Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Inhofe
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), today questioned the witnesses at a SASC hearing to consider the nominations of: Franklin Parker to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; Dr. Agnes Schaefer to be Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; Dr. Ravi Chaudhary to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment; and Mr. Frank Calvelli to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration.
Inhofe: Mr. Chaudhary, I believe — and I could be wrong, correct me if I am wrong — that you were the one who was advocating using artificial intelligence on our military personnel to identify toxic communications. Is that correct? Where are you?
Chaudhary: Senator, that is correct.
Inhofe: Okay, well, I think it’s a really horrible idea. Tell me why it’s a good idea.
Chaudhary: Thank you, Senator, for the opportunity to address that article. The intent of the article was to engage in a public discussion on addressing extremism as well as other areas affecting readiness. The article fell short of that, and I regret that. Let me state clearly my feelings on —
Inhofe: Let me do this because I do want to get two other questions to other witnesses. I want to come back to this. So you be thinking of good answer.
Dr. Schaefer, we’re starting to see signs that the Army may have to reduce end strength in order to comply with the administration’s budget cuts. You know, I’m in a very old Army guy, and it seems that since I’ve been here in both the House and the Senate, that the Army’s always the first ones that get cut. So I have a little bias in this. The last time this happened, it was during the Obama administration. The Army cut an average of 20,000 soldiers a year over five years. The Army is basically the same size as it was before September 11. But the threats from Russia and North Korea and others have only grown so we can’t afford this mistake twice. Based on your experience, what are the risks associated with a rapid reduction in Army end strength at this time?
Schaefer: Senator, thank you for this question. This also concerns me. I think that what we’re seeing in Ukraine illustrates the fact that we live in an extremely uncertain world, and the Army is being asked to address a variety of threats. And in order to be able to carry out those multi-domain operations associated with our modernization plans, we need to maintain end strength, and I think decreasing end strength is —
Inhofe: So you would support maintaining end strength, at least where we are today.
Schaefer: That’s correct, and I would, you know, given the new NDS that’s coming out, I think we will need to appropriately calibrate that end strength to these future threats.
Inhofe: Okay. I appreciate that very much.
Mr. Parker, since you last served in the Navy, there have been several preventable major ship collisions, groundings, fires and other incidents. Navy investigations attribute the accidents mostly to personnel-related causes, such as, you know, inadequate manpower or training. The Chief of the Navy Personnel recently testified that the Navy is 5,000 to 6,000 sailors short of manning our ships today. Now you have a background, you’re going to be responsible for some of the things, the problems that we’re faced with right now. What is your assessment of the role manning and training played in these actions? You know, the actions I’m referring to, you know, that we have observed that we are short. So what’s your response to that and how are you going to handle that?
Parker: Senator, I absolutely share your concern with some of the recent incidents that have occurred within the Navy. You know, I believe many of those similar to what the Chief of Naval Personnel said, you know, are attributable to manning issues and other challenges within the force. I understand that the department is working hard to address that. I understand that since the McCain and Fitzgerald collisions, the Navy has assessed 23,000 new Sailors and has moved 10,000 new to the fleet since that time. If confirmed, really focusing on those types of manning issues and related cultural issues. I know there are initiatives such as “get real get better, “which is really focused on assessing where, where the Navy is falling short, and then taking lessons learned from that. I think those types of initiatives are helpful both in terms of the manning piece, but also in terms of operational, ensuring that we learn from our mistakes, and if confirmed, I will support.
Inhofe: Okay, very good. Dr. Chaudhary, I’d like to have you go ahead and finish answering the question that I started out with.
Chaudhary: Thank you, Senator, to continue and provide clarity, the men and women who serve, the vast majority of the men and women who serve, serve with honor, integrity and excellence, and I believe that the Constitutional rights of our men and women who serve should be protected, period. If confirmed, I will work with Secretary Kendall and follow his lead on addressing extremism in the military.
Inhofe: Okay, well, except you’ve already addressed it. We’ve already talked about it in that and I’ve already expressed my feelings about that. Thank you. Mr. Chairman.