Tom Cotton

Mandating a higher end-strength without increasing funding would mean a hollow force unless you borrowed more money from modernization to pay for readiness.

We cannot send our sons and daughters into combat today without 100 percent confidence in their readiness.

I want to actually touch on something related here about training times.

Just 1 week less to learn to be a repairman for one of those aircraft as opposed to being an operator.

The answer to the question right now, will the Air Force use enlisted personnel to fly the MQ-1/MQ-9, is maybe.

Maybe our society should pay them the respect they deserve then and honor their service and not attach any stigma to what they do since they are keeping us safe in our beds at night.

You need 1,100 to do the mission. You need 300 to build up enough dwell time, for a total of 1,400.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are an increasingly potent resource on the battlefield.

I mean, it works fine if you are an O4 NMI and you live it day in and day out.

Before this Congress considers moving forward with mandates on end strength, we need to consider how we might pay for that to ensure both readiness and modernization.

The Air Force has faced some challenges normalizing the integration of unmanned aircraft into institutional processes.

I hope we do not mirror the B-2 program or the F-22 program in the sense that we actually achieve the number of aircraft we want to since the Air Force and our Nation badly need the B-21 bomber to be a complete success.

I make the comparison and ask the question to highlight the challenges the Air Force has...

The hearing will come to order.

The Director of National Intelligence testified last year that the global threat environment was as severe as he had ever seen it in 45 years.

I have heard a lot from commanders around the world in different combatant commands in the different services about diminishing weapon stockpiles.

If the decision is to proceed with the sole source award for the helicopter replacement program, are you prepared to present this committee with the overwhelming evidence necessary that such an award would actually provide best value to…

Why do you think there is such an unmet demand signal?

Not many examples of something that is more suitable for OCO spending than replenishing rounds. Is there?

What are the Air Force's plans for the five operational C-130H aircraft that were upgraded in the previous AMP program but are currently stored at Little Rock Air Force Base in a non-flying status?

I understand--correct me if I am wrong--that the helicopter will be used both for the ICBM security mission and then for what you might call Washington-centric missions, continuity of government, VIP transport, and so forth.

Your testimony and all other written testimony will be written into the record.

Thank you very much for your service. We appreciate everything you do for our country.

As I understand, the budget tables include no funding for fiscal year 2017. Is that right?

I certainly understand the need for secrecy among many of the programs of our military, as well as our intelligence communities, and highly value those.