our skills to better serve the nation. this year we're instituting a threat-based resourcing model for our counterdrug activities. this will provide funding for states facing the most drug threats. i would like to address our most important asset as you have so aptly stated. our soldiers and airmen are the reason the national guard has been so successful over the last decade. indeed for the last 375 years. today your national guard is the most capable and competent in history and that is because we are recruiting the highest quality soldiers and airmen. our noteworthy enlistment and retention numbers since september 11th, 2001, are proof because they want to be used and expect to be used. this dedication would not be possible without the support of our families, communities and employers. that's why i'm dedicated to working closely with the army and air force to provide the service members, their families and employers with the best and

most effective support available. thanks for the opportunity mr. chairman to appear before you today. i'd like to ask my wingman bud wyatt to speak followed by bill ingraham. >> chairman and senator thank you and the committee very much for your support for the extraordinary men and women of the air national guard. i'd like to open with a brief review of 9/11. your guard airmen continue to make significant contributions to the nation's defense both here and home and around the globe. last year guard airmen filled 54,000 requests for manpower. 91% of these requests were filled by volunteers. international guards responsiveness and daptablity was clearly demonstrated a year ago when on 17, march, 2011, as the united nations security council passed resolution 1973

authorizing a no fly zone over libya, air national guard kc 135 in tennessee and the 168th aerial refuelling wing alaska were diverted en route to florida operating bases. these guard airmen began flying missions 48 hours later. clearly demonstrating that the international guard is accessible and ready to serve. last year national guard airmen spent half a million men days providing support missions. this included ordinance disposaling helping with security at special events. and helping victims of floods and other natural disasters and helping to save lives by assisting in search and rescue efforts. guard airmen spent an additional million man days in homeland

defense. this included helping to defend u.s. air space. deployed to afghanistan with lightning, generation four pods for the first time as a direct result of funding. fy 20 11 in funds were also used to procure cyber critical infrastructure range allowing

air north carolina cyber units to develop procedures were cyber warfare. while the fy 13 budget has challenges for the air national guard it has opportunities and we adjusted our priority to take full advantage of those opportunities. the international guard's priority in preparing this budget were number one foster the air national guard by aligning for size and composition to be flexible, agile and ready with special attention to new mipgss such as the mc 12 and remotely piloted aircraft. number two, maintaining a combat ready force able to quickly search and integrate seamlessly in joint operations. and number three repairing units broken by the base closure and realliant process and realignment changes. i look forward to answering any questions that you and the committee may have for me. thank you very much. >> thank you very much,

gentlemen. >> members of the subcommittee, it's an honor to be with you today representing the 358,000 citizen soldiers of the army national guard. the patriotism and sacrifice of these soldiers, their families and their employers is a source of great pride for all americans. we're the best manned, best led, best equipped and most experienced force in our 375-year history. it's congressional support for the army national guard that has contributed our transformation and enhanced our readiness. as a result, the army national guard is a ready and reliable force fully accessible for contingencies both at home and abroad. we provide equipped, trained, soldiers given the president and the governors maximum flexibility in times of crisis.

we're an operation force and a full partner with the active army. since september 11, 2001, the army national guard has completed over a half million soldier mobilizations in support of domestic operations and overseas missions. we currently have 29,000 army national guard soldiers mobilized. and last year in fy 11, 45,000 army guardsmen were deployed in support of ongoing missions around the world. asson operational force, the army national guard provides a cost effective solution to meet the new strategic items. for 12.3% of the army's base budget, the articly national guard provides 39% of the army's operating forces. our soldiers represent nearly every zip code in the nation. they play a vital role as department of defense first responder for natural disasters

and terroristing attacks on our soil. in 2009 it was the citizen soldiers who provided 900,000 duty days of support to communes across our nation. that's the second largest domestic response since 9/11. since hurricane katrina. we are attributing skilled soldiers and future leaders. with the nation at war as a backdrop, our year to date enlistment rate for fy 12 is in excess of 9 5%. but our retention rate exceeds 130%. we are meeting our authorized end strength of 358,000. the army national guard is

