[Senate Hearing 118-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
       DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024

                              ----------                              


                         THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2023

                                       U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met at 9:30 a.m. in room SD-192, Dirksen 
Senate Office Building, Hon. Jon Tester (chairman) presiding.
    Present: Senators Tester, Durbin, Baldwin, Shaheen, 
Collins, Murkowski, Moran, Hoeven, Boozman, and Capito.


                         DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

                       National Guard and Reserve

STATEMENT OF GENERAL DANIEL R. HOKANSON, CHIEF OF THE 
            NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU


                opening statement of senator jon tester


    Senator Tester. Good morning. We are going to call this 
committee to order. I want to begin by welcoming our witnesses. 
I thank you all for being here to discuss your fiscal year 2024 
budget priorities.
    General Bellon, I think this is your last appearance before 
this committee. We extend a particularly warm welcome to you 
and wish you the best in your upcoming retirement. And we don't 
really care whether you retire in Maine or Montana----
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Tester. But either one of the places will work, 
okay.
    Senator Collins. Split the year, maybe.
    Senator Tester. Yes--house in each State. You can move back 
and forth. Either one will be a heck of a lot better in Kansas, 
right?
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Tester. At any rate, I want to say thank you for 
what you guys do. The National Guard and Reserves have always 
done more with less, fewer full-time personnel, smaller 
budgets, older weapons systems and vehicles, and aging IT 
infrastructure and facilities.
    The men and women that you lead have one foot in civilian 
life and the other foot in the military. They juggle their 
homes, their families, their duties while unselfishly serving 
their country, both here and abroad.
    And the workload certainly isn't decreasing, and the 
ongoing mission in the Southwest border, as well as your 
support to European Command, demonstrate exactly that. However, 
over the last 5 years alone, the National Guard and Reserves 
collective forces have shrunk by more than 40,000 
servicemembers.
    You are not immune from recruiting challenges that our 
active-duty military services face, nor are you immune from 
disruptive impacts of Government shutdowns, continuing 
resolutions. It is my sincere hope that with the threat of 
Government default hopefully averted, we can now make progress 
on passing the Government's budget on time, get it out of the 
cycle of annual continuing resolutions.
    I want to hear how you are managing these challenges and 
how you are providing a ready modernized Guard and Reserve 
Force, as well as ensuring the healthy work life balance and 
rewarding military career for these men and women.
    Once again, I want to thank you for being here. I want to 
thank you for your testimony ahead of time. But before you 
begin that testimony, I want to turn it over to Susan Collins. 
Senator.


                 statement of senator susan m. collins


    Senator Collins. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for 
holding this hearing on the National Guard and Reserve 
component fiscal year 2024 budget request. As the Chairman is 
well aware, I am very concerned about the budget request and 
its adequacy. The citizens Soldiers of the Guard and Reserve 
serve in the proud tradition of the Minutemen who fought for 
the very founding of our country.
    In fact, the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine National 
Guard has an unbroken line of service from 1760 to this very 
day. That is a distinction of which we are all very proud in 
the State of Maine. By design and consistent with the tradition 
of our Nation's founding, the United States military is not 
able to fight a war without the Guard and Reserve.
    For the past 2 decades, Guard and Reservists have accounted 
for nearly half of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The 
Guard has also borne the brunt of supporting the Department of 
Homeland Security along the Southern borders since 2018, and 
they will continue to do so until our border is finally 
secured.
    The need to properly resource ready, well-equipped, and 
integrated Guard and Reserve components could not be more 
clear. The Guard's State Partnership Program is also an 
essential international security cooperation tool. To date, 
Guard units have formed ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) 
partnerships with 100 countries around the world.
    The Maine Guard's partnership with Montenegro paved the way 
for that country's successful accession to NATO (North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization) in 2017. And yet the President's budget 
request cuts the Guard and Reserve budget by $3 billion 
compared to fiscal year 2023 enacted levels, impeding both 
modernization and readiness.
    As General Hokanson has previously shared with the 
committee, the National Guard represents a lower cost option to 
deliver deterrence and combat power. I understand all of you 
have considerable equipment shortfalls, and none of you has 
parity with the active components in terms of fielding the most 
modern capabilities available.
    Congress has repeatedly needed to provide the National 
Guard and Reserves with up-to-date vehicles, platforms, and 
aircraft that were excluded from inadequate budget requests. 
Finally, the committee is aware of efforts to transition DoD's 
(Department of Defense) ongoing mission at the border from 
active duty to guard or reserve units.
    I would welcome an update from our witnesses on the status 
of that plan and what the Department's plans are to pay for 
those deployments. I look forward to the testimony and join the 
Chairman in thanking each of you for your service.
    Senator Tester. We will start out with General Hokanson, 
Chief of the National Guard Bureau. General, you have the 
floor.


