issues. and presidential candidate mike huckabee campaigns in newton iowa. president obama has

nominated lieutenant general robert miller to head the u.s. marine corp. at his senate confirmation hearing, members of the armed service committee questioned general miller about the marine corp budget, military sexual assaults, and the military's strategy in iraq and syria. >> we want to consider the nomination of lieutenant general robert miller. general miller we thank you for joining us this morning. we are grateful for your many years of distinguished service to the nation and for your continued willingness to serve. as our tradition at the beginning of your testimony we invite you to introduce any family members that are joining us. as our nation confronts the most diverse and complex array of global crisis, the next

commander -- after more than a decade of war in afghanistan and iraq, our marines have remained in high demand performing a range of services across the globe. tension gripping the asian pacific, more than ever our nation is counting on the forward presence and the rapid response that are the marine corp hallmarks. as we confront the realities of a more dangerous world drastic reduction in spending our forcing our marines to take on missions with fewer and fewer resources. over the next two years, the marine corp will fall to 182,000. if sequestration returns again we will be left with 1,074

marines, a force ill-prepared and ill-equipped to respond to crises and emergency. this madness must stop. and as i said earlier this week, this is not just about reversing the effects of sequestration. we must replace the arbitrary spending caps on defense that were imposed under the budget control act of 2011. that's the only way that we'll get back to a truly strategy-driven defense budget. as general dunford emphasized in his planning guidance the marine corp is a naval expe

expedentia expedentiary force. at the same time, budget contrantcon constraints have left the marine short of requirements for its amphibious ships. this is particularly concerning in the asia pacific where the marine corp plays an essential role in our rebalanced policy. despite growing tensions in the region, our marines still lack sufficient sea lift and air lift capabilities to respond to a major contingency in the asia pacific. we must do better in the united states is to accomplish a rebalance that assures our ally allies and detours our

adversaries adversaries. another significant challenge you will face is a shortfall in aviation readiness. it has degraded readiness in marine aviation. today nondeployed squadrons are 20% short of the number of aircraft to train or respond in a crisis. the marine corp aviation bench is too shallow to be ready for future challenges. we'll be interested to hear your views on putting the marine corp on track to restore aviation readiness. finally, general miller, if confirmed, you will be responsible for recapitalizing and remodernizing for future challenges. in the air, the marine corp is rapidly approaching a milestone with the ioc of the f-35 joint strike fighter. concerns remain about the war fighting capability of these aircraft reaching ioc.

we'll be looking to you general miller, to be sure our marines have safe and reliable aircraft that allow them to effectively carry out their missions. given the importance of replacing our ageing inging fleet of amphibious vehicles, the marine corp must deliver this needed capability on time, at cost and up to expectations. we'll be relying on you to make sure the job gets done. thank you. and we look forward to your testimony, senator reid. >> i want to join the chairman in welcoming lieutenant general miller to the confirmation hearing. general miller, welcome to the armed services committee. thank you for your many years of extraordinary service to the corp and to the country and i

also thank your family for their service alongside you every step of the way. you are highly qualified for the position in which you have been nominated. you have commanded marines from the palatoon level to the division level. you also commanded u.s. marine corp forces at central command. you'll be tasked with the recruiting and retraining of quality force to meet our nation's current challenges and the posture to respond to tomorrow's crises and contingencies. these are responsibilities are demanding enough on their own, but you'll assume time at a time of immense financial challenge particularly because of sequestration. again, thank you for your service and the service of your family and thank you for your great marines who make us all proud every day.

thank you. mr. chairman. >> thank you, general. in order to exercise its legislative and oversight responsibilities, it's important that this committee and other appropriate committees of the congress be able to receive testimony, briefings, and other communications of information, so would you answer the following questions. have you adhered to applicable laws and regulations? >> generali have. >> have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process? >> chairman, i have not. >> will you ensure your staff come applies with deadlines established for requested communications including questions for the record and hearings? >> chairman, i will. >> will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers to congressional request? >> chairman, i will. >> do you agree if confirmed to

appear and testify upon request from this committee? >> chairman, i do. >> you agree to provide documents, including copies of electronic forms of communications in a timely manner requested by a dually constituted committee or to consult a committee in delay or denial of such communications? chairman >> chairman, i will. >> perhaps you would like to introduce your family. >> thank you chairman. i already have the present, so i'm in good shape. our three children are not here. kurt beatrett, and claire. the most important member of our family, grandson conner, are in austin, texas.

our mothers both live in east lansing lansing lansing, michigan. darcy's dad and his three brothers are world war ii vets, served in the war, so we have a history of service in our family. so with that i would like to present my opening statement. chairman mccain, ranking member reed, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today. before i offer my brief remarks i want to express my condolences to the families of the marines who lost their lives in chattanooga. you will not be forgotten. i'll begin by thanking the president and secretaries carter and mavis.

