[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.A.S.C. No. 118-19]
HEARING
ON
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024
AND
OVERSIGHT OF PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED PROGRAMS
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS
meeting jointly with
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEAPOWER AND PROJECTION FORCES
of the
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON
POSTURE AND READINESS OF THE MOBILITY ENTERPRISE--
TRANSCOM AND MARAD
__________
HEARING HELD
MARCH 28, 2023
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
52-876 WASHINGTON : 2024
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS
MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida, Chairman
JOE WILSON, South Carolina JOHN GARAMENDI, California
AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
BRAD FINSTAD, Minnesota GABE VASQUEZ, New Mexico
DALE W. STRONG, Alabama JILL N. TOKUDA, Hawaii
JENNIFER A. KIGGANS, Virginia DONALD G. DAVIS, North Carolina
JAMES C. MOYLAN, Guam MARC VEASEY, Texas
Kyle Noyes, Professional Staff Member
Sapna Sharma, Professional Staff Member
Ethan Pelissier, Clerk
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEAPOWER AND PROJECTION FORCES
TRENT KELLY, Mississippi, Chairman
ROBERT J. WITTMAN, Virginia JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee JOHN GARAMENDI, California
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey
JACK BERGMAN, Michigan JARED F. GOLDEN, Maine
MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana SARA JACOBS, California
RONNY JACKSON, Texas CHRISTOPHER R. DELUZIO,
NANCY MACE, South Carolina Pennsylvania
JENNIFER A. KIGGANS, Virginia JIMMY PANETTA, California
MARK ALFORD, Missouri Vacancy
Kyle Noyes, Professional Staff Member
Sapna Sharma, Professional Staff Member
Ethan Pelissier, Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Page
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Courtney, Hon. Joe, a Representative from Connecticut, Ranking
Member, Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces......... 4
Davis, Hon. Don, a Representative from North Carolina, Vice-
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Readiness...................... 2
Kelly, Hon. Trent, a Representative from Mississippi, Chairman,
Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces................. 3
Waltz, Hon. Michael, a Representative from Florida, Chairman,
Subcommittee on Readiness...................................... 1
WITNESSES
Van Ovost, Gen Jacqueline D., USAF, Commander, U.S.
Transportation Command......................................... 6
Phillips, RDML Ann C., USN (Ret.), Administrator, Maritime
Administration................................................. 7
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Kelly, Hon. Trent............................................ 43
Phillips, RDML Ann C......................................... 65
Van Ovost, Gen Jacqueline D.................................. 44
Waltz, Hon. Michael.......................................... 41
Documents Submitted for the Record:
[There were no Documents submitted.]
Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:
Mr. Gimenez.................................................. 77
Mrs. Kiggans................................................. 77
Mr. Moylan................................................... 77
Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:
Mr. Bergman.................................................. 86
Mr. Gallagher................................................ 85
Mr. Scott.................................................... 82
Mr. Wittman.................................................. 81
.
POSTURE AND READINESS OF THE MOBILITY ENTERPRISE--TRANSCOM AND MARAD
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House of Representatives,
Committee on Armed Services,
Subcommittee on Readiness, Meeting Jointly with the
Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces,
Washington, DC, Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
The subcommittees met, pursuant to call, at 9:59 a.m., in
room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Michael Waltz
(chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness) presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL WALTZ, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
FLORIDA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS
Mr. Waltz. I call to order this hearing of the Readiness
and Seapower and Projection Forces--Seapower and Projection
Forces Subcommittees on Posture and Readiness of the Mobility
Enterprise.
I ask unanimous consent that the Chair be authorized to
declare a recess at any time. Without objection, so ordered.
Good morning and welcome to our joint hearing on the
posture of our mobility enterprise. I think this is probably
one of the most important hearings that we will have this
posture season. I want to thank you, especially to our
witnesses for participating today. I look forward to your
testimony.
And the reason amongst many that I feel that this is so
important is the Indo-Pacific as a priority theater. We've all
talked many times, and I don't think we can ever fully
appreciate the tyranny of distance that will strain our
platforms, our people, our material, our fuel laydown, all of
the things that support the mobility enterprise. And we will
face struggles on all of these fronts.
With the pending closure of Red Hill in Hawaii, we are--we
are forced to examine our fuel laydown across the Indo-Pacific
and across other COCOM [combatant commands] areas of
responsibility. Congress designated TRANSCOM [U.S.
Transportation Command] as the DOD [Department of Defense]
executive agent for our bulk fuel management. And will serve--
TRANSCOM will serve an important role in moving that fuel
forward to support our strategic operations.
Moving fuel in particular for air operations is a strategic
capability that cannot be neglected. Replacing our aging
airlift and air refueling platforms is complicated. We have
struggled, frankly, in some areas. We must ensure availability
of legacy platforms until their replacements reach full
operational capability.
And for that reason, Congress has established statutory
minimums for both the airlift and air refueling fleets to
ensure we have needed capacity.
Our MARAD [Maritime Administration] and Military Sealift
Command fleets are also in a similar state. Recapitalization of
our Sealift fleet that will rely--that we will rely on to carry
ground platforms and material into theater is a pressing issue.
Crewing these vessels is also a great concern. We have a
significant shortage of credentialed mariners that, combined
with an incredibly poor and concerning state of our vessels,
have resulted in a less than impressive, and that's an
understatement, less than impressive readiness rates during
recent exercises.
We will also rely on this same pool of credentialed
mariners to crew commercial vessels in the Maritime Security
Program and the Tanker Security Program.
We have a tough road ahead, and I look forward to hearing
how MARAD plans to administer these important programs and
bolster the number of credentialed mariners. I would also like
to highlight an important issue for our sevice members.
TRANSCOM administers the Defense Personnel Property Program
that moves and stores service members' household goods during
their change-of-station moves. We ask so much of our military
members, and we ask even more of their families.
And General Van Ovost, we've had many conversations about
reducing the stress on our family members as they're--as
they're moving. I look forward to hearing you address those
program changes today.
I remain concerned about a single point of failure and
having one prime contractor in the new global household goods
contract and will continue to emphasize that oversight from
both TRANSCOM and Congress will be an important part of the--of
implementing that program.
In closing, our ability to execute logistical functions in
a contested environment will define our ability to succeed in
any future strategic competition. We are seeing today a global
lesson on the failure of logistics with Russia--with the
Russian military in Ukraine.
We must get this right, and we must ensure that we can
move, sustain, and fuel U.S. forces to meet any scenario.
With that, I look forward to hearing whether the fiscal
year 2024 budget meets--request meets that task. And I yield to
the ranking member.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Waltz can be found in the
Appendix on page 41.]
STATEMENT OF HON. DON DAVIS, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTH
CAROLINA, VICE-RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS
Mr. Davis. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, Chairman Waltz.
It's an honor to be here today as Vice Ranking Member.
General Van Ovost, it was great meeting you this past Friday as
a fellow grad as well. And Admiral Phillips, thank you for
coming before our committee to discuss the important work for
the Maritime Administration.
Strategic Mobility has always been a strength of the United
States unmatched by any adversary. TRANSCOM has the unique
ability to work across combatant commands or services, the
private sector, and our allies to achieve both military and
diplomatic goals of the United States.
Most recently, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
TRANSCOM has transported equipment, artillery, armor, troops,
and other aid that has made a critical difference for
Ukrainians fighting against Russian aggression.
But despite having unparalleled capabilities and strategic
mobility, China and Russia are catching up, not just in the
Indo-Pacific Command theater, but in Southern Command, in
Africa Command as well. Russia and China have done much to
expand cyber and anti-access area denial capabilities, along
with expanding the geopolitical influence across the globe.
And at this critical time, our airlift, sealift, and air
refueling capabilities are aging, and we're critically short on
civilian mariners. Now more than ever, it is critical that
TRANSCOM and MARAD have the resources they need to ensure we
retain our advantage.
I look forward to hearing your views on how we can ensure
our mobility enterprise remains unmatched across the globe.
With that, Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Mr. Davis. And now I yield to
Chairman Kelly for his opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TRENT KELLY, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
MISSISSIPPI, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEAPOWER
Mr. Kelly. Chairman Waltz, thank you for your leadership in
leading this morning's posture hearing.
Today we'll hear from two leaders who are experts in their
fields. I thank you both for your service to the nation.
TRANSCOM's charter is to project and sustain combat power
whenever and wherever our nation chooses. As I think on that
problem set and the multiple adversaries we face, it is a
daunting challenge and deserving of congressional support.
Conflicts are won or lost primarily because of logistics.
We need to look no further than Russia's recent logistical
blunders to prove this point. Notably, TRANSCOM's
accomplishment supporting Ukraine war and the earthquakes in
Turkey and Spain have been amazing and done in addition to
their day job.
TRANSCOM has also assumed the role of Department of Defense
single manager for global bulk fuel management and delivery.
This mission represents a different approach to managing bulk
fuel, and I look forward to hearing how it is going.
I remain concerned with our aging sealift and air refueling
fleet. This year's budget increase includes money to purchase
two additional sealift assets, but the fleet remains on average
too old. This is especially critical because, as Mr. Waltz or
Chairman Waltz mentioned, recent exercises with these reserve
fleets were concerning.
MARAD is also an organization punching above their weight.
We are happy with the success of the Tanker Security Program
and would like to hear your thoughts on the increasing
capacity.
Inter and intra theater mobility will be key to sustainment
in the INDOPACOM [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] area of
responsibility. And the ten ships in the program are just the
tip of the iceberg. We need to be prioritizing this capability
today.
Finally, I'm concerned with Merchant Mariners' readiness
and how we can increase the pool of credentialed mariners. And
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about recruitment and
retention.
The fiscal year 2024 budget request for TRANSCOM and MARAD
show us the problem is not getting easier. I want to thank our
witnesses in advance for their time today. I look forward to
continuing to work with you during the 118th Congress to assure
that we are appropriately postured to meet and defeat the
threats posed by our adversaries.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kelly can be found in the
Appendix on page 43.]
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, and now I yield to Ranking Member
Courtney.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOE COURTNEY, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
CONNECTICUT, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEAPOWER
Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Chairman Waltz. And thank you,
Chairman Kelly, and my good friend the vice-ranking member, Mr.
Davis, in terms of your opening remarks.
Again, I think Mr. Waltz stated it on target where he said
that, you know, today it's all about the logistics of airlift
and sealift, particularly when we're talking about a part of
the world that is as vast as the Indo-Pacific region, where
supply lines are going to be severely tested.
And we have two great witnesses here today. To quote Omar
Bradley, ``Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk
logistics.'' We have two ultimate and you know total
professionals here to share their thoughts in terms of their
critical agencies in terms of how we solve this problem.
I would note that, you know, these two committees have in
my opinion a very strong record over the last 6 years in terms
of addressing issues like the Tanker Security Program, which
did not exist prior to 2020.
It was actually authorization language that came out of the
Seapower Mark that year, which was like crawling over broken
glass getting it through the Senate, but we did it.
And we also got a matching appropriation last year, so that
we now actually have real funds so that, again, MARAD can go
out and solicit providers.
In my mind, that is Congress at its best, following its
duty under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 13, of the Congress--of
the Constitution, which states that Congress shall provide and
maintain a navy.
Again, that TSP [Tanker Security Program] started right
here. And as Mr. Kelly said, you know, we really should be
looking for ways to size it up further in this year's fiscal
year 2024.
I would note that the other sort of issue, which again,
others have alluded to, is the aging maritime fleet, which
again is, we have heard all the statistics. You know, over 50
years old, you know, we've had issues even with delivery of
supplies to Ukraine in terms of breakdowns because of some of
the fleet there. And you know, it just screams out for action.
I am disappointed, I have to tell you, having read both
your testimony, about the fact that in my opinion, one of the
most promising made in America programs was barely mentioned,
which again, originated in these two committees, is being
administered by MARAD. It's the Maritime Training Ship Multi-
mission Vessel, which is now underway in the Philly
[Philadelphia] Shipyard.
Again, these are 525-foot ships that displace 19,000 tons
that, again, will be there to train our future maritime
officers, which is, again, something that we must do.
But it is multi-mission. If an emergency happens, those
boats can be converted into emergency delivery, whether it's
first responders or whether it's military, equipment or
personnel. And this program, again, at a time when the
commercial tonnage in this country has just almost disappeared
shows that we can do it in this country.
Again, the Empire State is going to be launched later this
summer. And there is four right in sequence after it. I would
encourage all of the members to take a quick trip up to the
Philly Shipyard. It was almost down to 20 workers when this
program started, it's 2,000 today.
And the fact is, is they can take on more after they are
done with this maritime training ship procurement, which is to
basically have a made in America sealift. We do not need to be
buying ships overseas on the used market. When do we learn the
lesson of COVID [coronavirus disease 2019] that international
supply chains cannot be relied on in terms of price or
accessibility?
And we need to bring back the commercial and shipyard
sector in this country. And we showed with this program that
actually, we can do it.
So again, I, as I said, there was one bare mention of this
program, even though MARAD is, in my opinion, the hero here in
terms of executing this program. And the fact is it should show
us a model for how we try to solve the very serious problems
which Chairman Waltz started.
And I apologize for going on here, but again, we have work
to do. And the fact, the good news is, it's not hopeless. We
can do it.
And with that, I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. No apologies needed, Mr. Courtney. I think the
last briefing I received, there were over 50,000 Chinese
flagged vessels and now less than 5,000 U.S.
So this is a strategic vulnerability, and I look forward to
all of us working together on--it shouldn't be such a hard push
to get our domestic shipbuilding back to where it needs to be
and how the commercial drives the national security.
So again, I'd like to thank our witnesses for their time
and for joining us. Today we're joined by General Van Ovost,
Commander of Transportation Command; Rear Admiral Phillips,
Administrator of MARAD.
And now I would like to recognize General Van Ovost for her
opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF GEN JACQUELINE D. VAN OVOST, USAF, COMMANDER OF
U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND
General Van Ovost. Thank you, Chairman Waltz, Chairman
Kelly, Vice-Ranking Member Davis, and Ranking Member Courtney,
distinguished members of the committees.
