dr. jim miller, acting underbe secretary of defense and john allen, commander of u.s. forces afghanistan. a warm welcome and thanks to you both. i'm going to interrupt at this moment to take care of some nominations because we have kworum present. our troops in afghanistan are being asked to perform demanding and often dangerous missions and they're carrying them out superbly and professionally. general allen, on behalf of the committee, please pass along our unwavering support for our military men and women serving with you in afghanistan, our gratitude for their courageous and dedicated service and the support of their families. talking about families, i know that you have with you this morning, general, your wife, kathy allen and your daughter bobbi allen. i hope i got their names correctly. i temporarily got them mixed up a little earlier. i'm not sure i need forgiveness from either one of them. in any event, we're delighted that they're here. >> thank you, senator. >> the success of our mission in afghanistan depends on building the capacity of afghan security for

dr. jim miller, the acting under secretary of defense for policy, and it has been a pleasure for me to get to know him over the last several weeks as he has been a very important ally of mine in helping to explain some of the policy issues with which we deal on a daily basis. let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to all of you for the support you provide to our men and women in uniform every day. , that they are well equipped, well trained, and well led is a great testament to the efforts of this committee and to the work of this congress. on behalf of those troops, and on behalf of their families, thank you for all that you have done for them. in the past eight months i have walked the ground of afghanistan with many of those troops, along with many i friend and partner and ambassador ryan crocker and my nato come patriot, senior civil representative simon gas and i have met with the leaders of most of the 49 other nations serving alongside us in the international security assistance force, and all through this i have been in close consultation with afghan civilian and military

dr. jim miller, who is the under -- acting undersecretary for defense policy.has been a pleasure for me to get to know him over the last several weeks, as he has been a very important ally of mine and helping to explain to some of the policy issues that we deal with on a daily basis. let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude for the support you all give our men and women in uniform every day. that they are well-equipped, well trained, and will lead is a great testament to the efforts of this committee and the work of this congress. on behalf of those troops and on behalf of their families, thank you for all that you have done for them. in the past eight months, have walked the ground of afghanistan with many of those troops, along with my friend and partner ambassador ryan crocker and senior ambassador sir simon gas. i have met with leaders of most of the 49 other nations serving alongside us in isaf. and all through this i have been in close consultation with afghan civilian and military leadership, most of whom have been enmeshed in this country's confl

dr. jim miller who is acting undersecretary of defense for policy and it has been a pleasure for me to get to know him. over the last several weeks as he has been a very important ally of mine in helping to explain some policy issues with which we deal on a daily basis. let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to all of you for the support you provide to our men and women in uniform every day. that they are well equipped, well-trained and well lead as a great testament to the efforts of this committee and the work of this congress. on behalf of those troops and their families, thank you for all you have done for them. in the past eight months i have walked the grounds of afghanistan with many of those troops along with my friend and partner, ambassador ryan crocker and civilian representative ambassador simon guest. i met with the leaders of most of the 49 other nations serving alongside us in the international security assistance force. all through this i have been in close consultation with afghan civilian and military leadership, most of whom have been enmeshed in this country's

dr. jim miller. it has been a pleasure for me to get to know him over the last several weeks as he has been a very important ally of mine in helping to explain some of the policy issues with which we deal on a daily basis. let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to the support you provide to our vacant men and women. they are well-equipped, trained, and well-led is a great testament to the work of this committee and to the congress. on behalf of the troops and their families, thank you for all that you have done for them. in the past 8 months, i have walked the ground of afghanistan with many of those troops a long time with my friend, ambassador ryan crocker. i have met with most of the leaders of the other nations involved. all through this, there has been in close consultation with afghan civilian and military leadership, most of whom has been enmeshed in this country's conflict. enmeshed in this conflict for well over 30 years. from those experiences, i can tell you unequivocally three th

dr. miller. general allan? >> chairman levin, senator mccain, a distinguished members of the committee, i take this opportunity to discuss our operations in afghanistan. it is a pleasure to be here with my friend, dr. jim miller, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy. it has been a pleasure for me to get to know him over the last several weeks as he has been a very important ally of mine in helping explain some of the policy issues with which we deal on a daily basis. let me express my sincere gratitude to all of you for the support you provide to our men and women in uniform every day -- that they are well equipped, well-trained, and will lead is a great testament to this committee and the work of this congress. on behalf of those troops and on behalf of their families, thank you for all you have done for them. in the past eight months, i have walked the grounds of afghanistan with many of those troops along with my friend and partner, ambassador ryan crocker, and by nato compatriot , sir simon gas. i have met with the leaders of most of the other 49 nations serving alongside us. all through this i have been in close consultation with afghan civilian and military leadership, most of whom hav

dr. jim miller, undersecretary of defense for policy and general john allen, commander of the 50 country international security assistance force and commander u.s. forces in afghanistan. a warm welcome. thanks to you both. i am going to interrupt at this moment to take care of some nominations because we have a quorum present so i will ask the committee to consider a list of 246 pending military nominations. they have been before the committee the required length of time. is there a motion to favorably report the 246 military nominations? is very second? all in favor say aye. opposed nay. the motion is carried. our troops in afghanistan are being asked to perform demanding and often dangerous missions and carrying them out superbly and professionally. general allen, on behalf of the committee, pass along our unwavering support for our military men and women serving with you in afghanistan. our gratitude for their courageous and dedicated service in support of their families. talking about families i know you have with you this morning your wife, kathy allen and your daughter bobby allen.