i would like to thank the committee and congress for your faithful support for our men and women in uniform. i also want to recognize my partner, friend, and strongest support, darcy. we started our marine corp journey at the same time although she didn't sign up. she just went with it. she has an unconditional love for marines and their families. she understands the difficulties and stresses of military families and serves as a strong advocate for their support. while i was off doing what was required, she ran the house, worked outside the home volunteered, raised three kids who all have their own lives and careers and are doing very well thankfully. moved 26 times to include three times overseas and allowed me to think i was contributing to the effort. now that we have our first grandson conner i have moved

down into the pecking order in the household. next month we'll be celebrating our 45th anniversary. i accepted a commission with the marine corp because i wanted to get married and i needed a job. when i joined we had just come out of vietnam. discipline was not good. equipment was in poor condition. and training was poorly sourced and rudimentary. we were not ready. so in those early years, i learned to expect little and to get less. but more importantly, i soon realized being a marine was much more than just that job i was looking for. it's a profession. it's a mind-set. it's a life. i came to realize that the marines and sailors we serve and their families are special people. and if they are well led by

those willing to share the hardship and the risk led by those who firmly, but fairly coach, teach, and mentor them they can accomplish incredible things. i had many teachers in those early days but the best were the vietnam staff who took the time to keep me out of my own way and mold me and advise me when those times were tough. i learned how to operate move, and survive in every climate and place. how to lead those who were not always willing and how to build a team. i learned why the marine ground air force is the way we fight and why we win. i learned that we are most effective as a maritime force using the sea as maneuver space and as soldiers of that sea, we hold an advantage over

adversaries in the sea and in the air. so over these past years through the efforts of great leaders like wilson and barrow and general dunford and his wife, who have set the conditions for our future success, with the support of the congress and nation, we have kept at it. we have gotten better, better people, better equipment, better facilities better training, better education, better leadership, and we are put on path to where we are today. a high quality corp of men and women who are smart fit disciplined, experienced, and to provide what america expecteds expects of her marine corp.

all though challenges exist and which must be addressed i'm immensely proud of the corp today. all that said, we cannot rest on our laurels and become come place -- complacent. from violent extremism across the globe and cold war like aggression in eastern europe, cyber threats. because of the security environment we face the president and our national leadership expects its military to provide the capabilities to meet these challenges. among these military options they expect to have is a marine corp that can respond. they expect the marine corp to be the force and readiness. we'll answer the call and win. in order to be that marine corp

we must be willing not to just be good but to get better. every marine we recruit and reenlist, every decision we make, all of the equipment we procure, all the training we do must make us operationally better. flexibility, innovation dealing with change, uncertainty tig thinking out of the box have to be common place and something that is expected for the marines. finally, if confirmed i promise to dedicate myself to sustaining and providing the nation with that kind of marine corp a marine corp with the highest quality men and women our nation has to offer, and the best to the best of my ability ensure the health, well being, and opportunities for success are the men and women who expect the

challenge to be a u.s. marine. thank you once again for the opportunity to appear before you again this morning. i'm ready for your questions. >> thank you, general. recently general dunford stated to this committee, quote we cannot execute the 2014 defense review with the budget cuts as a result of the budget control act. he continued stating that ongoing cuts will threaten our ability to execute the current defense strategy. do you agree with that statement of general dunford's? >> chairman, i do believe if we are held to sequestration level, we will not be able to execute the strategy. >> with this continued sequestration and its effects put the lives of the men and women serving in the marine corp at greater risk?

>> senator, if our readiness is degraded because we can't resource the training, we can't modernize the force, if we had to commit that force, there would be increased risk. >> you know, in the 1970s, you referred to general wilson and general barrow. you referred to the really terrible situation that existed. do you see a parallel to that today with continued sequestration? >> chairman any time we come out of conflict, there's always risk to this effect. but they're all different. we've been able after 12 years of war to keep a very qualified and capable course. i don't believe we're near that place that you and i remember from the 70s. there's always risk that things

could happen that could take us there, and i believe that's what many of us are concerned about. but right now, we're not there and if confirmed i give you my personal pledge that we'll do everything in our power to never go back to that place again. >> we've spent a lot of billion dollars on acquisition, as you know at least in my view the ongoing scandal is the cost overruns, the f-35 b, the heavy lift helicopter. will placing service chiefs in a greater position of responsibility of service acquisition programs help address this problem in your view? >> chairman i don't think any of us who are on the receiving end of the acquisition process are totally pleased. i'm not an acquisition professional, but i think we all wonder why it takes so long, why

it costs so much money why there's delays. so if confirmed, i look forward to working with this committee and the secretary of defense to improve this process and involve the service chiefs in the process. >> do you believe we can make this process more efficient if you played a role in that process, if the service chiefs played a role in that process? >> i would like to believe if confirmed, i could provide value to the process and make it more effective, chairman. >> thank you. i'm sure you've observed the ongoing situation in ukraine. would you favor providing defensive weapons to ukraine? >> chairman, it's my military opinion if we provided additional weapons to the ukrainians, that they would be more capable of defending their territory. >> i want to go back just a second to the budget situation

because there's great controversy on that issue. and i'm not sure my colleagues on both sides of the capitol understand the consequences not only for our ability to defend the nation but the greater risks to the people that we ask to defend us and maybe you could talk to us a little bit about that and the impact on retention and morale of our all volunteer force. >> well, chairman, in my current role as commander in marine forces command, i try to get out and talk to service corp members and sailors as much as i can. they're aware of what's going on with the funding. i believe they're concerned.