equipping to meet 21st century challenges through your support of the necessary resourcing for modernization. our 28 brigade combat teams that include one striker brigade, and our two special forces groups are well equipped. we understand our readiness level, however is dependent on the level of resourcing that we receive. the overall army national guard equipment on hand for our -- for our deployable units is currently at 88%. an increase of over two years ago when we were at 85%. our critical dual use equipment on hand is at 95 -- at 92% an increase from 86% to years ago. and a significant increase from the 65% it was during hurricane katrina. from december 2011 through june

2013, the army national guard is programmed to receive over 120,000 pieces of congresswomen from army procurement funding. army national guard armories are actually the foundation of our readiness. we have facilities in 2899 communities across the 50 states, the territories and the district. providing quality facilities however is an ongoing challenge. more than 46% of our armories are over a years old. many are unable to meet the needs of the 21st century operational force while failing to meet modern building standards and in terms of energy efficiency. the army national guard continues to make suicide prevention a top priority. our soldiers are our most precious resource. we are addressing high risk

behaviors and suicidal tendencies through preventive measures, comprehensive training and a range of intervention programs. in addition, we're addressing sexual harassment and assault response and prevention through an aggressive training program executed at the state level. it's crucial that these behaviorable health programs receive funding in our base budget. in closing, i acknowledge the continued support that you demonstrated through the budget process in program planning for an operational national guard through 2015. i want to express the army national guard's sincere appreciation of the critical role your committee plays in resourcing and sustaining the most capable national guard that our nation has ever had. i appreciate the privilege of being here and invite your questions. >> thank you very much, general ingraham. general mckinley and general wyatt, as i indicated in my

opening remarks, this past march the air force announced structural challenges and end strength reduction. the greatest reductions were in the air guard. 5100 buildings lost. my question is were you involved in reaching this final decision? were you consulted? what was your involvement? >> senator, i think i'll led bud talk through the tactual process by which the air force works its corporate process. traditionally in the national guard the two directors have been totally involved with their services in how the budgets are built and how they're briefed. i will tell you that as chief i was involved in the final deliberations discussions in the december time frame in which time i expressed certainly our

corporate view on behalf of the general on the outcome that the air force was pursuing. and then following the holidays a number of meetings with both secretary panetta, chairman dempsey, secretary schwartz and donley to continue to work out the end game strategies. i think you've had general schwartz and secretary donley here to talk about their overall views of the size of the air force. that it's the smallest air force in history. ry capitalization in a major issue for our air force. as general wyatt will tell you that our air force and its strength cascades to its reserve component, both air national guard and the air force reserve. i'll let general wyatt cover the corporate process that you're eluding to with your question and take any questions you may have about our involvement.

>> bud, mr. chairman, the air force decision making process as we put together budgets is commonly referred to as the air force corporate process. and has several different steps along the way beginning at the action officer going up to the one start, two start level which is the board level. counsel level is at three star and recommends are presented to the chief and the secretary at the four star level. i was able to participate, my staff was able to participate all along the way. we were encouraged to make our inputs and we did so. in fact, we exercised that encouragement rather vociferously inside the air force corporate process. we did present alternatives to the air force, alternatives to the 13 pb as it officially came out. i think general schwartz has accurately described the process when he said that there were very difficult decisions for the air force to make. he encouraged open debate.