            summary statement of general daniel r. hokanson


    General Hokanson. Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Collins, 
and esteemed members of the subcommittee, thank you for the 
opportunity to testify before you today. Your investment in the 
National Guard has built a ready, capable, and professional 
force vital to our Nation's defense and our communities in 
times of crisis.
    Thank you for your support. I would also like to recognize 
the efforts of my wife, Kelly, and our senior enlisted adviser, 
Tony Whitehead, for their support and partnership in addressing 
Soldier, Airmen, and family needs.
    As a community-based force with the authorities to perform 
almost any mission, ensuring healthy and resilient Guardsmen 
and families is not only our highest priority, it is 
foundational to all we do. This is my third time before you on 
behalf of the Soldiers, Airmen, and families at the National 
Guard.
    In that time, the National Guard has repeatedly 
demonstrated its capability, capacity, and readiness, both at 
home and overseas, on a historic scale. Over the past 3 years, 
we performed over 28 million man-days in our communities, 
responding to emergencies of every kind. And as I speak, 
Guardsmen are supporting typhoon relief operations in Guam.
    In the last 3 years alone, the National Guard has rescued 
or saved 18,826 individuals. In the midst of all those events, 
our formations still met every one of our overseas deployments. 
This included the Nation's final days in Afghanistan, where 
National Guardsmen helped defend the Kabul airport, evacuate 
refugees, and then assist with Operation Allies Refuge.
    One of our other missions is the Joint Multinational 
Training Group-Ukraine. In concert with California's 30 year 
State partnership with Ukraine, our Guardsmen helped establish 
a training center in Ukraine after Russia's first invasion in 
2014. Focused on combat arms and lessons learned, our National 
Guard trainers were some of the last to leave Ukraine before 
Russia's unprovoked invasion.
    A few months after the war began, we reestablished our 
training group and have been training our partners every single 
day since then. Today, every Combatant Commander leverages our 
State Partnership Program, which was recently mentioned, now 
includes 100 nations around the globe.
    Always ready, always there is not just our motto. It is our 
promise to America. A promise we have kept for over 386 years. 
And in the 2,800 communities we call home, they know whenever 
or wherever a disaster occurs, the National Guard will be there 
because we already are.
    As I begin my final year as chief, there are still many 
things we must accomplish to ensure the National Guard remains 
always ready, always there. Today, I will shorten that list to 
four priority areas. The first is our Air National Guard units 
who have been performing space missions for over 28 years. In 
1947, when the Air Force was established, the Air Guards' 29 
original squadrons were established concurrently, and today's 
Air Force is the envy of the world.
    In 2019 when the Space Force was formed, it did not address 
nearly 30 percent of its operational squadrons that reside in 
the National Guard. With 1,000 personnel in 14 units, we are 
almost all tooth and no tail. These highly skilled Airmen are 
absolutely vital to the success of this space mission, and just 
like our Air Force, we want today's Space Force to be the envy 
of the world.
    The second is premium free healthcare for currently serving 
Guardsmen and Reservists. There are many things we can surge in 
times of emergency, but medical readiness is not one of them. 
Access to care is critical to medical readiness and the number 
one concern I hear from our Guardsmen and recruiters when I 
visit our States and territories. To help recruit and retain 
the most talented, skilled, and ready force, all National Guard 
servicemembers, regardless of status, need medical coverage.
    This is a matter of readiness, a matter of duty to the 
Guardsmen who serve and sacrifice for our Nation. We are 
working closely with the Adjutants General and the Defense 
Health Agency to clarify the number of Guardsmen this would 
impact and what current programs could be reduced or eliminated 
so we can accurately identify the cost and the readiness 
benefit it could provide.
    The third is recapitalization of Air Guard fighter 
squadrons. We have 25 fighter squadrons in the Air Guard, and 
our Nation needs every single one of them. By working with the 
Air Force and Congress, we believe there is a path to 
recapitalize all 25 squadrons to the F-35, F-15EX, and our 
newest F-16s through fleet leveling and new aircraft buys.
    This would help the Air Force divest its older platforms 
and retain the capability, capacity, and force structure it 
needs to help meet Combatant Command and warfighting 
requirements.
    Lastly, I ask for your support in meeting the intent of the 
National Guard Empowerment Act. To be a full member of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff and appropriately represent our 430,000 
Guardsmen and their families, our Vice Chief cannot do that 
effectively as a subordinate to his peers.
    In closing, I want to thank you again for the National 
Guard we have today. All we do would not be possible without 
your support that you provide to our Soldiers, Airmen, and 
their families. I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
    [The statement follows:]
            Prepared Statement of General Daniel R. Hokanson
    Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Collins, and esteemed members of 
the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit this 
statement prior to my testimony. Your investment in the National Guard 
has built a ready, capable, professional force that is vital to the 
Joint Force and our American communities in times of crisis. Thank you 
for your ongoing support.
    I would also like to recognize the efforts of my wife Kelly and 
Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead for their support and 
partnership in addressing Soldier, Airmen, and family needs. We are a 
unique force with unique needs and ensuring healthy and resilient 
Guardsmen and families is our highest priority and foundational to all 
we do.
                       national defense strategy
    The 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS) identifies the People's 
Republic of China (PRC) as our pacing challenge and most consequential 
strategic competitor. The NDS focuses the Department of Defense (DoD) 
on this pacing challenge while taking steps to manage other threats in 
this dynamic strategic environment.
    The National Guard plays a critical role in implementing the NDS 
and advancing DoD's priorities of: Defending the homeland; deterring 
attacks against the United States, our allies, and our partners; 
deterring aggression while being prepared to prevail in conflict when 
necessary; and ensuring our future military advantage through a 
resilient Joint Force and defense ecosystem.\1\ These priorities are 
how we intend to meet and deter threats to our national security and 
the rules-based international order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The 2022 National Defense Strategy, p. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are actively engaged in every 
aspect of our NDS. As twenty percent of the Joint Force, we are a 
significant component of integrated deterrence. As the combat reserve 
of the Army and the Air Force--manned, trained and equipped to fight 
our Nation's wars, and currently serving in every Combatant Command--we 
play a key role in campaigning. As a dual-status force that builds key 
partnerships at every level--including international state partners, 
the Federal interagency, regional emergency management, and local law 
enforcement--we provide enduring advantages not found anywhere else in 
DoD. The NDS cannot succeed without the National Guard.
                   national guard support to the nds
    Priority one is defending the homeland, and the National Guard is 
the fundamental element in this regard. The National Guard has a 
community-based force structure, and our wide-ranging geographic 
distribution provides unique advantages to defending the homeland. 
Guard members defend the National Capital Region, support Ground Based 
Missile Defense in Colorado and Alaska; man non-stop, 24-hour 
intercontinental ballistic missile defense systems from Alaska and 
California; protect American air sovereignty; support the U.S. Space 
Force with fourteen operational space squadrons; mitigate critical 
cyber vulnerabilities; and use National Guard manning, training, and 
equipment to assist our communities in times of need.
    Priority two is deterring strategic attacks against our homeland 
and our allies and partners. This priority clearly demonstrates both 
the interconnected nature of the threats and challenges we face and the 
cooperative approach we must take to counter them. Through the National 
Guard's State Partnership Program's (SPP) 88 partnerships with 100 
nations around the globe, Soldiers and Airmen experience the global 
operating environment, develop military-to-military relationships, 
improve readiness, enhance access and influence, and ensure our Nation 
has trusted, capable, interoperable Allies and partners at our side. 
With the assistance of Congress, the SPP has proven to be one of the 
most valuable security cooperation programs available and continues to 
grow in support of the National Security Strategy, NDS and Combatant 
Commanders' theater security objectives. Fully funding the SPP through 
the services will ensure continued access to timely, consistent, and 
adequate resources to maximize the program's potential and historically 
robust return on investment. As the NDS makes clear, mutually 
beneficial alliances and partnerships are an enduring strength, and a 
key to the integrated deterrence and campaigning efforts of the 
National Guard.
    Priority three is deterring aggression and preparing to prevail in 
conflict when necessary. This speaks directly to the National Guard's 
purpose: fighting and winning our Nation's wars. The National Guard is 
an operational force. We participate in combat, peacekeeping and 
stability operations, training exercises, and humanitarian missions' 
shoulder-to-shoulder with our parent services, and the Joint Force. We 
serve in every Combatant Command, enhance the readiness of the Joint 
Force, and support missions within the Global Force Management 
Allocation Plan (GFMAP) process. Being fully modernized and 
interoperable with our parent services and the Joint Force ensures we 
present a combat-credible force that can successfully deter and defend 
aggression from our strategic competitors and prevail in conflict if 
needed.
    Priority four is ensuring our future military advantage by building 
a resilient Joint Force and defense ecosystem. This priority speaks to 
both people and systems--strengthening the resilience of the Soldiers 
and Airmen who serve, improving the resilience of the critical 
infrastructure on which we rely, and enhancing the resilience of our 
organization. We continue to devote time and resources to improve all 
aspects of National Guard culture to make service more appealing and 
inclusive, to include fostering an environment that values education 
and understands the importance of mental and physical well-being. We 
also continue efforts to enhance national resilience by protecting our 
nation's critical assets, communications and control, and 
infrastructure; and increasing our ability to withstand the effects of 
natural and manmade disasters.
                         looking to the future
    The Department's FY 2024 budget request helps build a Joint Force 
that is the most lethal, resilient, survivable, agile, and responsive 
in the world. Paced to the China threat, it builds combat-credible 
forces able to deter, defend, and defeat aggression if required. It 
advances recruiting, retention, and readiness while enhancing unit and 
personal resilience; strengthens deterrence, Ally and partner nation 
capability, and interagency capacity. However, budgetary uncertainty 
and inflationary pressures could erode buying power, stressing National 
Guard programs and personnel, and diminishing our Joint Force 
readiness. Continuing Resolutions in particular impede our ability to 
implement the NDS, hurts service members and their families, and 
undermines the predictability needed for Reserve Component (RC) 
personnel to effectively support the Joint Force.
    As I engage with senior leaders and service members throughout the 
50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, I remain 
concerned with several issues that directly impact future readiness and 
the health of the force. I look forward to working with the 
Subcommittee and your colleagues on solutions to address the challenges 
before us.
National Guard Space Operations
    For 28 years, National Guard space units have been providing 
missions as varied as strategic missile warning, nuclear detection, 
space domain awareness, command and control, and electromagnetic 
warfare, and the U.S. Space Force continues to rely on these critical 
space capabilities. It is imperative we appropriately train, and equip 
in-line with U.S. Space Force standards and U.S. Space Command 
priorities.
Modernization and Recapitalization
    To fulfill NDS obligations, the National Guard must be deployable, 
sustainable, interoperable and survivable on any battlefield, in any 
domain. For example, the Air National Guard has twenty-five fighter 
squadrons today, each essential to the defense of our Nation, our 
integrated deterrence capabilities, and our ability to campaign. As the 
National Guard transitions from legacy platforms, it is essential we 
pursue cost-effective solutions that preserve our capability, capacity 
and generational experience to meet the today's threats.
Recruiting and Retention
    The National Guard provides the unique opportunity to combine 
military service with a civilian career. Every member and potential 
recruit weigh the benefit of that military service with impact on their 
lives and that of their families. We've taken concrete steps to improve 
community outreach, bolster recruiting and retention programs, and 
foster a culture that makes service more appealing, inclusive, and 
secure. Ensuring we recruit and retain America's best in the National 
Guard must remain a top priority; to do so, every aspect of our 
recruiting and marketing enterprise must be fully resourced.
Healthcare
    According to a 2019 Office of the Secretary of Defense study, 
roughly 60,000 Guardsmen are uninsured and lack access to healthcare 
when not in a duty status. If unable to seek treatment for a physical 
ailment or mental health crisis or obtain follow-on care due to a lack 
of insurance, it impacts their medical readiness and ability to serve. 
We cannot surge medical readiness; our people must be ready when they 
are needed. I have formed a working group dedicated to providing the 
best estimate of cost and areas of potential savings and look forward 
to sharing those findings soon so we can identify the true cost of 
premium-free healthcare options and how it would impact the readiness 
of our force.
                               conclusion
    The NDS signals a new era of challenges and opportunities for our 
Nation. With the support of Congress, the National Guard will continue 
to be a force for integrated deterrence, campaigning, and building 
enduring advantages that empower our Nation to compete and prevail. 
With your continued support, we boldly face the future: Always Ready, 
Always There.

