this can be done regular torely or through action, we have to tell consumers that this plan is hsa qualified and hmo ppo. and that they may be eligible for some significant tax benefits if they go that route. >> back to the portion of the question about transparency and how effective is that in modifying mindsets and shifting behaviors. market denamices dictate when you have more skin in the game you make those trade-offs. however the health care highly personal, what we've seen and there was a great article published in health affairs, that when people are served up the right information are put in a position to make the trade-offs, a significant portion of them do make choices towards more affordable treatments at the same quality. but not to the same intensity you would find in other sectors like, you know, consumer package

goods or something like that. it is effective but just a different level of intensity. >> all right well, we have a lot of green cards here to which we were not able to get for which i apologize. but i think that also reflects the level of engagement of our consumers of health policy information here. thank you for spending your beautiful friday afternoon inside a very cool hearing room helping us grapple with one of the most multifacetted set of problems in health policy these days. thanks to anthem and the national consumer league for helping us think through this topic and assemble a great panel. speaking of said panel help me thank this panel for some wonderful discussion. [ applause ]

we'll come back to this topic in september. thanks very much. tonight ot "the communicators", michael o'reilly on key issues before the fcc like net neutrality and regulating the internet and influence on policy making making. >> when an item is made before an open commission meeting and presented to the commissioner level, that document should be made available publicly and that would provide an opportunity for everyone to comment exactly what we're thinking and allow people to hone in on issues they may see as problem attic. right now we have people who raise concerns regarding our items but they often don't know what's being put forward. they are kind of doing rifle shots in many different scattered structures. and that's problematic from my point of view. i would rather people target

exactly where they like to see fixes and not spend time needlessly on things that don't need attention. >> tonight on "the communicators" on c-span2. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren and maryland congressman elijah cummings are hosting a forum on economic growth and job creation. speakers include former speaker of the house newt gingrich and experts in business and academia live today at 3:00 p.m. eastern. cabinet officials return to capitol hill this week to testify on the iran nuclear agreement. tomorrow the house foreign affairs committee hears from secretary of state john kerry energy secretary moniz and jack lew. that is chaired by ed royce of california is live tomorrow at 10:00 eastern on c-span3. president obama selected lieutenant general robert neller

to be the next commandant of the marine car. the senate armed services committee held a confirmation hearing last week for the nominee, asking him about the military budget and administration's policies in iraq and syria. this is a little over two hours. >> meets this morning to consider the nomination of lieutenant general robert neller to be the 37th commandant of the marine corps. we thank you for joining us this morning, we're grateful for your many years of distinguished service to our nation and for your continued willingness to serve. we also welcome members of your family joining us this morning and thank them for supporting you and our nation 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 of the most diverse and complex array of global crises since the end of world war ii, the next commandant will be responsible for ensuring the marine corps remains the expedition air force

in readiness. after more than a decade of war, our marines remain in high demand. with instability spreading across the middle east and north africa and tension gripping the asia pacific, more than ever our nation is counting on the agility power projection and rapid response that are the marine corps hall marks. as we confront the realities of a more dangerous world drastic reductions in defense spending are forces marines to take on a growing set of missions with futer and fewer resources. over the last few years the marine corps is cut from 202,000 active marines to 184,000 today. over the next two years the marine corps will fall to 182,000. if sequestration returns again we will be left with 174,000 marines, a force ill prepared

and ill equipped to respond to a crisis or major contingency. the combination of budget cuts forced reductions and rising demands on our marines has reduced readiness and lengthened deployments and cut training and time at home with families and put the marine corps under considerable strain. this madness must stop. as i said earlier this week, this is not just about reversing the effects of squestation. we must replace the 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 strategic strategy driven defense budget. as general dunford emphasized in his most recent planning guidance, the marine corps is a naval expeditionary force. as the united states was focused on the wars in afghanistan and iraq america's potential

adversaries were investing billions in so-called anti-access area denial capabilities that threaten the marine corps ability to fight from the sea. at the same time, budget constraints lext the marine corps short. on the current path, the marine corps will not have the correct mix until 2024. this is particularly concerning in the asia pacific where the marine corps plays an essential role in our rebalance 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 if the united states is to accomplish a rebalance that successfully reassures our allies and deters adversaries. general neller, another significant challenge you'll

face is shortfuls in readiness. over a decade of sustained combat has degraded readiness in marine aviation. today nondeployed marine aviation squad rons are 20% short of the number of aircraft needed to train or respond in a crisis. as you will surely agree, the marine corps aviation bench is six my too shallow to be ready for future challenges. we'll be interested to hear your views on putting the marine corps on track to restore aviation readiness. finally general neller if confirmed, you'll be responsible for recapalizing and modern challenges in the air approaching a significant milestone with the ioc of the f-35 b joint strike fighter. concerns remain about the war fighting capability of these aircraft reaching ioc. we will be looking to you, general neller to ensure

aviators have safe and reliable aircraft that will allow them to carry out their missions. on the ground, the amphibious combat vehicle remains a marine corps top acquisition priority. given the importance of replacing our aging fleet of amphibious vehicles the marine corps must learn the lessons of past failures such as the expedition nar fighting vehicle and deliver this needed capability on time at cost and up to expectations. we will be relying on you, general neller, to make sure the job gets done. thank you and we look forward to your testimony. senator reed. >> i want to join the chairman in welcoming lieutenant general neller to the conversation regarding the nomination to the 37th commandant of the united states marine corps. welcome to the service committee. thank you for your many years of extraordinary service. and also thank your family for their service right alongside you, every step of the way.