Good morning, it's my honor to join you today with my
senior enlisted leader, Fleet Master Chief Donald Myrick, to
represent the men and women of the United States Transportation
Command as we defend the nation, take care of our people, and
succeed through teamwork.
I'm extremely proud of our team of logistics professionals
who lead the joint deployment and distribution enterprise,
continually exceed expectations, and ensure hope, deterrence,
and victory are assured as we contribute to our nation's
defense.
From competition to crisis, the entire enterprise proudly
delivers for our nation, our allies, and our partners. We know
our success in the European theater and beyond would not be
possible without the steadfast support of these committees and
the whole of Congress.
To maintain the unrivaled strategic advantage to project
and sustain the joint force over global distances, through
natural disasters, pandemics, conflicts, peace, and war, while
defending the homeland, we must preserve our logistical
dominance. Our organic fleet, along with our commercial
transportation partners, must continue to present credible
deterrence and requires proactive efforts to recapitalize and
modernize. My highest concerns lie in the reductions in
capacity and readiness in both sealift and air refueling.
We are a generation late in recapitalizing a ready sealift
fleet to meet our national objectives. The average age of the
44 roll-on, roll-off ships that we use to surge from the
continental United States is 44 years old. In fact, 17 of these
44 ships are 50 years or older.
TRANSCOM supports the Navy strategy to acquire used sealift
vessels from the commercial market and further requests to
provide the Secretary of Defense discretionary authority to
purchase foreign-built used ships under favorable market
conditions and without limitation on number.
I greatly appreciate your support for stabilized funding
towards our sealift recapitalization effort, and I'm heartened
by the current progress on the first five ships.
We've also taken steps to address the Department's
shortfall in meeting wartime fuel delivery demands and the
vulnerable position of continued reliance on the use of
foreign-flagged, foreign-crewed tanker vessels.
We are working with MARAD to implement the Tanker Security
Program, which would provide assured access to the U.S.-flagged
tankers and begin to reduce risk in sealift tanker capacity.
In addition to the Tanker Security Program, we fully
support the Maritime Security Program, the Jones Act, and cargo
preference laws that all work together to ensure we have the
necessary U.S.-flagged capability and U.S. mariners during
peacetime, and ready to move sensitive defense materials during
a national emergency.
In every domain, American workers are critical to joint
force transportation and logistics. In particular, maritime
stakeholders have been experiencing challenges with recruiting
and retaining mariners. We support MARAD and industry efforts
to identify strategies that address the mariner shortage and
ensure their readiness.
In the air, the air refueling fleet is the backbone of
rapid global mobility and our most stressed capability.
TRANSCOM supports the Air Force's continued efforts towards
focused modernization of the fleet, uninterrupted tanker
recapitalization, and accelerated pursuit of the next
generation air refueling system to ensure our capacity and
readiness remains credible to cover simultaneous global
requirements.
Future operations will also require high degrees of battle
space awareness and leveraging data to align scarce mobility
resources with the greatest strategic need. Integration into
battle networks, resourcing cryptographic modernization, cyber
security, and ensuring resilient position navigation and timing
are among my top priorities.
And just as we are engaged globally in supporting DOD
operations, the global household good contract is our flagship
transformational effort and will bring accountability that does
not exist in the current program of dispersed vendors. We owe
it to our members and their families to ensure that they have
the best relocation experience we can provide.
I'm honored to join Rear Admiral Phillips, U.S. Navy
Retired, and thank her for her 30-plus years of service to our
country and her commitment to our nation's security. I'd like
to thank you once again for your leadership and the support you
provide our workforce.
I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of General Van Ovost can be found
in the Appendix on page 44.]
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, General Van Ovost.
Rear Admiral Phillips, your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF RDML ANN C. PHILLIPS, USN (RET.), ADMINISTRATOR,
MARITIME ADMINISTRATION
Admiral Phillips. Chairman Waltz, Chairman Kelly, Ranking
Member Courtney, Ranking Member Garamendi, Vice-Ranking Member
Davis, members of the Subcommittee, thank you for your
tremendous support for the Maritime Administration, including
our Ready Reserve force, the Merchant Marine Academy, and the
U.S. maritime industry. And thank you for the opportunity to
testify before you today.
As a retired U.S. Navy admiral with more than 30 years of
military service, I knew before becoming the Maritime
Administrator how critical our merchant marine and our entire
maritime industry are to our national defense, as well as our
economy.
Now, having led the great MARAD team for just under a year,
I can tell you this agency is meeting many historic moments as
we work to promote the merchant marine and strengthen all
facets of the maritime industry.
We are administering a once-in-a-generation investment in
our nation's ports and waterways made possible by the
President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. We are working to
advance culture change throughout the merchant marine. We are
advancing long-overdue recapitalization of our aging Ready
Reserve force.
Let me begin by discussing the Ready Reserve, an area of
our focus today. America's strategic sealift enables our nation
to protect power globally, including through congested
environments whenever activated by U.S. Transportation Command,
led by General Jacqueline Van Ovost. I am honored to join you
with her here today.
The Ready Reserve is a fleet of 45 vessels with an average
age of more than 45 years. It will grow to more than 50 vessels
after a planned transfer of additional vessels for the military
sealift command is complete later this year. MARAD will then be
the single sealift surge provider.
The President's fiscal year 2024 budget requests 809.6
million from DOD budgetary authority for MARAD to acquire,
upgrade, and maintain the Ready Reserve.
Due to the advancing age of these ships, I will tell you
that sustaining safety, material condition, regulatory
compliance, and the challenges of equipment, parts delays, and
increased scope of needed repairs, including steel work make
repairing these ships difficult and challenging.
MARAD is working to implement our recapitalization, and in
March 2022, for the first time in nearly 30 years, we announced
the purchase of two vessels, which will add more than 360,000
square feet of military cargo capacity.
Earlier this year, DOD transmitted to Congress our intent
to purchase three more ships with three flagging an entry to
the Ready Reserve beginning in April 2023. But this is just the
start of needed overall recapitalization.
In addition, MARAD provides ships from the National Defense
Reserves Fleet as training vessels for the six State maritime
academies. We are working to replace these training vessels
with new vessels that will meet the needs of academies and
provide training for mariner workforce.
There are now four NSMVs [National Security Multi-Mission
Vessels] under construction, and the first ship, the Empire
State, is launched. We anticipate taking delivery of her later
this year.
MARAD's fiscal year 2024 budget requests full authorization
of 318 million for 60 vessels enrolled in the Maritime Security
Program and further requests 60 million at the authorized level
for the Tanker Security Program.
As promised, MARAD issued the interim final rule for the
Tanker Security Program last year, and anticipate announcing
the first ten vessels selected for enrollment soon. The
initiative will also create new employment for approximately
500 U.S. mariners.
Last fall I hosted a summit with industry and Federal
stakeholders to discuss the mariners shortfall, and we will
continue to work with our partners to help grow and strengthen
the mariner pool.
On that front, one thing is clear: everyone in this
industry must continue the critical effort to ensure mariner
work environments are safe and that the maritime industry is a
place where mariners can succeed on the basis of their
professionalism and skill.
In support of that effort, the President's fiscal year 2024
request will also enable MARAD to continue to address urgent
and longstanding challenges at the Merchant Marine Academy,
including implementing the many new authorities and
responsibilities provided in the fiscal year 2023 NDAA
[National Defense Authorization Act].
Specifically, funding will enable us to continue our work
implementing the Every Mariner Builds a Respectful Culture
Program [EMBARC] and help meet the Academy's extensive facility
maintenance and repair needs.
As you know, MARAD established the EMBARC program in
December 2021 to help prevent sexual assault and harassment
during the Sea Year Program, to support survivors, strengthen a
culture of accountability, and improve safety for all mariners.
Now, thanks to the fiscal year 2023 NDAA, commercially
operated vessels must by law comply with sexual assault and
harassment prevention and response standards set by MARAD
before they can train Academy cadets. MARAD is working as
quickly as possible to develop an EMBARC rule pursuant to the
NDAA.
I note that today there are 16 commercial operators
enrolled in EMBARC, and together they operate more than 140
vessels.
Thank you for the opportunity to present and discuss the
President's budget for MARAD, and I look forward to any
questions you and the members of the Subcommittee may have.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Rear Admiral Phillips can be
found in the Appendix on page 65.]
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Administrator. Thank you both for
your testimony. I now recognize myself for questions.
General Van Ovost, we had a number of conversations about
global household goods and that transition. I continue to hear
from the moving industry, and I'm trying to figure out where
this disconnect is from your assurance and that I've received
from you and your team and the concerns that I'm hearing about
the transition risk to this program for military moves.
I've heard from, including just as recently as yesterday,
from numerous moving service providers that they can't plan for
what their work share is going to be over the next year. That
they don't have agreements in place with the prime contractor.
That they don't have pricing in place so that they can budget.
And I talked to one van line that is going to just walk
away from doing business with the government. So how are you--
how are you considering, and this is--I know we've had
conversations, but I think it's important to get out there for
the public record, the capacity of the moving industry in its
planning phases for global household goods is one question.
And then two, you know, I know we've talked about you
running the old program and the new program in parallel, and
you've assured me you will hit the brakes on the new program
if--if things aren't moving as they--as they need to move and
they aren't transitioning. But I think what we're missing is I
don't know that there's going to be anybody left in that old
program and any backup plan to go to.
So how are you--how are you planning for that loss of
capacity in the--in the moving industry that is just shifting
rapidly over to the private sector and away from government
moves?
General Van Ovost. Thank you for the question. As you know,
there's no more important program for our family members, and
so we absolutely have to make sure we get this right. Which is
why we have extensive oversight. In fact, as HomeSafe has come
on, as you know in November we were given the green light and
we're moving forward.
They started here in March. Their campaign to go to
regional areas and start to explain the implementation plan,
their framework and how they're going to move forward.
We are dealing with the final rates right now, not just for
HomeSafe, but as you mentioned, the Tender of Service Program,
where we have those 900 tenders, is going to continue on, and
we're going to work it in parallel. In other words, as we bring
up HomeSafe, we're going to start to dial back the current
Tender of Service Program.
Our rates for the Tender of Service Program come out
traditionally about now, I believe in the next few weeks it'll
come out. And that will be about the same time you'll probably
see it with HomeSafe as well. So that we--they have this
understanding of--and so HomeSafe will be able to provide them
the full plan.
They've provided the framework in how this is going to
work, but they'll be able to do the final deals coming up here
as the rates come out.
So you know, I am not aware of people shying away from
being part of this capacity. You know, anecdotally, the rollout
seems to be going okay. We are at all of those events. In fact,
we talk daily with HomeSafe on their ability to gain the
capacity and to move forward. We are working on the IT
[information technology], we're working on the claims front----
Mr. Waltz. General, just--sorry, sorry, just for the sake
of getting to other members. I would just encourage you to talk
directly to some of these lower tiers. Again, I'm trying to
level-set the disconnect.
But what they're saying is they're hearing a lot of
conceptual frameworks and concepts, but you know, the rubber--
having run a business, the rubber meets the road when they need
to sharpen their pencils and figure out if this still makes
sense for their company as a sub.
General Van Ovost. No, I understand.
Mr. Waltz. So I would just encourage you to reach out
directly.
And Admiral Phillips, can we just talk a minute about the--
the mariner shortage. Do you have--have we had--if the balloon
went up for some type of global contingency and we had to send
out the Ready Reserve fleet, could you staff even 50 ships?
Could you, with the growth from 45 to 50, could you staff all
of those ships with mariners today?
Because we're pulling from the same pool of credentialed
mariners to crew both the sealift fleet and any commercial
vessels needed for future large-scale military operations. Are
you confident all of those ships will be manned?
Admiral Phillips. Mr. Chairman, thank you for that
question. I am not confident all those ships would be manned. I
think I should be extremely straightforward there. We know we
have a marine shortfall.
The last numbers we have predate COVID. They are an
estimated 1800 in an uncontested environment over a 6 month
cycle of activating the Ready Reserve.
As you state, we're competing with active ships, we're
competing with our U.S. flag vessels, our 85 internationally
trading, privately owned foreign trading vessels.
And the merchant marine and the Ready Reserve force are
aging vessels. That means there are skill sets required to
operate some of them, those remaining that are steam, as an
example, that not a lot of mariners have right now.
I will add that one of our biggest challenges is
understanding exactly, as you point out, who do we have, what
qualifications do they have, and will they sail. So therein
lies our large challenge.
As mentioned in my testimony, I have convened last fall 75
stakeholders to talk about what we wanted to do about this
across industry and labor. We settled on four lines of effort:
recruit, train, retain, and reduce barriers. And we are working
in----
Mr. Waltz. I find that----
Admiral Phillips. ----Sectors to try to make a difference.
Mr. Waltz. Everyone here should find that incredibly
alarming. That is a red star cluster. That is a blinking red
light. First of all, I don't know that all the ships would even
sail, frankly, and according to some exercises. And yet we
don't have the mariners.
So can you just--I don't want to take up too much time, but
I think it's an incredibly important issue. We've gone from the
first Gulf War at about 400 ships now to 40, and now we can't
even staff the 40. And these are the ships we need to move our
ground forces all over the world.
Specifically, how are you going to rely on private
providers and how can we help you with private providers, in
addition to the academies, produce more mariners in this
country?
Admiral Phillips. So thank you for that question also, Mr.
Chairman. As you know, we have a Centers of Excellence Program
within the Maritime Administration where we may designate
institutions that train mariners at Centers of Excellence.
In the 2023 NDAA, we received an authorization to support a
grant program by which we could provide them perhaps additional
capacity. We would have to develop and design that program.
Unfortunately, that program was not appropriated, there was no
money put against it.
So we are able to designate Centers of Excellence. However,
we can't provide them any additional funding at this point in
time.
I would also add that we work closely with labor, with the
union schools, both licensed and unlicensed. They are certainly
intent on expanding their capacity. And I would add that in
order for them to do that, we have to have ships for those
mariners to sail on.
Because it's incumbent upon having a flow of mariners, a
pull of mariners, and a consistent need to be able to justify
to people why they want to come into this community and into
this industry, and why they want to stay there.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Admiral Phillips. Ranking Member--
Ranking Member Davis.