they're watching. they want to know what's going to go on with compensation. they want to know what's going to go on with modernization and training. this congress and this nation has been very generous to them in the last 12 years so they have a high expectation in their mind of what's supposed to be right. they don't have the context i had. they don't understand what it is to go short. they'll learn, if they have to so i do have some concerns about retention. i do have marines ask me, hey, what's going to happen about pay, our gear, our training, our bases, our housing, and those things. they know there's choices to be made. i believe whatever those choices are, we can explain to them and they are a reasonable and rational people and they'll make the decision. and i believe that they'll stay.

but that remains to be seen. >> senator reed. >> well, thank you very much, mr. chairman again. thank you general for your service. the marine corp continues to test, develop and validate general neutral occupation standards. less would be available to qualify female marines as well as males. can you comment upon the expectations and your commitment to making sure that this is accomplished? >> senator reed, first off, just let me say as i said in my statement that whatever we do, it's got to at least maintain if not improve our operational capability. since the secretary made the decision to open up we've done a number of things. first, we assign women at moss

they already held to previously restricted units to begin the progress of immigration. we have opened up over moss. right now, 94% moss in the marine corp are open to females. we sent women in infantry training. they volunteered. we ran them through to see what their ability was to pass that kir curriculum. the last thing we did in a measure deliberate way was to form a task force an integrated task force, to put men and women together and run them -- prepare them, train them and run them through an evaluation to get

some data because we found there was not a lot of data, so we're still assessing that todaydata will drive along with operational views with opening up those remaining moss. >> this is a challenge for not only the marine corp but the army. just as we speak there are three women candidates in ranger school to see if we can validate and create in the army a pathway for ranger qualifications for females as well as males, but thank you for your commitment to that. last year the personnel subcommittee had a meeting. richard i thought it was remarkable what he said. in his words, if we do not get hold of slowing down the growth of personnel course, if we don't pay more attention to the health

care that we have received in my 343 years i have noticed we have never had it so good and i make that point because we do not get ahold of slowing the growth we'll not be a war fighting organization. he further stated in colorful tones marine care most about the next fight, training and modernization. i think that's the dilemma we all face. can you comment upon that? >> i'm not going to speak for sergeant mayor barrett. i know sergeant major barrett. the fact we were at war for rightful and proper reasons we did a lot of things with medical care and we had some shortfalls. >> absolutely. >> there are facilities that are the best i've ever seen, so we've taken advantage of the situation and the money that was

available. so a young marine coming into today when he walks around or she walks around, they see what they see. they don't see what it used to look like. senator tillis a test to that down at camp pendleton. it's very nice. not perfect. it's good enough, but it's new. we're going to have to sustain that. i think sergeant major barrett's concern is how can we sustain it. if we can't meet that what are the marines going to do? at the same time, that's important, but to me it's more important that the training we give them and the equipment we give them has parts maintainable, interesting, and is going to improve our operational capability. and we've done that, so maintaining that level, i think what his concern is much of that

is tied to resources. >> quality of life issues access to child care, access to medical facilities are critical, but soldiers, marines, understand that if they're not well trained, well equipped and ready to go that's the big quality of life issue because that means they survive or they don't survive. we have to work with that. my time is expired. one we had a brief chat in the office. the next battle we fight the first phase will be cyber dominated. we'll be fighting in the dark. perhaps there'll be opportunity for other questions later this morning about how marines will relearn some of those old things like maps and compasses that might be very critical in the next fight even though we have the most sophisticated equipment in the world. thank you so much for your

service. >> the chairman asked you the question about the ukraine and i was glad he did. i was over there when they had the parliamentary elections. your answer was very similar to general dunford. yeah, they should have defensive weapons over there. what would be your choice as to what kind of priorities, what types of weapons they need the most right now? >> senator i've never been to ukraine. i've been to georgia. they've made similar requests. i think what i've heard at least from the georgians they're looking for defensive weapons, anti-guided missile type weapons. >> for the record, can i send your suggestions -- i know they've just finished the "b"

model testing of the f-35 unit and you haven't had a chance to go over and review it. you are in the process of doing that now but what is your opinion so far? have they developed any yet? >> senator as you said it is the first f-35 b squadron in arizona. our plan was to declare ioc with them this month. that's still the plan. they did an operational readiness evaluation. i have not seen the report but they did very well. that report is with the commandant. he's going to make a recommendation to the secretary as far as them being ioc ready. i'm hopeful they passed. the concerns we have with any new system is the number of spare parts that are available

to keep the aircraft at readiness. >> they're in the process in making that -- you'll be inheriting that responsibility. >> sir, general dunford, is going to make the recommendation out of ioc soon. >> general dunford has characterized the next decade will be small scale crises in and around coastal areas. the marine corp is challenging plans for development of the next generation of armed combat vehicle to a wheeled vehicle. i always wonder when that happens and when things are as tight as they are now although what we're facing right now is unprecedented, was that a budget-driven decision or do you think it's the right vehicle? >> senator, we had hoped to buy a high-speed planing vehicle. it became too expensive and it did not have reliability.