general neller you have an exem particularry record of service and highly qualified for the position which you're nominated. commanded marines from platoon to division level and commander marine force europe. before this current assignment you also commanded u.s. marine corps forces for central command. general neller as kmondant you'll be tasked with recruiting and retraining a quality force and ensuring that force contains the necessary structure taen readiness levels to meet the current challenges and posture to respond to tomorrow's crises. these responsibilities are demanding enough on their own however you'll also be asked to assume control at a time of immense financial and fiscal challenge. particularly because of sequestration. i know we will discuss a number of these challenges this morning. 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. >> 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, if you adhere to applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest. >> i have. >> when you agree when asked to personal views if even if they differ from the administration in power? >> chairman i do. >> 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 complies with deadlines established for requested communications, including questions for the record and hearings? >> chairman, i will. >> will you cooperate and providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional request? >> chairman, i will. >> will those witnesses be protected for their testimony or briefings? >> chairman, they will. >> do you agree if confirmed to

testify upon request before this committee? >> chairman, i do. >> do you agree to provide documents, including copies of electronic forms of communications in a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee or consult with a committee regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such documents? >> chairman, i do. >> thank you. welcome, general please proceed and perhaps you'd like to introduce your family. >> thank you chairman ranking member reed. my wife darcy is here, our 40th wedding anniversary is next month. i already have the present so i'm in good shape. our three children are not here. curt, brett and clair. they are off, curt lives in traverse city and brett in houston and clair and her husband jim and most important, grandson conner, are in austin, texas, i'll talk about all of them in my statement. >> thank you. >> our parents, our mothers both

live in east lansing and both fathers are deceased and both veterans. my brother is retired navy captain. my dad served in the army. darcy's dad and his three brothers are all world war ii vets served in the war and so we have a history of service in our family. so with that, i would like to present my opening statement. chairman mccain and ranking member reed and distinguished members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to appear here today. before i offer my brief remarks, i want to express my condolences to the families of the marines and sailor lost in the tragic shootings in chattanooga. our thoughts are with the families as they cope with incomprehensive loss. you will not be forgotten. i'll begin by thanking the president and secretaries carter and mavis for nominating me and

the committee and congress for men and women in uniform under your lead scherr p. the marine corps is a better and different force than the one i joined 40 years ago. i also want to recognize my partner friend and strongest supporter who sitsz with me today, darcy. we started our marine corps journey at the same time although she didn't sign up, she just went with it. she has an unconditional love for marines and families and understands 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 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've moved down in the pecking order in the neller household. beneath him and children and dogs and next month we'll

celebrate our 40th anniversary and i'm thankful she's here with me today. i accept that a reserve commission on the june of 1975 out of the university of virginia because i wanted to get married and needed a job. when i joined we just come out of vietnam. discipline was not good and equipment was in poor condition and training was poorly resourced and rudd. tri. though we were well led and trained hard we were not ready. so in those early years i learned to expect little and get less. more importantly i soon realized being a marine an officer marine was much more than just that job that i was looking for. it's a profession. it's a mindset and 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 risk led by those

who firmly but fairly coach teach and mentor them and by those willing to ensure they have what they need for the mission and for their families, that they can accomplish incredible things. i had many teachers in those early days but the vietnam era who took the time to mold me and advise me when those times were tough. i also learned the hard grind of life on the infantry how to operate move and survive in every climate and place and lead those not always willing and how to build a team. i learned why the marine air ground task force, a team of teams, is the way we fight and why we win. i learned that we are most effective as a mari time force using the sea as a maneuver space and we hold an advantage over our adversaries, both on the surface and air. the support and well being of

our families is just as important as the ammo and food we need to keep us successful in the fight. over the past years through great those that followed including our current commandant, 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 expects of her marine corp. although 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 complacent. i can't tell the complexity of the global environment has its challenges. from violent extremism across the globe and cold war like aggression in eastern europe, cyber threats. contested threats in the pacific. 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. they demand when the nation is least ready and need us the most, that 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.

be able and willing to look at different ways to perfect our craft. every marine we recruit and re-enlist, 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, thinking out of the box have to be common place and something that is expected for the marines. it has been in the past and it must be so in the future. 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, this year and the following year 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 corps 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, anytime 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. because we've been resourced and supported by the congress 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-35b, the heavy lift helicopter. the list goes on and on of cost overruns. 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. this force is very smart. they are informed. 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 gender neutral occupation standards. the goal is every mos 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

process of immigration. we have opened up over moss. that were previously closed to females. right now, 94% moss in the marine corps are open to females. we sent women to infantry training as enlisted marines. they volunteered. we ran them through to see what their ability was to pass that curriculum. we also continued to allow women to compete in the infantry officers course. 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 data and that will drive along with operational views with opening up those remaining moss. >> this is a challenge for not only the marine corps 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. i thought it was remarkable what was 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

