Lloyd Austin

Clearly, Senator, becoming more efficient is all about saving lives from the Army's perspective.

Army SOF are programmed to grow 3,677 military manpower authorizations from 31,811 to 35,448 between fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2017.

Reductions beyond 490,000 will challenge the Army's ability to meet timelines for current identified requirements and to maintain necessary dwell for units and soldiers, thereby imposing a significant readiness risk to the force and…

The indiscriminate nature of the reductions would not give the Army flexibility to provide a force that is ready to deal with unknown contingencies.

If military personnel funding is sequestered, then we would have to take highly disruptive steps: halt most accessions, stop promotions, end most permanent change-of-station (PCS) moves, and halt discretionary bonuses and pays.

Involuntary separation of military personnel would, for most individuals, result in added costs in fiscal year 2013 because of separation pays, lump sum leave, and PCS moves home.

Without the ability to leverage operational contract support, the Army's effectiveness would be severely compromised.

If we did not have that sword of Damocles hanging over our head, we would be in much better shape.

The Army's goal is to achieve and maintain a dwell time of at least 2 days at home for every day deployed.

The magnitude of these cuts would be catastrophic.

I believe the U.S. Embassy-Baghdad must be fully resourced in order to successfully perform its mission.

The responsible drawdown of forces currently taking place is consistent with the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement.

I think that we have the correct policy now, which is to remove all of our combat troops, from Iraq by the end of this year.

Yes, I would recommend approval for a request for U.S. forces that would mitigate the most significant gaps in Iraqi military capabilities.

How we transition and how we do this will have a long-term impact, I think, on our relationship with the Government of Iraq.

As we try to conduct our responsible drawdown, and by the end of calendar year 2011, what we're trying to do is stand up capability with the Iraqi security forces as efficiently and effectively as possible.

if their leadership is unable to transfer power in a peaceful manner, that would create conditions that would cause us to, perhaps, revert to sectarian behavior.

Conditions in Iraq have improved significantly over the past 3 years.

If confirmed, I would assess the impact of the loss of these resources once I'm on the ground.

Senator Graham, I absolutely do.

We're also working with the State Department to transition what we have that can be reasonably transitioned to them, in order to support their missions beyond 2011.

The key to executing a responsible withdrawal is ensuring that the Iraqi security forces have the capability to provide for their own internal security.

It's important for us to support Iraq and the process that they have for Iraqis to choose the next government.

I think the concept of regular warfare counterinsurgency are keys to the future.

we will be successful in Iraq, we will get the ball into the end zone.