lieutenant general thomas simmons, vice deputy chief of staff, vice admiral robert, chief of naval personnel, lieutenant, deputy chief of staff of the united states air force, lieutenant general and deputy commandant from reserve marine corps, you are now recognized for five minutes. >> chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, i thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of men and women of united army. transmitted a statement for the record and would like to highlight a few of the points. many of our army is looking to poignant of our ability to fight and win our nation's force. thank you for the fiscal year 2018 initial defense authorization act which authorize the army to grow by 8500 and we appreciate the two-year budget deal which will improve readiness in ensure our formations are filled in the years to come. to build a future army we must recruit a diverse many women of high quality and character and a competitive market as a chairman talked about for only 2417 -year-old in the army and one in eight has a city to enlist in the military. all the army projec