    Senator Tester. Thank you, General Hokanson. Next up, we 
have General Daniels, Chief of the Army Reserve. General.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL JODY J. DANIELS, CHIEF 
            OF ARMY RESERVE
    General Daniels. Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Collins, 
distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of the 
190,000 Soldiers and civilians of the Army Reserve, Command 
Sergeant Major Lombardo and I thank you for this opportunity to 
testify, and for your continued support to our Soldiers, 
civilians, their families, and our other employers.
    Present in 20 time zones and on 5 continents, the Army 
Reserve makes up nearly 20 percent of the total Army's 
personnel, at just 5 percent of the total Army operation and 
maintenance budget.
    We provide key units and capabilities with nearly half of 
the Army's maneuver support and a quarter of its force 
mobilization capacity, while sustaining the mobilization and 
deployment of more than 10,000 Soldiers and civilians annually.
    As a Federal response partner, the Army Reserve maintains a 
ready posture for defense support to civil authorities by 
providing critical dual use capabilities such as petroleum 
distribution, water purification, and railroad operations.
    In an extremely challenging recruiting environment, our 
highest priority is sustaining the resources required to 
recruit and retain the best today and into the future. We also 
rely heavily on the support of families and communities, as 
well as the willingness of employers to share their best 
talent.
    By changing our culture to refocus on tough, realistic 
training done safely, we are helping to bridge the knowledge 
divide between the military and the American public. This 
creates better experiences for civilian Soldiers who want to 
share with their communities.
    As we build the Army of 2030, we are grateful for the 
authorizations and appropriations that invest in our people, 
enhance readiness, and accelerate equipment modernization to 
maintain superiority over any potential threat.
    The need for Reserve component duties to perform cannot be 
overstated and is long overdue. That is why we support DoD 
proposal to fundamentally redesign the current system, aligning 
benefits to duties performed, and ensuring our Soldiers receive 
the entitlements that they earn.
    The Army Reserve also appreciates Congress's efforts to 
improve access to childcare. However, access to quality and 
affordable childcare remains a challenge for our Soldiers, 
especially during battle assembly weekends. As the Army Reserve 
pilots new initiatives and deepens partnerships, continued 
Congressional support to address weekend childcare gaps will 
help enhance retention and readiness.
    Finally, as the Army Reserve looks to the future, 
leveraging the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account, or 
NGREA, remains a key component of our modernization strategy. 
This funding enables the Army Reserve to fill mission critical 
shortages that improve overall readiness interoperability.
    Command Sergeant Major Lombardo and I are incredibly proud 
to lead the men and women in America's Army Reserve, and I look 
forward to your questions.
    [The statement follows:]
        Prepared Statement of Lieutenant General Jody J. Daniels
                     the united states army reserve
                   ready now! shaping tomorrow . . .
    In today's unpredictable global environment, the Army Reserve is 
more consequential than ever. Since its establishment 115 years ago, 
the Army Reserve has never failed to answer the call to serve. Since 
1908, more than one million citizen soldiers have been mobilized in 
defense of the nation--at home and around the world.
    The core strength of the Army Reserve is its ability to provide 
high-quality military capabilities, enhanced by citizen soldiers' 
civilian skills, education, training, and experience. As the Army 
prepares for Multi-Domain Operations, harnessing private sector 
education and expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, 
cyber, and sustainment are vital in providing the Army and the nation 
an asymmetric advantage against potential adversaries. These 
capabilities, critical during Large-Scale Combat Operations, are also 
crucial in defending the homeland.
    The Army Reserve is both a component and a command. Flexible and 
adaptable, the Army Reserve provides the Army, combatant commanders, 
and the nation with ``forces to rapidly surge and provide follow-on 
forces, thereby mitigating force structure reductions and impacts from 
prolonged operations.'' On any given day, more than 10,000 Army Reserve 
soldiers are mobilized or deployed in support of combatant commands 
worldwide. Thousands more participate in deployment training or annual 
Joint exercises that strengthen our alliances and partnerships, 
contributing to integrated deterrence and campaigning. And on average, 
the Army Reserve supports the mobilization and deployment of more than 
10,000 soldiers and civilians from force generation installations 
annually.
    The Joint Force cannot deploy, fight, and win without the Army 
Reserve. The Army provides the bulk of sustainment forces to the joint 
fight, and the majority of these capabilities reside in the Army 
Reserve. Citizen Soldiers maintain specialized skills required to 
support Large Scale Combat Operations--including theater-opening and 
theater-level sustainment--as well as civilian-acquired skills, 
training, and certifications that are costly to maintain on active 
duty, such as medical, cyber, legal, engineering, and port operations.
                             by the numbers
    The Army Reserve has an FY23 authorized strength of 177,000 
soldiers, includes 11,000 civilians, and is present in all 50 states 
and five U.S. territories. Fiscally efficient, the Army Reserve 
supports the needs of the Total Force, with just 15% of the component 
serving as fulltime support.
    Making up nearly 20% of the Total Army's personnel, the Army 
Reserve provides critical units and capabilities--nearly half of its 
maneuver support, and a quarter of its force mobilization capacity--at 
a cost of just 5% of the total Army Operation and Maintenance budget.
    More than 50% of the Army's quartermaster and medical formations, 
over 80% of its civil affairs, legal, psychological operations, and 
religious units, and over 40% of its chemical and transportation forces 
reside in the Army Reserve. Some critical enabling capabilities include 
petroleum distribution, water purification, and railroad operations.
    The Army Reserve maintains five installations and an Army Support 
Activity: Fort Hunter Liggett and Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, 
California; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico; Devens 
Reserve Forces Training Area, Massachusetts; and Army Support 
Activity--Fort Dix, New Jersey. Additionally, with 742 Army Reserve 
facilities, the Army Reserve's dispersed footprint is in every corner 
of the country, enabling the U.S. to project combat power and creating 
an added layer of resiliency.
    Each year, Army Reserve facilities support upwards of 335,000 
servicemembers from every Department of Defense (DoD) branch--
partnering with Federal, state, and local agencies for joint training 
missions--with ranges, maneuver areas, urban assault, military 
transport aircraft-capable landing sites, transient barracks, and 
dining facilities.
                        recruiting and retention
    Preserving the all-volunteer force is vital to our national 
security interests. In an extremely challenging recruiting environment, 
sustaining the resources required to recruit and retain soldiers is 
critical to the Army Reserve's ability to generate the readiness 
required to deploy trained, capable, combat-ready, and lethal soldiers.
    In fiscal year (FY) 2022, the Army Reserve recruited 9,400 new 
soldiers, falling short of our mission. To close the gap, commanders, 
and staff are maximizing every potential source of high-quality 
accessions and working to minimize preventable attrition.
    Recruiting and retention investments include $164.4 million in 
incentives, and approximately 3,000 full-time soldiers directly 
supporting Army Reserve recruiting and retention activities.
    In 2022, the Army Reserve achieved 107% of the Army Reserve Active 
Component to Reserve Component (AC2RC) mission by retaining more than 
4,000 active component service members. This program continues to 
perform strongly in FY 2023.
    The Army Reserve Private Public Partnership Office (P3O) is 
contacting transitioning active component members about the AC2RC 
program by linking transitioning active duty servicemembers to civilian 
career pathways through continued service in the Army Reserve. This 
initiative--currently being implemented at the soon to be Fort Liberty, 
currently known as Fort Bragg, Fort Stewart, Fort Cavazos, Fort Bliss, 
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Schofield Barracks--allows the nation to 
retain valuable talent while providing transitioning service members 
with civilian career opportunities.
    P3O is also working with U.S. Army Recruiting Command to link new 
Army Reserve recruits with an employment specialist to explore their 
civilian career options.
    In order to connect with the public--and future soldiers--we 
recently introduced a new branding strategy, including a new logo and 
public outreach program to better reflect today's citizen-soldier--the 
selfless professional who balances the responsibilities of both nation 
and family, uniform and civilian workplace.
                         soldiers and families
    Citizen Soldiers are invaluable to our nation's defense, bringing 
civilian-acquired skills and experiences to the Army Reserve, and 
personifying the Army's values in their local communities. The Army 
Reserve is a highly educated, experienced and diverse force, which 
provides operational flexibility and strategic depth.
    African Americans, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Native 
Americans comprise over half of the Army Reserve force. Women comprise 
more than 25% of all Army Reserve soldiers and 22% of general officers.
    Thirty-three percent of all Army Reserve soldiers hold a bachelor's 
degree or higher. In the officer ranks, 32% hold master's degrees and 
13% hold doctorates. Soldiers in the enlisted ranks are also pursuing 
higher education. More than 13% hold bachelor's degrees, and nearly 4% 
have a master's or doctoral degree--benefiting employers and the 
nation.
    The Army Reserve relies heavily on the support of families and 
communities, as well as the persistent willingness of employers to 
share their best talent. From family-focused programs to quality-of-
life initiatives and employer partnerships, the Army Reserve's focus on 
caring for soldiers and families is at the core of our shared Army 
values--and crucial to the readiness and health of the force as we 
strive towards improved work-life integration between Army Reserve 
requirements, civilian career responsibilities, and family.
    Army Reserve family programs continue to provide our geographically 
dispersed soldiers and families across more than 1,200 communities with 
a clear path to command and community resources, assistance, and 
referrals for every aspect of military life, including Military 
Onesource, childcare, food assistance, and behavioral health resources.
    The Army Reserve recruits and retains our soldiers where they live 
and work. Providing civilian employers with advance notification of 
military commitments and treating them as partners in national security 
demonstrates that everyone has a role in serving the American people.
    To support work-life integration, P3O links eligible team members 
to immediate and long-term employment opportunities. This year, P3O 
partnered with more than 150 businesses across career fields such as 
engineering, healthcare, finance, cyber security, and logistics. 
Through these connections, 730 soldiers, spouses, and family members 
were hired--an 86% placement rate.
    Through quality-of-life initiatives such as travel and lodging 
expenses, health, and childcare programs, we continually improve how we 
care for our soldiers. From training management to a focus on culture 
and work-life integration, the Army Reserve's People First approach 
makes the Total Force stronger. The Army Reserve focuses on supporting 