i engaged openly in that debate and made my inputs. but in the end, the final decision is left to the chief and the secretary. and many of the recommendations and alternatives that we proprosed were not adopted but we respect the difficult decisions that the chief and the secretary had to make. once those decisions are made as title ten officers, we need to recognize that fact and salute and proceed forward. >> you were able to make an input. >> we made several inputs. several alternatives. different ways of meeting the budget and the operational demands of the air force. some of which were accepted. a lot of which were not. >> thank you very much. general i think gram, during calendar year 2011, we were advised that 98 guardsmen took

their own lives. can you tell us what's happening? >> chairman, any soldier or any person that takes their own life is a tragic experience. in the case of the army national guard, we're citizen soldiers. and i don't have the exact statistics of how many of the soldiers in the army national guard committed suicide had never deployed. but there were quite a few. i'm not sure whether the citizen or the soldier committed suicide. in some cases and we do a very thorough after action look at each case, and in those cases we

take steps to prevent that from happening again. we use that in our training. we use -- we've increased the level of training in suicide prevention, but it's an american problem as well as an army problem as well as an army national guard problem. and we're going to great lengths to prevent our soldiers either having suicidal tendencies or actually committing the act. >> i thank you very much. may i call upon senator kauffman. >> mr. chairman. general mckinley, the air force's restructure plan suggests that reductions in air gord -- and personnel and aircraft ought to be under taken. you describe in your testimony

the enhanced use of guard forces that would provide capabilities and overseas missions. looking at the recent experience in libya. there were personnel and aircraft involved in the no fly zone strategy. tell us what your impressions were of those who were engaged in that operation. what changes if any need to be made in support of funding for different activities or equipment acquisition in light of those experiences? >> you rightfully point out senator cochran that the air force is uniquely positioned to utilize its reserve component effectively and efficiently. for the entire period of time that i've been in the national guard, there's always been a close personal relationship between our active force and its guard and its reserve.

that led to the capability that general wyatt may want to discuss more intimately involved in the tanker mission and the mission that supported the no fly zone in libya to rapidly get volunteers in our communities who are associated with the requirement out of their civilian jobs to their units in a voluntary status so we didn't need to mobilize and we got them overseas in record time and they participated in the full unified protector mission. that's been a tradition. it's been a core competency of the air force. our relationship with its guard and reserve for the last four decades. i'm very proud of that. i don't think our air force can survive without the close cooperation and collaboration of its reserve component. i've heard both secretary donnelly and general schwartz make those statements in public. i'll let general wyatt talk about the in your opinions, types of congresswomen that

actually deployed. how quickly they deployed. and how effectively they were used by the nato command in the successful prosecution of libyan operation. >> senator cochran, i mentioned a little bit about the time frame of the response early on. i will tell you especially in the refuelling portion of odyssey dawn it was a joint effort with the active component with the guard and reserve. the guard and reserve have over 50% of the refuelling capability in theater. the expeditionary wing was commanded by an air guardsman out of pennsylvania. the integration of the three components in the air force i think is a model. primarily because we're tried at the same standards. we use the same equipment. that's the way we fight. that's the way we train and fight. as we go forward in the future,

i think the key for the air force to maintain the capacity and capability and continue reliance upon the reserve component guard and reserve is a couple of things. number one is the guard and reserve have to be fielded with new equipment at the same time concurrently with the active component and in representative numbers so we can continue to be an operational force that can be called upon on a moment's notice. i would remind everyone that there was no mobilization authority available for odyssey dawn for the libya no fly zone. 100% of the guardsmen and reservist that showed up for that engagement were volunteers. the key besides new equipment fielded concurrently and in a balanced fashion, propotional fashion across the reserve components. in the other key is the in the baseline of the air force that has to be sufficient days to allow the use of the guard and

reseven. as an organize and equip organization i think the general would back me up on this, the air force adequately funds us to organize train and equip. to use us in operational missions around the world, the air force needs the baseline budget sufficient mpa days to continue to be the operational force that's available on a moment's call. >> does the dollar amount requested for this committee's approval meet those requirements? >> yes, sir, i think it does for the title ten fight. i'm a little bit concerned when i take a look at some of the domestic requirement for the the air national guard. there are some pressures as the air force tries to do its part in reducing the deficit. i think the key is as we go forward and we look at the number of required mpa days that would allow the air guard and

