Based on the threat and the risks at sea and our desire to project power and answer the call to execute the core missions of the Navy, is this the fleet that we want, the fleet that we need, or the fleet we can afford?

Arleigh Burke class destroyers will start decommissioning in the mid-late 2020s.

per this plan it seems that the Navy is being realistic in understanding that we have some pretty expensive ships being procured, especially once we get in to FY18-FY32.

We have a documented history of retiring surface combatants early.

Mr. Stackley and VADM Blake, in 1983 and 1988 the U.S. Navy entered into block buys for Nimitz class carriers, buying 2 in '83 and 2 in '88.

Congressman Wittman, thanks.

throughout history, insurgencies have seldom been defeated by foreign forces. Instead, they have been ultimately beaten by indigenous forces.

As a bottom line up front, it is ISAF's assessment that the momentum achieved by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2005 has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in a number of important areas.

Transition, then, is the linchpin of our strategy, not merely the way out.

I will be interested to hear how TRANSCOM is managing these challenges and what efforts are being made to further develop the Northern Distribution Network through central Asia.

the new Yemeni government will need assistance in order to reorganize its military under civilian control and build capacity to deal with critical national security threats.