all aspects of a soldier's life: families, civilian employment, and 
educational goals, integrated with a rewarding uniformed experience 
that delivers the training, confidence, and leadership skills that 
employers seek.
                      addressing harmful behaviors
    The Army Reserve is evaluating programs and activities surrounding 
harmful behaviors to determine the effectiveness of existing efforts--
taking a scientific, data-based approach to decreasing risk factors and 
increasing protective factors.
    The development and implementation of an Integrated Prevention 
Advisory Group will allow a collaborative look at primary prevention 
activities, including policies, programs, and practices that aim to 
prevent harmful behaviors--sexual harassment and assault, as well as 
suicidal behavior and ideations will be particularly examined.
       sexual harassment/assault response and prevention (sharp)
    The Army Reserve Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention 
(SHARP) program continues to provide staff assistance to every major 
subordinate command's program. Based on the results of an internal 
analysis--in coordination with Army's People First Task Force and the 
Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military 
recommendations as approved by the Secretary of Defense--the Army 
Reserve is executing a SHARP Fusion Directorate pilot.
    The 99th Readiness Division's SHARP Fusion Directorate's victim-
centered program is showing improvements in the ability of Sexual 
Assault Response Coordinators, and Sexual Assault Prevention and 
Response victim advocates, in coordination with law enforcement, to 
create a flexible and responsive system which streamlines what can be a 
complex process--from making a report through case resolution and long-
term recovery. Established as a year-long program in July 2022, this 
virtual alternative reporting process is tailored to the Army Reserve's 
geographically dispersed force, leveraging technology to connect 
victims with providers throughout a 13-state region.
                           suicide prevention
    Suicide remains one of the Army's most complex challenges, and 
prevention requires a comprehensive approach. In 2022, the Army Reserve 
experienced a slight decrease in suicides--however, one suicide is one 
too many. Our suicide incident reports reveal soldiers are 
demonstrating increased confidence in leaders and actively seeking 
help. The Army Reserve supported nearly 500 soldiers needing help and 
intervention through the support of unit leadership, Chaplain Corps, 
Suicide Prevention Program Managers, Army Reserve Psychological Health 
Program, and Military OneSource. An increased number--82%--of soldiers 
are seeking help on their own initiative. Likewise, an increased number 
of leaders are recognizing changes in behavior and engaging in 
intervention.
    Families are on the front line of defense against suicide. The Army 
Reserve now offers family members free virtual suicide prevention 
training to help them build the skills to provide support and dispel 
any stigma about seeking care.
    Virtual command team suicide prevention training assists commanders 
in building prevention programs that empower soldiers and leaders at 
all levels to identify and address high-risk behavior early on. 
Soldiers--down to the squad-leader level--are empowered to escort any 
soldier in crisis to immediate life-saving care.
                                training
    With the statutory minimum of 39 days a year to meet individual and 
collective readiness requirements, the Army Reserve focuses on tough, 
realistic training done safely to generate the readiness required to 
support operations home and abroad. Added emphasis on individual and 
collective training opportunities enhances unit readiness and allows 
soldiers to improve their individual skills.
    Optimizing the time to shape, grow, and retain the future force 
through effective and efficient training and maintenance management 
allows soldiers to build proficiency in their mission-essential tasks 
and deepen their technical skills--giving them a sense of purpose and 
fueling their passions.
    By removing redundant administrative tasks and concentrating on 
creating the kinds of relevant experiences citizen soldiers will want 
to bring back to their communities, the Army Reserve is changing its 
culture--and helping to bridge the knowledge divide between the 
military and the American public. As soldiers learn, train, and grow, 
employers and members of more than 1,200 communities stand to benefit 
from their accumulated knowledge, leadership, and technical expertise.
                               readiness
    The Army Reserve is present in 20 time zones and on five continents 
around the world--around the clock. This presence makes a difference 
every day, in communities across America, and around the world. It also 
expands relationships with allies and partners and serves as a critical 
deterrent against our near-peer adversaries.
    An example of this integral role can be seen across Europe and in 
the Indo-Pacific--the DoD's priority theater--where the Army Reserve's 
regional forces span Hawaii, Alaska, America Samoa, Saipan, Guam, and 
12 additional countries.
    More than 7,000 soldiers and 43 units enable early-entry theater-
opening and sustainment of Joint operations across vast distances, 
strengthening our partnerships, enhancing interoperability, and 
increasing collective readiness. Combined with additional staff 
augmentation and operational support from 13 commands on the mainland, 
they deliver functional support to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. 
Forces Korea, U.S. Forces Japan, and U.S. Army Pacific.
    The Army Reserve strengthens logistics and sustainment to support 
of the Joint Force in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, enhancing the Army's 
readiness in the regions. Our contested logistics capabilities ensure 
freedom of action and prolonged endurance for our combatant commanders, 
extending operational reach to the vital points of conflict.
    The Army Reserve also supports Operation Pathways, a series of key 
international exercises, including Pacific Sentry and Talisman Saber in 
Australia, Garuda Shield in Indonesia, and Salaknib in the Philippines. 
These exercises help deter aggression, build joint readiness and 
interoperability, and increase the confidence of our allies and 
partners across the Indo-Pacific.
    Twenty-three units and more than 1,000 Army Reserve soldiers are 
also supporting NATO missions in the U.S. European Command area of 
operations with a broad spectrum of capabilities, including cyber, 
intelligence, logistics, transportation and civil affairs.
    Since the onset of war in Ukraine, the Army Reserve supplied more 
than 100 pieces of equipment, including armored personnel carriers, 
cargo trucks, and mine countermeasure equipment under Presidential 
Drawdown Authority directives.
       sustained funding is essential for continued nato support.
    Army Reserve units regularly participate in realistic collective 
training events to prepare for Large-Scale Combat Operations in a 
multi-domain environment. In FY 2022, 2,600 soldiers rotated through 
the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and more than 
1,500 participated in collective training at the Joint Readiness 
Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, honing the skills needed for 
future multi-domain operations.
                  defense support of civil authorities
    With soldiers and equipment strategically postured throughout the 
country, the Army Reserve flexes critical assets to support Homeland 
Defense and Defense Support of Civil Authorities--such as ``Heavy 
Lift'' helicopters search and rescue, supply, medical, civil affairs, 
and engineer capabilities.
    Army Reserve Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officers (EPLOs) stand 
ready to support state and local authorities in times of natural and 
man-made disasters. Over the past 5 years, more than 2,500 Army Reserve 
soldiers supported incident response.
    Recently, 23 EPLOs deployed to provide critical connectivity as 
Federal and military officials reached out to communities in need 
during Hurricanes Ida, Fiona, Ian, and Tropical Storm Nicole. EPLOs 
have also supported winter storm response in the western United States.
    Army Reserve aviation assets are among those called to provide key 
capabilities needed for disaster response. UH-60 Blackhawk crews 
assisted in fire-fighting operations in central Texas, while CH-47 
Chinook aircrews also assisted civilian first responders in conducting 
search and rescue operations on Mount Rainier, Washington.
               modernization/facilities/shaping tomorrow
    The Army Reserve is evolving to meet the challenges of our time--
preparing not only for the future of Large-Scale Combat Operations, but 
also for the increasingly complex needs of the Joint warfighter in a 
multi-domain operational environment by balancing mission-critical 
capabilities across the force spectrum.
    To meet the evolving needs of the Army and the nation, we will 
simultaneously focus on recruiting the next generation of Citizen 
Soldiers while ensuring that the current force is Ready Now. Building 
on this, the Army Reserve will concentrate on increasing 
interoperability through targeted modernization efforts and capability 
development, ensuring seamless support to the Joint Force throughout 
the conflict continuum.
    The Army Reserve is modernizing its facilities and serving as a 
sustainability leader in energy and water resilience, environmental 
compliance, solid waste management, vehicle electrification, and long-
term sustainability planning.
    As part of the ``Defense Innovation Unit Electric Vehicle Support 
Equipment'' pilot, the Army Reserve is also implementing a climate 
resiliency process, which includes recommendations on prioritizing 
projects that increase the resilience of buildings and natural 
infrastructure.
    Soldiers assigned to the 75th Innovation Command are employed in a 
wide range of career fields, bringing critical job experience and skill 
sets to accelerate innovations and technologies. Areas of expertise 
include artificial intelligence, autonomy, and robotics, block-chain, 
cyber, medical, synthetic biology, and space. As the Army moves toward 
multi-domain operations, Army Reserve soldiers will play a critical 
role in linking the private sector into the defense enterprise.
    Professional skills in areas like defensive cyber operations 
provide valuable capabilities. The Army Reserve provided 25% of the 
Total Army's Cyber Protection Teams aligned to the U.S. Cyber Command's 
Cyber Mission Force. Our soldiers conduct defensive cyberspace 
operations in support of the Army, Combatant Commands, the DoD, and 
Interagency operations worldwide.
    The Army Reserve is preparing to conduct home-station defense 
cyberspace operations in support of Exercise Defender Europe 23--
designed to support mission partners and assist in real-world 
exercises.
    As the Army Reserve looks to the future, leveraging National Guard 
and Reserve Equipment Account funding is a key component of our 
modernization strategy. This enables the Army Reserve to fill mission-
critical shortages that improve overall readiness and interoperability.
                               conclusion
    In an era of strategic competition, the Army needs forces capable 
of defeating adversaries, responding to crises, and preparing for the 
future. To accomplish these goals, the U.S. needs a dedicated Federal 
reserve force that is ready today and prepared to shape the world of 
tomorrow. That force is the United States Army Reserve.
    To deliver cutting-edge capabilities at home and abroad, America 
needs a modernized, powerful, and resilient Federal reserve force of 
highly skilled men and women. From force structure optimization to 
equipment modernization and operational realignments, it will take the 
unique strengths and capabilities of each of the Army's components to 
ensure we are on a sustainable, strategic path.
    The Army Reserve is grateful for the Congressional support of our 
Citizen Soldiers, civilians, and their families, along with resources 
that positively impact the readiness and modernization efforts to 
ensure our adversaries cannot out-range or outpace us on the 
traditional battlefields or in the new frontiers of space and 
cyberspace.
    As always, we are Ready Now! Shaping tomorrow . . . 