Mr. Davis. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
And I would always recognize our great leader, our ranking
member. So, always great to see you, sir.
General Van Ovost, I have a question I would like to start
out with today. We've seen the impact of years of under-
resourcing sustainment across the jurisdiction of the Readiness
Subcommittee. This is affecting every military department and
it trickles down to our soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
Can you please describe to us how the lack of resources
towards air and ship sustainment affects TRANSCOM?
General Van Ovost. Thank you for that question. Readiness
is--we demonstrate readiness every day around the globe in all
of our operations as recently as Ukraine and in earthquake
relief. But I am concerned about long-term readiness.
Our ability to ensure that all of our fleets can meet their
mission-capable or availability rates and the consistent under-
funding does erode.
So what we absolutely require to ensure our readiness into
the future is a consistent funding, a budget on time, because a
CR, a continuing resolution, is one of the ways it absolutely
erodes our capabilities and our ability to do new starts and to
develop modernization and implement modernization programs that
will ensure our capacity is credible out into the future.
So I would ask for the budget to be on time and for your
support of continued readiness fundings throughout all the
services for our equipment.
Mr. Davis. Okay. And General Van Ovost, as China and Russia
have expanded cyber in anti-access area denial capabilities,
what concerns does TRANSCOM have regarding Chinese or Russian
investments in ports and the potential limitation those impose
on TRANSCOM's options for providing strategic lift into
theater?
General Van Ovost. Thank you for that question. Cyber
operations pose, you know, significant threats to logistics.
They target vulnerable supply chains. They go after our command
and control structure.
And their ability to disrupt, delay, or even deny our
ability to move around the globe is a serious concern from the
cyber perspective. So we're doing a lot of work, both on the
military side and with our commercial partners, to ensure we
have cyber security and we're hardened from those elements.
Mr. Davis. And how is TRANSCOM planning to ensure key
logistics nodes remain active and resilient in a contested
environment? And in a contested environment, what efforts has
TRANSCOM made with combating--commands to identify alternate
ports of disembarkation?
General Van Ovost. Yeah, the alternative points, resilience
in our ports, in our nodes, for the full network, our lines of
communication. Things like posture, both for fuel on the water
as well as fuel distribution points. And pre-positioned storage
forward and storage forward and distributed locations where
it's not a target are the one--some of the many things we're
doing with posture.
Of course we could not project and sustain a joint force
without our allies and partners, which provide us that access-
basing and overflight and opportunities to enter into
agreements where we'll be able to forward-provision. In other
words, provide other ways to get support to our forces forward.
And I would also want to be reluctant to mention that we
couldn't also do this without our commercial partners, our
airlift and sealift partners around the globe that ensure that
not just our networks and allies' and partners' networks are
resilient, but their networks are as well.
Mr. Davis. Thank you. Mr. Chair, yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you. Chairman Kelly.
Mr. Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
General, first I just want to say we need to continue the
trend in the right direction that we have right now, which
means more newer operational ships and planes in our fleet that
are manned by crews that are capable of carrying out those
duties.
And I kind of go back to Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams
when he said build it and they will come. If we don't have
ships that are operational, I can assure you we will not have
mariners to man those ships. So I think those things go hand in
hand.
And General Van Ovost, in your statement, you identify the
inventory of 466 total air-refueling aircraft as sufficient,
but at an elevated risk. Should the Air Force increase the
total number of tankers in its inventory?
General Van Ovost. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you know,
you know, air refueling is absolutely critical to our ability
to rapidly deploy forces around the globe. And it's really
foundational, and it is our asymmetric advantage. So we want to
be able to preserve that capacity, which also means we have to
preserve the readiness.
So when we have found that our assessment against the
National Defense Strategy makes the 466 total inventory
sufficient at an elevated level of risk, I am concerned about
the readiness of this aging fleet.
And I'm fully supportive of the Air Force plan to
accelerate a next-generation air refueling system so that we
can develop a system that can operate in these highly contested
environments.
Meanwhile, continue an uninterrupted recapitalization of
the KC-135 refueler. And then targeted modernization to ensure
that airplane, when we get the last KC-46 right now that's on
contract, those airplanes will be 67 years old and we'll have
287 of them.
So we got to make sure that they're credible and they are
ready. So their readiness, modernization, and ability to see
the battle space on board and secure connections. Some very
targeted capabilities that can ensure our capability in the
future.
Mr. Kelly. Thank you. And Rear Admiral Phillips, can you
preview the timeline and next steps for the Tanker Security
Program?
Admiral Phillips. Yes, sir, thank you for that question. We
expect to be able to announce the next ten vessels very
shortly. We anticipate we'll be able to announce them. We look
forward to doing that.
As you are aware, we owe our report after the--as a result
of the 2023 NDAA that will help outline how we want to move
forward with the program, particularly in the context of how we
will man the program, train mariners to support the console
needs and deploy and implement the console needs and
requirements for this program.
You're also aware we have an authorization to go to 20
ships in 2024. We anticipate being able to do that, and we in
our budget request believe that we will have funding to be able
to support 20 ships based on existing funding for the 2020--the
year 2024. After that, we will need funding that would need--
that would support maintaining a 20-ship fleet at this point in
time.
Mr. Kelly. And General Van Ovost, just real quickly, I
think you talked a little bit how you envision addressing the
requirements for transporting fuel within theater and other
fuel distribution needs with smaller capacity vessels.
So if you want to add anything to that, but keep it real
quick because I have one more question. And how many of these
vessels will we need to be ready?
General Van Ovost. Certainly. For the number of vessels,
the Tanker Security Program is a first good step. We did some--
they had a classified study that has those information for
intertheater and intratheater. So appreciate your support. You
listened to the concerns and you responded, and you have
already bought down some of our operational risk.
But the entire fuel system now, we need to look at it from
an end-to-end perspective. We have not done that before and
that's the role of U.S. Transportation Command to be able to
synchronize across there to ensure that in a contested
environment, we'll be able to deliver fuel to the warfighter.
Mr. Kelly. And then finally, General Van Ovost, the
increasing age of our sealift vessels is making
recapitalization of this fleet a more pressing issue. The
President's request seeks funds to purchase two used sealift
vessels for commercial industry. But is this two vessels per
year enough?
And double tapping on what Ranking Member Courtney said, do
we also need to be building some of those vessels, and what is
the plan that we should be doing to have some--so that we can
know and that the suppliers can know how many ships they need
to build in the future?
General Van Ovost. Thank you, sir. Two a year is a great
start, but at two a year we will not be able--not finish a
recapitalization until about 2032. And when I think about the
work and the decisive deco, we must be able to recover the
capacity and the readiness of those ships. So I advocate for an
accelerated rate when conditions are favorable.
And then with respect to a build-new strategy, that could
absolutely be part of the longer strategy and to the future.
But I want to make sure that, again, a near-term, again, 17 of
44 ships are already over--50 or over, and they'll just
continue to get older and older. So anything we can do to
accelerate the recap while considering the future would be
helpful.
Mr. Kelly. And just a final comment. I really think we need
to get a greater sense of urgency. I don't think 2032 or 2035
or 2030 is the year. I think we need to be preparing for 2028
at the latest.
And so with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Chairman Kelly. And I certainly
second those remarks. I think we have--are consistently seeing
a disconnect between the timelines the intelligence community
is giving us and then the timelines for a number of these
programs to maintain deterrence.
Ranking Member Courtney.
Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Chairman Waltz.
And one timeline, which again, Admiral Phillips, you did
allude to in your testimony, I appreciate it, was that right
now at the Philly Shipyard, there are four vessels under
construction.
Again, that cadence is swift and on schedule. I mean,
really, Mr. Wittman and I deal with a lot of shipbuilding
programs over the year. There haven't been too many where
particularly the lead ship was on time and under budget. And
yet that's exactly what's happening there.
And you know, I would like to just sort of drill down for a
second on the fact that, you know, something's going on there
that's different than what the Navy had proposed in terms of
its recapitalization efforts, which is that there's a different
contracting model that, again, MARAD and our committee worked
together to put into place, which is a vessel construction
manager.
That's a private sector model which again, tries to, you
know, shrink the requirements. You know, just, you know, get on
schedule, fixed prices, as delivered and designed. And that's
working, as I said.
And I mean, you would agree with that, right? I mean,
that's really the core of why that program is so--is so
promising.
Admiral Phillips. Yes, sir, we would agree with that. It is
on time, it is on budget.
Mr. Courtney. So last year's NDAA, we authorized ten
sealift new constructions using the vessel construction manager
model. Again, it passed both chambers, President Biden signed
it into law. Unfortunately there is no funding in the budget.
Instead we're going into, again, the commercial market,
which is two used vessels that are here. I mean, I certainly am
ready to do everything I can to talk to the appropriators about
the fact that, you know, we really should not just put all our
eggs in the commercial market.
Which I would just say that, you know, we are hearing
anecdotally that the price and availability is not steady right
now in terms of what's out there. And again, 2032 is the end
date. I mean, to sort of put our eggs in that basket in terms
of how we're going recapitalize the fleet I think is just very
risky.
One request that I would make, and then I'll yield is just
that this committee deserves better information in terms of
what's out there in terms of the commercial market. If you're
asking us to authorize two more used vessels in commercial
market and have that as the pattern in the coming years, we
need to get some visibility in terms of what that market looks
like.
Because as I said, the input that we're getting from
industry is that this is not something that you can really
count on as a steady state in terms of a horizon. Whereas
building them in the U.S., we know exactly what the cost is and
we know exactly what the timeline is. That's a less risky
strategy in terms of addressing this issue.
With that, I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Ranking Member Courtney, I look
forward to working with Seapower Committee on that, because I
agree. I think we're seeing a pricing issue in the United
States. The only way to get at it and get at the labor
shortages is to actually reinvigorate the market.
So with that, I yield to Mr. Wittman.
Mr. Wittman. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to thank our witnesses for joining us. General Van
Ovost, Rear Admiral Phillips, thanks again for all the great
work that you all do.
General Van Ovost, I want to begin with you. As you look at
the OPLANs [military operation plans] in theater, my concern
centers around this: the logistics behind getting and
sustaining the Army and the Marine Corps in any sort of
scenario that we look at in that particular theater.
And can you give me an idea what types of delays will you
experience in being able to put forward all the necessary
elements of personnel and materials and supplies and ammunition
in that scenario? And in my mind, it's particularly acute for
those forces that are CONUS [continental United States]-based,
because we know the logistics of having to do that.
All you have to do is to look at the logistics of what we
went through in the first Gulf War in trying to get everything
there to Kuwait, which took a long period of time with massive
numbers of ships, which we don't have today.
And how successful do you think TRANSCOM will be in the
case of a dislodgement campaign with Taiwan? It's different
than having things in theater. If you have to be able to push
things in in a contested environment, the whole scenario
changes.
Give me your perspective on how those challenges have to be
dealt with by TRANSCOM.
General Van Ovost. Well, thanks for that question, that is
something that keeps us up. But this is what we do, we analyze
the national defense strategy against the plans to execute to
meet our national objectives.
And here's what we learned. In a contested environment,
just about every aspect of mobilities risk will increase if not
sufficiently mitigated. So we have gone about to understand
where the highest risks are we're getting after them.
So on the posture side, as you mentioned, you know, what--
what does late look like. It looks like how do you forward
position in multiple distributed locations both on the land and
on the water with our squadrons of our PREPO [Pre-Positioned
Force, Equipment, or Supplies] on the water.
It's how do we have multiple nodes, multiple seaports and
airports that we can use as lily pads to work forward. How do
we re-posture the fuel where it makes sense to be able to put
it both on the water and in locations so we're going to have
ready access to it during conflict.
And how do I have ready capacity that could actually fight
through contested logistics, meaning cyber, GPS [global
positioning system] interference, you know, the survivability
aspects, PNT [Position, Navigation, and Timing]. And as we pull
all those together, I have to be able to understand and incense
the battle and be able to move the highest priority stuff to
meet the joint force commander's needs.
So I think about our ability to understand the data, to use
AI [artificial intelligence], to try to sense the fields and
sense the nodes so that we can apply the right capacity at the
right time.
So it's challenging, but it's absolutely doable, and we are
working at it. In fact, this summer on a large-scale global
exercise, there's about a 120-day period in the Indo-Pacific
where we have not only joint exercises, but service-specific
exercises.
In fact, next week we have one with the Army that's looking
at their Multi-Domain Task Force and how we're moving them
around. I'm sending my deputy out there to understand and to
try to make sure that we can link in and help them in their
maneuver. Because they're maneuvering, and they need
sustainment.
Mr. Wittman. In that realm in the contested logistics area
of the INDOPACOM, how important is the Marine Corps LSM
[Landing Ship Medium] in being able to deliver intra-theater
logistics?
And in that realm, how important is the capability of LSM
to self-defend versus other threat defense logistics that could
otherwise be put out there for the LSM? And the LSM by the way
is Landing Ship Medium for the--yeah, because it's not a
warship.
Anyway, go ahead, I'm sorry.
General Van Ovost. No, look, thanks for that question. It's
super important that, as the joint deployment and distribution
enterprise, that we synchronize from end to end. So all service
concepts have to be exercised, and we have to be able to get to
the LSM to be able to support them.
We have to understand where they're going to maneuver in
the first and second island chain, where do they expect to get
their fuel and their provisionings and their ammunition. And
that's exactly what we're doing this summer.
You know, their concepts of operation are not yet solid,
but we have been providing advice all along the way on how we'd
be able to work with them. And again, that's some of the work
that we're doing here this summer to actually do the execution
to see how hard or how easy it's going to be.
Now, with respect to the defensive systems on that weapons
system, I can't comment to that, I leave it to them. But just
know that, again, my job is to synchronize that. I've got to be
there when they need to be there. And if that's their weapon
system of choice, we will absolutely adapt to support them.
Mr. Wittman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Mr. Wittman. Mr. Deluzio.
Mr. Deluzio. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
General Van Ovost, Admiral Phillips, good morning.
