general odierno. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator inhofe, other members of , both in my current position, but in my previous position, to see first hand the power and capability of the whole army. the performance, selfless service and dedication of our active component or army national guard and army reserves all have contributed directly to our successes. and i am proud and humbled that i am currently the chief of staff united states army, the total army. the reserve component connects the army to the american people. the guard and reserve, soldiers that live and work in over 3,000 communities, have shared the burdens of the war with over 900 killed in action, and more than 7,500 wounded. they are critical components of the joint force and connect us to mainstream america. we have built a strong relationship between all of our army components, and i would argue probably the strongest we've ever had. and it is our goal to sustain and increase this momentum as we move forward. with all due respect to the chief of the

general odierno, following up on mr. hunter's question -- the arm isd6 intelligence program is behind schedule and there are private services better use by the marine corps. the army is slated to spend billions in the coming years to field this program despite its consistent shortcomings. will you pledge to take a hard look at this program as a possible source of savings? >> i am looking at every one of our modernization programs and procurement programs to see where we can get savings. i will take a hard look at this. i will provide your feedback as we do this. >> nine q. -- thank you. do you think the army could potentially find savings by reducing the footprint of our ground forces on the european continent where our allies are or should be capable of defending their own territory? >> this would be part of the strategy review we do where we decide to put forces and based on that strategy, if it is determined that we can reduce our commitment to europe, we will work carefully with our allies to take a look at that. >>

then, ray odierno, the commanding general in iraq, heard about kell.son had been wounded and the general gave kell the go-ahead for operation: proper exit. today, a total of 68 troops have been on kell's journey. the tour that we joined was the ninth proper exit. the hardest stops on the itinerary confront that day, years ago, when they were wounded. first stop, the air force theater hospital. lives were saved, and their friends were lost in this emergency room. the medical staff had changed, but everyone understood what these men had survived. >> bradford: i don't remember coming through here. >> pelley: for matt bradford, it was more than a chance to say thanks; it was a step towards peace of mind. >> bradford: i lost both my legs and also my vision. i know a handshake or a hug ain't enough, but you all are pretty much... i mean... you know, i owe y'all my life. ( applause ) >> pelley: the next step back in time was to fly over the places where they were wounded. >> i'm relieved. >> pelley: for ed salau, it was an opportunity to see what iraq had gai

we have odierno rodriguez, ken, and others making sure that we maximize opportunities. one of their big partners when they're working in this neighborhood is abu. we are working closely with them. i want to give a shout out to them. we want to see more local residents getting work. [applause] and then the rest is up to us, dpw, working with the library. the guy that will be working day to day with freddie, our resident engineer, garland wong. he will be living here and will not sleep until this library is done. he is supported by several wonderful people. lina chen is managing all of these projects. [applause] i also wanted knowledge of our other local hire, deputy director, muhammed nuru. always working for the baby. we are honored to be able to work on this for our community, who is so deserving and has been so patient. we are going to get people to work in the process and we are all going to be very happy here at the ribbon cutting and a little bit over by year. [applause] >> i think you can all see a pattern. this is all about local ownership. thank you for making t

chairman. >> thank you very much general odierno. admiral greenert. >> thank you chairman webb and senator inhofe members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to comment on and it testify in a matter including the chief of the national guard bureau and a member of the joint chiefs of staff. i fully support continued participation by the guard bureau and joint chiefs deliberations particularly regarding issues that deal with the national guard. are national guard chief general mckinley who we do consider a brother has made notable input and provided valuable contributions to issues of importance to those of us serving in the department of defense. i think this relationship should continue. however in my opinion making the chief of the national guard bureau and member of the joint chiefs of staff adds unnecessary complexity to the principle of unity of command. unlike the service chiefs on the chief of the national guard bureau does not represent a branch of service nor is he responsible for organizing, manning, training and