    Senator Tester. Thank you, General Daniels. Next, we have 
Admiral Mustin.
STATEMENT OF VICE ADMIRAL JOHN B. MUSTIN, CHIEF OF NAVY 
            RESERVE
    Admiral Mustin. Good morning, Chair Tester, Ranking Member 
Collins, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. It is 
my distinct honor to report to you today alongside my peers 
Reserve service chiefs and General Hokanson on the status and 
the vision of America's Navy Reserve.
    I would like to begin by recognizing my wife Kim, whose 
steadfast support for 30 years exemplifies the unsung 
sacrifices typical of our military spouses. And I would also 
like to thank Navy Reserve Force Master Chief Tracy Hunt for 
his tireless efforts in support of our enlisted Reserve 
Sailors.
    Additionally, I would like to express my thanks and 
appreciation for my colleague and friend, Lieutenant General 
Dave Bellon for his exemplary multi-decade career of service in 
uniform. We are going to miss you, General. Fair wind, 
shipmate.
    Finally, I call the committee's attention to the 103,000 
Sailors, the 450 civilians, the families who sustain them, and 
the thousands of employers who value and enable the worldwide 
service of our citizens Sailors.
    All are essential to the success of our Reserve force. For 
more than a century, the Navy Reserve has reliably responded 
when needed in times of peace, in times of war. In the recent 
past, the Navy Reserve provided the rapid activation of nearly 
9,000 Sailors in response to the coronavirus 19 pandemic and 
surged nearly 500 Sailors on equally short notice to support 
the ongoing security crisis in Europe.
    Most recently, they were instrumental to the execution of 
noncombatant evacuation operations in Sudan, rapidly removing 
American citizens from harm's way. These activations highlight 
the flexibility, readiness, and value our citizens Sailors 
bring to the fight, and yet these contributions merely hint at 
the demands expected of the Navy Reserve in a conflict with a 
great power maritime competitor.
    The Navy Reserve is rapidly transforming to deliver a 
peerless force designed, trained, and ready to fight 
confidently and boldly in sustained multi-domain high end 
warfare. To this end, the singular priority of our Navy Reserve 
is simple, warfighting readiness.
    Modernizing Reserve equipment, training systems, and 
mobilization processes is critical to delivering this readiness 
and a mandate to ensure the readiness and availability of the 
critical response team our service component and Combatant 
Commanders depend upon.
    To ensure our Sailors are ready to activate and serve on 
day one of any conflict, the Reserve force must maintain parity 
with our active counterparts and operate relevant, modern 
equipment.
    To this end, procurement of the modern C-130 Juliet 
aircraft variant to replace legacy C-130 airframes is the Navy 
Reserve's number one equipment priority. In the past year, Navy 
Reserve fleet logistics squadrons flew 26,000 hours, moved 
96,000 passengers, and 19 million pounds of cargo at a cost 
avoidance of $1 billion over alternative methods.
    However, with an average age exceeding 3 decades, the 
current C-130 fleet is unable to meet sustained fleet logistics 
requirements due to obsolescence issues. In conflict, the 
strain on supply chain will be an Achilles heel to contested 
logistics requirements and operations.
    The KC-130 Juliet is a more capable, modern airframe that 
delivers increased capacity supported by cost savings from 
parts, commonality, fuel efficiency, and reduced lifecycle 
costs, resulting in a reduction of $1,000 per flight hour. In 
addition to equipment modernization, we are leveraging 
technology advancements to improve and modernize access to work 
and training, and to bring the Navy Reserve into the 21st 
century.
    These comprehensive transformative improvements include 
hardware and software upgrades, the creation of digital 
workflows, and the implementation of policies and processes 
that harness our greatest assets, the minds, talents, ideas, 
and civilian skills of our Reserve Sailors.
    In concert with these efforts are adaptive mobilization 
process, demonstrated during our response to the COVID pandemic 
and multiple mass mobilization exercises, will leverage the 
Navy Reserve's nationally distributed infrastructure to locally 
mobilize 50,000 Sailors in only 30 days, rapidly, accurately, 
and at scale.
    Our Reserve Sailors are central and vital to our Navy's 
enduring warfighting advantage, so we are investing in the 
personal and professional development of every Sailor. We are 
committed to recruiting and retaining the very best of our 
society, and we are equally committed to maintaining a culture 
of excellence, eliminating disruptive behaviors, ensuring 
Sailor wellness, and fostering a diverse, inclusive culture.
    Doing so is about warfighting readiness, and doing so 
enhances the asymmetric advantage generated by our lead winning 
team. I am grateful for the committee's support of the Navy 
Reserve. Our efforts are made possible by the timely delivery 
of a fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill.
    That provides predictability to our Sailors, their 
families, their employers, and most importantly, to our global 
Combatant Commanders. Chair Tester, Ranking Member Collins, and 
distinguished members of this committee, I remain humbled every 
day by the commitment and contribution of our citizen Sailors, 
our dedicated civilians, and the supportive families and 
employers that collectively are your Navy Reserve.
    Thank you for your continued support and your attention 
today, and I look forward to your questions.
    [The statement follows:]
           Prepared Statement of Vice Admiral John B. Mustin
    Chair Tester, Ranking Member Collins, distinguished members of the 
Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the 
contribution of the Navy Reserve to national defense, both as it stands 
today and as we prepare for the threats of tomorrow. On behalf of Navy 
Reserve Sailors, civilians and their families, thank you for your 
continued leadership and support as we optimize the warfighting 
readiness of your Navy Reserve Force for strategic competition.
    In 2020, the Navy Reserve began a transformation to improve and 
modernize the way we organize, man, train, equip, and mobilize to 
generate the combat power and critical strategic depth the Navy 
requires to prevail in conflict. We have embraced the imperative to 
redesign the Reserve Force--structurally, procedurally, and 
operationally--to align with strategic priorities calibrated for a 
competitive security environment. With a singular focus on generating 
warfighting readiness, this generational transformation will provide 
the most capable force possible to our Navy's Numbered Fleets and 
deliver integrated all-domain naval power to the Joint Force in 
competition, crisis, and conflict.
    Throughout its rich 108-year history, the Navy Reserve has proven 
to be an elite fighting force--a deep well of strategic depth from 
which our great nation has drawn time and again to prevail in 
competition, crisis and conflict. The talent our Navy Reserve Sailors 
bring to bear provides an unequivocal asymmetric advantage. As we 
transform the organization, training, and mobilization processes of the 
force, we have not lost sight of our collective responsibility to 
recruit and retain our nation's precious talent. I remain in awe of the 
dedication and professionalism of Navy Reserve Sailors, civilians and 
the families that support them. They provide the foundation that 
underwrites more than a century of successful contribution to the Navy 
and our Joint Force, and the reason I gaze optimistically to the 
future.
    Timely, predictable and relevant funding from Congress is critical 
for the Navy Reserve to meet mission requirements and, as always, we 
are grateful for your continued support and enduring interest. Keeping 
the Reserve Personnel Navy account funded at President's Budget levels 
enables the Reserve force to deliver trained Sailors ready to fight and 
win in the early stages of conflict as readily as they are to sustain 
combat operations. The National Guard and Reserves Equipment Account 
(NGREA) affords the Navy Reserve agility in rapidly acquiring and 
implementing equipment solutions that fill mission-critical shortages 
and generate readiness. Continued Congressional support will ensure the 
Navy Reserve provides relevant, modern capability and capacity, keeping 
parity with active duty service members in training, facilities and 
equipment, and a resilient surge force today and into the future.
                     design the force: capabilities
    For the two decades following the unprovoked attacks of 9/11, and 
during our global fight against violent extremism, the Navy Reserve 
provided operational support in land-based combat environments. The 
recent strategic shift to address peer adversaries in the maritime 
domain has forced an evolution to address the ready force the Navy 
Reserve must deliver. With the resurgence of a global pacing challenge, 
generating warfighting readiness requires a force design process 
focused on modernization and accelerated delivery of relevant, current 
capabilities.
    Multi-domain warfighting capability and capacity relevance remains 
an imperative guiding principle in the modernized Reserve Force. As 
such, we are investing heavily in capabilities that directly align with 
winning future wars, including Maritime Operations Centers, contested 
logistics, surge maintenance, integrated fires, and Naval Special 
Warfare. New technologies and capabilities in space, cyber, imagery 
analysis, battle damage assessment and repair, autonomous and un-crewed 
platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics 
and additive manufacturing represent growth areas that capitalize on 
the unique skills and experiences of Reserve Sailors and the civilians 
that enable the Reserve Force.
    The Navy Reserve delivers these modern capabilities through three 
employment models: readiness units that augment active Navy units with 
trained, warfighting-ready Reserve Sailors, individual Sailors with 
unique skills that enhance the Total Force, and stand-alone operational 
units that supplement active component capabilities. The Navy Reserve's 
operational units require investments in modern equipment to ensure 
strategic depth in logistics, aviation, security, medical, special 
warfare as well as investments in critical capabilities.
Navy Unique Fleet Essential Airlift (C-130J)
    The Chief of Naval Operations' Navigation Plan identified 
Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) as one of the Navy's key 
operating concepts necessary to prevail in conflict. In Navigation Plan 
2022, the CNO emphasizes resilient logistics in contested environments 
as a critical Force Design Imperative and directs recapitalization of 
the C-130 fleet, a reserve-only capability, by 2030. The C/KC-130T 
aircraft are the Navy's only long-range aerial logistics platform 
capable of transporting bulk cargo, such as boats, diver recompression 
chambers, submarine masts, and all modules of the F-35 engine. Operated 
entirely by the Navy Reserve, Navy Unique Fleet Essential Airlift 
(NUFEA) consists of 27 C/KC-130T and 17 C-40A aircraft that comprise 
the Navy's organic intra-theater air logistics capability.
    Last year, NUFEA aircraft transported 96,105 passengers and 18.8 
million pounds of cargo for the Navy and the Department of Defense. 
This capability saved the Department $1.14 billion in expenditures 
relative to alternative means of transportation. Despite their 
demonstrated necessity and value, the C-130T's age, lack of available 
parts due to obsolescence, and increasing cost of flight hour, drive a 
growing gap between Fleet's demand for this mission and the Navy's 
capability to fulfill it. Compared to the legacy ``T'' model, the more 
efficient and reliable ``J'' model incurs a cost saving of 
approximately $1,000 per flight hour. The essential mission these 
aircraft provide make recapitalization of the C-130T to the KC-130J the 
Navy Reserve's number one equipment priority.
Adversary
    The aviation adversary mission ensures readiness for the Navy's 
carrier-based tactical aircraft and develops Navy pilots' air-to-air 
combat skill. The Navy Reserve's Tactical Support Wing (TSW) maintains 
29 F-5N/F and 2 F-5N+/F+ aircraft that replicate low-to-mid level 
threats. The Navy Reserve is modernizing the F-5N/F avionics suite to 
improve safety of flight and resolve obsolescence limitations. Further 
upgrades will improve the range of the aircraft and generate more 
accurate threat replication. The current fleet of F-5s will reach the 
end of their service life by the early 2030s; however, eleven upgraded 
F-5s purchased in FY20 will come into service over the next 3 years to 
ensure adversary capability does not lapse prior to fielding a 
replacement aircraft.
    In April the Navy Reserve received twelve F-16C aircraft that 
provide dissimilar aircraft training and high-end adversary support to 
the fleet. These aircraft have sufficient airframe hours remaining to 
sustain adversary missions through 2035. Ongoing efforts to upgrade F-5 
and F-16 aircraft, together with investments in Live-Virtual-
Constructive technology, will increase the fidelity of modern threat 
replication and keep Reserve adversary training relevant to the fleet 
until follow-on platforms become available.
Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (P-8A)
    The P-8A aircraft is the nation's only full-spectrum, broad-area 
Anti-Submarine Warfare platform. Additionally, it provides armed Anti-
Surface Warfare and networked Intelligence, Surveillance and 
Reconnaissance capability. The Navy Reserve's Maritime Patrol and 
Reconnaissance Aviation (MPRA) squadrons mirror the active component 
units and integrate seamlessly into the Global Force Management (GFM) 
deployment cycle. The Navy Reserve is in the process of transitioning 
from the P-3C to the P-8A. VP-62 received their first two P-8A in 
February and March of 2023 with their third aircraft scheduled for 
delivery in July. VP-69 began the transition process to the P-8A in 
April 2023, with the first aircraft scheduled for delivery in August 
2023. Transitioning to the P-8A sustains the joint forces military 
advantage over our pacing threat by providing worldwide, continuous 
deployed presence to deter adversaries and provide robust support of 
maritime operations. Hangers to support the new aircraft in the two 
squadrons are late to need and are the number one and two military 
construction priorities for the Navy Reserve. The recapitalization of 
Reserve MPRA ensures equipment parity with active units to deliver 
operational resiliency and strategic depth to the Joint Force. I am 
grateful for your support.
                       train the force: readiness
    The singular focus of the Navy Reserve's transformation is to 
generate and deliver warfighting readiness. As such, each Reserve 
Sailor's peacetime training and active duty service must translate 
directly to readiness in their programmed warfighting billet. We are 
ensuring that training resources, and the policies that support them, 
provide Reserve Sailors the ``reps and sets'' they need to excel, on 
day one, in their wartime roles in a maritime fight.
