe that the congress providing is over several ought to have the same level of disability?

>> i absolutely believe that they should. >> i thank you for that assurance. let's turn to sequestration, if we could. it looms. many on this committee are concerned about it. goes back into effect in 2016. give us your perspectives on the effect of sequestration? >> i will take that. in my current capacity the affect of sequestration was on readiness. that is the means, their readiness, the operations and maintenance accounts that are out there. it impacts today's readiness the forces that we will fight with. most of them we already own. when it comes to sequestration that is our primary concern. if confirmed, of their readiness of those forces to defend the

homeland and in the fond -- respond, we have a ready force is to do that? will they be at the proper readiness levels? and we work through the components in order to assure, to be able to make those decisions and know the status is >> general. >> sir, thank you for the question. sequestration, every single day. if we continue on that path and sequestration happens as it is now it will have a great, great impact on all the service but especially the army. we have to balance structure. in the near term mayor sacrificing modernization and try to put what we can into the readiness. for the army our biggest pot farmers are people. we cannot come down fast enough to bring our people and army to meet the numbers and the sequestration goals that we have i don't think we have done a particularly good job articulating to the american

people to read to brigade combat teams are ready we have cents worked hard on other short-term readiness and put any additional moneys we have into that. again, at the age expense of our modernization accounts. it was in the paper today. that was on the drawdown of the forces of our captains and majors. recently we announced 1100 that we have to take out some of these are men and women that are currently serving in afghanistan they could be company commanders asking that we have to leave the force to be that is hard hitting. we will see that continue. those numbers of the impact of just those captains and what it means to those families have to -- has to bring your money down. we have not even started.

sequestration stays in effect. so sequestration will be disastrous to my belief. we will not be able to do that offense strategic guidance if sequestration continues. >> thank you, senator. first of all, i agree with the comments of my colleagues appear as a readiness and the impact on our ability to support the broader plans. i would add to specific things. first of all, the effects of a general purpose to affect soft forces. one of the key lessons learned has been that soft forces are used dependent on general-purpose forces for a variety of activities that they conduct of allow us to do the things that we need. if confirmed that would be something that i would want to.

the second piece would be the impact on our people. we have certainly generated a great amount of experience over the last ten to 12 years. as we head to a reduced force is i would be concerned of making sure that we did that carefully and did not lose the experience that we have developed over the last ten or 12 years. >> thank you for that very sobering analysis. pinkie. >> think you, senator. >> i want to thank the witnesses. to follow, as you and i discussed, we now have captains and the united states army were serving in afghanistan in danger that and now being notified that there being involuntarily separated. is that correct. >> that is correct. >> that has turned around. were you agree? >> absolutely.

>> and your area of responsibility ends up the mexican guatemalan border. >> yes, sir. does. >> his eight your information that either the government of mexico or the government of guatemala and the government of mexico and i've of a guatemalan border or the u.s. border are doing anything to stem the flow of illegal immigrants fit into this country? >> i don't have any specifics as to that, but in my dealings, know they are concerned about that. >> are they doing anything to stem the flow of the you know of or not expediting? >> if confirmed by will give you that answer. >> i think you should know more about it before you come before this committee. we are hearing -- adelle would like to have that answer quickly because the facts are stubborn things. that is, they are expediting

these people across the guatemalan border and a u.s. mexican border -- mean, i glance at the evening news can tell you that. general, we are hearing from inside syria and from all sides syria that the equipment and isi s was able to get ahold of to sell their lightning like success is now flowing into syria. in fact, we have even seen on the internet pictures that are now inside syria. see you have any information about that? >> senator, and a classified love alive seen some of that reporting that would indicate that it is moving across the former borders.

>> and you would agree that is really, it has a very effective tool if it falls into the hands of people who know how to operate them, and they're not that difficult to operate. >> i would agree. >> canal refine our free syrian army in fighting on two fronts with equipment that they captured now flowing into syria which has had, i can assure you, and i don't know what your impression is, a devastating effect on morale. would you agree? >> senator, i have no specific intimation about that affect. >> may be experience shows that it could have that effect.