the current amphibian tractor is over 40 years old. there's not a lot of room left to improve it. it has a flat bottom. it's made of aluminum so we're pursuing off the shelf vehicles from vendors, and we're going to continue to keep the amtrak or the amphibian alive. we're going to select down to two vendors this fall, take 16 of their vehicles and select them, and then down select. we believe this vehicle will not only swim, it will improve our mobility and surviveableeability on land. >> with the tragedy in chattanooga, there's a lot of political reaction. different people are talking about different levels of security they should be able to use whether it is private

weapons or issued weapons. do you have any thoughts on that? >> senator, i know there's a number of studies and investigations ongoing about increasing the force protection for those service members of all our service that are outside post stations where we have law enforcement. there's some things we can do right away. just more physical protection. glass you can't see inside. now that could include arming individuals. there are some potential consequences of that, but i think we need to take a look at it. but at the same time, we have recruiters out there and they're out there to recruit. the story in the media this morning is they got interviewed and then they went back to work. they had to go recruit. i don't want anything that we do that's going to -- we need to stay connected to the american people, so whatever we do has to

ensure that we continue to go to schools and go out there and find those good young men and women that want to be marines. >> i understand that, but in terms of protection most of us would look to you, to the military, to the uniforms for advice along these lines. the last thing i want to mention is our schedulers didn't get together. would you make a point to come by so we have a personal visit? >> absolutely, senator. >> thank you very much. >> miller, thank you so much for your service to our country, your family sacrifice, i know it goes hand in hand. what do you assess is the greatest risk or threat that the united states of america faces from another country? >> if you're asking me about a country, senator -- >> who poses the greatest threat

to the united states? >> i would say another nation state. i would agree with general dunford that russia has the most increasing capable force and they have strategic forces that would make them the greatest potential threat. right now, i don't think they want to kill americans. i think violent extremists want to kill us, and their capability is not that great but their intent is high and the fact they have a message that seems to resonate around the world not just in this country but in other countries in the western world, they concern me equally. >> so russia seems to be the one that has the greatest capability of doing harm to us if they would desire that so we have to keep our eye on the ball. but we don't seem to have relations with them. the cold war is colder today than when it was declared. i don't know how you would

interact as far as trying to build that relationship or communicate with your equals in russia or do you have open lines of communication with them? >> i've met with russian officers in previous places in previous times. they have a naval infantry or marine corp. if there were opportunities to meet with them like there are with any other country, it's always good to talk, even if you disagree. i met with chinese officers and we didn't agree on very much, but we had a nice lunch. >> i appreciate that. second, i would say that i think all of our hearts go out to the families of the marines who lost their life in chattanooga. we hope that never repeats itself again. what's your plan of doing that to make sure the reserve offices and the recruitment offices are safe and secure around the nation? >> well, senator, whatever we do as a military is going to have

to be consistent. admiral gortney is ultimately responsible for the force protection. so we would work with them to implement whatever policies or procedures that we could do. but in the immediate moment, they've increased certain levels and measures that they've put in place, which i'm not going to discuss here, that i believe are prudent at this time. there are some more physical things that they're going to look at. >> you know there's a lot of discussion here on the hill basically about those who work in that type of an environment should be armed to protect themselves with government issues. they've even talked about their own private issues bringing them on and protecting themselves, so that seems to be the dialogue that's going on right now. i don't know if you have an opinion on that.

if you worked in a recruitment office, would you want to have government-issued arms to protect yourself? >> senator i think we need to take a look at it, but i have some concerns about the second and third order effects of that, particularly on the recruiters and their access and things they need to do. there's some practical matters that have to be worked out, but i believe that will all come out in the investigations and the planning that's going on right now. i'm not going to discount it, but i think that's probably at the end the most extreme measure we could take to do what we need to do, which is to protect those service members out there doing their mission. >> marines always seem to be the first ones in when we have a conflict. with that being said, over in the middle east as afghanistan and iraq what's your feelings about a three-state solution in iraq as far as keeping a

one-state baghdad solution to the problem that we have over there? seems like we're not getting very much traction on going down the same path we've been down. i don't know what your thoughts would be on a kurdistan. >> senator, i would respectfully say that's way out of my lane to talk about a three-state solution, but -- >> you think we have -- i'm so sorry, sir but my time is running. do you think we'd have a problem giving the sunnis the will to fight in that area? >> i was in anbar for a year. they'll fight. they have to believe that the government that supports them is going to support them. in the iraq government can convince the troops in anbar it

is my personal professional opinion they will fight. if they can't do that they will continue to have a hard time. >> thank you so much sir. i appreciate it. >> thank you. and thank you general miller for your service, and ms. miller, for your service and your family's commitment to defending america. i think you answered well when you said right now we don't think the russians want to kill us but isil does and actually taking action on that end. i had the opportunity to be with a wise member of parliament of one of our allies recently. his comment is our number one priority right now should be to defeat isis before it becomes even stronger.