    For the first time, the Navy Reserve issued explicit Force 
Generation Guidance, released in December of last year, establishing a 
force-wide process to define and validate training requirements and to 
assess force-wide status. Most importantly, the guidance ensures that 
every Sailor is familiar with their unique training plan, tailored to 
their mobilization billet. Automated systems document individual 
training requirements and allow Commanding Officers of Reserve 
Readiness Units to evaluate and report the status of each Sailor's 
training, specific to their unique mobilization billet. Accurate, 
relevant information gives Sailors and their leadership actionable 
tools to manage their warfighting readiness effectively and optimizes 
training investments to enable ``plug-and-play'' integration with 
active-duty forces.
    Billet-Based Activation--activating individual Sailors and Reserve 
Units of Action to their programmed maritime assignments--represents an 
important inflection for the Navy Reserve in our transformation from a 
legacy force providing Individual Augmentees mobilized for land-based 
conflict against non-state, violent extremism. In the future, when 
necessary, we will activate units of action rather than individuals to 
meet reserve-appropriate requirements.
    Individual Sailors will train and activate into roles that align to 
their wartime billet and their specific experience and qualifications. 
This effort is in-line with the Secretary of the Navy's updated policy 
for sourcing active and reserve Sailors to fill current requirements. 
The Secretary's policy directs the DoN to apply the Total Force to 
source ongoing global requirements, and to continue developing 
permanent manpower solutions in lieu of individual augmentees. Billet-
Based Activation provides reserve Sailors practical experience, while 
preserving strategic depth for the new reality of multi-domain warfare 
in competition, crisis and conflict with peer and near-peer 
adversaries.
                      mobilize the force: capacity
    A Reserve Force designed and trained to fight and win must be ready 
and capable of mobilizing rapidly, and at scale, to provide the 
strategic depth necessary to sustain multi-domain combat operations. We 
will deliver on the imperative to mass mobilize the entire Reserve 
Force within 30 days when called upon.
Adaptive Mobilization
    Our legacy approach to mobilization, in which individual Reserve 
Sailors were processed through a single, centralized facility to 
receive specialized training over the course of several months, did not 
meet the demand of a complex, dynamic security environment. To enable 
the readiness and deliver the Reserve Force to the fight immediately, 
we developed Adaptive Mobilization (AM) processes tailored to each 
billet, and distributed mobilization pathways to bring mobilization-
ready Sailors into their active duty warfighting role efficiently and 
at scale.
    Using the AM model, six regional Readiness and Mobilization 
Commands (REDCOMs) and their subordinated Navy Reserve Centers (NRCs) 
support distribution of current and future activations by mobilizing 
the entire Selected Reserve population--roughly 50,000 Sailors--within 
30 days of the demand signal. This model capitalizes on Training and 
Administration of the Reserve (TAR) staffs, located at the REDCOMS, 
NRCs and within Fleet units, and leverages the nationally distributed 
infrastructure unique to Reserve Forces to execute the AM model across 
globally distributed regions. The Navy Reserve has intentionally and 
frequently exercised these processes through force-wide mobilization 
exercises that stress-test our capabilities and drive future 
improvements.
Navy Reserve Center Optimization
    The 115 Navy Reserve Centers spanning the United States, Puerto 
Rico and Guam make up a critical support network for Reserve Sailors 
across the world. In Fiscal Year 2020, the Navy Reserve began a crucial 
effort to optimize this network by strategically closing small, off- 
installation NRCs in order to realign TAR staff personnel to fill 
vacancies at under-staffed NRCs and REDCOMs. The Navy Reserve benefits 
by optimizing essential manpower to train and administer Reserve 
Sailors and to implement Adaptive Mobilization. NRCs outside of 
military installations incur force protection and security risks that 
``on-installation'' NRCs do not.
    Evaluating these ``off-installation sites'' for closure reduces 
risk to the Force and curtails the expense and mobilization impact of 
Armed Watch Stander programs. The effort, which aligns with SECNAV's 
10-year infrastructure reset direction to divest the Navy's facility 
footprint by 10%, reduces the Navy Reserve facility footprint by 10.3%.
Administration and Management of the Individual Ready Reserve
    The Navy Reserve is comprised of 54,607 Selective Reserve (SELRES) 
Sailors, 9,966 TAR Sailors and 39,214 Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) 
members, totaling over 103,787 Sailors. The IRR is a critical component 
of the Navy Reserve, enabling additional surge capacity for the Navy 
Reserve Force at a significantly reduced cost. IRR Sailors also 
maintain many of the primary benefits associated with military service, 
such as access to the military exchange, commissary and Morale Welfare 
and Recreation facilities, Space-Available travel, Psychological Health 
Outreach Program (PHOP) and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response 
(SAPR) services. In order to leverage the potential of this population 
as a relevant source of strategic capacity, we have defined critical 
skills for the IRR, shifting the focus from the land-based fight 
against violent extremists and Individual Augmentee roles to those 
focused on the maritime domain. We are deliberately exercising the IRR 
muster process via the application of a new technology solution to 
refine and improve the experience. Engaging with our IRR Sailors 
through proactive musters has also proved an effective means of 
recruiting experienced personnel by tapping into a desire to affiliate 
with the Selective Reserve.
                       develop the force: sailors
    Navy Reserve Sailors and civilians provide the asymmetric advantage 
that allows the Navy Reserve Force to provide world-class warfighting 
readiness to the Fleet; as such, they remain my primary focus in the 
transformation of Reserve design, train, mobilize, and develop 
initiatives. These efforts support the professional, military, and 
personal growth of our Sailors, with special emphasis also on 
minimizing administrative distractions, enhancing talent management, 
and improving quality of life. The Navy Reserve has promoted particular 
efforts to improve mental health, resiliency and suicide awareness. We 
are focused on fortifying a culture of dignity and respect that 
exemplify our Navy's core values of honor, courage and commitment.
Recruiting and Retention
    We are competing for talent within a discriminating labor force 
under rapidly evolving economic conditions. The labor market in the 
United States is the tightest in recent memory, with more job openings 
than people to fill them. However, the turmoil and uncertainty of the 
last few years have shown that many Americans are more likely than ever 
to pursue work for organizations that provide purpose to their lives 
and align with their deeper values. We believe the Navy Reserve is the 
employer of choice for those seeking challenge, purpose, and personal 
growth within a cohesive community of diverse and motivated 
individuals. To reach our goals, we are at General Quarters to spread 
this message to talented Americans who are eager to serve.
    Reserve component recruiting and retention includes parallel 
efforts to access new Sailors as well as those with prior service. The 
Prior Service Mission is unique and critical to manning the Reserve 
force: in order to ensure we can fill critical gaps, the Navy Reserve 
must maintain a deep reservoir of talent, which requires active duty 
Sailors to affiliate with the Navy Reserve prior to leaving active Navy 
service. With this in mind, the Navy established the Navy Recruiting 
Reserve Command (NRRC), charged with retaining Sailors transitioning 
from active duty for continued service in the Reserve Component. The 
new NRRC can focus on the prior-service Reserve mission in today's 
competitive job market. To improve this process, NRRC has established 
Prior Service Detachments in the five continental fleet concentration 
areas and at two locations outside the continental United States. These 
detachments are staffed with reserve benefits advisors whose sole 
purpose is to act as an extension of the Career Transition Office and 
to educate Sailors on the transition process and the benefits and 
opportunities available in the Navy Reserve.
    We are also aggressively activating accession and retention levers 
by promoting Active Component to Selected Reserve (AC2SELRES) 
opportunities during Transition Assistance Program classes and required 
career development sessions. Additionally, we are expanding bonus 
opportunities, including implementation of a TAR selected re-enlistment 
bonus for selected rates, extending High Year Tenure exception to 
policy to allow more flexibility in the process for service members, 
executing a High Year Tenure Plus program that automatically approves 
continuation of SELRES Sailors through 30 September 2024, extending 
Tuition Assistance Programs to SELRES Sailors and implementing SELRES 
exit surveys to identify additional issues or potential policy changes 
that could support the recruiting and retention mission. The Navy has 
also updated the Military Service Obligation construct by creating 
mandatory SELRES service for eligible Sailors identified as fitting a 
specific need within the Reserve Force.
    The Navy Reserve is projected to miss New Accession Training goals 
by 973 Sailors and to finish approximately 3,000 Sailors short of the 
FY23 10,330 recruiting goal. To address end strength shortfalls, the 
Navy and Navy Reserve are collaboratively embracing innovative digital 
advertising methods to identify candidates for high-demand fields such 
as Special Warfare, aircrew, Information Technology, and healthcare 
specialties. Digital advertising is especially critical since the Navy 
Reserve derives 40.2% of all new contracts from marketing and 
advertising leads.
Navy Personnel and Pay Modernization
    Legacy pay and personnel systems continue to challenge and 
frustrate our reserve sailors and their families. The Navy is 
undertaking an Enterprise personnel and pay transformation to modernize 
and streamline the processes that govern activation and deactivation of 
Reserve Sailors, their career management, their pay, and the service 
and support they receive and deserve throughout their career. The Navy 
is modernizing the MyNavy HR Enterprise, to include Manpower, 
Personnel, Training and Education systems, to improve performance, 
achieve Active Component/Reserve Component permeability, increase 
productivity, achieve auditability and generate cost efficiencies in 
all aspects of personnel readiness for all Navy sailors and their 
families. The centerpiece of this transformation is the Navy Personnel 
and Pay (NP2) system, which will enable a single, integrated personnel 
and pay system that allows Reserve Sailors to seamlessly transition on 
and off active duty, without a disruption in pay. This capability will 
accelerate Adaptive Mobilization and provide the efficiency required to 
mobilize rapidly and at scale. While modernization efforts have been 
delayed, the Navy Reserve is pressing forward with initiatives 
integrating antiquated systems that decrease timelines and mitigate 
shortfalls in operating capacity to support sailors and their families.
Culture of Excellence
    As we transform the Reserve Force for strategic competition, 
Sailors form the foundation of our readiness and remain our most 
important customers. As such, we remain focused on strengthening an 
inclusive and diverse culture that is intolerant of sexual harassment 
and assault, and that provides comprehensive support to Sailors, 
civilians and their families. We are optimizing the warfighting 
readiness of the Reserve Force by empowering Sailors, promoting 
organizational trust and transparency, and ensuring inclusion and 
connectedness among every member of the Reserve Force.
    The Navy Reserve is an exponentially more effective warfighting-
ready force when it capitalizes on the diverse backgrounds, 
experiences, perspectives and talents of those who serve. With this as 
our guiding principle, the Navy Reserve is committed to fielding a 
force as diverse as the country and harnessing the asymmetric advantage 
of our Sailors to accelerate our warfighting advantage. In aggregate, 
the diversity of the Reserve Force has increased across all categories 
over the previous five-year period. We must continue to foster 
inclusion and equity in order to harness the diverse and unique 
capabilities of our Sailors.
Suicide Prevention
    The well-being of Reserve Sailors, civilians and their families is 
an imperative for a healthy, whole force. We continue efforts to 
decrease barriers to mental health treatments, including the negative 
beliefs about help-seeking, and ensure appropriate services are 
available to all service members and their families. The Psychological 
Health Outreach Program (PHOP), a Reserve program, provides counselors, 
coordinators and resources 24/7/365. In FY22, PHOP completed a total of 
506 Reserve Center on-site visits and 29 virtual visits, a 25% increase 
from FY21. Additionally, they received 3,377 Navy Reserve referrals. 
Electronic behavioral health screenings are available to every Sailor 
and family member for immediate access to PHOP services, while 
Resiliency Check-ins provide screening and referrals as necessary. 
Reserve Sailors, civilians and their families are critical to our 
warfighting readiness and remain our most important asset and, as such, 
the importance of their health, wellness and safety underscores all of 
our efforts.
                               conclusion
    We are transforming the Navy Reserve and delivering ready units of 
action and augmentation manpower to support Navy warfighting throughout 
the spectrum of conflict. To remain ahead of our pacing threats in the 
coming decades, we must continue to transform our force with urgency, 
to face the challenges of today while preparing for the war of 
tomorrow. My unambiguous focus remains warfighting readiness. Strategic 
and tactical guidance supports this singular goal, with the enduring 
foundation of professional, empowered, proficient Sailors at the core. 
We have made great strides in modernizing how we man, train, equip and 
mobilize the force. But we still have much to do. Our Navy is stronger 
as a result of the Navy Reserve's contribution to the fight. As it has 
for well over a century, America's Navy Reserve remains ``Ready Now.''
    On behalf of the men and women of the United States Navy Reserve, 
thank you for your steadfast support of Navy Reserve Sailors, 
civilians, families, and employers. Today, we face a new era with new 
challenges. With your continued support, we will lead the 
transformation of our Navy Reserve to address the current and future 
global environment with speed and agility.

