mr. wyattd current republican missouri state representative, two simple acts was speaking. on wednesday state representative wyatt urged his party to table the bill. >> kids need to be able to feel safe and speak with teachers, counselors and administrators when they are getting bullied. this bill will make that illegal. >> and then mr. wyatt said something else. something he didn't have to. you see, the law wasn't even scheduled for a vote. there was no imminent danger of the bill becoming law, but zak wyatt decided to say this. >> i will not lie to myself anymore about my own sexuality. it has probably been the hardest thing to come to terms with. i have always ignored it. i didn't even think about it or want to talk about it. i have not been immune to it. i hear the comments, usually snide ones, about me. today i ask you to stand with me as a proud republican, a proud veteran, and a proud gay man who wants to protect all kids addressing bullying in our schools. >> a proud gay man. a proud re

mr. chairman to appear before you today. i'd like to ask my wingman, bud wyatt to speak, followed by bill ingram. >> chairman inouye, i'd like to open with a brief review of the events of 2011 before looking to the future of the air national guard. your guard airmen continue to make significant contributions to our nation's defense both here at home and around the globe. last year guard airmen filled approximately 54,000 requests for manpower. 91% of these requests were filled by volunteers. the air national guard's responsiveness and adaptability was clearly demonstrated a year ago when on 17 march, 2011, as the united nations security council passed regulation 1973 authorizing a no-fly zone over libya, the air national guard kc-135s from the refueling wing tennessee and the 168th aerial refueling wing alaska were diverted in route to forward operating bases. these guard airmen began flying operational missions in support of operation odyssey dawn 48 hours later, clearly demonstrating that the air national guard is both accessible and ready to serve. last year

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

mr. chairman to appear before you today. i'd like to ask my wingman bud wyatt to speak followed by bill ingraham. >> chairman and senator thank you and the committee very much for your support for the extraordinary men and women of the air national guard. i'd like to open with a brief review of 9/11. your guard airmen continue to make significant contributions to the nation's defense both here and home and around the globe. last year guard airmen filled 54,000 requests for manpower. 91% of these requests were filled by volunteers. international guards responsiveness and daptablity was clearly demonstrated a year ago when on 17, march, 2011, as the united nations security council passed resolution 1973 authorizing a no fly zone over libya, air national guard kc 135 in tennessee and the 168th aerial refuelling wing alaska were diverted en route to florida operating bases. these guard airmen began flying missions 48 hours later. clearly demonstrating that the international guard is accessible and ready to serve. last year national guard airmen spent half a million

mr. chairman. >> thank you. and now i'd like to recognize the chairman of the senate national guard caucus senator leahy. >> thank you. general wyatt, i noticed yesterday we saw on the news where a plane diverted -- had to be commercial jet had to land in bangor on its way to charlotte. it said fighter jets were deployed. were those guard jets? >> yes, senator they were. >> so that leads into a question i have. there's a couple lesser known cuts proposed for the air national guard that concern me deeply. i think it's safe to say from everything we learned without going into anything in the classified briefings we get -- it's safe to say that commercial airlines are still a target of terrorists, is that not a fair statement? >> that's correct, senator. >> and one thing that we could say the threat picture or our strategy for dealing with threats to the united states has changed and thus would drive reductions. i worry that we're addressing a -- i don't see the threat doing down. i think we should have our air control alert locations. and for air national guard explosive ordinance disposal pals under your purview. it looks to me what

mr. chairman. and generals, i join the rest of my colleagues in thanking you for your leadership on so many different issues and different areas. general wyatt, i want to ask you about the recent air force proposal which would move the 18th squadron from isleson down to joint basel men dorf-richardson. right now this proposal looks like it will have an impact on the 168th air refueling wing. to the extent that an operation that is currently a 24-hour-a-day operation, 365 days a week, that with this proposal, it may result in operations being diminished to effectively a 12-hour day, five days a week, not necessarily bankers' hours but certainly not the kind of hours that will be required, that are required for this pretty incredible intensive refueling wing up there. at isleson. general schwartz keeps reminding me of the significance of isleson and the fact that we have 23 million gallons of gas up there. it's pretty important to the overall mission. my question to you is, how would this proposal, which would effectively reduce the operations there at isleson, how will this impact the guard's mission there? >> senator, i've asked that same qu

will tell you, -- as general wyatt will tell you, i will let him cover the corporate process and then take any follow-up questions you may have about our involvement. >> mr. chairman, the air force decision making process is commonly referred to as the air force corporate process. there are several different steps along the way. the council level is three-star and recommendations are presented to the steep -- cheek and secretary at the four-star level. -- chief and secretary at the four-star level. we were encouraged to make our inputs, and we did so. in fact, we exercise that encouragement rather vociferously inside the air force corporate process. we did present alternatives to the 13-pb as it officially came out. general schwartz described the process and encouraged open debate. i engaged openly in that the bakewell and made my inputs, but -- engaged openly in that debate. many of the recommendations and alternatives that we proposed were not adopted. we respect the difficult decisions that the chief and the secretary had to make, and once those decisions are made, as title 10 officers, we need to recognize that fact and proceed forward. we made sever