33 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 become an entitlement based marine corps and not a war fighting organization. he further stated in colorful tones marines 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've heard the comments. i know sergeant major barrett. i think his concern is because we created because of the generosity of the congress and 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 in 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, will attest 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. have we created an expectation that we can meet. 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. >> my impression has always been

that quality of life issues access to child care, access to medical facilities are critical but soldiers marines understand that if they are 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. 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. for the first time in 96 years they only had one communist on the list. that was for us. 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-tank 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-35b 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 characterized by small scale crises in and around coastal areas. the marine corps 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. we have not given up on high water speed. we're continuing to the research and development. the current amphibian tractor is over 40 years old. there's not a lot of room left

to improve it. it's not very survivable on a modern battlefield. 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 survivability on land. >> with the tragedy in chattanooga, there's a lot of political reaction. different people are talking about different levels of security, that 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 posting 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. >> mr. neller, thank you so much for your service to our country, your family sacrifice, i know it goes hand in hand. with hat being said i ask this question to everyone who has come to this committee for approval. 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. i've never met with -- 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 would like to see those who work. 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. and have baghdad have three separate so they would have a desire to fight, the sunnis don't have a desire to fight, it seems. >> 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 getting 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. if the iraqi 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. neller, 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 to 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. so to your bigger question 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 would own it.

>> 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. and i remember general stewart, a colonel or general at that time but now he's a defense intelligence commander. but he was there. 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 kinds of things that an embedded american

soldier might provide 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 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. >> the discussion today is centered on iraq. 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. there's been reports recently that 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 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 borders in my military opinion, it would facilitate what we do in syria. but right now, i think, the objective to train syrian opposition fighters against isil with the ability to protect them -- themselves 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 more complicated than iraq. >> i agree. thank you. >> thank you, general, your for the service you and your family have given to this country. we look forward to your continued 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 operations tempo. 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 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 fortunate we've 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 at a two to one deployment 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 -- relief. >> 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 those 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 operations at all? >> clearly, the increasing capabilities of potential 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 piece to this. we have to be a little more artful and skillful in how we approach this. because they have capability. 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 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 various 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. i'm a former auditor. you all -- you have been under audit longer than any other services. you've had the opportune to gain the most from this process. and it's my understanding, the marine corps was historically 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 for as 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 branches 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 an audit provides. let's turn to readiness for a moment. 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 force if a significant marine response is is required to address is unplanned con 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. we can afford that. if we had a commitment elsewhere, we could take services that are deployed in the far east and okinawa. and have to reposition them to wherever the contingency is. 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 least favorable 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 capability 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 families and friends of the marines from chattanooga. we got to make sure those kind of activities don't happen again. i want to 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 enemies of our 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 often 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. could it happen? i won't speculate on that. and all i can tell you, if 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 undermines its own strategy by slashing 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 okinawa to guam australia 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 okinawa to a more dispersed force? will we have the strategic 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 am not witting to what they are doing. as far as the marines, we left okinawa 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.

we have changed our deployments. 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 okinawa, 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 and when we do it, there are going to be opportunities with high speed vessels 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 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. general, 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 if you ten -- futenma, okinawa. and i'm committed to the rebalance of the pacific. and you mentioned, quote, our strong balance in t 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 build and maintain the partnerships in this area of the world. >> yes, senator. >> you mentioned in the earlier response to senator sullivan how important training is. so the missions that the marines

perform, 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. and there's maneuver space up there. plus we have to 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 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. 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 she is is. forms of retaliations that could occur? and privilege to lead marines. so part of their records are reviewed and a board of senior officers determine that they are the best and most capable. once they assume that office,

their seniors are monitoring what goes on as far as their discipline. that's being tracked. we also have courses before they assume command where we talk to them about what their responsibilities are. this topic along with other topics are part of that. so they understand their legal responsibility their legal authority, their moral and ethical authority to lead the marines. >> we recognize that changing the culture is not an easy task. i know you're aware that this issue will be of ongoing concern to all of us. thank you. >> general miller, thank you very much for your service and thank you for coming by the office to talk to so many of us before this hearing. how many marines do we have now in the united states? >> in the continental united states? >> in the united states marines? >> just under 184,000 senator. >> you don't anticipate that

number dropping very much in the next four to five years do you? >> we believe that by the end of fy 17, we will be around to 182,000. >> maybe a drop of only 2000 marine corpswide? >> yes senator. >> would it be a mistake to go much lower than that? >> if we were to go lower than that the depth to dwell ratios i'm concerned about would increase the risk to the force and the ability to meet requirements. >> would the requirements and the ratios you want to maintain how are we koogdoing with recruiting? are we getting the type of person we need? what motivates someone to join the marine corps today? >> we are doing very well. i think that's something that we are watching but our manpower

director lieutenant general vilakas, that for the next fiscal year we have already signed up 55% of the requirement. those marines are in a pool waiting to come to recruit training. they are not just marking time but working to get themselves ready to go. the quality is very, very high. we have a very high standard. that's a credit to our recruiters and reflects on the quality of the force. on the officers side, we have at least three college graduates waiting for a spot to become a marine officer. we are in a very good place. i don't take that for granted. i hope we can keep that going. what inspires and motivates someone to come to the marine? >> that varies. family heritage want to serve

their nation want to learn a trade, want to get the grade benefits of the 9/11 g.i. bill. they just want to be a marine. >> you were walking through a union and poster caught your eye back in the '70s is that right? >> a big tall guy wearing the blue uniform. >> more than a poster. >> what frustrates our active duty marines? >> sometimes i think they get frustrated with their leadership. we have to work hard to challenge these young men and women. they are smart. they want to be they want to do important things that keep them engaged. when they are done, they want us to say they are done.