    Senator Tester. Thank you, Admiral. Next up, we have 
General Bellon, Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. 
General.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL DAVID G. BELLON, 
            COMMANDER, MARINE FORCES RESERVE
    General Bellon. Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Collins, 
and distinguished members of the subcommittee, it is great to 
be here with you today to share a conversation, a public 
conversation with Forward Sergeant Major Carlos Ruiz and 
Command Master Chief Mike Mussett who are sitting behind me 
about your Marine Corps Reserve.
    Congress has been a great partner to us as a service as we 
have been in the middle of this historic inflection point to 
evolve the Marine Corps in order to meet the threats that we 
have been directed to meet, and hopefully my comments today 
will provide a little extra context about what the Marine Corps 
Reserve has done to meet those demands. Time, time is what I 
want to emphasize.
    This is a time sensitive task that we have been given by 
you and by the Department of Defense and by the Combatant 
Commanders to evolve quickly in order to first deter, and then 
if necessary, meet threats. So, what have we done about that? 
What have we actually done in the last year to meet that need 
with your help?
    I want to talk about a couple of things specifically. I 
will talk first a little bit about a vignette. I mean, the lens 
through which we see the world, we focus on the Marines first, 
right, the all-volunteer force effort. We believe in our hearts 
that we are tasked with winning our Nation's battles and we win 
our Nation's battles with Marines and Sailors. We don't man 
equipment. We equip Marines and Sailors.
    So, as we looked deep into the threat and deep into our 
tasking, and what we acknowledge is we have this amazing human 
capital that joined us because they want to serve. They chose 
us because they thought it was going to be a harder task. It 
was going to be more difficult than other choices.
    And what they are asking us to do is to make their service 
worthwhile, to honor them with the most difficult tasks, and 
then to arm and equip them to achieve those tasks. So, to that 
end, we have formed what we call the Marine Innovation Unit. It 
was an acknowledgment that this population that we all enjoy 
had this unique combined experience and education. They have 
their military service, and they have their civilian occupation 
and education.
    And if we bound them together, they could do amazing 
things, if we didn't pay attention to military occupational 
specialties and ranks, and instead to a desire to serve and 
their human capital. This Marine Innovation Unit accelerated an 
opportunity for us to transition legacy capacity and 
capability, and you gave us the tools to do it.
    By using degree of funds from fiscal year 2022 and 2023, we 
were able to take 400 Marines who were facing a sundowning 
scenario with legacy equipment, and instead buy a littoral 
craft capability, a maneuver capability that allowed them to 
not only have a new mission set, but more importantly 
reinvigorated them.
    And here is the lesson I learned from that. By placing a 
littoral craft in both Tampa, Florida, and Galveston, Texas, we 
went from a scenario where our re-enlistment rates in those two 
companies because they perceived that their service was 
undervalued, to some of the highest in my component.
    They were simply looking for a signal from us collectively 
that their service is meaningful and that the task we were 
going to give them would be meaningful. And so, with your help 
and with the help of your staffs in particular, we got great 
guidance from you, and we moved at the speed of relevance, and 
enabled and empowered these volunteers to continue service in a 
way that is inspiring.
    So, the future, what do I believe the future is. The other 
thing we did was we combined the authorities that you have 
given us by combining the commands of Marine Forces Reserve and 
Marine Forces South--Southern Command. So, we accomplished two 
tasks at once. We raised the capabilities and readiness of our 
Marine Forces in the Reserves, and also provide capabilities 
and capacities to a significantly under-resourced Combatant 
Command.
    And I believe the American people want us to do that, and 
your Marines and Sailors love it. I am excited about the 
future. The quality of the Marines that we have are phenomenal. 
The environment for recruiting is going to be difficult, and 
the American people and our forces are waiting for us to show 
that service is meaningful, and they can trust us as 
institutions, and today is all about that.
    So, I appreciate the opportunity and I look forward to your 
questions.
    [The statement follows:]
        Prepared Statement of Lieutenant General David G. Bellon
    Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Collins, and distinguished members 
of the Subcommittee, it is my privilege to testify on behalf of the 
Commandant of the Marine Corps and provide an overview on the current 
state of the Marine Corps Reserve and an insight into our vision for 
the future.
    Your Marine Corps Reserve has always been ready, relevant, and 
responsive for the Nation, and to maintain that status we must innovate 
and evolve to meet the threats of both today and tomorrow. As part of 
the Marine Corps' effort to modernize our force and our warfighting 
capabilities through Force Design, the Marine Corps Reserve has 
embraced several unique initiatives to drive innovation on multiple 
fronts. The establishment of the Marine Innovation Unit (MIU) aboard 
Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York is a shining example of how 
your Marine Corps Reserve is leading from the front in this area. The 
MIU harnesses an untouched talent pool of Reserve Component Marines 
with unique skill sets from diverse backgrounds. MIU, in partnership 
with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, postures the Marine Corps 
to accelerate the adoption of advanced capabilities, and transform 
Naval Service capacity for technology while retaining and investing in 
Total Force human capital. In addition to the MIU, and in collaboration 
with the Defense Innovation Unit, the Marine Corps Reserve has been 
exploring a unique opportunity to identify and purchase dual-use 
commercially available small craft for littoral operations. These craft 
will allow the Marine Corps to leverage Reserve Component Assault 
Amphibian Battalion units and their littoral warfighting expertise to 
support Service-level experimentation and learning in littoral areas of 
operations. Continuous refining of how to compete and fight against a 
peer adversary is key to retaining the talent and service of these 
maritime-oriented Marines, and it is key to our evolution.
    Just as we innovate and evolve, the Marine Corps Reserve remains 
dedicated to connecting with and contributing to the communities in 
which they reside, forming a critical link between the Marine Corps and 
our communities across the Nation. In 2022 we celebrated the 75th 
Anniversary of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. For 75 
years Marines and their families have given back to their local towns 
and neighborhoods through their participation in this program; uniting 
local communities in a common cause to help less fortunate children 
through annual toy collections and distribution campaigns. Every year, 
no matter the clime or place, the Marine Corps Reserve is on the 
forefront of this initiative to support communities and families across 
the Nation.
    I am deeply impressed by the professionalism, competence, and 
dedication of our Reserve Marines and Sailors. Like their Active 
Component counterparts, they serve selflessly to protect our great 
Nation. I am inspired by the way they balance family responsibilities, 
civilian careers, and military service with humility and a sense of 
pride and dedication that is consistent with the great sacrifices of 
Marines from every generation. As a warfighting organization, the key 
to our success has been and will continue to be individual Marines and 
their families. Your support of the National Guard and Reserves, down 
to the individual Marine Reservist, ensures we have the resources and 
funding to fight and win our Nation's battles.
                             a total force
    Throughout the past year, the Marine Corps Reserve continued global 
deployments supporting Combatant Commander requirements by providing 
multifaceted forces focused on combat operations, crisis prevention, 
crisis response, and theater security cooperation. In addition to the 
Active Component Marines already deployed, 2022 saw an additional 1,847 
Reserve Marines activated and mobilized to support 22 operational 
requirements across six geographic Combatant Commands. The Marine Corps 
Reserve continues to meet the demand for use as an Operational Reserve; 
however, challenges to our readiness and ability to meet strategic 
requirements remain.
    In FY23, the Marine Corps Reserve has already activated more than 
83 Marines in support of four Combatant Commands and is forecasting the 
activation and mobilization of 589 additional Reserve Marines to 
support 21 separate formations. These operations significantly increase 
the Reserve Component's readiness and interoperability with the Active 
Component, Joint Forces, allies, and coalition partners. Planning is 
currently underway for increased activations and deployments across the 
globe that integrate Reserve forces with the Active Component 
commencing in FY24 and stretching across the Future Years Defense 
Program in support of high-priority Combatant Command requirements.
    Throughout 2022, the Marine Corps Reserve continued to provide 
direct support to Operation ALLIES WELCOME with more than 1,100 Reserve 
Marines. Upon the successful completion of Operation ALLIES WELCOME, 
103 Reserve Marines volunteered to extend their mobilization and deploy 
to Kosovo for Operation ALLIES WELCOME-KOSOVO located aboard Camp 
Bondsteel. The ability to augment this humanitarian aid mission with 
volunteers from the Reserve force speaks volumes to the dedication, 
professionalism, and compassion of our Reserve Marines. The Marine 
Corps' continued employment of the Reserve Component as a supplemental 
force has enabled the Active Component to focus its effort on global 
crisis response and contingency operations.
    In addition to participating in operational requirements, the 
Marine Corps Reserve conducts a wide array of combat related training 
exercises across the globe. The purpose of these exercises is to 
improve the Marine Corps Reserve's combat readiness, international 
relations, and interoperability between allied nations and partners. In 
FY22, the Marine Corps Reserve led or participated in 59 military 
exercises across 16 countries, contributing 10,599 Reserve Marines. In 
FY23, the Marine Corps Reserve is forecasted to participate in 49 
exercises globally, with a total force of 9,887 Reserve Marines. We 
expect the overall number of exercises and engagements to increase in 
the coming year as planners from the Marine Corps Reserve continue to 
attend exercise-planning events.
    The Marine Corps Reserve continues to participate in the Department 
of Defense (DoD) Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) Program, which 
provides joint/military training in the United States and its 
territories to increase deployment and unit readiness. The IRT program 
simultaneously provides key services such as healthcare, construction, 
transportation, and cybersecurity with lasting benefits for our 
American communities. In 2022, the Marine Corps Reserve participated in 
nine exercises under the IRT Program, with two of those exercises 
involving both Active and Reserve forces. Our participating units were 
able to train to mission essential tasks involving both horizontal and 
vertical construction, logistical support, communications, and medical 
care while making tangible, meaningful impacts in communities located 
in Alaska, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and Hawaii. With your continued 
support of these efforts, we look to expand our footprint in this 
program; to include airlift, construction, medical, and cybersecurity 
efforts.
    In addition to participating in operational requirements throughout 
the world, the Marine Corps Reserve supports the Total Force by 
dutifully executing the sensitive and crucial mission of providing 
casualty assistance to the families of our fallen Marines. There is no 
responsibility we treat with higher regard than this solemn mission. 
Inspector-Instructor (I-I) and Reserve Site Support staffs are 
geographically positioned to accomplish the vast majority of Marine 
Corps casualty assistance calls and are trained to provide 
compassionate and thorough assistance to families. Indeed, most Marine 
Corps casualty notifications and follow-on assistance calls to the next 
of kin are made by our Reserve Marines.
    During FY22, I-I and Reserve Site Support staffs supported 247 of 
the 298 active casualty calls performed by the Marine Corps. The 
professionalism and compassion of our Casualty Assistance Calls 
Officers (CACOs) continues well beyond the initial notification. We 
ensure that our CACOs are well trained, equipped, and supported by all 
levels of command through a combination of in-person and online 
training. Once assigned, the CACO serves as the family's central point 
of contact and coordinates with funeral homes, government agencies, and 
other organizations as needed. They assist family members with planning 
the return and final resting place of their Marine and ensure the 
filing of appropriate documents so that families receive all entitled 
benefits. In many cases, our CACOs provide a long-lasting bridge 
between the Marine Corps and the grieving family.
    The Marine Corps Reserve also performs the solemn mission of 
military funeral honors, and our Reserve units take pride in performing 
many of these services for our fallen Marines and their families. 
Marine Corps funeral honors are dedicated to ensuring all Marines who 
have served honorably receive the appropriate honors. It is a final 
salute to their life and the final demonstration of our country's 
gratitude to those who, in times of war and peace, have faithfully 
defended our Nation. Marine Corps Reserve units performed 22,819 
military funeral honors in 2022, 93% of the total funeral services 
provided by the Marine Corps.
                               personnel
    Our Marines, Sailors, and civilian Marines are the foundation of 