>> i do think experience would indicate that. >> thank you. two you know any senior military leader that would personally recommend a policy of complete withdrawal by january 2017 to market. >> i have not talked to any 65 senior leaders. >> i am sure that senator gramm and to spend his active duty over in afghanistan will pursue this further, but it isn't a serious concern about the not only capabilities that the afghans cannot acquire in the next couple of years such as air evacuation, certain logistics' capabilities coupled one of our big concerns should be the total disappearance of ct capabilities is that a concern? >> it would absolutely be a

concern. we have a couple of years to continue to work on the gaps. aviation, isr, logistics', as you said, certainly three of the top. have to continue to work. they are important not only for pakistan and afghanistan but our nation. >> in our meetings last week with candidates for president both expressed a desire for a bsa and, too, a very deep concern about a date certain withdraw as opposed to the conditions placed. both said that they were concerned about the ability even signing the bsa with their ability to control particularly parts of afghanistan that you are familiar with.

see you think that that concern on their part is legitimate? >> i believe there will be great concern. i have not discussed any sort of time line. as i mentioned earlier, i think my job and what my senior leaders and the committee would expect of me is to provide continuous updates based upon our mission and resources and my best military advice. >> well, one would hope that the president of the united states will look at the nightmare today and the ability that we could have had to provide some stability and perhaps reevaluate his decision not for american combat troops but for the much-needed capabilities of support and counter-terrorism

that we can provide which they simply do not have paid and i guess my other question, do you remain deeply concerned about the role that pakistan plays in all of this with a network and ii asci and the whole support capabilities 48, the taliban / al qaeda that remain there. >> absolutely. as i said earlier, you cannot separate the two. i am concerned about the sanctuary in pakistan. if confirmed there will continue to work with the afghan military and the pakistan military to continue to insure that we can reduce that but that we have the right cooperation between the afghans in pakistan niece. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the witnesses. >> thank you. senator. >> the key, mr. chair. i have to know you use a phrase

that sort of startled me. a think it was realistic but is something that we should take note of. europe of for to the former border. unfortunately i think that is a factual sussman. this committee made a decision in its market of the national defence act for a month or so ago that essentially eliminated the in my 17 support in terms of purchases of the remaining group of helicopters and also spare parts. the loss of accountability would have a catastrophic effect on a military campaign. he said affective a nsf counter-terrorism operations our dependence in the those chilling commit any loss of operational reach would therefore degrade our force protection. that's our people. would you agree with the

assessment that this would be a catastrophic blow to the ability of the ans have to do their job in afghanistan? >> i would agree with the assessment and the impact it would have on both the afghan military and their ability to carry out their mission and the impact on force protection. >> it is important that this is not only -- the provision adopted by this committee not only will prohibit the buying of the remaining group put immediately cut off supply parts which would in effect over a fairly short amount of time ground the entire fleet. >> that is correct. the estimate i have seen is between six to 12 months. >> there would be crowded. >> combat ineffective. >> thank you, general. i appreciate that. admiral, you are going to be in charge of north, as we have been discussing. i'm sorry. i am concerned about the arctic. you mentioned in answer to your

prior questions that we really don't have the infrastructure that we need. do you know offhand how many icebreaker's the russians have an operation? >> somewhere between five and seven, sir believe have won 45- year-old coast guard as becker. >> as correct. navy has no icebreaker capacity. >> that correct. >> a brief question probably you indicated in your prior submission that you felt it would be important for our country to see to the law of the sea treaty. could you confirm my understanding of that position? >> yes, sir. it has been a longstanding position. and joining that commission would be a good idea to give us the same -- on the same footing with the other signatories. not relying on the longstanding traditions. >> this particularly takes on

some level of urgency given the opening of the arctic to commerce exportation, energy and all of the other potential areas of conflict. >> yes, but particularly this would put us on the same footing >> there have been a number of questions about afghanistan and our timeframe there. as high understand it, there was intelligence that indicated the isis was building up strength and had designs on moving into iraq. we did not know was how weak the iraqi army would be. i would suggest, and i hope you agree, one of your missions is to continually assess the readiness and effectiveness of the ansf because it was not isis as the collapse of the iraqi army. would you agree?

>> i would agree. they have a process in place to continually evaluate the security forces. the drawdown. >> i would like to associate myself with senator mccain's comments and questions. it strikes me that rather than an arbitrary date and should be based upon the field and he would you agree with that? >> any military commander would want the flexibility to provide an operational assessment. conditions on the ground. i would agree. this committee, i know my leader and my best military advice based upon the mission at hand and the resources at that time. i do have some time to make that assessment. in that time i also have time to continue to take a look at the afghan forces and the missions of the resources to continue to upgrade the capability. >> i am not quite testy to

assess the political situation. i think that is unfolding before our eyes and is difficult for anyone to assess. you have any assessment of the epic make up in terms of broad support in the populace to be one of the problems we are seeing is the exclusion of the cities and the kurds from the government and most of the defense forces. potentially the same mistake being made are not? i don't know the answer. >> i can give you the composition. i don't have that here. my gut tells me that it falls by the pattern of the country itself. a great majority would be 40- 40-45 percent pay lac can get those for youth. and i know it is a great concern to make sure that they continue to be, for lack of a better word, apolitical and that the continued have the best interest of the country and.