that's fair. we have done such a good job. we are victims of our own success. we owe them good training good gear, good organization good leadership. their end of the deal is show up, bring their "a" game, work hard, train hard and when we are 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 conversation with senator sullivan about c lift. i want to thank the marine corps for the 12th lpd. i do not think we would have gotten this on a bipartisan basis without the marine corps saying we very much needed that to complete the mission. mr. brazinski was here earlier

this year and talked about the need for the amphibious forces to be in the baltic. we with he we have had discussions about russia and the threat and the more immediate threat of isis. what is the reason for being particularly careful as mr. brazinski mentioned about the m-fib forces in the baltic sea area. >> we just did an exercise in the baltic. i am sure is it was paid close attention to by certain countries in that part of the

world. >> i hope so. >> i do too. we landed with poles and lithuanians lithuanians and as stone yans. they're is interest in the baltic because it is on the perimeter of certain land masses you might have to gain access to and three nato allies in small countries live on the east end of the baltic sea. they are concerned about potential aggression against them wechlt are there to reassure them. >> is it fair to say, they remember not too long ago and they appreciate the marines and the united states being there with them. thank you for your service and your testimony. >> thank you, chairman. thank you, general miller

congratulations on a wonderful service thus far. a few questions. you talked about gender integration. you take on how it is going and the philosophy that the marine corps is undertaking to care carry out that mission if you could talk about that? >> when the secretary made the decision, they were given time to see how they will do this. we have opened up moss and put female officers in units where women weren't allowed to serve. they have con well. we are going to continue to do that. then, to determine the last part, whether we would, based on

the standard, allow women to serve in infantry artillery, tanks, light armor reconnaissance, amphibian tractors and reconnaissance. we formed a task force of volunteers. they trained up and went to 29 palms into the mountain war first center and did a series of tests. those tests are complete. the data has been xleted. it is going analyzed. it will provide information that will inform the commonaught about whether he will request a waiver for any of the moss. i have been involved in this process for some time when we first sent volunteer female marines enlisted to gain data and determine their ability to complete that source. the number that went, they had about a 36% completion rate.

we are still looking at this. it is about individual standards and the capability of the unit and that unit becoming better or at least as good as it is now. that decision is going to come. i believe we have a good process, information, fact-based. we are working with the army sharing the data with them. i am sure that the general has spoken to general odierno and will work with the next chief of staff of the army, if he is confirmed. >> can i ask you about setting the standard. as you set the standard in areas that are not yet gender integrated, is selttting the standards a new analysis of what are the attributes that are most needed to do the best job in

this particular m.o.s. or is it something that is the way it has always been done? >> i have not seen all the different task condition standards. they will be functionally based. they won't be -- there may be a screening process for any marine, male or female. it will be not to lift so much weight as if you have to load the tank may gun. i have to load the howitzer around prepare the charge and carry the projectile and drag the cannon and carry the load and go this fast this far with this much weight. it will be those types of things. that's the data we have got. it was a very very hard test. the marines out there

particularly the women marines they did a great job. it was pretty motivating. >> i'm going to switch gears to an area of the marines that is incredibly important. i'm not sure everybody focuses on them. they train in virginia and it is good to have a uva grad before you. the marine security guards that train at quantico everywhere i travel, i stick my head into post 1 to thank these important members of not opal the embassy family but important members of the marine corps. this is a job that is getting more attention. this is a job where i think on armed services we devoted more resources to it. how familiar are you with them? >> i am not completely conversant with their entire training program of instruction. like you, when i go to embassies, i talk to the marines. they are very high quality very

high-screened, a great retention tool. i do worry because they are so capable that we don't get a lot of them to stay after their service. they have -- they have options. i always ask how many are going to stay. they are some of the best and brightest young men and women we have. they are trained well. i have never been to an embassy where they told me they were wanting or lacking for anything. i would have to get back to you on any more detail. my basic rudimentary responses, i this i i think they are in good shape. >> thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you, general miller. darcey thank you for being here today. i appreciate your great service to our nation. i will fire off one quick question. i apologize.

i am going to have to step out again. one of my top priorities has been ensuring our soldiers and our marines those who are really engaged in close toncontact in combat and those taking the majority of the casualties in our nation's conflict are armed with the best upon weapons available and give them the will and the fight to win. we have to make sure that they have the best possible side arms, their personal weapons. that's one of the first things our young men and women do qualify on their individual weapon. with that being said, i am very concerned about the military's lack of modernizing our small arms programs. i know the marines have recently gone from utilizing the squad automatic weapon the m-249 to the light infantry automatic

rifle, the iar. i'm glad they are modernizing in some aspects. they still have not modernized the m-4. i would just like your thought on the small arms program, maybe where you see we need to go with that if we do need changes, just very quickly, sir? >> senator, i have complete confident that the weapons we equip our marines with are the very best that we can get. the m-4, even the marines on the rifle squad carry an m-16. they don't carry an m-4. we want them to have the longer barrel for the longer reach. talking about weapons is a very emotional subject with marines. i have never heard anybody say they didn't think that what they had was going to allow them to be successful. we don't want it to be a fair fight. the iar is a good weapon. we are going to keep the saw but

