What kind of bonuses are you giving?

The bottom line number for the active Army at the time was 484,000. Now, the active force is going down to 450,000.

It is important that we take a step back and assess the current state of our military force and the threats that we face at home and abroad.

Yes, that is---- Exactly right.

Thank you, Mr. President. Very few people know what is actually happening in your life. In order to get help, you have to be willing to openly talk about your issues, and most of us fear being harshly judged--and rightfully so. Trying to…

I mean, that is another frustration, I think---- not just for the taxpayer but certainly for those of us policymakers to feel like you are just loading and duplicating on not really creating the efficiencies.

Should we assess the risks of failing to meet combatant commander demands. These are people on the front lines.

It was not by accident that happened. We knew you were having some challenges there.

if we do not listen to the people that have the knowledge such as you on the expertise and we start setting caps and different things that basically sound politically correct and we can sell them back home, it makes no sense at all because…

Now, to go down to an Army of 450 with increasing commitments... could we sustain 170,000 soldiers overseas for contingency?

I have a hard time explaining why we do this, and it seems to me with a rapidly changing world that our military is not changing with it.

It is important that we protect these investments in the readiness accounts from any misguided cuts.

Why would they plan to retire aircraft in high demand without planning to replace them? I think that is about as straightforward as I can make it.

It seems like you all are only looking at the enlisted operators for the Global Hawk fleet, when the severe shortage of operators are with the Predator and the Reaper.

What we see is--our organization is charged with thinking about future conflict, learning in a focused, sustained, and collaborative manner about the future under our Force 2025 Maneuvers.

Did I understand you earlier saying, General Carlisle, that you were 500 fighter pilots short?

We cannot remain static if the risks are increasing and the security environment is changing.

I do believe that we are increasing risk for modernization as we are talking about here.