there's a danger it could grow stronger. what would you think about that in terms of our immediate achievable priority? should we be taking more effective action to confront the rise of this extremist group in iraq? >> senator, i believe that the actions we're taking now in support of the iraqi government, the effectiveness remains to be seen. right now, they're in the process of trying to regain control of ramadi. i believe the iraqis can do this. i believe they have the capability. if well led and supported, they have the will. do we need to go after isil and make sure they are not able to create a safe haven and to continue to foment their violent theories of how life is supposed

to be, yes, sir, i do. if confirmed, i would look forward to offering potential other options that we could possibly be more effective. right now, we're going to see some success here. i may be wrong but it's not going to be overnight. it's going to take some time. >> a key area is the anbar region. you were there for a year. were you there when the transformation took place? i know the marines that were involved in that. when the tribal leaders reacted against al qaeda and ran them out of the area. >> yes, senator, i was. >> so you've seen that. how did we help them? what did we do to convince them that they had the kind of

support that they should be successful and throw out al qaeda, and do you believe we can do that again and are they capable of throwing out isis which i also believe they do not favor and oppose and wish were not there? >> we support it as we are now. the iraqi security forces. the situation was not as -- the adversary didn't actually hold as much ground then as they do now. i'm not aware. i've not been there since i left in 2007. i was back in 2011 when the u.s. forces pulled out so my knowledge basis aged and i would hope to go back and see with it my own eyes if confirmed to see what's going on. we provided capability.

we've provided support. we've provided training. at the end of the day, they have to fix this. >> they were successful to a degree that many of us didn't expect, and it was a decisive moment in the creation of a stabilized iraq. there's no doubt about it. we did a lot of things that supported them and gave them confidence. without putting large numbers of forces on the ground without leading in combat operations and conducting those operations do you think that providing embedded soldiers with the iraqi forces with communication systems with the ability to call in air strikes resupply,

evacuation, those kind of things that an embedded american soldier provides and the confidence it provides could that be a positive factor in helping the iraqi forces to have the confidence necessary to get on the offensive and once again throw off these extremists? >> senator, it's been my experience that if we have americans with foreign militaries providing those capabilities that they do perform at a higher level, but there have to be other things in place so that the force protection of those forces, those soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, is also guaranteed. >> i thank you. i trust that you will provide the best military advice you can to the president to your superiors, and to the congress. i'll ask you to continue to give your best advice. >> yes, senator.

i will. >> thank you. >> senator sessions, that was a great series of questions because they were the same ones that i had so i appreciate it. i just want to touch -- refine a couple of those points. you're not only being nominated to be commandant of the marine corp. you'll be a member of the joint chiefs of staff national security adviser and secretary adviser to the president. you don't strike me as a guy that doesn't mind speaking up as necessary. your value, your wisdom, your judgment is why you're in this position, and if you don't provide it in an unvarnished way, you're not fulfilling this job. i deeply hope you will be forthcoming and as straightforward as you have been today with the highest levels of the administration because that's just vitally important.

the president isn't well served if he doesn't have people who tell him the straight truth. are you committed to that mission? >> i am senator. >> thank you. >> again to follow up on senator session's questions about our role in iraq, you were there as you've mentioned. what are the elements of a successful advise and assist mission? how do we convey the will to fight other than simply providing weapons and supplies? what are the pieces? what did you learn from your experience in iraq because we have to have these people fight for themselves? if they don't this battle is lost. >> senator there is the material piece. you have to give equipment that's reliable and works. then you have to train the force to use that equipment. they have to have confidence in

it. they have to be competent in it use. they have to be able to shoot use the radios drive, and then they have to be willing to go out and confront their addversary adversary. that requires leadership. the most difficult part will be -- there's leaders in every unit. you've just got to find them. one of the frustrations we had previously back many years ago was there were iraqis there. we had to make sure the right iraqi was leading the unit and that wasn't always the case. i have not been there. i have not met the officers in charge. the marines that are there from time to time i hear from them. they are not discouraged. they're pressing. so they need people to train. they need the equipment. they need the ability to train them. the iraqis need a leadership so

it's kind of a stew of things that have to be put together. and i think we're trying to help them make that stew and we'll see here as they go towards the ramadi objective if they're effective or not. >> we also have the problem of syria. my concern is that time is running out in the sense of isil is not only gaining ground they're gaining ground organizationally. they're looking more and more like a state. they are governing. they're talking about succession of their leadership and consolidating in many areas where they are. i understand the limits of american force and we can't do it all with air power but how do we deal with syria? we're doing some limited training there, but it seems

very insignificant given the nature of the threat. we can be very successful in iraq, but you still have that large ungoverned area of eastern syria that is a potential home base that is potentially a home base for this group. >> syria, in my mind, is much more complicated than iraq. but they are linked. so if iraq were able to re-establish their gorders in my military opinion, it would facilitate what we do in syria. but right now, i think, the objective to train syrian opposition fighters with isil with the ability to protect them ssms is a prudent move. it hasn't been as successful as any of us had hoped. but right now that is as good as we're going to get right now.

but the syria situation again, i follow it. but i'm not there. i don't live it every day. it's exponentially greater than iraq. >> i agree. thank you. >> thank you general, your wife, you and your family have given to this country. we look forward to your countried service in the future. thank you, sir. when it comes to recruiting and retaining your marines, what is the most important thing? is it modernization? is it having the up to date equipment? is it compensation? what is the most important to the young people? >> senator, we have done a lot of surveys to find out what is the one thing that convinces a marine to stay. there is not one thing.