in a different way. we are always looking at better ways to improve everything we have. we field to the javelin, new how wit zers. we are always working on the tanks. there is no lack of emotion and energy and enthusiasm when i walk around about our weapons. from everything i can tell, i think everybody is satisfied. doesn't mean there are not better ways to do it, whether it is magazines but my personal view and current position is that we are in a good place. >> in the interest of time i will submit my other questions for the record. thank you, general miller i appreciate it very much. thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you mr. chairman. i would like to thank your family and friends with you today. >> general doneford as comadant

worked very hard on the mental health issue. i want to get a commitment from you to pryortize mental health and readiness for your marines. >> absolutely, senator. >> and as part of that, there be no stigma in seeking help? >> senator, we have worked this and i can personally tell you, as hard as we can. i believe we have made progress and to the best of our ability, every marinos what we want to do first and foremost is help them if they need it. >> one of the things in working in this area over the past few years is finding out how critical leadership at the squad and platoon area is to finding out mental health problems. i want to make sure that your leaders at the squad and platoon level know make a call. talk to somebody if you see one

of your marines going sideways on you or having struggles. they probably see it before anybody, don't you think general? >> senator i agree completely. i can tell you that the focus of training as we do the suicide prevention and how to react to that is focused at that level. i can give you personal accounts of where sergeants junior staff ncos were there at the forefront to give a hand or keep a marine from doing something they probably wish they hadn't done and save their lives. >> general, i spoke this morn to the governor in an area you are very familiar with, the anbar province. we were going over the center to retake ramadi and fallujah and protect all of western iraq. what is your view on how to best rebuild the relationship with the sunny sunni tribes and

partner with them. >> i have not been in iraq and am bar since i left on my birthday in 2007. i would like to go back and see it for myself. i don't think the relationship with the sunni tribes, is not with us. it is with the government in baghdad. they have to believe that their central government is going to at least give them some mod couple of support, they are going to fix the roads let the water run give them gasoline make the electricity work fix the roads and let them worship as they see fit. that relationship that was damaged was tenuous at best. it was damaged by previous governments in iraq. if mr. abadi can do that, he will gain their support but he will have to work really hard.

>> in afghanistan, you know we face significant challenges moving ahead. the marines have been such an important part of securing entire areas office afghanistan and creating secure reege yunlgs.yunlgss. what do you see as some of the keys of success and stability and holding on there? >> i have visited afghanistan a number of times but i never served there. so my experience base is limited. i think it goes back to the afghan government believing that we are going to be there to support them, that the resources are going to be there and that they have the confidence and that their soldiers have the confidence there will be somebody there to back them up. there are similar problems. we need to stay there and work

with them. i believe my experience is that if they believe somebody is behind them, they are likely to do the right thing. >> my father was a marine and he would be very proud of all your years of service and we look very much forward to you taking command of the marine corps. so we wish you the very best. >> general neller miss neller welcome and congratulations. thank you both for your service. general neller first, i apologize for having to step out. we had to have a quar rum in judiciary committee. i apologize if i ask a question that's already being asked i would plik to start by asking a question of what will be your top ground mod earn zation

prioritities. >> the top two programs are the joint tactical vehicle and the amphibious combat vehicle. both of them are close to low rate initial produgs and the acv, we should down select the two vendors with 16 vehicles this fall and then we will eventually pick one. in that area and there is a couple other things, a radar, a multi-purpose radar and a whole variety of other things. right now, as far as specific programs, those two are at the top. >> can you talk a little bit about the reason why they are top and the difference it makes in terms of your capabilities? >> for the jltv with he need a wheeled vehicle that has more survive ability than the hum-v.

it has been around since the mid '80s. we have improved it a little bit but there is only so much growth left in the frame. we need something that's going to give us more survive ability and trafficability. we need to recap tallize and get a new vehicle. the decision has been made that the jltv is the new vehicle. we are going to buy 5500. i'm assuming they are going to meelt meet the requirement. i have not looked at the test data. i don't know who the ven tore is. on the acv the amphibious vehicle is 40 years old. we have refurbished and rebuilt it a number of times. it is okay in the water and not so okay on the grown particularly if there are ieds. it is flat-bottomed. it is just not survivable. because that vehicle spends 90% of its time ashore, we have to find something that's going to give us more survive ability but

can move through the surf and get us to the beach. >> that leads to the next question i have with ship to shore maneuvers. i got some exposure to some of the challenges when i was down at camp lejeune a month or so ago. can you talk a little bit about the ship to shore maneuvers all wait from the connectors, lcus and elaborate on the acv in terms of the additional capeability as compared to what you have today? >> amphibious warfare is very complicated. it involves a lot of moving pieces. you are subject of the varying gerrys of the weather and the sea. we have to get to the objective air area in our amphibious ships. we use air force vehicles to move hefavier loads ashore. neither the amtrak or the acv is going to give us a long-range launch. we have to be worried about area

denial. we will work through some cory agography. we want to build under cover of darkness and take advantage of that. this avc we buy just like the amtrak that we have has to have some surf capability, some sea seakeeping capability and it has to move with some speed so we can do it under a period of darkness. >> the last question has to do with the size of the force. i know that there have been some studies from marine corps university that was setting the optimum size of the marines at 186,000, just below 187,000. 184,000 we are at and moving to 182,000. that 5,000 differential, that's a lot of marines and a lot of killing capacity. i know when i met with you in my office, you are the sort of

person that's going to make it work no matter whatever land you are dealt. are you reaching -- do you think that 182 is a workable number or is that just a number you are working with because that's where we are with troop production? or do we need to look back at getting to that optimal number if you agree with the assertion that 186 is the optimal number. >> the optimal number for 3-1 deployment ratio which is what we would aspire to is 186. we have built into our plan as we have drawn down some reverseability of that. we know what units we took down in cadre and what we would bring back. 182 is at that point where we can meet the combatant commander's requirements and the minimum sustainable level. we can do it at 182.

