Chuck Hagel

Over the past several decades, the United States and our allies have enjoyed a military capability advantage over any potential adversary.

We have to have that capability ready so that they can do the early testing on that.

The administration looks forward to working with Congress to determine the specific investments that would be funded.

But readiness, capability, and modernization are critically important to the troops who are asked to go in.

Russia needs to withdraw its troops, Crimea is part of Ukraine, and that that issue is not up for debate.

Let the people of Ukraine decide their future.

Congress' voice on this would be very important because this is a huge threat to our people.

We cannot continue to afford to carry infrastructure that we do not need.

The President has been very clear about our support of the people of Ukraine, their independence, and the integrity of their sovereignty.

DOD is in the midst of a comprehensive review of our European infrastructure to create long-term savings by eliminating excess infrastructure.

We think BRAC is a smart position to have.

While U.S. forces are drawn down in Afghanistan, SOF will be reallocated into other theaters.

This consolidation enables the role of the Deputy CMO as the Principal Staff Assistant and Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense for full spectrum oversight on both the OSD and DOD levels of management administration…

If Congress continues to block these requests, even as they slash the overall budget, we will have to consider every tool at our disposal to further reduce infrastructure.

I as secretary of defense couldn't recommend to the president any option nor would any president make a decision to send anyone to war if there was any doubt that our men and women were not ready. We would fail you, we would fail our…

continued sequestration cuts will create a hollow force.

the development and proliferation of more advanced military technologies by other nations means that we are entering an era where American dominance on the seas, in the skies, and in space can no longer be taken for granted.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is recommending massive cuts in military spending, this includes shrinking the U.S. Army to pre-World War II levels and also retiring the A-10 attack jet.

the only way to implement sequestration is to sharply reduce spending on readiness and modernization, which would almost certainly result in a hollow force . . . the resulting force would be too small to fully execute the President's…

The development and proliferation of more advanced military technologies by other nations that means that we are entering an era where American dominance on the seas, in the skies, and in space can no longer be taken for granted.

American dominance in the seas, in the skies, and in space can no longer be taken for granted.

The Department of Defense will need more flexibility, and we will continue to look to Congress as a vital partner in our efforts to realign priorities and address needed reforms in areas like military compensation in order to maximize our…

We are at the conversations with the Russian government on protection of our citizens, of course. If we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate arrangements with the Russians to do this.

full sequestration level funding generates unacceptable levels of risk to our national security.

I lived through the 'hollow force' of the late 1970s, and have no desire to do so again.