Rob Wittman

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.

Why would we pay an additional $600 million dollars to have the same number of submarines delivered?

Does this plan, in an effort to make the FYDP look good, actually open up taxpayers to paying more in the long run for the same number of ships?

The current plan does not appear to stress this consistently.

Is this right for the National Security of this country, is this right for the Navy, is this right for the Industrial Base?

It seems to me that we continue to push hard decisions outside the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).

Mr. Wittman. Mr. Stackley, I would like to focus on the near-term planning period of the Long-Range Naval Vessel Construction Plan and the Naval Battle Force Inventory.

In your 37 years of service have you ever seen more capable and combat ready surface combatants that we have in the fleet today?

Is this in the best interest of national security, not just based on today's needs but what we project out into the future?

Congressman Wittman, thanks.

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

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.

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.

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.

I think you are being asked to do an awful lot with a lot less.

With China's rapid military modernization, do you see the United States entering into a Cold War-type scenario with China in the coming years?

In my opinion you are being asked to do more with a lot less.

In attempting to build these partnerships, how are AFRICOM and U.S. military efforts in Africa perceived by Africans and by other foreign countries, including China?

General, East Africa remains a key operating and training area for Al Qaeda associates, and specifically, the Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab.

We need all the jobs we can get, and we need to keep the revenue that is being generated there.

How does the Army plan to streamline its capabilities to respond to the threats of the future?

What incentives is the Army utilizing in order to attract and keep our best, brightest, and most experienced Soldiers to the Reserve force as they transition out of the Active Duty Component?

The strategy to shift our focus towards the Asia-Pacific demands that marines not only go back to their roots of amphibious warfare

The status of the amphibious fleet concerns me, especially with our strategic shift to the Asia Pacific.