he'd already written a popular poem called old odierno site which is what kept the uss constitution the famous ship in boston from going. holmes decided he wanted to be a doctor and in order to get the finest medical education possible, he had to go to paris. not so much because of the medical training in paris was advanced on our terms, but it was infinitely far advanced by the terms of the 19th century and particularly way ahead of american medicine. american medicine was prophetically backward. there were very few medical schools. over half of all the doctors at the united states in the 1830's and 1840's had never been to medical school and a trade with other doctors that had never been to medical school. the harvard medical school have a faculty of about seven. and when they got to paris the brimley medical school of several thousand students being taught by the greatest physicians in france who were the greatest physicians of the world. it was a leading medical center of the world. and to go there in two years they could learn as much or more than they would work in general practic

that was the recommendation made before this committee by general odierno. recommendations made by general petraeus, recommendations made by even lower ranking military who had spent as you mentioned a great deal of time there and did not want to see that service and sacrifice all we said we because of our inability and lack of desire to reach an agreement with the iraqi. as i said in my opening statement they are largely responsible as well. but the fact is senator lieberman, senator gramm and i were there the iraqis were ready to deal with and what was the administration's response? they didn't have a number and mention the last may as to the residual force-iraq. as things happen in that country, things fell apart. now, can you tell the committee, general dempsey, if there was any military commander that recommended that we completely withdraw from iraq? >> no, senator, none of us recommend that we completely but draw from iraq. >> when did we come up with of the numbers of troops that we wanted to remain in iraq to you know when the decision was made, the

also general ray odierno. >>> up next, politico's top stories of the morning. plus, find out which of these stories make the cut in willie's weekend review. >>> but first -- thank you, donny. >> donny, thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm going to wear them too. the shoes, they're beautiful. >> okay. bill karins with the check on the weekend forecast. >> got a nice cat walk up here, joe can do a walk down the cat walk. good morning, everyone. and a special good morning to all of the vets out there. thank you to you. as far as the forecast goes, nice and quiet weather out there. no issues whatsoever. we have snow showers coming off lake erie and areas of pennsylvania and upstate new york. it's a windy morning and it's very chilly in the east after that cold front went through. and windchills cold around the middle of the country too. forecast today for this veterans day, no problems, but it is brisk and cool. and through the middle of the country, the warmup will begin. trouble of travel weather mostly on the west coast, rain today around san francisco, tonight in l.

there was the recommendation made before the committee by the general odierno. recommendations made by general petraeus, recommendations made by even lower ranking of the trees of spent as you mentioned a great deal of time there and did not want to see that service and sacrifice wasted away because of our inability and lack of desire to reach an agreement with the iraqi is. as i said in my statement the iraqis are largely responsible as well. but the fact is as senator lieberman and senator gramm and i were there, the iraqis were ready to deal and what was the administration's response? they didn't have a number of missions last may as to our residual force in iraq. so, as things happen in that country, things fell apart. now, can you tell the committee, general dempsey, if there was any military commander who recommended that we complete the withdrawal from iraq? >> no, senator. none of us recommended we completely withdraw from iraq. >> when did we come up with the numbers of troops that we wanted to remain in iraq? when the final decision was made as to the

general mackenzie would go through general odierno, general support to general dempsey. there is no commander breach at all. i think it is clear. i do not think there is any question that the command authority wants to change. i do not think he wants to change that. -- you do not want to change the title 10 command authority, do you? >> no, it is working well for us. >> is there confusion on the chain of command? >> i have no confusion. >> deerfield the total force integration would be benefited by having a seat at the table? >> it has improved greatly. it can only get better. >> would you be the person who could best advice -- advise on the domestic mission and what the non-federalized units would be able to do, especially in spite -- light of the homeland security issues? is there anyone better qualified than you in your capacity to do that? >> these are all talented gentleman. i think it is my role and responsibility to be that person. >> i would agree with you. >> on the fighter aircraft issue, is it a fair statement that the guard units will be eviscerated when it c

in talking with our commanders, and i ask this question yesterday to general odierno, who has been there for a good frame of time. he basically said, the time has come, the time has come for iraq to take control of its destiny. with our help, it hopefully can be a stable and secure nation in that region of the world. >> thank you very much, secretary panetta. general daunte. >> in june of 2003 i arrived in baghdad to take command of the army's first armored division. i was given responsibility for the city of baghdad. nine months later in april of 2004, our efforts to develop iraqi security forces unable services for the iraqi people and encourage them to take control of their own destiny. this was at risk. our tour of duty was suspended in order to suppress an uprising of shiites in the southern provinces of iraq. over the course of the next few days i went to every division to explain to them why it was important that we remain in iraq for another four months. to their great credit, they recognize the importance of the mission, embraced the challenge, and it with their nation ask them