i know so far from what i have seen that is exactly what they're seeing. they have made great strides. >> it is a very important ball to keep our eye on. if it is not broadly representative, if we learned anything is that that is a crucial element in the stability of the country that we leave behind. >> absolutely.

it to insure that we take a advantage of all the capabilities. >> what appears to be a pitcher of unconventional not state actor forces to mature men and women will be the point of the spear. i commend you for taking this command and outlook for to working with you wanted. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank all of you for your willingness to serve and

your distinguished service and for all the sacrifices that you and your families have made for the country and will continue to make. thank you. wanted to ask. nine of the you have served in afghanistan, at least two or three tours in rock as well. as we look at at the situation that is happening right now with isis and obviously the huge security challenges that we have there that are very threatening, not only to oust the to the entire region, what can we learn from having the withdrawal the we have in 2011 toward what has happened with as we look forward to our continued engagement. >> thank you for the question.

two times in afghanistan demand all the veterans would tell you as they watched this unfold to weigh it is disheartening to see i am committed to ensuring that the two missions, train, advise command assessed and the ct, that we continue to do everything we can to continue to prove the abcaeight capability so that they can stand on their own. we ought to take a look at the lessons learned. i think you're military, our services on anything we do we critique ourselves and look very hard. we always go back. i think this, will take a hard look at this and apply that to afghanistan to if confirmed and committed. >> i appreciate it. wanted to ask you about -- i know you have received a number of questions, taking over the command in afghanistan about the si team mission.

can you put in perspective what the ct mission means to your average american in terms of the protection of this country, we have done in afghanistan, and why it's such an important mission? >> if you just want to boil it down to a simplistic -- i probably told you this. we have not had another attack on homeland. and we have not had that since 2011. we should not take that for granted. that is not by happenstance. great men and women working hard . the continuing strike after these networks that want to do our. i believe the piece if you want to boil it down in simplistic terms is to protect the homeland . >> i get asked this question, thinking about the president on

may 27th, made the announcement that by the end of 2016 the presence we will have in afghanistan will be the embassy which will be a security component, basically a normal embassy presence. and it has been further describe to by the administration that the number of personnel that will be present as of january 1st 2017 at the embassy for security there will be 1,000 people. so my question to both of you is , as i hear the general talk to us about the numbers on the c t mission in afghanistan that we have now and will plan to have in 2015 and also discussed the importance of including in

lateral operations, the team operations, how do we do that based on a couple operation only command how do we do that with a thousand people? which part of that thousand people will fulfil this important mission to protect of land? and so i guess the real question is, we just heard your testimony about how important this is to protect our country and to have the ct mission, what happens after january? >> thank you for the question. the comments, i don't know the number at the end of 2016. i acknowledge what you said. again, have not looked at the composition. i know for the next two years and will continue to improve the capability of the afghan forces

it will be a relationship. as i said earlier, i will need some time to get on the ground to give your assessment of where we will be. think we have to put in light of that there will be time to improve the capability has already there that may or may not help us reduce the numbers. i can't talk in terms of the exact numbers of the end of 2016 that will be required. i can come back to that as a make that assessment. ..

>> i think it really depends upon the situation as it evolves and that is why i think that we have to look at the conditions and provide our best advice on what it is that we need to sustain and what we need to have an embassy-based approach in order to continue and accomplish our objectives. >> i appreciate both of your testimony you have both said makes a lot of and, how we could possibly make the announcement from the administration of exactly how many people are going to be at that embassy where they are going to see, giving the important to help us avoid another attack on our country and when we don't even know what the conditions will be at the time. it's really hard to come up with a word of for it or it but it is

certainly not a military base that decision based on the announcement of our president. so i'm glad to hear both of you say that you will have to hear what the conditions are on the ground. i hope that our president will be the conditions on the ground so that we can continue to perform this important mission of protecting our country and ensuring that we have this intelligence that has helped us to prevent future attacks after 9/11 in this country. so i thank you. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank all of you and your families here today for their sacrifice. and he put in place the preservation of the force and family program to try to help with that. and so what i want to find out is do you plan on continuing that and do you see it as a

success, do you see anything that is more effective or avenues that can be part of this. >> i absolutely do continue to apply the same level of effort as much as i can in this problem and this includes every potential resource to understand the problem and identify ways to the we can deal with this for our service members. and so i think that we have a great deal of respect with preserving this. >> one thing of after to do is the things you learn from this program if you see any of it and you say this has been really