it's -- it could be duty station. it could be chance for special training. it could be opportunity to go over seas. it could be education. it could be just quality of life and the experience they had. so every marine is different. and so we have to offer kind of a -- find out what it is. and if we want to keep them, convince what it is we have to offer them to keep them. so we're are fortunate we have had a lot of marines -- we have not had problems either recruiting or retaining. i'm not naive enough to think that will always be the case. but right now, we have had sufficient tools if you will to convince people to stay. i would say for married marines

a lot of it is housing and child care and medical. >> how are you able to fulfill the combatant commanders' requirements? you are looking at reductions as we move forward here. and there are some risks involved with those reductions, i think. are you able right now to fulfill those requirements? do you think you will continue to be able? and do you think you may have to change your role in the future in orderer to meet the requirements required by those commands? >> senator, right now, we believe we are meeting the combatant commanders' requirements. the combatant commanders have a lot of requirements and our concern right now as a service -- as the armed forces

command, my job is to help generate the force to meet those requirements. so we are working -- you know, we're trying to keep the force of the a 2 to 1 deployment ratio ratio. and if the force gets smaller and the force goes down we are going to be inside that which is a concern to us. so you are always balancing a risk to force and we are working with the commanders to see if we can't figure out new, different innovative ways to find out the needs to meet the mission. and at the same time buy us a little more depth to dwell we leaf. >> what's the mission of the marines? >> the mission of the marine corps is to provide the nation readiness in crisis response and secure the naval bases and to do this the things as the president

may direct. >> have you seen that mission change during your time in the marines? >> no, ma'am, i have not. >> as we look ahead at different threats that are coming up in the future, do you see e the development of the anti-access weapons, like the long range anti-ship missiles, is that going to impact the marines a' operations at all? >> clearly the increasing capabilities of adversaries and the aerial battle space is of concern. we talk about this, we exercise it. we train it as we have gotten the forces off the battlefields of iraq and afghanistan and get on ship. we are working with that on the naval partners as part of the

naval campaign. there is both a technical piece to this and a tactical these to this. we have to be a little more artful and skillful in how we approach this. because they have capability. because the days we could sail where we wanted to sail without consideration of that, those days are gone. >> so you think we will have a strategic impact how marines are going to be deployed in the future? >> we have to be very wary of the capabilities and we have to part as part of a joint force and part of a naval campaign, they have to have it set to the marine corps power for sure. >> thank you sir. it's an honor to meet you. >> thank you mr. chairman. i know we had an opportunity to discuss general sexual assault and the problem around it and the progress that we see in some of the numbers. but the stubborn and cultural

issue of retaliation and you have made a commitment to me that is a priority to figure out the best way to combat that within the culture of the marine corps. i also want to take a moment to acknowledge that the marines have work to do in recruiting women. the marines have 7% of women. and when you are confirmed, you have to make an important decision to recommend that any positions remain closed to female marines. what i'm worried about is the pipeline. if we are not recruiting women, you will not get women in the variation positions that will ultimately make the marine corps stronger and better and make our nation more secure. so i would love to have some feedback from you after you're confirmed about any ideas you

have as the chief on how we can do a better job of recruiting more female marines. >> absolutely, senator. >> let's talk about your audit. i'm big on audits. you all -- you have been under audit longer than any other service. and it's my understanding, the marine corps identified he's toricily they we requesting too much funding and was able to reallocate about $100 million in the 2012 plan. to make better use of the funds. i mean this is a great example. i think people think an audit is like going to a dentist. you know you are going to do it and it's going to be painful and you are not sure if it's worth it. but audits are not like that. because audits reveal a lot to

help you allocate resources more effectively and figure out where your needs are. and like you found with -- there was an ability to move many around that was important to the marines. in 2017 all the services are supposed to be audit ready. i have been on it and for long as i have been on the committee and i'm skeptical about the concern. and the services and the d.o.d. must meet. i would like to have your commitment to make the audit process within the marines a permanent priority going forward so we never again get to this place where we have a massive amount of resources with no transparency. >> senator, you have my commitment if confirmed we will work it as hard as we can to get a cleaner, qualified audit to

account for every single penny we spend. >> thank you for that commitment. and i will be like a broken record on the audit thing until we get audits from all of our branchs and we can begin. it would really help us in our jobs. it would help us make the case if we were able to have the transparency that a auditn audit provides. let's turn to transparency. in response to the advance questions, you noted that one to two deployment to dwell ratio is unsustainable. and i want to talk about the fact that the challenges posed by isis in the middle east and aggressive russia neither of those are planned for. so what would the effect be on the course if a significant marine response is is required to address is unplanned con tin

contingency over seas in the near future? >> you would have to do one of two things. you would either have to grow the force. we believe that the force is 186,000 marines. and elsewhere, we could take services that are deployed in the far east and okonawa. we did that in the combat in iraq. and it's only through the past few years we have been able to re-establish our presence in the pacific. we have some options. the other option is we go all in. we activate our reserves and we go and do what needs to be done. we have done that before too. you can do that for a short

period of time but as you mentioned, that is not sustainable. >> what is a short period of time? in your best estimate i don't want to hold you to it. but we are wrestling with big decisions about the middle east and iran's nuclear capableility and there are some in the senate that i believe are tempted by the idea that we can go in and bomb iran and set off what could be a war much bigger than any contingency we have been trying to fight in the last decade in the middle east. how soon would we have to do emergency spending and is that in fact the most efficient way and best way to do it? >> senator, i -- it's a difficult question. i would have to get back to you as far as the details without knowing the exact size of the

