Jim Inhofe

You know, the tragedy in Chattanooga was one that we're all--you already expressed your sentiments about that, and we all share your sentiments.

General Dunford has forecasted that next decade will be characterized by small-scale crises in and around coastal areas.

A 980,000 Total Army will be capable of executing the defense strategy outlined in the 2014 QDR at a 'significant' level of risk.

The Army has the capability to build security globally, but ongoing force reductions place a greater strain on that capacity.

I believe that a 1.045M Total Force... could better address an increasingly unpredictable future security environment.

This personnel drawdown supports the President's Fiscal Year 2016 Budget and is part of the Army's effort to rebalance endstrength, readiness, and modernization efforts.

Is this the correct size for our Army given threats around the world and demands for ground forces everywhere?

Yes, the U.S. should be postured to fight two major contingency operations simultaneously.

Readiness is the core requirement, which underpins deterrence of rational opponents.

For the first time in 96 years, they only had one Communist on their Parliament.

Yeah, we--they should have defensive weapons over there.

Yes. If confirmed, I will work with OSD to assess all those factors.

Force protection is a key task for any commander, and there are a wide variety of active and passive measures commanders can employ.

If the Army has the capacity, but not the capability (i.e., skills and readiness) and is not resourced to fix that shortfall before deploying the force, we will have reached an unacceptable level of risk to the force.

Are you also going to have issues with aircraft maintenance manning shortfalls?

Are our pilots getting enough flight hours and training to remain fully combat ready in all the mission areas?

No. Bonuses alone are not enough.

Are bonuses enough to keep our pilots in our military?

It's my understanding that that actually costs more than what was saved during that 3-month period.

We tried something a year ago, when we stood down 17 combat-coded squadrons.

I authored the amendment that raised it from 60 to 65. Maybe we should have put it at 70.

We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo on either side of the Strait, and we support peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences in a manner acceptable on both sides.

The priority for U.S. military assistance to Taiwan is to provide defensive systems and capabilities in order for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capacity.

General Dunford, how do we avoid the same mistake we made in Iraq?

General Dunford, are their benchmarks established to determine if conditions on the ground dictate the time and level of a withdrawal of U.S. forces?