successful if you would continue to share that with all of the other commands it would be very helpful. and you continue to give us your unvarnished opinion going forward and where there might be glitch is and, you know, if the plan is not coming together, let us know. the general has been great in saying this is where we are with the metrics and here's where the problems are and we continue to count on you for that. >> absolutely. >> i know you well, keeping an eye on this is one of the distressing things to happen in iraq including so many of the real generals were replaced by

folks who have been shipped or whatever and i think that cause significant damage to the iraqi army. and we want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen enough in the end. so you could continue to let us know, as you look at the force getting better and getting worse, leadership, those kinds of things. and i know that you will keep an eye on it and it would be helpful to us because it will telesis something is starting to side with her. >> the general put in the place working hard at the afghan officers that they had their own academy. and so they look their very hard.

and i absolutely will continue to work that hard. >> one of the things that we sell recently if it is somewhat unique in recent times and the pakistan army has moved people out of their to the nature of whether they have gone out of their is still up for discussion. >> anytime we can do this, anytime we can work with pakistan committee will continue to work as operations inside the borders and coordinate those on the afghan side, that is a win. we try to do that in 2010 and

2011. >> this is is the first post in a long time. and i hope that this will be easy and being a general term that if they clean up some of the mess on their side, there may be less. >> in the sofa agreement, you will continue to tell them how much the troops will remain, but if we don't have this agreement, it completely changes the whole discussion and i trust that your primary efforts will talk about how critical this is. but all of this lines up with

it. >> i think that they want to make sure that they have continued coalition and they know the consequences and so i will continue to work without. >> thank you. >> one of the concerns that i have is that whole region, that there are also americans fighting with them over there. and my fear is that they take a look back to our country and they can be people who can be against us, i wonder your efforts that would coordinate with homeland security.

>> and we stopped there before comes to the homeland. in the homeland security, we will have to deal with the homeland security if we fail at that. and there is much of it coming up across the border. we have seen this coming in through the straits of lorna and other areas and we have had testimony that there's not near enough equipment and men and women and personnel and things needed to try to stop that. so would you give us that in a perfect world, how to make a

change in this area for how to beef up our efforts. >> it requires the government approach that includes all of the inner agency is, as well as close cooperation between the pacific northern command and southern command in order to work to close any of those teams that are out there between the geographic commanders in the commanders in the interagency process in order to do this particular flow. and so we have to go to the far reaches at our borders and we have to go to the root of the problems and try to extend it. sumac thank you so much, and i hope you keep an eye on that effort as well. >> thank you, senator fisher. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

first of all, i would like to thank you gentlemen with the service personnel that you represent and we are truly dedicating our lives to the people of the country and keeping the faith, thank you so much. and in your written comments, you speak about the greatest threat to the governments of syria and iraq. and their connections are growing throughout north africa. and this thing, if it doesn't improve significantly, and when they become a threat to the united states? >> thank you. they threaten some of our regional interest in this poses

a very significant problem not only for us. >> the admiral spoke about this, you have this in order to make the assessment on what is happening in iraq and how we are going to address the? another we are looking at all the options that are out there and we are starting to know those within the time of eight tipping point where it may be too late to even take advantage of some of those options are there or not. >> first off, i don't think it's too late to do anything right

now. you may be aware that we are completing the second phase here in iraq. and so we have been working with the iraqi security service and partners there down in the baghdad area to the places we can ensure what the situation on the ground is and what their capabilities are and then what options we might have to assist this in the future. >> i heard a comment made recently that perhaps we should take this machiavellian approach and let the militias and the terrorist fight each other to stand back and let our enemies fight each other. author risk to that? >> in general i think that there is a risk to try to resolve themselves.

and do you think that would be an option that the united states should look out with regards to iraq remapped. >> i think that we should look at all options that might be available to us. and how we can address this particular problem. >> i'm sure that we have had an opportunity to look at everything before reaching the conclusions. >> thank you so much. >> the president has requested $5 billion for the partnership fund. so what top priorities would you like to see this accomplish? >> i think they can certainly help us with some of our partnership activities and i think it should also help us

getting the additional resources to enable our partners, which i think would be very helpful in enabling our partners in a variety of different ways. >> have you see special operations forces evolving, giving the demand and they touched on the pressures that you are looking at and you have mentioned to senator ayotte about the size of the force be with look at including in afghanistan. do you see the special ops evolving and i will discuss you how to we see them evolving. and i think it is important as we continue to