The NDS [National Defense Strategy] addresses this to some degree, sir.

The bridge configuration, because in these instances, some of the personnel involved were cross-decked from one platform to another, and there wasn't an identical configuration, and that may have been part of the problem.

What is the Navy's plan to reduce the average age of its capital equipment?

BSF supports legislative proposals such as Senator Kaine's Military Spouse Employment Act of 2018 which seeks to improve military spouse competitiveness for Federal employment.

I firmly believe that family readiness, and specifically military spouse unemployment, is a military readiness issue.

The readiness of our Armed Forces, and, ultimately, our Nation's security, depends on it.

I believe this is shortsighted, unnecessary, and will further erode morale and trust among our civilian employees.

I want to make sure, as we write the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] 2019, that we take advantage of that deal.

I want to especially thank Senator Ernst. She's a frequent attender of subcommittees.

A high-quality military and civilian workforce must appeal to this Nation's best and brightest young people.

It is interesting, preparing for this hearing today after having gotten the budget deal.

I was the governor when we built the mixing bowl.

What specific actions are you taking to advance the qualification and certification of additive manufacturing?

Support the Military Spouse Employment Act of 2018 introduced by Senator Kaine.

I think we all took a step forward on the readiness issue by the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

If we were able to do it there, with some persistent attention, I think we can do it here, too.

What can you share about the shipyard optimization plans and how the Navy can better assist both our public and private shipyards in completing maintenance in a more timely fashion?

there is no plan to outsource significant amounts of work to the private sector.

Excellent. So that is a shared investment that is being done by both DOD and the local community.

The center of naval power in the world is in Hampton Roads, and we are seeing sea-level rise.

Spouses are facing unemployment rates two to--at least three times higher than the national average.

We will have to make an adjustment, because we are not going to--I do not think we can----

We will be dealing with this and having to factor this into our planning for a very long time.

To what extent would improving capital equipment affect the demand for skilled workers or personnel retention at the shipyards?

I do not believe it is a crisis today, but it is something that I think we as a Nation have to watch over time.