the reserve to continue functioning that we take a look at what are the requirements, what are the demands that they're telling us would be forward and adequately budget for that rather than pick an arbitrary number and try to cut. >> general ingraham. camp shelby has been a site to reserve others and mobilize to yaifrs of need. what is your impression of the funding request for that facility if there is money in there for any activities and programs there? and what needs exist that should be brought to your attention if they're not requested? >> senator cochran, camp shelby

has been a very viable force projection plalt form for most of the war fight. there's been some improvements made there. the army funds those improvements out of the base budget. and as we continue down the road, i think the appropriate needs will be met by the army budget for camp shelby and several other predominantly army national guard post camps and stations that are used as power projection platforms. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator alexander. >> thank you for being here. i want to ask about the announcement in february about the replace on the c 17s. part of the comprehensive

reorganization of air force resources. the house defense authorization bill includes a provision that would put that restructuring plan on hold for a year. i want to try to understand from you general wyatt, if i can, what the consequences of that are. specifically, the idea as you went through these difficult budget decisions was to replace the c 5 as which are expensive to maintain and which aren't mission ready much of the time with c-17s. the idea would be that would save a lot of money and produce a more efficient operation. now what does -- what happens to the -- what does this one-year

delay do? what does it do in terms of cost of maintenance, for example, of these c 5 as that you know you're going to get rid of? what does it do for the scheduling of training for person snell? what does it do to the guard's readiness? >> those are great questions that we're wrestling with right now. the transition at memphis out of c 5s to c-17s was an fy 12 action that is supposed to begin, but it continues into fy 13 as we retire c 5 as out of memphis, the c-17s come in that requires training dollars to be spent to make the conversion. you're correct, the reason that i -- i applaud that move on behalf of the air force. it does bring the air national guard into the real vent aircraft of the future. it's something we've been pushing for for quite a long time many the air national

guard. >> we know -- don't we we're going to get rid of the c 5 as. >> we are. >> why would we delay it a year? >> i hope we don't. that particular movement is one of the things in pb 13 that i think is in the best interest of the country and certainly the air force and the air national guard that we continue with that part of it. if the prohibition is to spend any fy 13 funds on fy 12 actions that need to be completed in 13, then the dilemma is exactly as you have expressed. it would cause us to go back and take a look at what is the cost of maintaining the c 5 as. is there appropriations in the 13 cr to do so if that's what we're going. it does cause us some uncertainty as we go forward. >> at a time when dollars are short and tight and many of your recommendations weren't able to be accepted, but you're saluting

them made me say maybe we need a title ten salute in the united states senate we might get things done more quickly if we did. so you're going to have to be spending money maintaining planes that you know you're going to get rid of. when you could be spending it on retraining guard personnel. you could be pending it on other aspects of mission readiness, is that not correct? >> yes, sir, the situation at memphis that is exactly as you had described it. that's one of the inputs in the air force corporate process that the air national guard made that was accepted by the united states air force. i applauded that because it made a whole lot of sense. still does make a whole lot of sense. the dilemma is how do you make that transition that we start this year in fy 12 with the prohibitions on spending moneys 13 to complete those actions. >> i hope as we move through the process and we're trying to respect your stewardship of

scars dollars that we see what that delay would do is really waste money or take money for planes that we know we're going to get rid of to maintain them and money that could be used in other places in the same light, in nashville the guard is preparing for a new unmanned vehicle, aerial vehicle mission which i understand the air force needs for that facility to assume. how will this one-year delay affect our military capabilities and the time line for moving uavs into nashville. >> very similar situation. this is an fy 12 action that is beginning. part of it involves the movement of c-130s from nashville to the puerto rico international guard which is losing c 130 es. there's a ripple effect that we're facing.

i have to applaud the general from tennessee. volunteered early on to transition to the mission which we see as a sunrise mission in the air national guard. one that would be around and keep the tennessee air guard real vent well into the future. we face the same challenges there as we continue on the path toward transition. delays do make the transition a little bit smoother -- a little bit more difficult and costly. the cost of maintaining those aircraft would move to puerto rico, but if we're required to hold the puerto rico the e models then we could have that expense that we would not normally have. >> i don't have much time left,