and what you're finding in terms of i think morale of the -- those unaccompanied tours. because the turnover as i understand it is about 600, 700 service members every month. is that normal? is that what we would anticipate? and what kind of resources are there then and how is that affecting readiness in any way on the base? >> yes, ma'am. congresswoman davis, first off, most of the turnover we see that is occurring out of that 600 to 700 are the lower enlisted grades. which are predominantly there on a one-year assignment. and that, as you can imagine, that constant turnover affects the crew's stability inside the second infantry division so that's something that commander has to deal with. in regard to the number on tour normalization. we have roughly today around 3800 families that are command sponsored. there's another 1700 that were soldiers elected to bring their family member there is that are non-command sponsored. so that's really what we have. we have not achieved the 4,645 as of yet. so, that's why based on the current fiscal environment, i looked at number on

i mean, we were unaccompanied at riyadh for 5 1/2 years. my wife janet was the first spouse to come back in 5 1/2 years. well, guess what? the world doesn't like a void. who filled it? the south koreans and the chinese. and if you want it cheap, go to china. but here's the problem. china wants to be the world's manufacturer and they are doing exceptionally good job of that. what is saudi arabia's problem? jobs. and if you want technology transfer, if you want training and education, if you want to develop your own infrastructure, you're not going to get that from the chinese, you're not going to get it from the south koreans. you will get it from americans. so i repeatedly talk about the value proposition they are offering and if they ever let a competition result in a price competition with the chinese, they are going to lose. if they can present a value proposition that comes with the education and training package where you're going to create an entity that the saudis can run over time and creates an industry there where you're creating

refinance and take advantage of historically low mortgage rates and to move this very large stock of unaccompanied homes, the legacy of the crisis to move that into the rental market there there's a lot of damage and shortages. there are many other things we can do. those seem to be the core of what's happening. part of the first is to give people a chance to face a more sustainable, affordable set of mortgage obligations, we think there's a case in some circumstances for making principal reduction a part of that. we've done that in the programs we run at the treasury. you're seeing a lot of that in the markets as banks and investors make that judgment themselves. it's in their interest to do that. we're working with fannie and freddie and their oversight bodies to make the economic and financial case to them. this will be a useful part of what they're trying to do and would probably improve, certainly improve the overall returns to the tax payers in those companies. the numbers of families that would benefit from that are significant. not overwhelmingly large, but significant. our basic approach

swift arrived unaccompanied looking marvelous. she has plan to attend with a fan battling cancer.e was too sick to make it. they are going -- where they are going? i guess they've got another event that they're headed to oh, this would you her date from last night. he wasn't able to make it. >> it was nice of her to offer to do that. not bad for a married couple to win male and female. >> talented couple. >> "good morning america" fans are going to see a familiar face starting this morning on the anchor desk. >> hi, everyone, i'm katie couric and i'm thrilled to say good morning america. >> and we are thrilled to have you, katie. >> thank you, matt. i mean george. [laughter] >> they're going to have a little bit of fun. couric file filling in for robin roberts. it's couric's back on morning tv since she left the "today" show six years ago now. >> hmm. i'm sure it comes back like riding a bike. sarah palin is going to sit in as co-host. and according to nbc website, she is going to reveal a different side than what viewers have seen before. >> i look forward to seeing which side th

to extend the discussion her och ought and what you are finding in terms of the morale of these unaccompanied tors. the turnover is about 600 or 700 service members every month. is that normal? >> first off, most of the turnover we see that is occurring out of that 600-700 are the lower in listed great. as you imagine, that constant turnover affects the crew stability inside the second division. that is something that the commander has to deal with. in regard to the normalization, we have roughly around 3800 families that are command's sponsored. there are another 1700 s soldiers that are non command's sponsored. that is really what we have. we have not achieve that as of yet. i looked at could we afford more families over there be on the 4645? i determined that is not feasible at this time. >> do you have other concerns that are affecting the quality of life for service members that are there? e do not necessarily see those numbers getting to that level. do you see major differences? >> we have a threat to the north. we have a well stated mission. i have not seen a decline in any morale issu