-- the program managers spend the vast majority of their time briefing people rather than running their programs. we are not nearly as agile in institution as our adversaries are or even private sector companies that do not want to compete with us because of the barriers we put up for them to do so. weould look for ways where can strip out some of these requirements that slow us down, allowing us to be more agile, better tapped into innovation and processes so we can iterate more rapidly than we are now. >> i think you are uniquely qualified because you have the background in all three riches of government. i think we give you the ability to do what you can. i hope we make sure our front-line forces are strong and we have the right people to do the job, make sure we do not have an abundance of

contractors, using our guard more effectively in building the force to protect our country. we will be behind you 1000%. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman and mr. fanning for your service and your continued willingness to serve. i have a few questions. you and i have talked a lot about what is going on with regard to russia, the russian buildup in the arctic as well as their other provocations in the past two years. you know the two generals testified and so russia is the biggest threat to the u.s.. testifiedcarter also in how we were late to the game in the arctic. he came on to say we are not even in the game with russia area do you -- russia.

do you agree with that? >> i do believe we are not in the game in the arctic nearly as we should be. korea.specific was north do you agree with that? >> i do. are you supportive of the president's measure? >> yes. >> last year, the army decided andet grid of a joint base 5000 airborne infantry troops, seven to eight hours can be anywhere in the northern hemisphere given the strategic clip. credit he has's reevaluated this and thinking it is a strategic mistake area does the u.s. army have an airborne grade that is ready to fight and

win in subzero mountain climates like those in the arctic or north korea? >> not those. >> the four to five is part of 425 is part of the reserve. it was called the over the hill calvary that could be there in seven hours. do you think removing these forces emboldens the unstable leader of north korea question ? eliminating the only trained soldiers in that part of the world. to roll these back if confirmed. supportinganguage

how we should be cutting forces in the asia specific -- pacific. how does cutting the only airborne combat team in the asia civic support this area -- asia-pacific support this area? think that will increase the number of soldiers overall? >> there are 100,000 today since 2007. >> if the army retained this at the full strength, would it send a strong message, strategic message to north korea, russia and our allies about america's commitment to protect our strategic commitment in the arctic and support our allies? >> i think that would send a strong message. the army last year had to balance cuts it had to make across all of the requirements and priorities it has.

number.e get to the 450 i think it is low, way too low, strategically risky. >> i do think it is a risk. i have testified this. >> to his credit, and you have already touched on this, the general is working hard to balance the ratio, making sure teeth rather than the tooth category. >> in the 450, i believe the number is 1500. >> how many prisoners? >> 1100 are counted as prisoners. >> how many soldiers are out processing? >> combined total of 15,000. >> when we talk about the 450, there are literally thousands

who are not employable and capable of fighting. .> that is correct o >> does it make sense that the army is considering cutting healthy soldiers to make room for tens of thousands of non-deployable and non-effective soldiers. ? >> it would be nice not to count them toward the 450. profiles, orical legitimate reasons. they are training now. they are already deployed. when we say we are headed toward army, that isonal not necessarily people ready to be deployed. >> we have had a lot of discussions, but if confirmed, i

need your 110% commitment to ensure the very last soldiers that we are cutting are the combat effective, strategically located infantry soldiers who can fight tonight if they need to, as opposed to so many of the other soldiers we are talking about. in other words, that you would pola to cut the trigger ullers last. can i get that commitment? >> you absolutely have the commitment. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. fanning, thank you for being here. to your mom, thank you for being here. thingsning, one of the we have seen again in the third

quarter is a big spike in suicides among guard members. what are your plans to improve mental health services? >> we have seen a spike. with the sheer size of the army, the numbers in absolute terms is too large. the army has made some impressive progress, increasing access to health care by vetting it at the brigade level so that it is more readily accessible. in terms of care across the suicide,havior health, that is a key component in making access to care as easy as possible for our soldiers. i think also, a lot more work has to be done, fighting stigma against seeking behavioral help. >> one of the thing that has

been done in the israeli army is they have pushed down, to be platoon level that the soldier in charge keeps an eye out for the other members, and reports behavior. to you looking at anyways push the decision-making down a little bit further as to enabling them to have the say, hey, maybe we need to help this person? >> absolutely. the army is already looking at this and has a number of programs like that. a senior master sergeant in the has a structure called, not in my squad. part of that is training people to look for indicators they should act on and report. it really helps to reduce the numbers.

armyu said before, the recognizes tactical importance in the enduring requirement to maintain a capable fleet. do you think the army will continue to rely on a large ?umvee fleet recall, after they rationalized requirements was to maintain 50,000 humvees. this allows them to call out the newest and best maintained of what they have. it will end up being relatively young and maintained fleet. >> looking into the middle east, one of the things that has struck me is we have seen refugees all throughout the world. at the same time, we have put in a no-fly zone for safety right in the same country where those

refugees are coming from. putting in place a no-fly zone or a safe sound? not studied those proposals enough to give you an opinion. i am happy to come back and talk to you area did i do think we have not done enough collectively to prevent the crisis and deal with the crisis, which is unlike any refugee crisis i have seen. >> would you work with the department of defense, secretary of defense and this is a critical issue to all of us. we need to provide the truth of your opinion to him. i wonder if you're going to look into this and start to put this information to gather and come to some conclusion on this? >> i will, senator. the secretary's responsibility is to ensure we have the forces already trained in these