Unsurprisingly I'm sure to many of you, our committee's broader
work has focused on our strategic competition with the Chinese
Communist Party, and frankly, the ever-increasing size of their
fleet relative to ours. And that delta increasing, which is
worrying to me and my colleagues I'm sure as well.
Look, the inability to modernize our fleet and build ships
on time, much less do the required maintenance, it concerns us.
We are decommissioning ships faster than we can build them and
maintain them. And we've seen drastic consolidation of the
defense industry, including in shipbuilding and shipyards. It
worries me.
But to come back to--you're both--you're the administration
and Transportation Command. One of the things you said,
General, that worried me, I saw in your testimony the age of
our--the average age of our roll-on, roll-off military cargo
ships being 44 years old, 17 I believe being 50 years old or
older. That's an aging fleet, which of course has increasing
costs to maintain.
You know, we are, and similarly much of our discussion
today, Mr. Courtney mentioned it and I'll dig in a bit too,
relying on purchasing foreign-built used ships rather than
building them here.
Put simply, without Federal investment, additional Federal
investment and strong investment, we will not have sufficient,
a sufficient fleet and we'll need to rely on foreign ships,
whatever it might be in our next conflict. It worries me.
And so Admiral Phillips, I'll start with you. As I explain
this phenomenon to my constituents, who can't understand it,
please explain as plainly as you can why is it that we've
landed in a place where we have to purchase foreign-built ships
rather than make them in this country.
Admiral Phillips. Congressman Deluzio, thank you for that
question. To answer that question, you would need to be a
student of history.
And I can condense it simply by saying time and again
within this country, in World War I, in World War II, we
accelerated to build a fleet to support our needs in time of
war and when the time of war ended, that fleet was sold off,
sent to other places, allowed to deteriorate.
We are in a similar circumstance now with 45 Ready Reserve
force vessels and 85, as I've said, foreign-flag, U.S. flag
foreign trading vessels that are privately owned. That that is
essentially the extent of our capacity that we'll be able to
support General Van Ovost's needs in a time of war.
So the challenge there is to have ships, you need to have
mariners. And to have enough manpower, you need to have ships
that have cargoes to carry. All of these things have to go
together to be able to ensure we support and sustain a fleet.
But you've asked briefly about maintenance. Our maintenance
capacity, as you have described, our shipbuilding capacity has
dwindled. It largely supports the Defense Department.
However, as Congressman Courtney pointed out, the success
of the NSMV program in Philadelphia, and other programs, there
are other yards capable of building such ships around the
country, shows that this can be done here. And it can be done
with a very successful outcome, as we are demonstrating with
the NSMV.
Mr. Deluzio. Admiral, I want to pick up on that piece, that
it can be done here. What does this committee, what does the
Congress need to do to make that happen to support that?
Because I think as a national security imperative, that we
do have the shipbuilding capacity, the maintenance capacity to
not have to rely on foreign-built vessels for--for our fleet.
Admiral Phillips. Congressman, thank you for that question.
I would refer to the authorization within the 2023 NDAA to
construct ten vessels, that it does not have an appropriation.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Deluzio. Thank you. General, anything you want to add
to that? I think that's the direct answer.
General Van Ovost. It is, but let me just also just
reinforce again what the Administrator said about our mariner
force, all right.
Right now the, I appreciate the full funding of the
Maritime Security Program, the Tanker Security Program, cargo
preference laws, all of them ensure that we can have a strong
mariner force. All of them buy down the operational risk that
we're taking.
Mr. Deluzio. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you. I now recognize Mrs. Kiggans.
Mrs. Kiggans. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
And it's great to see you, again, General Van Ovost, and
welcome to both of you.
So I represent Virginia's Second Congressional District and
a lot of shipbuilding. And I certainly--a lot of military and
Navy there, and I certainly appreciate, you know, the work you
all do to transport our ships throughout the world.
So doing some reading in preparation for this committee, I
read about the Turbo Activation exercise from 2019, where the
results of that exercise were 60% of those ships were
considered ready, and then only 40% were able to steam out of
port.
Now today, given that 17 of the 45 ships in the Ready
Reserve force are over 50 years old, you know, are you
confident these vessels will be ready if immediately pressed
into service? Did we learn things from that exercise that we've
been able to correct now in the year 2023?
General Van Ovost. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that
question. That is something that we take close track of. We
just completed another Turbo Activation here in 2022 and
provided that report.
And this last Turbo Activation, I am more confident in our
ability to assess the fleet. And I--some metrics have shown
improvement.
But it's only been about a year and a half since we've got
the increase M&R [Maintenance and Repair] funding, the
readiness funding for those ships and the targeted performance
to plan--planning that the Navy has done with MARAD to
understand how to better target the health of each of these
ships.
So we have not yet seen that return on investment, but I do
appreciate the Navy's investment, and they committed to us
about a 20% increase in funding on that, on that piece of it.
And we did revise our strategy on which ships to activate.
As we're now able to use data more and more, as we're capturing
more data and using data and analytics to understand which are
the best ships to activate so we can get them up and running
and test them, versus ones that we know that might do just
fine, right. So we want to--we want to target that work, just
like the performance to plan.
And let me finally add that I appreciate a strong mariner
force. They volunteer to do this. It's not easy to do a Turbo
Activation working very hard for 10-12 days, and then they're
off the ship. So I appreciate them volunteering to do this
work.
Mrs. Kiggans. And I certainly want to just reiterate, you
know, Ranking Member Courtney and what he said about the, you
know, domestic production of our ships. And we have a lot of
ship-owning in my district as well.
But you know, aside from funding, which you just mentioned
about an NDAA authorization, you know, what are the other
barriers to that domestic production that we could work on from
this committee?
General Van Ovost. I'll pass that to the MARAD
Administrator.
Admiral Phillips. Well, Congresswoman Kiggans, thank you
very much for your question. Certainly barriers to domestic
production include the cost of production. But also capacity.
And I'd really like to land on capacity in particular.
More broadly as we work to repair, maintain the Ready
Reserve force and build new vessels, we struggle with enough
capacity within the country, with enough dry dock capacity, and
that applies across both Active Duty military and Ready Reserve
and the Military Sealift Command. And other agencies as well,
Coast Guard, Army Corps, we're all struggling and fighting for
the same dry dock capacity, which is very limited.
We're struggling for some of the same maintenance capacity
and capabilities. And that impacts our ability to provide a
ready force over time. And as ships age that gets even more
challenging, they spend more time in dock, more unusual,
unexpected things come up.
So additional capacity in maintenance and construction is
an urgent need to continue to maintain a ready force here.
Mrs. Kiggans. And if I may just interject, I know that last
week we closed four of our West Coast dry docks, which is we
have I believe 22 dry docks, so now we're down to 18, including
the only West Coast dry dock that's able to service an aircraft
carrier. So we--that was 22% of our dry dock capacity.
So this is an issue that I believe we need to prioritize
and highlight, because you're right, these are old ships we're
trying to keep at sea. We got to have places to repair them.
So that issue of where are we going to build those dry
docks. And the maintenance, the manpower that goes with that.
And that's something that I believe this committee needs to
prioritize.
Along those same lines, wanted to ask, I know both of you
have talked about the manpower issue. Again, my district, heavy
military. I've been in office almost 3 months now and the only
letter I have received from a parent that's complaining about a
service academy is about the Merchant Marine Academy.
And this was an issue with the Superintendent, Joanna
Nunan, and it was about I believe her covering up a painting at
the--at the Academy. I just want to know if you all are aware
of this? It was a Christ on the Water picture that they're--the
painting is covered, they are not allowed to use the room
anymore.
The parent who wrote to me was concerned about--and I too
am concerned about recruitment and retention for our mariners.
So it's the little things, right, the little things like this.
But there's no room for this type of--they thought it was,
you know, a breach on their constitutional rights. This is a
painting that I guess has traditionally been in the room.
So I just wanted to know if you were aware of that issue
and if anything was being done about it.
Admiral Phillips. Thank you, ma'am, for that question. Mr.
Chair, I will exceed my time if I may continue. The painting,
known as Christ on the Water, today is hanging in Astronaut
Elliot M. See Room at the Merchant Marine Academy. It is
uncovered.
The display of that painting in that painting in that
particular space we believe is a violation of the Establishment
Clause. However, the room is currently not being used for
official business. The painting is there, midshipmen can see
it.
Our intent in the long term is to relocate the painting to
the chapel. We are making preparations to do that. Once there,
it will be restored, and it will remain on view for Academy
midshipmen. Thank you.
Mr. Waltz. Admiral Phillips.
Admiral Phillips. Thank you.
Mr. Waltz. Unfortunately your time has expired. If you want
to provide a more----
Admiral Phillips. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Waltz. ----Fulsome response for the record. Now
recognize Mr. Veasey.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 77.]
Mr. Veasey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I wanted to
ask Admiral Phillips what is MARAD's strategy for managing and
maintaining the DOD's fleet of civilian crewed ships and how
does it ensure these assets are ready to support contingency
operations.
Admiral Phillips. Sir, thank you for that question. I
believe you're referring to the Ready Reserve force, 40 ships
that we maintain and provide what--upon request for TRANSCOM to
support needs. I would offer that our current readiness of that
fleet today is 76%, although it varies, and that is a high from
the past several months.
I would also offer that we have eight of those vessels
underway today supporting not only TRANSCOM needs, but also
exercises in other needs around the globe.
We continue and we thank DOD for the additional support in
the President's budget fiscal year 2024 to expand maintenance
capacity for this force. And we also thank DOD for its
continuing support for the vessel acquisition program by which
we are buying used vessels.
And also thank this committee for the authorization to
build new should that be needed. It is really tripartite
strategy that the Department of Defense would like to execute
to ensure that we have a Ready Reserve to respond as required
by TRANSCOM's needs and the Department of Defense needs. Thank
you.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you very much.
General Van Ovost, I wanted to ask you how is the moving of
the household goods, the contract that there were some, you
know, issues with back in 2020, 2021, timeframe, how is that
going now
General Van Ovost. Yeah, thank you for that question. We
are, you know, transforming the way we provide moving services
to our families. And we are in the transition phase to the new
contractor, to HomeSafe.
But as they take, begin to take on, they'll start after
peak season this year. But we have not stopped with our
improvements for our families. We have instituted some digital
management tools. We have simplified the claims process. We've
enhanced communications the capability with help desks.
So we are moving forward with improvement as we--as we wait
to bring them on. And we are meeting and partnering with
HomeSafe to ensure that they have the quality capacity
necessary and that processes necessary.
We are also training all of our service members, all the
different service leads for movement to make sure they
understand the new system, and that they're improving their
capabilities as well.
Mr. Veasey. Yeah, what type of feedback are you getting?
General Van Ovost. So because the HomeSafe has not yet
moved any goods underneath that flag----
Mr. Veasey. Okay.
General Van Ovost. There's nothing there. But we're getting
great feedback on the improvements that we've made. In fact, we
have a big spouses' panel we bring in, bring them in. We also
go to the services and we have forums where we listen directly
to their feedback and we incorporate those changes into our
program.
Mr. Veasey. Well, good, good, thank you very much. I was
also wondering if you can talk a little bit how TRANSCOM is
working to ensure readiness and resiliency of the global
logistic networks and what are you guys doing to modernize the
network to meet the demands of future operations.
General Van Ovost. Thanks. Future operations is exactly
what we think about all the time. And readiness is job one, and
we need to be ready today and into tomorrow. And we do
demonstrate that daily.
In fact I want to thank, you know, we have been able to
quickly respond to requirements around the globe, to include
when Russia had a full-scale invasion into Ukraine, we were
able to immediately deliver forces onto the continent to
support the NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] eastern
flank.
But that was made possible, do so quickly due to European
defense initiative. So, appreciate the support that allowed us
to have a PREPO ship set there and opened up some fields and
avenues for us. So we really leveraged European deterrent
initiative.
And this year in budget you'll see Pacific deterrent
initiative, which will do the same. It'll allow us to get
posture, basing, PREPO, and support out in the Pacific so we
can respond just as quickly to there. So that of course
increases all of our readiness.
But we are focused on the future. When I think about a
contested environment, I think about secure command and
control, having battle space awareness onto our assets. Cyber
security is a major thing that we are looking at.
We are very focused on that, both on the military and with
our commercial partners. They have been working with us. They
have contract compliance measures also that hardens their
security. And they're partnering with us and CISA
[Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] to ensure
that they're a hard target.
And of course precision navigation and timing and
survivability. Those are some of the things that we are working
on to be able to ensure that we can be ready out into the
future.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you very much. I yield back, Mr.
Chairman, thank you.
Mr. Waltz. Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I'd like to thank each of you. Readiness, and seapower,
and projection has never been more important. We have the
global war on terrorism is continuing, of 9/11. It continues
unabated.
But then at the same time we have competition between
democracies, with rule of law being opposed by authoritarians
with rule of gun. And we see that with the murderous invasion
by Putin, War Criminal Putin, into Ukraine. We see the threats
from the Chinese Communist Party to the 24 million people of
Taiwan.
And then we see the regime in Tehran continuing their
capabilities of ICBMs [Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles] to
fulfill their hopes of vaporization of the people of Israel and
vaporization of the people of America.
And so what you are doing has just never been more
important of providing for peace through strength. And so
General Van Ovost, I want to thank you and your--for your
service and leadership in the U.S. Transportation Command.
Especially I'm grateful for the service of the members of
the 437th Airwing Station at Joint Base Charleston from the Air
Mobility Command that is under the command of TRANSCOM.
Joint Base Charleston, my birthplace, is a great example of
joint readiness across the force, and that is due to the
leadership within TRANSCOM enterprise. However, we must always
ensure in--our readiness remains high in order to counter the
threats from peer competitors.
Could you explain the key TRANSCOM mobility readiness
concerns that hinders logistics, enterprise, and the ability to
maintain global power projection to maintain peace through
strength?
General Van Ovost. Thank you for the question. Having been
stationed at Charleston, the mighty 437th, and had been on the
ports there, you have a seaport there as well that really
support us. So when I think about readiness, especially when I
think about our strategic airlift fleet, it's very important
that the services continue to fund the readiness funds and the
flying hour funds which you will see in this budget to ensure a
healthy C-5 and C-17 fleet.