force, what the exact mission was and what the combat ratios are. what we would have to accomplish militarily -- >> i know it's a dumb question in that regard. it's hard to answer without the specifics. i'm trying to get out in the conversation, talking about things in the abstract sometimes sound a lot better than what it is in reality. and the more we are informed about what the reality would be the better job we can do to make sure you have everything you need. i appreciate you. i enjoyed meeting your wife. understand she and i almost share a birthday. if you are born when we are born, you are strong and capable of being mean and capable of taking no prisoners. so i am pleased that she and i

might share some of those traits and i think she will be a terrific addition to the barracks and the hosting you do for so many and i know how proud she is of you and how proud we are of your whole family. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and general, congratulations on your nomination. i also want to echo, i know that many of my colleagues on the committee, i want to echo what you talked about in terms of our shock and sense of condolences to the marines from chattanooga. we got to make sure those kind of activities don't happen again. i want to the go back to the issue of readiness. you will see, you will get a lot of different questions from the

committee on a whole host of different subjects. but i want to ask about the primary mission of the marine corps infantry, the heart and soul of the marine corps and that is the mission to destroy the energy of a nation. sometimes we don't talk about that. what we are focused on is to kill the enemies of our country. does that remain the highest priority in infantry training? or do you see the marine corps pulled in a variety of different areas and missions and mandates in terms of training? >> senator, our -- we train for a variety of missions. i believe i can only speak for myself. but my professional opinion has always been if i can do the high end of a mission the most

high risk the most dangerous i trained the force to do that, they are disciplined, that i can bring them back down to the other end. there are specific things. so we do practice these things. we do training of foreign militaries. but our primary mission is to be a force in readiness that can fight at all parts of the range of military operations but particularly at the high end. >> you and the chairman were talking about the 1970s. as you know, infantry officers and the marine corps are aun encouraged to read this book, which i think is a great book. it's called "this kind of war" that focuses on the 1950s and the korean war and an example of what you mentioned about the marine corps being a force of readiness when the country is

least ready. but do you worry about levels of readiness that we could have an another task force smith if we don't have another problem in 10 to 15 years if we don't get the readiness levels properly adjusted? >> senator that is also one of my favorite books. not because it's a good story but because it's a good lesson. i think that is always in the back of our minds. and i think the current fiscal situation brings it more to the forefront. but at the same time, as long as we can recruit and retain good marines and our gear is functional, i don't see us going to the point of where -- of what happened historically of the force when it was put on the korean peninsula.

and all i can tell you, if confirm confirmed, i will give it every possibility to not let it to happen. and i know that's our job. that's why if confirmed, i am responsible to you that that doesn't happen. >> thank you. let me turn to the chairman. mentioned in his statement, the importance of the pacific rebalance. and the critical role that the marine corps is playing in that. that is something that the committee and congress are trying to support. and sometimes the obama administration rebounds its own strategy. by lashing army forces in the asia pacific. i have a couple questions.

you are satisfied how it's going with all the services and particularly are you satisfied with the redeployment of marines from okanawa, guam, possibly hawaii. and do you think when we do that, that we're going to have the strategic lift to take what's a concentrated force now in okanawa to a more dispersed force? will we have the lift to move the forces in and when we need them in a contingency? >> senator, i'm not qualified to make a comment on the status on the other services. i simply will the not witting to what they are doing. as far as the marines we left okanawa to go to iraq and afghanistan. we're back. the force that was there before they are training, they are

properly equipped. they are ready to go. and now, instead, they go to australia for six months and because of the agreements, we will distribute the force to guam and put more marines on hawaii. i think the concern is as you state, once we do this, our ability to move that force. training opportunities on okanawa, mainland japan, guam are limited. and you have to be able to move to where the training is. you have to move to other nations. you have to be able to get to korea, thailand. the philippines and do to that, you need sea lift and air lift much and when we do it, there are going to be opportunities with high speed vessel and the navy and a three-ship arg to give us more lift. so that's going to have to

happen. but i concur with you that the strategic lift is kind of the long pole potentially in that tent. >> right now you don't believe that that -- our strategic lift capability matches our proposed deployment? lay down? >> it -- i believe it will. but it remains to be seen once we get out in guam. we have to move the forces around. we do a pretty good job right now. but again, we're not on guam. and we've got decent training in hawaii up at the pta. but e we still have to be able to move the forces around. and i'm concerned about amphibious lift. >> thank you, thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you and your family for service.

and of course, the marines are an important part of the military presence in hawaii to marine forces specific command and the bay and we are going to get more marines as we move them out of okanawa. and i'm -- rebalance of the area pacific. and you mentioned quote, our strong remean brens in the region, the asia pacific region, plays a role in the security and stability. if confirmed, i trust you will be able to support a tangible rebalance to rebuild and maintain the partnerships in this area of the world. >> e yes senator. >> you mentioned in the earlier response to senator sullivan how important training is.