186 would be better. right now, that's not affordable. if resources were made available and we were able to do that we would grow the force back. that would take some time. >> thank you, general. i will look forward to supporting your confirmation. thank you mr. chair. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, general neller for being here. thank you for your family to be here. we are very grateful for your dedication. you and i had a chance to talk about a lot of these issues in advance. i was very grateful for that meeting. after the meeting i sent you a report that i did summarizing cases at four bases in 2013 as a snapshot to understand what the cases look like. i want to brief you on that. in camp pendleton, they had 50 cases of sexual assault alleged. now, 10 of those cases were from spouses. so you have an issue with domestic violence that's important to look at. you also had 18 who were civilian. 28 out of 50 are not part of our survey.

so when we surveyed the d.o.d. surveyed serks you'll assault last year they estimated 20,000. that doesn't include civilians or spouses. more than half of your camp pendleton cases aren't counted in those numbers. the other statistics of the service members was 216789 the other thing i want you to be aware of a challenge we have in responding appropriately among your spouses, eight withdrew their complaint within a year. they didn't have confidence in the system. they no longer wanted to prosecute. of your civilian complainants, eight withdraw and of your service members, eight withdrew. so nearly half of the cases that were reported. to report a case you have to put your name on the bottom line, you typically get a rape kit, which is very invasive. it is now public. for them to withdraw nearly half to withdraw within the year does not show confidence within the system. that brings us to this issue of retaliation, how much is existing.

with he know from the survey last year it was 62% of cases someone who reported a rape was retall yalted against during that process. retaliation comes in all forms as you know. 53% social, peer to peer. 35% administrative, 32% professional, 11% punishment. in arguably more than half cases, there is some form of chain of command. we have an issue with sexual harassment and discrimination. 60% of it comes from the unit commander. you have to dig deep to begin to create a better climate, which i this i is going to be essential for you to be successful so you have good order and discipline within the ranks. so, as we talked about i look forward to working with you on that. i think it is very vital. i appreciated your answer to senator kane about combat

integration. one issue i would like to raise i know the physical fitness tests are gender norm and in the case of colonel kate jermano, was trying to create tougher requirements so they can meet standard. as you look at your standard review and as to whether you are going to ask for a waiver for any positions today, i would urge you not to seek waivers, because all you are saying is there is no one who can meet the standards today. you will have women that can meet those standards. asking for a waiver says, under no circumstances can any woman ever meet the standard. i would caution you not to take that action, the future of the force, we want all of our best and brightest.

when you are going to relook at these issues do you expect you will ask for an exception or a waiver? >> senator i have not seen all the data and i don't think in any way, shape, or form we can presuppose whether we will not. i have not talked to the come adant about this. i will eventually. he is no longer going to be our commandant. so i would ask that he would inform me as to what we are going to do. i take all your points. i want every marine to have the best opportunity to be successful. nobody joins the marine corps to fail. i ask the marines that, anybody join here to fail? no. good. we are going to be successful. we have to put them in the best place where they can be successful and do the best for themselves but more importantly for the unit. so i know this is going to take close scrutiny. this is not something anybody takes lightly. we will, again, make shoor we have the most operationally

capable force. i take your points and i do appreciate all the guidance you gave me during our meeting. >> thank you, general. i'm very grateful for your service. >> thanks, mr. chairman. thanlg thank you, general, for your service, as others have said before. it is not only yours but your families. we are grateful to you for taking on this very important mission. no one joins the marine corps to fail, that's for sure. i know you want to give every opportunity to every marine to serve to the best of his or her ability. and part of the reasons that marines may in quotes fail or appear to fail, may be invisible wounds of war like post-traumatic stress. my colleague senator donnelly asked about mental health issues.

post-traumatic stress is the result of combat-related injuries that really have never been recognized in the past as much as they are now and maybe not now as much as they should be. my very distinguished colleen senator mccain sponsored a bill to provide more research as well as more care to marines and others who are injured in duty often in combat. i would welcome your commitment that you would encourage and support more efforts to deal with post-traumatic stress and brain injury and those wounds of war. >> you have my total commitment to those actions.

>> >> thank you. do you have any specific initiatives that you have contemplated to encourage more marines to come forward to identify themselves? senator donnelly asked about the stigma often associated with those kinds of wounds. i won sderder if you have any specific initiatives? >> i don't at this time. all i can tell you is this. like everybody else, we learned a lot the last 12 years. we learned a lot about some bad things. i do think that the force that recognizes these invisible wounds. i remember a captain got ied d several times and we sent him to land and he was beerated because

he looked like he was fine. i honestly believe those days are gone. there may be marines out there or any service member out there who is still dealing with something that's bugging him. the marines that i talked to and the marines i serve with today, i don't know anybody who is not out there reaching out to talk to them and try to help them. they believe that you are going to try to help them. they will come forward. there are a lot who have. there may be some who have not. those with tbi that have been diagnosed, we need to take care of them. they are part of the force until they are no longer on this earth. we are not perfect. we still have a lot to learn. i want to be a regiment that takes care of marines and stays in contact with them feechb they are no longer on active service. we owe all of them our best support. i commit to you that they are going to get it from me if confirmed as come adant.