The C-5 is showing its wear and aging. And I'm a little bit
concerned about its readiness. So we need to continue to focus
on that.
The C-17 is doing great work as you've seen around the
globe, Afghanistan, Ukraine. The C-17 has been there, and it's
a fantastic aircraft. But I think about our crews, right?
Our people are the most important aspect of what we do,
ensuring that they're trained and ready. So making sure that
they have the flying hours, the simulator hours, and that they
have the unique scenarios. And I don't just want to say from
the air side, but from the sea side.
Are we training our mariners to be able to operate in a
contested environment, to do consolidated refueling underway,
and to use secure communications to ensure they understand the
battle space? So all of that comes together to ensure a ready
force, the people and the assets. And we're very focused on
that.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you. And I appreciate you referencing the
Port of Charleston. They just completed the dredging of 52
feet. It is now the deepest port on the East Coast.
It also celebrates the largest export of cars from the
United States worldwide. We want everybody to have a BMW X5
worldwide and a Volvo too and then Sprinter vans on the side.
So the Port of Charleston is just so invaluable.
With that in mind, the chairman of being ahead of the
curve, Chairman Mike Waltz, the lack of mariners, this has just
got to be addressed. And what is being done to identify, again,
institutions, training centers, opportunities to serve as
mariners? And it is particularly critical because I hope also
that projection is in place and pre-positioning of equipment.
It concerns me that when it was announced that America was
going to be providing 31 tanks to the people of Ukraine, it was
reported that we had no more. And of course, I looked into it.
We have 8,000 more. But it just really frightened the American
people. And then how can we accelerate delivery?
Admiral Phillips. Yes, sir. And I'll be brief in response
to providing additional opportunities for mariners just earlier
this morning, we have a Centers of Excellence program. We can
designated Centers of Excellence in support of mariner
training. We also work closely with State maritime academies
which provide mariners for our ports.
And at Kings Point, the Merchant Marine Academy is overseen
by the Maritime Administration. That's our predominate source
of strategic sealift officers. And of course, we work very hard
to ensure we have as much capacity as possible there as well.
And I'll defer to the general on the additional services.
General Van Ovost. We're working closely with the Army on
the Abrams tanks and where they want to source them and how
we're going to deliver.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much. I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. I recognize Mr. Panetta.
Mr. Panetta. Outstanding. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. General
Van Ovost, I was glad to see that you signed a charter with
U.S. SOUTHCOM [United States Southern Command] last June for
regional humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Now obviously, Latin America experiences a number of
natural disasters, including earthquakes like we've seen in
Haiti unfortunately. However, looking at the Indo-Pacific, just
between 2014 and 2017, that region appears to have more natural
disasters than most with 55 earthquakes, 217 storms and
cyclones, and even 236 cases of severe flooding. It is these
types of extreme weather conditions that I think as you
understand pose considerable risk to our command and control
and ability to mobilize troops and are the main awareness.
And so I have been working with my colleagues, Mr.
Gallagher, Mr. Scott, Mr. Gimenez, on legislation that would
conduct tabletop exercises to test our current stockpiles and
our abilities to deter threats in the Indo-Pacific while under
these types of extreme weather conditions. General, what is
your opinion as to whether or not we are properly accounting
for these types of natural disasters in our strategy in dealing
with a potential CCP [Chinese Communist Party] invasion of
Taiwan?
General Van Ovost. Thank you for that question. Having been
an airlifter all of my life, I have been very focused on HADR
[Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response] events around
the globe. And frankly, when I think about our ability to
project and sustain a force around the globe, there's no
greater opportunity than delivering hope to someone, right?
Our allies are assured by the fact that we can be there
once we commit to support them, just like we did during that
devastating earthquake for Turkey, providing a hospital as well
as the search and rescue crews are on their way within 24
hours. So we absolutely looked at it. In fact, we're doing
additional exercises in the Indo-Pacific, specifically with the
Philippines, providing HADR and looking at forward positioning
HADR sets so that we would have immediate access from that
point to move to any of the islands in support of them.
Mr. Panetta. Okay. All right. Now in regards to the
challenges that we talked about, especially in the Indo-
Pacific, if we were to conduct a whole of government tabletop
exercise to prepare for climate events, what should that
include from a transportation perspective? Is there anything in
particular that you're focused on?
General Van Ovost. Absolutely. When we think about climate
change and its effects on our infrastructure, we think of the
ports or the rising sea levels. We have to be sure that we have
plans, which we do, for our strategic port programs.
We do assessments through our transportation engineering
agency on strategic ports, providing them what we think are
their vulnerabilities during high sea levels. And so being able
to mobilize the force and deploy forward to a port to push out
is one of our most concerning areas. And so as we look at that,
what is that infrastructure, the road, the rail, and the
seaport, necessary to do that. And so I would say that should
be part of the TTX [table top exercises].
Mr. Panetta. Switching regions, looking at Africa,
obviously with China's desired--well, one, that they do have a
military base in Djibouti and now is looking to put a second
one in Equatorial Guinea. On top of building out a military
presence in Africa, the CCP is maneuvering around the continent
through the Belt and Road Initiative as we know about. I guess
in looking at some of our allies which is obviously one of your
chief concerns and strengthening the relationships, at least a
hedge against some of these threats from the CCP.
But there are certain restrictions. Obviously, when it
comes to security and the security environment in some of these
countries, what have we done? How productive have we been to
prepare our African partners to not only deny Chinese gains?
But is TRANSCOM integrating with AFRICOM [U.S. African Command]
to ensure that the assistance we offer is tailored to their
needs and implemented?
General Van Ovost. Yeah, that's an important question, as
you mentioned, not just in Africa but around the globe as China
continues to use their malign influence to get into port
infrastructure and frankly the Digital Silk Road with their
ability to use data management systems to infiltrate and then
aggregate that data and send it back to China from a logistics
flow which is a key vulnerability. So we have been working a
whole of government effort with State Department, Department of
Commerce to look at Chinese investments in Africa and around
the globe and marshaling U.S. resources to try to understand
how can we limit that, how do we engage with that nation. But
from a transportation command perspective only, we have a
community of interest across the intel committees with our
allies and partners to demonstrate to them how important it
would be that they do not let them invest in their ports.
Mr. Panetta. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you. Mr. Gimenez is now recognized.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
As mayor of Miami-Dade, we ran Port Miami which is the Cruise
Capital of the World, probably home to the about 20 of the most
beautiful cruise ships you are ever going to see. Admiral, do
you know how many of those are built in the United States?
Admiral Phillips. I do not directly know, sir. But I
suspect none.
Mr. Gimenez. Zero were built in the United States. And so I
believe, Mr. Chairman, that the problem that we have is not
only that we don't have the production capacity. And there's no
reason why it can't be built in the United States.
Those cruise ships, actually a lot of them are built in
Europe. So you really can't say it's cheap labor costs.
Something else is going on, why ships are not being built in
the United States.
Difference between now and the time between World War I and
World War II is America probably led the world in ship building
in that time. That's why we were able to ramp up so quickly
during World War II and basically out-produce everybody. And we
were the arsenal democracy because we produced everything.
We don't do that anymore. And so my ask of you, Mr.
Chairman, is that we look at the committee's jurisdiction and
see what it is that we're doing here in the United States to
shut down production or stymie the production of the things
that we need and we know we need for producing the materials
that we need to conduct a war.
And so shifting gears a little bit, Admiral, you said that
we have a shortage of mariners. Is a career in--a maritime
career, is that a career that somebody can have a good quality
of life, a good middle class quality of life, a mariner? Does
it pay well?
Admiral Phillips. Yes, sir. It pays well. However, you have
to go to sea.
Mr. Gimenez. Okay. I understand that. Do you need a college
degree to be a mariner?
Admiral Phillips. You do not need a college degree to be a
mariner.
Mr. Gimenez. Okay. You said that you are looking at
shortages right now. How many mariners do we need now? And how
many mariners are we going to need in the future?
Admiral Phillips. Our numbers are based on a study that was
done in 2017 which is directed by Congress and shows we're
short at least 1,800. We would expect that number to grow over
time.
Mr. Gimenez. To what?
Admiral Phillips. I will take that for the record, sir. But
we don't know. It all depends on what our needs are in the
future.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 77.]
Mr. Gimenez. Where do you get them from now, the mariners?
Admiral Phillips. Get them from our six State maritime
academies. We get them from Kings Point, our primary source of
mariners--licensed mariners with a naval Reserve obligation.
And we get them from union schools across the country which
support both licensed and unlicensed mariners.
Mr. Gimenez. What are you doing to address the shortage?
Admiral Phillips. We are working across a whole of
government. And as I described previously, this is a whole of
government and industry and other stakeholder challenge. We are
under the Biden-Harris administration growing the fleet. As
I've said, we need more ships if you want to have a sustained
career path for more mariners. TSP program will help us with
that.
We're building the NSMV program which will support mariner
training and our six State maritime academies with brand-new
state-of-the-art vessels. We're working with industry and other
stakeholders to develop options and opportunities to do more,
to advertise this as a path that young people can take to move
forward. And we're working on safety at sea.
I described the EMBARC program earlier in this hearing,
sir. As you know, safety at sea is absolutely paramount for us.
And in particular, women are under-represented in the maritime
industry. So 50 percent of our population is only represented
by about 7 percent of the population within the maritime
industry. So be able to recruit more people to come into this
industry, earn a good living as you say, and stay with it over
time for a career is absolutely paramount.
Mr. Gimenez. Are these schools located in a certain area of
the country? Or are they all over the place?
Admiral Phillips. They're located all over the country.
Mr. Gimenez. Are there any in South Florida?
Admiral Phillips. Yes. Well, the Maritime--American
Maritime Officers facility is located in Dania Beach, Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you. Do you work with high schools or do
you advertise this as a----
Admiral Phillips. We do work with high schools. Yes, sir.
Mr. Gimenez. Because one of the things that I am working on
down in my town is that we have a real big shortage of pilots
and working with the school system there, trying to see if we
can open up charter schools or magnet schools that deal with
aviation. Maybe we should be doing the same thing around the
world with maritime and the maritime industry because, again,
one of the things that we want to stress is that you don't need
a college degree. And you can actually have a very good career
without saddling yourself with half a million dollars in debt
and give your family a good quality of life. Thank you, ma'am.
I appreciate it, and I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. The gentleman's time has expired. Thank you, Mr.
Gimenez. Ms. Tokuda is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that
TRANSCOM was not handling global bulk fuel distribution at the
time of the fuel leak that we experienced in Hawaii at Red
Hill. But since the leak, last year's NDAA appointed TRANSCOM
is a single manager of bulk fuel.
Even as we move towards defueling and the permanent closure
of Red Hill, bulk fuel posture will remain a focus for Hawaii
given, as we have discussed often in this room, Hawaii's
strategic location in the Indo-Pacific theater. General Van
Ovost, as TRANSCOM is planning and preparing the single manager
of global bulk fuel, what are the implications of a contested
environment on bulk fuel capacity distribution?
General Van Ovost. Thank you, Congresswoman. Being the
manager for global bulk fuel, a single manager, really it's a
different approach to managing fuel. It allows us to
synchronize a complex system of systems to ensure we can get
from source to the point of need in a contested environment.
So we're going to be operating differently in the contested
environment. So we're looking at things in the posture in the
Pacific and how we plan and how we execute. We had multiple
studies and war games that came to this conclusion that we had
multiple gaps.
And I would say that we're attacking those gaps, the first
of which is the tanker security program which is buying down
some of the risk. But we're also doing fuel planning with
Admiral Aquilino in the Pacific where we need to posture that
fuel, where we need to store it to include storing on the water
so it'd be the most effective location. And then we have
resilient locations so that if one is lost, we still have
others to be able to feed the fight.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. But would you please also provide
given all of the work that you have done, the timeline for
executing the new bulk fuel posture and when TRANSCOM will
provide an update on the distribution of work to members of
this committee?
General Van Ovost. Yeah, thank you. We are working with
INDOPACOM and doing the bulk fuel assessment now and multiple
engagements with them. We expect that we should have this done
by early fall in which case we'll bring back to Admiral
Aquilino and we'll work with the Department to finalize the
posture and, of course, with DLA [Defense Logistics Agency] as
well who is a key partner in all of this and to where the
locations need to be. I'd probably be a mixture of contractor
own, contractor operate, all the way to government owned,
government operated, both on the land and on the water.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. If I could just move on with the
remainder of my time to military sealift in the Indo-Pacific.
Our sealift capacity to move materials and troops out into the
Western Pacific is critical to our ability to deter aggression
and, if necessary, sustain and win any conflict that may occur.
However, we have seen our country's capacity to build large
commercial ships, useful for sealift purposes, decline in
recent decades--we have had this discussion--leading to a major
shortage of these ships that meet a critical national security
need. At the same time, we also have a shortage of skilled
certified mariners. And we have talked a little bit about it
today, that can operate these ships in a surge environment
during an extended major conflict. General, what are the
implications and risks that the current situation poses to our
national security, especially our ability to deter foreign
aggression in the Indo-Pacific?
General Van Ovost. Thank you for the question. This is
something we think about all the time as we do the assessment
of our sealift capacity against a national defense strategy.
And that is how we set the limit for the number of ships and
frankly the number of square feet of capability we need to have
in the Ready Reserve force and also why it's so important that
we have the maritime security program and now the tanker
security program to bring civilian capacity to bear. So we are
managing that between civilian and military. But I'll tell you
it's very important that we maintain readiness which is why we
need to ensure the sealift recapitalization rate is steady so
that we can gain the readiness back of the ship so we can gain
the capacity back.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. And Rear Admiral Phillips, not to
leave out of this discussion, how can we protect and build up
our commercial sealift capacity while also developing the
workforce needed to sustain and expand in capacity?
Admiral Phillips. Ma'am, thank you for that question. And
as General Van Ovost has stated, the two go together. In order
to provide more billets for mariners to man, you need more
ships for them to sail into--or work into.
