What is the evidence that security situation in Afghanistan will be sufficiently improved by 2017 to allow the ANSF to be reduced by 120,000 troops?

With that I would like to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. West).

You know, as you've heard, this issue is really about this: it's about making sure that there's accountability and that there's responsibility at this Nation's most distinguished resting place where our heroes that have defended this…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: At the end of title V, add the following new section: SEC. 5__. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHAIN OF COMMAND FOR ARMY…

We all know the record of problems at Arlington National Cemetery, and we know the current leadership there has made significant progress in fixing that system. But my concern with Arlington is not with the professionals and leaders who…

I'd like to thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for their leadership in moving H.R. 4310, the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, as it overwhelmingly passed the House Armed Services Committee. The provisions of…

Ladies and gentlemen I will call to order the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Armed Services Committee.

I think that is a good point to make sure there is closure there, not just the strategy itself, but how do you hope to accomplish that and maybe have a little longer-term perspective in how that comes to be.

I think the perspectives that you all provide are extraordinarily valuable.

I want to thank you all so much for taking the time out of what I know are busy schedules to help our committee better understand the implications of our 30-year plan for Navy force structure, our defense industrial base and, most…

We have a documented history of retiring surface combatants early.

Mr. Wittman. Mr. Stackley, do we know the estimated per-unit cost of the DDG-51 Flight III?

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

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

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.

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?

Some up here like to argue that we have the smallest Navy since WWI. In reality we now have highly trained, all-volunteer crews that operate the most technologically advanced ships in the world.

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.

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

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.

Can we logically assume that 32 Flight IIA DDGs will be serving for 40 years?

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.

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

The current plan does not appear to stress this consistently.