we have general odierno, chief of staff of the u.s. army.dmiral greenert, general schwartz, and general amos. gentlemen, thank you for being here. i appreciate you being here and before too candid dialogue this morning. general odierno. >> thank you for inviting me here to testify today. i look forward to discussing the future of the army and the potential impact of the budget cuts on future capabilities, readiness, and death. because of a sustained support of this congress and this committee, we are the best trained, best equipped, and best led force in the world today. but as we face an uncertain security environment and fiscal challenges, we know we will probably have to get smaller. but we must maintain our capabilities to maintain a decisive force, if force trusted by the american people to meet our security needs. over the past 10 years, our activities army and national guard and reserve has -- nine dozen soldiers require long-term care. in that time, our soldiers have learned over 14,000 awards for valor to include six medals of honor

but the of the context is for me, more compelling argument about turning to ray odierno and sank i want soldiers from you and i don't care if their active guard or reserve. so i don't know the edge to your question by i am concerned. >> let me just say this guy the utmost confidence in all of you and i know you wouldn't be in the position you were if the orders that were evaluated in any subject fulfill, and i don't anticipate anything different from that. the thing that i observed is truly the guard is the only visible part of our defense department right now that the citizens of this great country connect to. if it wasn't for the guard we wouldn't even know there was a conflict. it's the moms and pops, and's and uncles, brothers and sisters, they get redeployed and we are all there sending them off. our towns, and our state. they come home and we welcome them home. we will cry with them wouldn't have a loss of our loved ones. so they are the fabric of our whole defense system. i think that's why some of us are so passionate about this piece of legislation to have an equal footing. i w

general odierno, is it true that there are requirements, like the trading operations will require for their resources in this constrained budget environment? for example, do you believe that the ongoing range expansion of the jrtc is an initiative, even as the army draws down its mix of units? >> congressman, as we drawdown and as we come out of afghanistan and other places coming it is imperative that we continue to improve the tools of our training program, which is the joint training center and the other, to make them -- so we're able to prepare ourselves for the upcoming threats. what they might be and so we can properly train our soldiers, so this is a very important part of our program. it will be reviewed like everybody else, but it is something that we set a high priority on. as you know, there is already money set aside for land acquisition, and that seems to be moving forward, although it is slower than expected. so you feel that is an important part of the future? >> i believe that this is very important, and they will have a high priority as we do our review of the budget.

he'd already written a popular poem called old odierno site which is what kept the uss constitution the famous ship in boston from going. holmes decided he wanted to be a doctor and in order to get the finest medical education possible, he had to go to paris. not so much because of the medical training in paris was advanced on our terms, but it was infinitely far advanced by the terms of the 19th century and particularly way ahead of american medicine. american medicine was prophetically backward. there were very few medical schools. over half of all the doctors at the united states in the 1830's and 1840's had never been to medical school and a trade with other doctors that had never been to medical school. the harvard medical school have a faculty of about seven. and when they got to paris the brimley medical school of several thousand students being taught by the greatest physicians in france who were the greatest physicians of the world. it was a leading medical center of the world. and to go there in two years they could learn as much or more than they would work in general practic

. >> and general ray odierno. >>> up next, what did we learn today? >> what a beautiful shot. t.j.harper's "amen omen" playing ] we believe doing the right thing never goes unnoticed. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >>> quiet for a minute. quiet for a machine, our i'm going to ask you to leave. >> you know what? >> it just never gets old. snl, a script is ready. >> mr. downey is very happy, is he not? >> i learned that my friends do great work, but operation mind.ucla.edu, help guys like aaron mankin. >> that's a great organization. >> what did you they should? >> i learned -- >> mike, what did you learn? >> i learned for all the boys and girls out there, you don't have to go to the movies or pick up fan sid comic books to learn about what real heroes are about. >> take a