So what we do to expand our U.S. flag fleet, including as
the general has discussed maintaining MSP [Military Spouse
Preference] and CSP [Career Skills Program] but also expanding
TSP, the type of security program that provides more billets
for mariners. And in that context over time, we find that we
have additional capacity. And that helps us to not only meet or
needs for national economic security but continue to expand our
capacity for both mariners on the commercial and on Ready
Reserve force side.
Ms. Tokuda. I yield back my time.
Mr. Waltz. I recognize Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. General Van Ovost, it
was great visiting with you last week in our office. One of the
things we discussed was your focus on infrastructure and how it
impacts TRANSCOM's ability to provide power projection
capabilities to the joint force.
We were talking about the conditions of roads and ports and
railways and pipelines and all the rest. It is critically
important for these transportation routes around the country.
So I wonder if you would just say a quick word about the
importance of those components to achieving TRANSCOM's mission
and anything that Congress can do to ensure these lines receive
adequate consideration for funding to ensure that you are able
to provide the power projection capabilities to the force.
General Van Ovost. Thank you for that question. Through the
Transportation Engineering Agency, we look very closely at the
roads, the railway, and the seaports and our ability to go from
a power projection platform to a seaport and push out in time
of national crisis. And frankly, our adversaries are also
looking at this as well because if they could stop us here in
the United States where we have 85 percent of our force
elements, then we cannot respond and we cannot deter.
So I am concerned about the national infrastructure. It is
sufficient today, but I'm watching it crumble. So especially as
we're working with the Federal Highway Administration, about
6,000 miles of roads that are really important for us for
national security, I ask for your support to provide an
authorization in the NDAA that promotes the consideration of
military needs when prioritizing the funding on public
highways.
That would be very important for us to recapitalize. Of
course, it also provides an economic benefit. But as we look
and we rack and stack the priorities to ensure that we can get
a free flow, multiple ways from a power projecting platform to
a seaport and we outline those areas, we ask that the States
actually follow through and apply for those grants and support.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you. We can't lose sight of the
importance of that. Admiral Phillips, I'd like to ask you
briefly about Title XI ship financing that program. It's my
understanding that authorizations and appropriations for that
program have remained relatively consistent for the past
several years. Is that right?
Admiral Phillips. It is. Yes, sir.
Mr. Johnson. And looking at the data from MARAD on the
website, it appears that there is several large ship building
contracts coming up that are looking to utilize Title XI. And
many of these ships look like they will qualify for their
preference given to vessels for offshore wind construction and
maintenance. So can you talk to us very briefly about the
military usefulness of ships built using Title XI financing and
that program and whether increased detention of that program
from Congress would alleviate some of the challenges that we
have been talking about today.
Admiral Phillips. Sir, thank you for that question. Title
XI supports a number of different kinds of ships. Right now, we
have designated offshore wind vessels, vessels of national
interest.
And as we may do, as we have the authority to do under the
program, they are the first vessels such designated and--or so
designated. And we do, in fact, have a considerable amount of
interest there. However, we have interest in other vessels as
well.
And we're working a total of seven different opportunities
right now, loan applications in the Title XI program. So Title
XI can do all kinds of things. We have approximately 35 million
in the program right now which will allow us to support up to
475 million worth of additional borrowing capacity.
And we've seen an uptick in interest in that program over
the last year caused by a number of things. Certainly there's
an interest in offshore wind. But also interest rates are
changing and this program provides some additional capacity
there.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you. A less comfortable question is
about the controversy at the Merchant Marine Academy with the
painting. And I just want to know is it try that while the
superintendent of the academy there, Admiral Joanna Nunan made
a decision to cover the historic painting, Christ on the Water,
that is hung on the way of the room at the Merchant Marine
Academy for nearly 80 years. She made the decision to cover it
initially.
But she also approved and endorsed, I am told, a prominent
display to promote and celebrate, quote, ``different
sexualities and gender identities.'' Are you aware of that? Is
that true?
Admiral Phillips. Thank you for that question, sir.
Certainly, I'm aware of both issues. The painting is
problematic because it expresses a specific preference of
religion.
Mr. Johnson. Well, let me stop you. Hang on a second.
Admiral Phillips. And the other wall is less problematic
because it----
Mr. Johnson. Okay. Hang on just a second. Apparently, she
also said that she explained that all of this is her effort to
promote a culture change at the academy. I'm a former First
Amendment lawyer. I used to defend religious freedom.
I can tell you that is not a violation of the Establishment
Clause. Anybody who told you that doesn't what they are talking
about. They need to read the court cases.
But there's a group of alumni and parents that are deeply
concerned about this because they think all this shows a
hostility towards religion and it may affect recruiting efforts
at the school. I am almost out of time. But I think these
things need to be top of mind because we are all talking about
the crisis in recruitment.
And if you show a hostility towards a large group of
students and the religious heritage of the institution, I think
that has a negative effect on it. If you can respond. I am out
of time, but if you would respond to that.
Admiral Phillips. Thank you, sir. There is no hostility
towards religion at the academy. There are quite a few affinity
groups that are religious-based that are very active. In
addition to that as described by Congress, there are other
affinity groups that we have been tasked under the NAPA
[National Academy of Public Administration] report which you
may be familiar with to elevate and expose and talk about. And
the wall in question is a way that supports affinity groups
across the academy and provides notice of their activities
which we were directed by Congress to specifically consider as
one of the NAPA report recommendations specifically highlighted
to address post-2023 NDAA.
Mr. Waltz. The gentleman's time has expired. I recognize
Mr. Norcross.
Mr. Norcross. Thank you. We have had discussions on my last
two committees from strat [strategic] forces to workforce and
education, talking about the next generation workforce.
Certainly in the remarks that you had earlier, we are talking
about that unknown of when is the next generation.
We have seen capacity for ship building in our country
diminish over the last 50 years but certainly the last 10. I
just want to jump on the discussion that Mr. Courtney had with
you concerning the projects going on at the Philly Yard. And
quite frankly, I was shocked when I heard that that ship was
within one percent of the budget. But putting all that aside,
capacity to build things in this country has been diminished.
And certainly the shipyards, either private or public, are part
of that equation.
Ms. Phillips, if you could talk to us about why we wouldn't
expand a program that is successful and use the capacity that
is being built but also is learning to do this in such a way,
quite frankly, we are not seeing much of that anymore. For a
private company to go out on a limb and invest this, but more
importantly the workforce which takes years to develop. Why
aren't we looking at that to expand the program that was set
into place in another model?
Admiral Phillips. So sir, thank you for that question. If
you are asking in the context of the way the NSMV is being
built, the vessel construction manager program which is
successful.
Mr. Norcross. Yes. But it's the workforce behind it that we
are developing as a country that is something that is very much
in need. And the fact that program so far by any measurement we
are getting is working quite well.
Admiral Phillips. So sir, I agree with you certainly that
it is working quite well. And the way to continue to expand
that capacity is to continue to expand the opportunities to
build vessels in U.S. shipyards. And of course, Philly has
shown that they have this capacity and they have this ability
and they have orders past the five ships that we will build for
them which I would consider a success. The challenge is what
are the next opportunities to provide capacity for yards and
orders for yards so that they may continue to build and develop
this workforce as well.
Mr. Norcross. Buying a new ship is not going to get us
there for the next generation. But I just wanted to reiterate
how important that is to build that capacity. We talk about
research and development for so many of the items, incredibly
important.
But the one that takes the longest and is most fragile is
our physical workforce. So thank you. General, let's talk about
our flying tankers, and you might've addressed it when I wasn't
here. But would you give us the most recent update on the
visual system on the KC-46 and when we reasonably can expect
that to be employed not only for those that are already in
service but those that are coming off the line?
General Van Ovost. Yeah, thanks for that question. First of
all, I want to thank the Air Force for submitting the budget.
We have 15 KC-46s in the budget to continue the multi-year
program.
The remote visual system, next generation of that, is--they
have tested it. Boom operators have tested it and they like it.
I'm looking forward to them placing it onto production
airplanes and to cut in about the '25-'26 time frame.
Until then, I was happy that the air mobility command
commander did authorize full employment of the KC-46. In fact,
we are flying the KC-46 around the globe. I have it for testing
authority, and we're using it. And they're asking for it in
many of the high-end exercises because of its incredible
capabilities.
So I am optimistic. But until we get the full capability of
the airplane, I am concerned about just maintaining readiness
and making sure that we can continue to get crews trained and
qualified. As you know, we're transitioning from KC-10s and KC-
135s into that. So keeping the pipeline going and keeping the
readiness overall of the fleet to include the KC-135s which we
must be focused and do targeted modernization and readiness
programs which the Air Force is supporting.
Mr. Norcross. So the boom operators who are working with
the system that is present in place, early on, there was
concern and notably so. But if they are liking it and they are
enjoying the ability to do what they are doing under the
current visual system because now we are moving towards the
next generation. Would you say that the boom operators are
working well with the system that is in place?
General Van Ovost. The boom operators are able to function
with the system in place. It's not optimal. And that's why we
absolutely are pressing Boeing to get the new visualization
system in as soon as possible.
Mr. Norcross. Thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Mr. Norcross. Mr. Moylan.
Mr. Moylan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our
witnesses, contacting my office ahead of time and having good
discussions. I appreciate that. So this question is going out
for both of you, please. Of course, I'm focused on the Guam and
Indo-Pacific area.
And so I would like to know, what are the benefits of
utilizing Guam as a forward staging area given that it is part
of the United States? We are talking about our allies, but Guam
is part of the United States. Despite the proximity to East
Asia and importantly, if you can also touch on some time lines
that, of course, I know you would know about and if there's any
red tape that we should be concerned about to expedite the
process on ensuring that Guam is well protected for national
defense.
General Van Ovost. I thank you for that question. And Guam
has received a lot of attention for great reason. It is
absolutely a key part of our programs, and it provides us a
forward location from which we'll get additional access-basing
and overflight to be able to work more readily with our
partners out in the Pacific.
So I thank you for your support. A lot has been going on
with respect to Guam. The air defense system, you've seen it in
the fiscal year 2024 budget and in the unfunded priority
request by Admiral Aquilino to ensure that we have the adequate
defenses there as they're building up there on the base and
multiple layers that gives us the resilience.
You see us re-posturing, both air, land, and sea assets, to
be able to use Guam most effectively. And so that's been very
helpful. I think about our ability to--as I think about re-
posturing fuel in the Pacific as well as pre-positioning.
It also provides us a great location to work from. So we
could not do without. And we talk about geometry of the battle,
that's a key geometric location.
Mr. Moylan. Thank you, General. And aligned also with U.S.
TRANSCOM, the role that you play in ensuring that the civilian
population of the U.S. citizens in Guam is reliably supplied in
times of war and other disasters. My colleague from California
talked about the disasters and how helpful we will be to
especially like our allies.
You discussed about in the Philippines some exercises that
we were doing in that concern too. I am interested in the
exercises that we would have for Guam, especially natural
disasters where we have the typhoons and earthquakes as well.
And unfortunately, we don't have the--we can't truck things in.
We can't do much other than using your effective forces to
ensure that the civilian population of less than 170,000 are
well taken care of as well also with our military presence
there too.
We all share one resource there, power of water and food
supplies. And we are reliant upon one another. So I am hoping
you can help me understanding on how you project that would
help. And if there is any--of course, the timelines that we are
concerned with and any red tape that we can help reduce.
General Van Ovost. As you mention, we have a number of
exercises that we do on the Pacific that are HA--humanitarian
assistance response-oriented. And we have kits that are forward
deployed. And I really--I will defer. I could take that
question for the record.
But really we're working in PACOM [Pacific Command]--
because I don't have the numbers of exercises and the timing of
those exercises. But from a TRANSCOM perspective when I think
about the infrastructure at Guam, I think about your ability to
withstand high seas and typhoons. And as we built the new
standards, we build climate control, we build to the standards
of hurricanes or typhoons so that they will be able to
withstand those operations. But I will have to take that one
for the record.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 77.]
Mr. Moylan. Thank you, General. And Rear Admiral, what
would you say would be some of the most useful improvements to
Guam's ship repair capabilities--capacities for the military
sealift command? Of course, we understand with Admiral
Aquilino.
We had the field issue as well. But specifically just
talking about the ship repair facilities, at one time, that was
a very big industry on the island. It is no longer.
But with our strategic location, what is your feelings on
that? Would this be helpful? And are we behind the time frame,
or do we have some red tape issues that we have to address?
Admiral Phillips. Congressman Moylan, thank you very much
for that question, sir. In the context of ship repair,
particularly in response to DOD needs, certainly as you are
aware, I've been stationed there in the past on a U.S. Navy
ship. However, I would defer for a current state of repair and
the needs of DOD to the Department of Defense. Certainly, we
appreciate the circumstances surrounding the need for that
capacity on the island of Guam and appreciate your interest and
support in it. And I think I'd defer to the general for
additional context.
General Van Ovost. And I would defer to the Navy. We'll
have to take that.
Mr. Moylan. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, I yield
back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Mr. Moylan. I recognize Ms. Mace.
Ms. Mace. Thank you, and I want to thank the chairman and
ranking member for this hearing today. I want to thank our
witnesses for being with us as well. General and Rear Admiral,
I appreciate your time today.
South Carolina's 1st Congressional District is in a
critical location as you all know for TRANSCOM and MARAD. Due
to its strategic location, extensive transportation
infrastructure from I-95 to the Port of Charleston to Joint
Base Charleston, the Port of Charleston is one of the busiest
ports in the U.S. and is a critical hub for the movement of
cargo and personnel. It is a deep water harbor and has
significant gateway for U.S. TRANSCOM sea base logistics
operations, including the transport of military equipment and
supplies, including in January of this year when more than 60
Bradleys were shipped overseas as part of the aid package to
Ukraine.
Additionally, Joint Base Charleston is a key U.S. military
installation providing support for all branches of the
military, including U.S. TRANSCOM. It is home to the 628th Air
Base Wing which provides support services for U.S. TRANSCOM's
airlift and refueling operations. We are home to the C-17
Globemaster IIIs which participated in many of the airlift
evacuations out of Afghanistan.