so the missions that the marines performance, exercises with partner forces require the forces to maintain a high level of readiness and training. the availability of training, which you just noted on the big island and others are critical to the marine corps' ability to conduct operations in the pacific. could you share your training ranges as we continue the rebalance to the area pacific? >> senator if we're going to do what we need to do to be ready we have to have ranges to support the ability to use our weapons and the force. and one of the great things about a training area there, we are able to go up there and drop bombs and shoot artillery and do

what we are able to do. plus we have so actually deploy there. and whether -- even though it's a matter of miles, it doesn't matter. you pick up and you move. and so wherever we go around the pacific, we have to be concerned that the -- that there's ranging and training areas there so that can sustain the readiness once they arrive. >> i think this committee is definitely aware of the need to have these training areas, and we have a number of them in hawaii. but there are always issues related to making sure that we are in concert with the community. so that will remain with regard to pakaloha. and you were asked questions about the sexual assault in the military. you know that it is the responsibility of the commanders to set a climate.

what methods are used to determine a commander's ability to set a positive climate where a marine could feel that he or she can report a crime without retaliation? and that is important as you integrate women in various positions in the marine corps. what kind of guidance would you give your commanders about specific actions they should take to create an environment in which retaliation is a major focal area for many of us on the committee, over and the subtle forms of retaliations that could occur? >> senator we have a very detailed selection process for those that have the opportunity and privilege to lead marines. part of their records are reviewed and a board of senior officers determine they are the the best and the most capable.

their seenniors in the chain of command monitor what goes on as far as their discipline. that is being tracked. we also have courses before they assume command where we talk to them about what their responsibilities are. and this topic along with other topics are part of that. and their moral and ethical authority to lead marines. >> we recognize general, that changing the culture is not an easy task. i know you are aware that this issue will be on going concern to all of us. thank you. >> general neller, thank you for coming to us. how many marines do we have now in the united states? >> in the continental --

>> in the marines. >> u.s. under 84,000, major. >> you don't expect it to drop. >> we believe that fy 17, will be around 82,000. >> so a drop of 2,000 marine corps wide. >> yes. >> and would it be a mistake to go longer than that? >> if we go lower than that, the depth to dwell airratios. >> with the requirements and what you want to maintain, how do we do with recruiting? and are we getting the type of young person we need? and what motivates someone to join the marine corps today? >> we are doing very well. and that is something we are

watching. but our manpower director the other day briefed us that right now for the next fiscal year, we have signed up 55% of the requirement. so those marines are in a pool rating to recruit training. they are not just working time. they are working voluntarily to get themselves ready to go. the quality of those recruits is very, very high. we have a very high standard and i think that's -- and both a credit to the recruiters and it reflects on the quality of the force. on the officer's side, we have at least three college graduate waiting for a spot to be a marine officer. we are in a good space. i don't take that for granted. i am hopeful we can keep it going. and what inspires someone to join the marine corps?

it varies. family heritage, want to serve their nation. want a trade. and want to get the benefits of the 9/11 gi bill or they want to be a marine. >> you were walking through a student union and a poster caught your eye. is that right? >> it was a big tall guy wearing a blue uniform. >> oak, more than a poster. what frustrates our active duty marines now? >> i think sometimes they get frustrated with their leadership. i think we have to work hard to challenge these young men and women. they're smart. and they want -- they want to be -- day want to do important things that keep them engigeed. but when they're done they want us to say they're done. and that's fair.

so -- but they -- because we have done such a good job. we are victims of our own success. so we owe them, you know, good training, good gear. good organization, good leadership. and they're end of the deal is show up, bring their "a" game every day work hard train hard and when we're done, then they can take a little bit of a break at the same time knowing they are never never not a marine. >> let me follow up on your consideration with senator sullivan about sea lift. and i want to thank the marine corps for making the case for the amphibes. i don't think we could have get b the 12th lpd through the committee and congress, both houses by on bipartisan basis if not if the marine corps

saying we very much needed that to complete the mission. mr. bryzynski was here earlier this year. and he talked about the need in the baltic. and what is the reason for being particularly careful as mr. bryzynski talked about the amphib forces in the baltic e sea area? >> senator we just did an exercise in the baltic with the u.s. and a number of coalition ships, agile spirit, commanded by jamny foegel the sixth lead commander. we do a mission in the baltic.

it was paid attention to by certain countries in that part of the world. >> i hope so. >> i do too. and we trained assure. and when the u.s. army forces there. so there's interest in the baltic because it's on the perimeter of certain land masses that you might have to gain access to. and three nato allyiesyies live on the baltic sea and we are there to reassure them. >> i would say, it's fair to say they remember, not too long ago. when there was a different dynamic in that area. and they appreciate the marines being there with them and the united states there with them. thank you for your service and

testimony. >> thank you general and to your family. congratulations on a wonderful service thus far. a few questions. i want to go back to you talked about gender integration earlier. i want to get your take how it's going and the philosophy that the marine corps is under taking to carry out that mission f you can talk about that. >> senator when the secretary made the decision to open up all occupational fields the service chiefs and the fields taking a look at how they might do this. we worked hard to work in a way to figure out how we will integrate. we have opened up and put marine -- female marine officers in units where previously women weren't allowed to serve. they have done well. we are going to continue to do that. and to determine the last