>> i welcome and applaud that and your sensitivity on the issue. i can guarantee without being an expert that there are marines and soldiers and sailors and airmen that are out there with wounds that are bugging them and they need the encouragement to come forward. >> let me shift to -- >> could i just interrupt. are you familiar with the legislation on suicide prevention act? >> sir i'm not. i will become familiar with it if confirmed. i'm interested. i wasn't aware of it chairman. >> thank you. >> we'll make sure that your office receives some additional material on it. senator mccain has been a champion i have been very proud to work with him on this issue. it is critically important. 22 veterans every day in this country, the strongest, best country in the history of the world, commit suicide. this bill is an effort to correct that problem.

if i can just focus in my remaining seconds on the f-35 joint strike fighter i know that we have not yet passed the initial operating capability tests and stage. i wonder if you could comment on what you see as the importance of this fifth generation fighter to the marine corps? >> senator, we hope soon that we will be able to declare. it is going to replace three different air frames. i'm not sure we realize the potential of this airframe other than the fact it is a fifth generation aircraft and we will be able to enter air space of our adversaries that we weren't able to enter before and safely do whatever the mission is. the real exciting thing about this airplane other than we can

hold targets at risk that we weren't able to before is the electronics and all the information that this thing is going to be able to gather and disseminate. i'm an infantry guy. planes are nice but they are really nice when they drop bombs and tell me what's on the other side of the hill. that's what i'm interested in. i think this airplane potentially if it does what we believe it is going to be able to do is not only going to help us do what we do better but change how we do what we do. that's what we are going to have to learn. it is expensive. the more we build, the more our allies buy, the cheaper it will be. so i'm excited about the potential that this provides to not just marine corps and the naval force but to the joint force. >> thank you very much general.

thank you. >> thank you, chairman. i want to thank you, general, for your service to the country and your wife as well and your whole family i appreciate all that you have done and are willing to take on in this important position. i wanted to ask you about iraq. i no he that several others have asked you about it. having served our country in iraq and seeing the director of the fbi, james comey said that isis poses a greater terror threat to the u.s. than all qaeda. that's pretty telling. what is it we need to do in iraq to address isis that we are not doing? >> senator my time in iraq is a bit dated but i am somewhat informed in my current job as to what we are doing as far as marines and the joint force. i think we are doing what we

need to do right now. we are training the iraqis and ensuring the provision of equipment and am knew mission and slice. we are working in their operations centers working with them, ad vigz advising them. we are not accompanying them. they are going to have to restore their territory. i believe, based on what i've seen them do in the past they have the capability to do that. we have to defeat isis. we have to get them to a point where they are insignificant and just some people on the internet saying a bunch of stuff but they don't have any capability or anything to back it up. right now, that's not where they are. they have land. they have terrain.

they are mascarading as a country. >> as you look at where we are with iraq and our current force posture in afghanistan, we have consistently heard from general dumford and others is that it is important that we have a conditions-based withdrawal from afghanistan as opposed to a calendar withdrawal? >> would you agree with that thinking about what we have seen happen in iraq post our leaving? >> senator, it is my military within that a condition based withdrawal is effective rather than one on time. >> would you agree with me on that? >> i would say that's an accurate statement. in terms of what we are doing in

iraq that we have had repeatedly raised in this committee from your experience on the ground generally, does the employment of joint terminal track reporters make air tracks make anymore more effective? >> i would agree that makes them more effective. >> one of the issues that needs to be addressed right now, with iraqi security forces do you believe that our american military dropping air strikes in iraq right now would be more effective if jtax were embedded at the tactical level? >> in principle, yes, senator. there has to be some

methodology. for a pilot to go out there and just find a target, there has to be some coordination going on. there has to be some coordination where they are being given a general location or target so they are not out there flying around. i don't know the teens that. j. >> generally a un is is more effective. >> that's what jtax does on the ground, to help ensure the targets are more precise and effective? you and i spoke briefly about this in my office. >> with what happened in benghazi where brave americans were murdered, where are we today in terms of -- one of the things that all of us were really upset about was the fact that our military couldn't

respond quickly enough to help. weigh wanted to know where we are today if we had another benghazi type attack in north africa or the middle east tonight. would the marine corps be in a better position to respond? >> senator today, post benghazi in what is referred to as the new normal, the marine deployed a special purpose and some m-22 ospreys to spain. that force has grown, a full infantry battalion spread across three bases and a squadron of 12 ospreys. they have an alert force on a six-hour alert. if there was known to be some sort of indications or warning they could position themselves on other bases in the mediterranean or even in western africa. there are a number of security locations that we have established where we could go

with the support of the host nation. our capability is much greater particularly if we have some idea that something is going to happen or someone is going to go there and we need to provide them with protection. we are in a much better place than we were at that time. >> thank you. >> congratulations on your nomination. the marine corps is pound for pound the finest force we have ever created. let's just keep it that way. is it true that isil is targeting military personnel and their families here at home? >> senator, i'm not aware that they have specifically targeted american citizens. i am aware that they have put information about american citizens on social media. >> it is my understanding they have urged people to come after

our military personnel and their families and are encouraging people here and abroad to do so. if the recruiters had been armed, do you think things would have been different? >> senator, i don't know. >> i think they would have been. here is the question i don't want to have ever again i don't know. i mean the answer. we have to know. i think it would have mattered. this is time to get real as a nation. they are coming after us here and everywhere else and we better get ready to defend our people. general dumford said he thought the greatest threat to america today was russia. not radical islam. do you agree with that?