General, my first question today is for you. You stated in
your testimony the joint deployment distribution enterprise
relies on both government and commercially owned and operated
infrastructure. Our number one pacing threat, the PRC [People's
Republic of China], continues to leverage the commercial
industry and operate in a very gray zone in some cases.
As the TRANSCOM commander, how are you looking at
technology, cybersecurity, AI, technological innovations to
ensure your mission in protecting and sustaining all combat
operations? Is it interrupted or threatened by the PRC and
their continued aggression?
General Van Ovost. I think I am concerned about PRC
activities, their continued espionage, their coercion,
especially as they use cyber and space. With respect to the
significant amount that we depend on our commercial partners,
we have been working with them to ensure cybersecurity
standards on their networks so that they can defend themselves
safeguard defense information. And through our contracts they
annually assess against what are loosely the NIST [National
Institute of Standards and Technology] standards.
And they provide us reports on their hardening. And we also
collaborate with them and we read them in. And we also share
intelligence. And they're able to leverage the no-cost
cybersecurity options that the Cyber Collaboration Center and
the DIB Cybersecurity Program offer them.
So I think we've made some really good headway. The C
Suites are paying attention to it. And it's really been
important. And we see it because as you know, great examples
right now with Russia-Ukraine with Russia in cyber.
And they want to slow down logistics flow, right? And so
let me just add that the intelligence that's collected via the
FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] 702 program has
really been proven to be a vital tool for us to understand
where the enemy is. And that FISA 702 is going to expire at the
end of this year. So I would appreciate consideration for how
do we keep those kinds of authorities available because it's a
significant amount of intelligence we're getting from the FISA
702.
And think about AI. Again, my ability to respond to the
greatest need requires me to be able to sense all the ports,
see all of the assets in motion, and then predict the
requirements of the joint force, wherever they might be based
on if there's a hurricane somewhere or if there's a conflict
going on somewhere. So I use AI data. Nirvana would be that I
would see and sense everything and be able to maneuver the
force fluidly to respond.
Ms. Mace. Are you able to do that now?
General Van Ovost. We are not able to do that now. That
is--that is a--it's a high level requirement. But we're working
with Advana. We have an incensiation of data and analytical
tools. And we're going to bite this elephant one at a time,
right?
Ms. Mace. What do you need to get there? What will it take?
General Van Ovost. What we're doing right now is exposing
the data and grabbing the data, structuring it so that we can
use it. We have the data. It's just we're pulling it together.
We've been working with the Department of Defense on their
AI data accelerator. And we're using their resources, so I'm
very appreciative of that. And then eventually when we have our
own program, we will probably require a little manpower and
some funds for analytical tools. But I don't have that
requirement this year.
Ms. Mace. Got it. Thank you so much, and I yield back.
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Ms. Mace. Again, I want to thank you
both. These are incredibly important issues. In the 5 years
that I have been here, we have all been--Chairman Kelly shares
my concern. We have all been pulling our hair out on the
criticality and your shortages and your needs, particularly in
the sealift fleet.
We are determined. I was just talking to some of the staff
to press our appropriations colleagues on getting you the
appropriations that you need and continuing to get you the
authorities that you need to rebuild much of what has atrophied
over the years. With that, the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:47 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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A P P E N D I X
March 28, 2023
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PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
March 28, 2023
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[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
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WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING
THE HEARING
March 28, 2023
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RESPONSE TO QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MR. GIMENEZ
Admiral Phillips. It is difficult to estimate how large the mariner
shortage could grow given the variables involved in calculating the
availability of qualified mariners. For context, the study prepared by
the Maritime Workforce Working Group and released by MARAD in 2017
found that the U.S. was approximately 1,800 mariners short of the
number of mariners with unlimited tonnage credentials needed to sustain
a full activation of the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) and our commercially
operated vessels concurrently to meet sealift needs.
Specifically, the 2017 analysis determined that, based on the U.S.-
flag fleet at the time, concurrent operations of the commercial U.S.-
flag fleet and sustained military sealift operations would require
13,607 U.S. mariners with unlimited credentials. In 2017, the estimated
pool of actively sailing mariners was comprised of 11,768 active,
qualified mariners--documenting a deficit of 1,839. These estimates
were based on the consensus that many commercial ships enjoy a billet
ratio of 2:1--for every mariner serving onboard in a billet, there is
one mariner ashore on leave, waiting to relieve the mariner at sea.
This scenario assumed that all qualified mariners would be both
available and willing to sail. The number of ships under our flag
determines the number of commercial billets available to all our
commercial mariners. The Tanker Security and Cable Security Fleet
Programs provide billets for additional mariners. However, these
programs alone do not address the deficit in the number of qualified
mariners.
During the six years since the 2017 study was released, the U.S.
Merchant Marine underwent continuing changes in technology and in
globally standardized credentialing requirements as well as the impacts
of an unprecedented global pandemic, all of which have impacted the
size of our mariner pool. [See page 27.]
______
RESPONSE TO QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MRS. KIGGANS
General Van Ovost. I defer to the Maritime Administrator to respond
on this issue. [See page 21.]
Admiral Phillips. In early January, USMMA received a First
Amendment complaint citing the Establishment Clause regarding the
painting located in the Astronaut Elliot M. See Room. This room had
been used to conduct mandatory USMMA business, including proceedings
held to determine whether a Midshipman had violated USMMA's Honor Code.
The ``Christ on the Water'' painting was carefully transferred to
an art conservation facility for cleaning and restoration, which we
expect to be completed late this Summer or early Fall. Once completed,
the Academy plans to mount the painting in the Mariners' Memorial
Chapel. Prior to having the painting restored, it was displayed,
uncovered, in the Elliott See Conference Room, and members of the
community had unrestricted access to the space while no official USMMA
business was conducted in the room. The Academy remains deeply
committed to ensuring that all members of our community are respected
and supported. [See page 21.]
______
RESPONSE TO QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MR. MOYLAN
General Van Ovost. There is a well-established relationship between
the Department of Defense and other governmental agencies to include
FEMA, ensuring that when needed, the federal response to natural
disasters is swift and coordinated across the whole of government. I am
not aware of any recent large-scale Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster
Relief exercises conducted on Guam, but USTRANSCOM will make every
effort to support such an event should the opportunity present itself
in the future. As you know, USINDOPACOM is the lead Combatant Command
for the Guam region and USTRANSCOM stands ready to fully support them
with the transportation of personnel, supplies, and equipment into or
out of Guam as required. [See page 34.]
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QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING
March 28, 2023
=======================================================================
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. WITTMAN
Mr. Wittman. Companies in the moving industry who provide services
to the Department of Defense as Transportation Service Providers (TSPs)
have raised multiple concerns about the Department's decision to make
several disruptive changes to the Defense Personal Property Program
(DP3) through the program's 2023 Business Rules. They are especially
concerned that changes to the carrier scoring system (Best Value Score
2.0/BVS 2.0) will impact their ability to forecast moves and provide
capacity for the Department during the coming peak moving season. Did
the Department conduct a predictive analysis of the impacts to
industry's ability to provide capacity before advancing these changes?
If not, why was such an analysis not conducted given the importance of
industry capacity to providing quality moving service to our nation's
servicemembers?
General Van Ovost. USTRANSCOM has not stopped with improvements to
the current program for our families while we wait on the Global
Household Goods Contract implementation. The Best Value Score change
was a key transformation initiative implemented carefully and
collaboratively. While we acknowledge the importance of capacity, this
key change was necessary due to our concerns about the volume of
``quality'' capacity provided to our nation's servicemembers, which
continues to be unacceptable.
USTRANSCOM conducted various levels of predictive analytics
concerning how BVS 2.0 could affect the industry and accordingly, we
collaborated with industry prior to implementation. This analysis
allowed us to understand potential impacts of BVS 2.0 on industry, and
we included a high level of collaboration with industry prior to
implementation. As a result, the team made several key changes to scale
back BVS 2.0, to reduce negative impact on industry while also
delivering the necessary improvements to the program.
This collaborative approach, and the analysis undertaken by the
Command was important to help mitigate impact on industry; however, the
need to implement BVS 2.0 was even more important. Since first
providing the details behind this change in July 2022, we've seen a
downward trend in missed required delivery dates (RDD) and an upward
trend in Claims Satisfaction Survey results--both possibly due to TSP
changing behavior to improve future scoring under new system. BVS 2.0
was initiated in February 2023, and moving forward we believe BVS 2.0
is critical as we also expect fewer missed pickups/RDDs, decreased
personal property damage, improved overall satisfaction, and improved
claims processes.
Mr. Wittman. Historically the Department has faced challenges with
securing responses from servicemembers on their satisfaction with their
Permanent Change of Station Household Goods move (Customer Satisfaction
Survey/CSS). This is an issue that Congress has raised in the past and
the Department has made multiple attempts at addressing. The Committee
understands that the Department is using a new contractor for these
Surveys and that there has been some improvement in response, but
responses continue to lag. Please provide an overview of the current
CSS program, what response rate and distribution across locations and
services would the Department consider as representative of industry
performance, what steps the contractor is currently taking to increase
responses by servicemembers, and what plans the contractor and the
Department have in place should those efforts not be successful.
General Van Ovost. The Customer Satisfaction Survey provides
critical feedback from service members that also informs which
Transportation Service Providers (TSP) are awarded future business. A
contract was awarded in January 2021 to a company specializing in
third-party surveys. The improved methodology and collection techniques
independently assessed performance using commercial best practices.
There was potential to improve response rates above the historic
average of 22% and initial small-scale evaluation of the 2021 platform
yielded up to a 40% response rate. However, after the full-scale
rollout the response rates dropped back to historical levels.
USTRANSCOM adjusted again by re-awarding the contract. As of
January 2023, the program is now managed internally at USTRANSCOM with
an average survey response rate of 27%. This exceeds the historical
response rates of 22% and in alignment with market standards which
denote 20-30% as typical, with higher response rates above average.
The new survey methodology focuses on origin, destination, and
claims services. Other improvements include more thoughtful timing of
survey deployment and reminders, expanded survey windows, and analysis
of variables such as survey type and service affiliation as they relate
to response rate trends. When the new CSS is paired with improvements
offered by BVS 2.0, the customer's voice is amplified, as are the
objective measures already in-place in the program.
USTRANSCOM's internal management allows ongoing coordination with
the CSS contractor to continuously monitor, assess and adjust the
program as necessary to optimize response rates. This approach aligns
with the Global Household Goods Contract, which includes CSS as a key
performance indicator.
______
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. SCOTT
Mr. Scott. What more work needs to be done with the U.S. Navy,
other Military Departments, and the rest of the Joint community to
collectively address future contested environments and the best means
to protect deployment and distribution from the point of origin to the
point of need?
General Van Ovost. Recent operational exercises and future-focused
wargaming experimentation and analyses highlight various challenges
requiring continued investment and development to ensure the Joint
Deployment and Distribution Enterprise (JDDE) remains postured to
deliver and sustain the Joint Force from the Point of Origin to the
Point of Need through increasingly contested environments.
Sufficient ready capacity is a priority requirement and a proximate
challenge. National objectives in times of crisis or conflict create
significant, overlapping global demands to simultaneously satisfy
multiple Geographic Combatant Commanders' requirements. Our airlift,
sealift, and air refueling fleets are aging, highlighting the
importance of the ongoing modernization and recapitalization efforts I
mentioned during testimony.
Additionally, our adversaries continue to develop and employ
weapons of greater range, precision, and lethality to include a
persistent threat of cyber effects, designed to oppose our ability to
globally project and sustain forces. Support from our partners across
the whole of government must continue as we pursue efforts enabling
resilient JDDE movements from Fort to Port. Acceptance of my proposal
for a Military Strategic Transportation Program within Title 23
(Highways), and consideration for the importance of viable Strategic
Seaport facilities within federal discretionary grant programs, are
examples of opportunities to guide existing resources towards
infrastructure projects with national security benefits. Extending from
CONUS ports to global Points of Need are multiple Strategic Lines of
Communication (SLOCs). Protection of these SLOCs require resourcing
identified Joint and Service requirements to ensure operational
concepts and sufficient enabling platforms can be developed, fielded,
and employed. Also, the length and contested nature of these SLOCs
against both China and Russia, and the tyranny of distance in the Indo-
Pacific region, creates dilemmas requiring the integration of logistics
planning across all warfighting functions to support the joint
warfight. U.S./coalition forces need to effectively traverse
disruptions as we will not be able to eliminate friction and
opposition.
Mr. Scott. How can the United States Coast Guard be better
integrated with USTRANSCOM?
General Van Ovost. USTRANSCOM shares a unique and long-standing
relationship with the United States Coast Guard and the command's
mission directly benefits from the force protection that the USCG
provides world-wide. One of the command's top priorities is
recapitalizing a primary means to project power and support the
warfighter, the Ready Reserve Force. USCG inspectors have worked
tirelessly with us to thoroughly review newly purchased commercial
Roll-On/Roll-Off ships, like the CAPE ARUNDEL and CAPE CORTES. Their
efforts laid the policy foundation to streamline the implementation of
the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) standards for safety and sea
worthiness, ensuring the Ready Reserve Force meets or exceeds the
standards in the future.
Since 1991, USCG Reserve servicemembers assigned to the Joint
Transportation Reserve Unit, one of two of my subordinate commands,
have regularly contributed operational and augmentation support to the
command. We also have a Coast Guard liaison officer on site in our
Operations Directorate.
Additionally, USTRANSCOM and the Coast Guard regularly interact
through the National Port Readiness Network, a cooperative of nine
federal agencies, chaired by the Maritime Administration and designed
to ensure readiness of commercial ports to support force deployment
during contingencies and other national defense emergencies.
Finally, we are working closely with the Coast Guard as they
develop their new Merchant Marine Licensing and Documentation system.
This system will give USTRANSCOM and the Maritime Administration
greater assurance that sufficient merchant mariners are ready to crew
commercial and government owned sealift ships critical to our mission.
Mr. Scott. Does the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force recognize that air
defense must also include the protection of merchant ships delivering
fuel and munitions to forward-operating aircraft? Should merchant ships
be equipped with smaller and more portable air defense systems?
