while the new Defense Strategic Guidance states that ground forces will not be sized for large-scale stability operations, it also lists 'stability and counterinsurgency operations' as one of the 'primary missions' of the U.S. military.

The United States remains committed to both NATO and Europe.

It is extremely important that we be able to provide the services as these men and women come back.

We absolutely have to maintain the industrial base we have, and the shipyards in your area, the other shipyards we deal with, are extremely important to our ability to respond to the needs that we have.

DOD is taking responsible steps to ensure that the defense industry can support our warfighters' needs.

this budget, if we adopted it, avoids sequestration. It does it because finally they're talking about additional revenues.

The administration has called for renewed attention on the Pacific region and the emerging threats there.

National Guard and Reserve Forces have served faithfully in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and there is no doubt that our Nation would not have been successful without the contribution of these citizen servicemembers.

The Air Force intends to put Eielson in warm status by 2015.

DOD's force structure changes drove both this proposal and the request for BRAC authorization.

wouldn't quickly cutting U.S. troop levels below 68,000 make it harder to clear and hold insurgent havens?

the sequestration process would have significant consequences due to the uncertainty surrounding the process

The across-the-board cuts called for by sequestration would pose unacceptable risk in the execution of operational plans.

Secretary Panetta, aside from the issue of sequestration, do you anticipate that DOD will be asked by this administration to cut defense budgets even deeper than you have proposed?

given that we are still fighting a land war in Afghanistan, coupled with our historical inability to predict the next conflict, on what do you base the conclusion that we will rely more heavily on air and sea capabilities in the future?

The threats to our Nation in cyberspace continue to grow at an alarming rate.

The strategy envisions more elements of the Joint Force postured forward in the Asia-Pacific region.