>> as a nation state russia is probably the greatest threat. i believe the greatest threat to the american people because they say they want to kill us is radical extremism. >> do you agree with me the greatest threat of all is a radical islamic state with a nuclear weapon? >> any radical organization with a nuclear weapon is of great concern, senator. >> do you agree with me that if iran, do you believe iran is a radical islamic nation state? >> i believe that iran is a state that has involved itself in a number of nefarious activities which have cre atd instability across the middle east and other parts of the world. >> do you believe the ayatollah really means it when he says death to america and death to israel? >> senator, i have never spoken to the ayatollah to ask him that question. >> i doubt if you will but given

all the behavior of iran and their past activity would it be smart to assume the worst when it came to the ayatollah and not the best? >> it would be my military advice to continue to watch them closely in everything they do and judge them on their actions and hold them accountable for those things that they do that violate international law and disrupt the stability of the region in the world? >> would you agree they are the primary destabilizing influence right now in the mideast? they are supporting extremist organizations that have toppled four arab capitals. >> i believe they are extremely destabilizing force in the middle east. >> do you adpree that assad wouldn't last 15 minutes without iranian and hezbollah help? >> i am aware the iranians are supporting the assad government. i don't know how long he would

last or not last. >> put it this way, they are assad's main ben factor? >> they are providing a great deal of support to him, yes, senator. >> do you agree the pro-american and pro-western government in yemen was toppled because of iranian support for the huttis. ? >> i believe they received a significant amount of support from iran. to what degree that allowed them to topple that government, that would be conjecture. >> if iran stopped supporting the huttis do you think we would have a different outcome? >> that would be speculative on my part. i have been to yemen a couple of times. the government they had was troubled and they have a huge amount of tribal and fak tichl and their iranian support to the huthis facilitated their successful actions to tom the

government. >> do you agree that hezbollah would have a hard time surviving without iran? >> they would certainly not have the same capability they have today. >> my point is from a marine corps -- >> general, you are not answering the senator's question. do you believe in that or not? >> general, i'm not trying to put you in a bad box. i am just trying to explain to the american people who the iranians are and what they are up to. that's all i'm trying to do. do you agree with me that they are a very destabilizing influence in the mideast? they are the largest state sponsor of terrorism and we should know that? >> yes, senator. >> finally, as to the marine corps, you have indicated that in 1975 the marine corps was a place that was in a bad spot? you have come a long way.

do you agree if we impose sequestration and fully implement it by 2021 the marine corps will be in a bad spot? >> yes, senator. at a time when we need the marine corps the most? >> we would not be able to provide the capabilities that we need to provide to the nation. >> and in your time as a marine have you ever seen a larger need for the united states marine corps than today in terms of the threats with he face? >> senator this is a very challenging time. i think this is a time when a force like the marine corps would have great capability for the nation. >> thank you very much. >> general, before we close, when you say we are doing what we need to do in iraq, i think -- i don't know where you have been. obviously, isis is winning in

iraq. if you are not in favor of us having forward air controllers on the ground in some scholastic answer, you know full well, as i do, forward air controllers make the difference. they are 75% of those that are flown return to base without firing a weapon. this line about they are the ones that have to do it themselves. general, they can't do it themselves. we know that. iraqis cannot do it themselves. that's why they are losing. that's why they have lost their second largest city. that's why isil continues to make gains and the only people that are fighting against them are the iranian-backed shiite militias. the iraqis have to do it. without american assistance, including air power and forward air controllers on the ground, we are going to see this stalemate. for you to say we are doing what we need to do, then maybe you can tell me what we are doing

that will win against isis? can you tell me that? >> senator, what we are doing is providing adviser teams and support. >> that's causing success, is that right? >> it stemmed the tide for isis but it is no the removing them from iraq. so it is not. >> so you believe that isis is losing? >> no, sir, i do not. >> you believe they are winning? >> no sir i don't believe they are winning eerth. i believe they are at a stalemate right now. >> they are at a stalemate. when you have a stalemate, then when the enemy controls the largest, second largest city and about a third of it and the only people fighting against them are shia militias backed by those and sosomeni responsible for the

attack of the soldiers orchestrating the attacks. i don't think we are doing what we are doing. i am very disappointed in a number of your answers. let me just go back again. you no he what happened in that recruiting station, don't you? the guy walked to the door and shot and killed four marines. that was in the media. i'm sure no matter what job you are holding, you knew that didn't you? >> yes senator. >> shouldn't we have had those marines be able to defend themselves? >> senator, the marines needed to have the force protection. at the recruiting station, there was only one individual wounded. it was at the reserve center where they were killed but, yes they should have been able to defend themselves. >> i'll have some questions for the record. if you think we are doing what we need to do in iraq and syria then we have a real strong and different