General Van Ovost. Our integration and collaboration with the
Geographic Combatant Commands includes planning and threat assessments
to incorporate the importance of protecting merchant ships delivering
fuel and munitions to forward-operating aircraft in their Areas of
Responsibility.
During contingency operations, the Armed Forces of the United
States has afforded increased protection of merchant ships delivering
fuel and munitions to forward-operating aircraft and troops via
escorted convoy operations. The overall protection for merchant ships
is based on the force protection measures required per the Numbered
Fleet Commanders, such as the employment of Embarked Security Teams. My
naval component command, Military Sealift Command exercises Operational
Control and ensures all vessels meet the required force protection
measures. Additionally, Tactical Advisors are used on these vessels as
warranted to train and advise crews on operations in a contested
environment and communications necessary to closely integrate with
supported Geographic Combatant Commands. All practicable means are used
to protect our merchant vessels.
Mr. Scott. You testified, ``We are training our mariners to operate
in a contested environment.'' Why are all of our sealift and naval
logistics ships unarmed? Does the United States Navy lack the ships to
escort our sealift and naval logistics ships?
General Van Ovost. During contingency operations, the Armed Forces
of the United States have afforded increased protection of merchant
ships delivering fuel and munitions to forward-operating aircraft and
troops via escorted convoy operations. Given the evolving nature of
great power competition and the diversity and complexity of threats,
the requirement to defend merchant ships from air, surface, and
subsurface threats requires continued detailed planning and
coordination. All practicable means will be evaluated to protect our
merchant vessels.
My naval Component Command, Military Sealift Command, exercises
Operational Control over activated organic vessels and United States
flag commercial vessels under time charter to the Department of Defense
and ensures all vessels meet the force protection measures required per
Numbered Fleet commanders, such as the embarkation of expeditionary
security teams. Additionally, Tactical Advisors are used on these
vessels as warranted to train and advise crews on fleet integration and
operations in a contested environment. In addition to crew training,
tactical advisors actively coordinate with regional Area Commands for
escort, exercises, and operations. The Tactical Advisor program
consists of Strategic Sealift Officers (Individual Ready Reserve and
Selected Reservists) and a limited number of Unrestricted Line Officers
also in the Navy Reserve. Since its inception in 2018, the program has
grown to over 300 advisors.
Mr. Scott. Is USTRANSCOM prepared for large scale combat operations
against an enemy peer nation?
General Van Ovost. Yes, USTRANSCOM is ready now and is evolving to
meet tomorrow's challenges through efforts to enhance our Warfighting
Framework of Global Mobility Posture, Global Mobility Capacity, and
Global Command, Control, and Integration.
Global Mobility Posture is the foundation of power projection and
depends on operational access, basing, and overflight (ABO). Our
regional posture enhances the flexibility and warfighting effectiveness
of USTRANSCOM mobility forces. Investments in partnerships that expand
access and support adaptive basing initiatives remain critical for
success. We continue to expand and strengthen our global transportation
networks to facilitate our ability to support the Joint Force.
Global Mobility Capacity includes rail, motor transport, sealift,
air refueling, airlift, and the ability to fully mobilize the Total
Force at the point of need. With vast over- ocean distances involved in
projecting power globally, and a premium on swift delivery of decisive
combat power, our core mobility assets remain critical. Our commercial
transportation, both sealift and airlift, are integral for supporting
daily and wartime operations. We must continue to recapitalize our
sealift and air refueling fleet so we can maintain this competitive
advantage.
Global Command, Control, and Integration is the exercise of
authority and direction to plan, coordinate, synchronize, and control
operations at echelon. We leverage advanced technologies to help sense
and make sense of data at scale to create decision advantage for our
leaders.
USTRANSCOM's strategy is oriented towards the continual pursuit of
maintaining our competitive advantage by constantly sensing and
adapting as necessary based on the changing environment. This strategy
will ensure that we are prepared for large scale combat operations
against an enemy peer nation if ever called upon to deliver.
Mr. Scott. What is the minimum activation rate needed for a Turbo
Activation to best prepare MARAD and MSC for large scale combat
operations against a peer enemy nation?
General Van Ovost. The TURBO ACTIVATION program validates the
ability of the surge sealift fleet to rapidly transition from the day-
to-day reduced operating status, to the fully operational status
required to transport equipment and supplies across the globe. The
Department of Defense requires these ships be able to complete this
transition in 120 hours, or 5 days, to ensure sealift will be available
when it's needed. When a ship is Turbo Activated, it completes the 5-
day transition and then conducts a brief sea trial to verify systems
are operational.
Our goal is to Turbo Activate a minimum of 15 sealift ships
annually, and to activate each individual ship at least once every 3
years. This provides a 95% level of confidence the combined results
reflect the overall readiness of the fleet to make the transition to
operational status on any given day.
Mr. Scott. Are U.S. Merchant Mariners prepared or trained for war?
Admiral Phillips. In general, merchant mariners who primarily sail
on commercial vessels have not typically been trained for war. For the
past several decades, our commercial ships have enjoyed relatively free
sea lanes. When they have been called upon to enter areas of danger,
they have typically been accompanied by Naval escorts or military
protection of some kind which could include a Navy tactical officer
onboard to facilitate safe passage and coordination with US Navy or
Allies.
That being said, merchant mariners who serve on vessels that are
part of the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) or Military Sealift Command (MSC)
are required to complete training specific to the military-oriented
missions of these vessels on such topics as chemical, biological, and
radiological defense, force protection and anti-terrorism, use of small
arms for self-defense, and other specialized courses are needed based
on the missions of the vessels on which they serve.
Preparation and training for a wartime environment is a topic of
discussion within MARAD and our partner Department of Defense (DoD)
agencies to determine effective responses to operating sealift ships in
contested environments to include protection procedures and any
additional training requirements. Such training may be developed and
provided by MSC and would be in addition to all the other training
mariners are required to complete to maintain their merchant marine
credential.
Mr. Scott. When do you expect MARAD will complete its next national
shipyard survey?
Admiral Phillips. MARAD expects to complete the national shipyard
survey and summary report by the end of fiscal year 2023.
Mr. Scott. What cutting-edge financial engineering techniques
should be adopted by the United States Governement?
Admiral Phillips. MARAD is currently implementing section 3542(a)
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23
NDAA), which requires the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary
of Homeland Security to enter into an agreement with a federally funded
research and development center to conduct a study of key elements and
objectives needed for a maritime strategy. This strategy is intended to
inform MARAD's preparation of a national maritime strategy, which could
encompass the potential need for and application of financial
techniques to support a merchant fleet.
Mr. Scott. Should the U.S. Maritime Service (USMS) be reactivated
to allow mariners to enroll and help track, provide and train them for
a future war as we did in 1938? How much would it cost to reactivate
the USMS?
Admiral Phillips. The USMS was disbanded in 1954 and although the
statutory authority exists for the Maritime Administration to support
mariner training--including at the USMMA, a Federal service academy--
MARAD is neither resourced nor authorized to reactivate the types of
training facilities that existed during WWII, when the USMS was an
active training entity. Today, there are many merchant marine training
pathways available to the public, (some supported directly by MARAD)
such that there is ample training capacity, to include the ability to
increase credentialed mariner training opportunities. Supplementary
mariner training for operating in a contested environment remains an
important consideration by the DoD, and there are existing programs to
meet the current requirements.
Mr. Scott. Is MARAD prepared for large scale combat operations
against an enemy peer nation?
Admiral Phillips. MARAD does not prepare for or conduct combat
operations. Any questions regarding the combat readiness of any U.S.
forces should properly be directed to DoD. MARAD is resourced by the
U.S. Navy and implements the authorities assigned to it to the extent
that available resources maintain the RRF, which is comprised of nearly
50 vessels. The U.S. military activates these vessels to meet their
specific sealift needs; upon activation, operational control passes to
the military. DoD's current requirements for sealift force protection
training and measures are being met. Future operations in a contested
environment may alter the necessary training and protection measures
that DoD will require MARAD and the sealift community to implement.
Mr. Scott. What is the minimum activation rate needed for a Turbo
Activation to best prepare MARAD and MSC for large scale combat
operations against a peer enemy nation?
Admiral Phillips. Questions regarding the rate of activations
needed to prepare for any forces for any form of combat operation
should be directed to the U.S. military. When directed to activate,
MARAD strives for on-time activation for ships that are not out of
readiness.
Mr. Scott. John Konrad wrote the following in a March 15, 2023 post
on gCaptain, ``Furthermore, the US Navy and US Coast Guard must work
together with MARAD to create a comprehensive national maritime
strategy that fosters innovation and attracts investment. This strategy
should prioritize the adoption of cutting-edge financial engineering
techniques, which can drive growth and reduce costs in the shipbuilding
sector.'' What progress has MARAD made to date in fostering innovation
and attracting investment? What goals does MARAD have for fostering
innovation and attracting investment in FY 24?
Admiral Phillips. Section 3542(a) of the FY23 NDAA, enacted on
December 23, 2022, requires the Secretary of Transportation and the
Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into an agreement with a
federally funded research and development center to conduct a study of
key elements and objectives needed for a maritime strategy. We are
working to implement this requirement and look forward to the results
of the study, which is expected to be completed in early 2024.
In the short term we are supporting the construction of vessels
through our Federal Ship Financing Program (Title XI), which provides
full faith and credit guarantees to promote the growth and
modernization of the U.S. merchant marine and U.S. shipyards. The Title
XI statute was amended in 2019 to give MARAD the authority to designate
``Vessels of National Interest,'' which grants those vessels priority
in program funding and in the application review process. I recently
designated the vessels that construct, maintain and repair offshore
wind farm facilities as Vessels of National Interest. This has spurred
a surge of interest in the program, resulting in 6 applications to
finance construction of 18 new vessels in U.S. shipyards.
MARAD's Capital Construction Fund (CCF) also continues to support
reinvestment in commercial shipbuilding. Section 3545 of the FY23 NDAA
expanded use of the CCF program to all U.S.-built, U.S.-flag commercial
operations, allowing many more shipowners to accumulate tax-deferred
funds for fleet expansion, replacement and upgrades. The program
currently has over 110 American fundholders, including seven that have
been approved in 2023, making use of the recently expanded authority.
Finally, MARAD's Small Shipyards Grant program continues to make a
positive impact on small U.S. shipyards and helps to improve their
ability to compete for domestic and international commercial ship
construction and maintenance opportunities. The President's FY 2024
Budget requests $20 million for this program.
______
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. GALLAGHER
Mr. Gallagher. Can you provide an assessment, from the perspective
of USTRANSCOM, of the threats posed by CCP investments in commercial
port infrastructure around the globe?
General Van Ovost. The CCP's investment in global commercial port
infrastructure includes the operations and management of port
facilities, port automation and smart technologies, equipment
proliferation, commercial shipping facilities, and vessels. These
activities create vulnerabilities that allow for PRC influence,
exploitation, and surveillance opportunities on DOD logistics
operations that could be used to impede USTRANSCOM operations during
times of crisis or at a time of their choosing. The CCP actions could
also be used to provide leverage over host nations to reduce U.S.
access and basing.
Mr. Gallagher. What actions has USTRANSCOM taken to incorporate
innovative technologies and systems to develop greater advanced
analytics capabilities and improve cognizance across the global
mobility enterprise?
General Van Ovost. USTRANSCOM remains committed to the pursuit and
exploration of advancements in data management and data science.
Computational processing technologies like artificial intelligence,
machine learning, and advanced analytics continue to rapidly advance
and have enormous potential to improve USTRANSCOM mission outcomes. The
ability to manage data as a strategic resource remains foundational to
USTRANSCOM's transformation to a data driven command and underpins
implementation of business reform initiatives. USTRANSCOM is leveraging
DoD enterprise data and analytics platforms to help sense and make
sense of data at scale and to build, train, test, and deploy advanced
analytics capabilities to create decision advantage. In the area of
intelligence, we are currently working with the Defense Intelligence
Agency to develop a machine learning capability in support of port
foundational intelligence. To improve cognizance across the global
mobility enterprise, USTRANSCOM is working with OSD, the Joint Staff
and the Army to define the next generation In-Transit Visibility (ITV)
architecture. Additionally, USTRANSCOM currently operates and is
continually improving a Common Operating Picture on both the
unclassified and classified networks which presents visual depiction of
our modes, nodes, routes and movements across air, land, and sea
domains. These movements are overlaid against current weather,
environmental or other operational conditions on the ground. USTRANSCOM
remains engaged in research to drive data standardization, provenance,
governance, and analytics across the JDDE. Research interests include
but are not limited to advanced big data management; manipulation and
integration of large data sets; data discovery, predictive and
prescriptive analytics; and deep learning algorithms.
______
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. BERGMAN
Mr. Bergman. Admiral Phillips, I understand that unlike MARAD,
which accepts both U.S. and Canadian companies into its ballast water
research program, Transport Canada is only accepting Canadian entities
into its similar research program. Would you be willing to stop
accepting new applications from Canadian entities?
Admiral Phillips. The ballast water research program referenced is
an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program, and MARAD defers to
EPA regarding the specifics of the program. For background, MARAD is a
partner in a collaborative ballast water management research and data
collection effort in the Great Lakes. Funding is appropriated to the
EPA's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), in which MARAD has
been a participating agency since 2010. The research is being conducted
to support the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) of 2018. VIDA
established a program to support the development of and achievement of
type approval for ballast water management systems (BWMS) on commercial
vessels operating solely within the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain
Systems. As part of this collaboration, funds are provided by the EPA
to MARAD. MARAD, through a cooperative agreement, allocates the EPA
funds to the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS). UWS, in turn,
manages the ballast water treatment technology program and advertises
competitive requests for proposals (RFPs) in support of the program.
Through four rounds of RFPs, only two U.S.- flagged vessel owners have
applied for funding from UWS, and both have received funding. MARAD and
EPA have had several conversations with Transport Canada as to who may
apply for funding under their initiative. Transport Canada has
indicated that non-Canadian entities may apply for funding with a
Canadian partner.
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