all that we do. The resources we dedicate to sustaining and developing 
this foundation directly contribute to the success of our Service and 
the Marine Corps Reserve. The vast majority of the Marine Corps 
Selected Reserve's authorized end strength of 33,000 falls under Marine 
Forces Reserve. The Selected Reserve is composed of Marines in four 
categories: Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR) Units, Active Reserve 
(AR), Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs), and service members in 
Initial Active-Duty Training (IADTs). Embedded with these Marines are 
1,502 Active and Reserve Component Sailors who serve critical roles in 
the operational, medical, dental, and spiritual readiness of our 
Reserve Force. The success of the Marine Corps Reserve would not be 
possible without the support of these Sailors and U.S. Navy programs.
    In addition to the Marines and Sailors of the Selected Reserve, the 
Marine Corps Reserve administratively manages approximately 64,500 
Marines who serve in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). The Marine 
Corps Reserve continues to monitor the activation viability of these 
IRR Marines with muster events at multiple locations across the 
country. The events also provide the opportunity to address 
administrative issues, conduct mental health and post- deployment 
assessments, review Reserve obligations and new opportunities, and meet 
with Marine Corps prior-service recruiters. During the past year the 
Marine Corps Reserve conducted 24 muster events in which 4,626 IRR 
Marines attended. In addition to the in-person muster events, the 
Marine Corps Reserve contacted and screened 47,711 IRR Marines.
    The Marine Corps Reserve strives to attract and retain the most 
qualified Marines capable of fulfilling our leadership and operational 
needs. Marines approaching the end of their current contracts, whether 
Active or Reserve Component, receive counseling on the tangible and 
intangible benefits of remaining affiliated with the Selected Reserve. 
We educate each transitioning Active Component Marine on opportunities 
for continued service in the Marine Corps Reserve through the Marine 
Corps' transition assistance and educational outreach programs.
    As the Marine Corps modernizes our forces to ensure we are postured 
to confront future potential adversaries, we are making every effort to 
retain those Marines who are affected by Force Design initiatives. 
During 2022, the Marine Corps Reserve deployed a series of Personnel 
Transition Teams (PTTs) to every Reserve unit where the Commandant's 
Force Design program had a direct impact on Marines and their ability 
to continue serving; this also included those units who were affected 
by the Marine Forces Reserve Site Optimization program. These PTTs were 
specifically designed to ensure each Marine was provided information, 
education, and one-on- one career counseling concerning available 
incentives, career opportunities, and continued service options. We 
successfully retained more than 64% of all Reserve Marines assigned to 
those site locations through voluntary reassignment to another Marine 
Reserve unit, while an additional 14% of those Marines chose to 
transfer to another Service to continue their military careers. Survey 
responses show that 83% of the Reserve Marines felt they had been 
provided with the information and support needed to make an informed 
decision, while 90% of the Reserve Marines felt their best interests 
were kept in mind.
    Recruiting and retaining high-quality Marines is essential to the 
Marine Corps' role as the Nation's force-in-readiness. Although the 
Marine Corps Reserve has recruited and trained Marines safely in the 
face of the global pandemic, the challenges with recruiting in a COVID-
19 environment have persisted into the past fiscal year. The Marine 
Corps Reserve still enjoys high affiliation from non-prior service 
recruiting and accomplished its recruiting goals in FY22. The Marine 
Corps Reserve is thankful for and greatly appreciates the retention 
programs supported by Congress and the DoD, which include inactive duty 
travel reimbursement and multiple bonus programs. These programs are 
essential to ensure we continue to meet authorized end strength and 
retain our most talented Marines. Your continued support of these 
critical programs has helped preserve our overall personnel end 
strength at 84.6% of the total requirement and maintain a grade and 
Military Occupational Specialty match rate of 72.3%. Our personnel 
readiness not only reflects the health of the force, but it directly 
contributes to our overall operational readiness. We fully expect to 
meet or exceed our Selected Marine Corps Reserve retention goals this 
year. Continued use of available incentive programs is critical to 
optimally match individuals to our requirements, maintain individual 
and unit-level readiness, address shortfalls in our staff non-
commissioned officers' ranks, and fully rebuild readiness from previous 
force structure changes.
                               equipment
    Every Marine Corps Reserve unit is manned, trained, and equipped to 
standards that facilitate seamless integration and employment of forces 
to meet the requirements of both the Service and Geographic Combatant 
Commanders. Marine Corps Reserve units, along with their personnel and 
equipment, continue to be in high demand due to their high 
interoperability with their Active Component counterparts.
    The Marine Corps Reserve is designed to be equipped at near parity 
with its active component counterpart due to the Total Force approach 
to equipment fielding. However, the high demand for Reserve units and 
the resulting high operational tempo places stress on the Marine Corps 
Reserve's ability to maintain equipment and replenish deficiencies. 
Inadequate or delayed fielding coupled with delays in appropriation of 
funds disrupts our ability to program long-term activities and 
challenges our efforts to improve current and future readiness. One of 
the greatest ongoing concerns has been our Individual Combat Clothing 
and Equipment (ICCE) deficiencies. The National Defense Authorization 
Act for FY23 provided a line-item appropriation specifically providing 
the Marine Corps Reserve the ability to place ICCE procurements at 
levels which will meet current materiel Table of Equipment allowance 
requirements. Currently, ongoing enterprise-wide contracting and 
manufacturing delays have impeded the replenishment of unserviceable 
items. In the event of a large-scale wartime mobilization, to include 
any sizable call-up of the IRR, ICCE deficiencies may become a Service-
level risk.
    The Marine Corps Reserve continues to mitigate risk and ensure 
maintenance readiness through Training Allowances (TA), Operation and 
Maintenance Marine Corps Reserve (OMMCR) funds, and third-party 
logistics. First, we refine a unit's TA, which is that portion of a 
unit's full Table of Equipment (TE) located at Reserve Training Centers 
(RTCs). Our goal is to balance the amount of equipment necessary to 
conduct training with the amount of equipment that can be maintained 
within personnel, facility, and fiscal constraints. Second, we leverage 
OMMCR funds to employ mobile maintenance support teams that augment our 
limite nicmaintenance capacity in the Marine Corps Reserve. Third, we 
utilize a Service-managed third- party logistics provider to repair 
secondary components that cannot be repaired organically due to limited 
intermediate maintenance capacity. Congressional support for Reserve 
funding is paramount to our continued success in sustaining our 
equipment and maintenance readiness.
    The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and Amphibious Combat 
Vehicle (ACV) will provide the Reserve Component with the latest 
generation of combat equipment. The Marine Corps Reserve began 
receiving its allocation of 2,628 JLTVs in 3rd quarter FY21; to date, 
we have received only four vehicles. An additional eight specialty 
vehicles for the artillery community are scheduled for fielding in 
FY23/24. All Marine Corps Reserve ACV deliveries are currently 
scheduled for FY27. Final ACV Full Operational Capability (FOC) 
quantities and timelines will be determined pending future Service-
level Force Design 2030 assessments.
                                training
    The Marine Corps Reserve participates in a number of training 
exercises in the United States and abroad each year to improve combat 
readiness and enhance our ability to rapidly activate and integrate 
with the Active Component. The Reserve Force's ability to participate 
in and conduct training, drill weekends, and annual training periods 
have resumed to a steady state following the global pandemic. Local 
commanders continue to demonstrate initiative and creativity in 
conducting meaningful training for the Reserve Marines at each 
opportunity. Virtual training continues to allow for an increase in 
individual skills, but the focus of effort is to conduct in-person unit 
training at the company and battalion levels.
    The dual-hatted Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South 
command structure has resulted in efficiencies by enabling Reserve 
Marines to meet Geographic Combatant Command requirements while 
simultaneously providing realistic multinational training for our 
Reserve formations. During FY22, Marine Corps Reserve Forces 
participated in the annual Service-level Integrated Training Exercise 
(ITX) at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, 
California. ITX provides an opportunity for units to perform realistic, 
coordinated, live-fire training to meet Marine Air Ground Task Force 
mission essential tasks. In addition to the tactical training, ITX also 
serves as a rehearsal exercise in the activation and mobilization 
processes. The Reserve Force that forms at Twentynine Palms for 
training, receives orders to muster and move personnel from 77 
different units located at 58 disaggregated Home Training Centers. 
Additionally, units plan for and coordinate the transportation of 
equipment to arrive simultaneously with the units in Twentynine Palms. 
These actions replicate similar tasks the units would be required to 
perform should there be a wartime activation and Reserve Force 
mobilization. 4,237 Marines participated in ITX across the span of 20 
training days this year. This realistic training aids in improving 
combat readiness for all exercise forces and enhances efficiency in 
Total Force integration to enable more rapid activation response times 
at the battalion and squadron levels.
    The Marine Corps Reserve continues to focus on operational 
readiness within the Marine Air Ground Task Force and the Joint 
operational environment. Using joint aviation assets from the Marine 
Corps, Air Force, Air National Guard and Army National Guard, the 
Marine Corps Reserve conducted Tactical Air Control Party training to 
sustain Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC) qualifications at Smoky 
Hill Bombing Range in Salina, Kansas. This training benefitted the 
other Services by enabling more than 45 fixed and rotary wing aviation 
platforms to achieve mission essential training in close air support 
while certifying Reserve Marine JTACs.
    Resident Professional Military Education (PME) courses regained 
momentum in FY22 as seat capacity returned to 1,091 Reserve Component 
seats. In addition, the Marine Corps Reserve continues to leverage 
distance education and virtual learning to maximize PME training 
opportunities.
    The Marine Corps Reserve uses training simulators wherever and 
whenever possible to preserve fiscal and materiel resources. Marine 
Corps Reserve units employ Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainers 
(ISMTs) to maintain combat marksmanship skills and to maximize the use 
of their most precious resource, time. The ISMTs enable onsite training 
and eliminate long distance travel to remote DoD training locations. 
The use of this and other simulations systems, as well as increased 
online training, enabled the force to complete mission essential tasks 
and required DoD and Service-level annual training.
                               facilities
    The Marine Corps Reserve occupies facilities in 47 states, the 
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. These 
facilities include 28 sites that are owned and maintained by the Marine 
Corps Reserve. The other 130 Reserve Training Centers, in which the 
status is ``Tenant,'' are owned and maintained by other Services. 
Although some sites are located onboard major DoD installations, most 
Reserve Training Centers are located within civilian communities, 
ranging from residential neighborhoods to industrial and commercial 
districts. With a continuous effort to improve the maintenance and 
security of all our facilities, our main goal is to ensure the safety 
of our Marines and Sailors by facilitating effective readiness training 
and efficient activation and mobilization locations.
    Traditionally, the Marine Corps Reserve has committed 100% of the 
facilities budget to support the sustainment and maintenance of 
existing infrastructure and day-to-day operating costs. Because of this 
investment and commitment, we have been able to improve the overall 
readiness of our facilities' inventory. Moreover, through the 
comprehensive utilization of the Facilities Sustainment, Restoration, 
and Modernization (FSRM) program, we have also retained and maximized 
inadequate facilities that were deemed vital to support the Marine 
Corps Reserve's mission. Currently, we are working to identify major 
FSRM projects for future funding. In conjunction with our maximization 
efforts, we also sought out cost and funding savings in the divestiture 
of facilities and demolition of excess footprint. In the last 2 years, 
the Marine Corps Reserve has divested, or is in the process of 
divesting, from 19 sites at a savings of approximately $200k-$300k 
savings per site.
    As we capitalize the utilization of the Military Construction, Navy 
Reserve (MCNR) program, our focus is on providing construction for new 
and enduring capabilities, as well as recapitalization of our aging 
facilities. The construction projects enabled by the annual 
authorization and appropriation of MCNR funding are a significant 
factor in advancing our facilities support mission, especially as we 
optimize our force laydown throughout the Nation. Continued support for 
our MCNR program requests is essential for the planning and execution 
to modernize our capabilities and, when needed, the ability to divest 
from failing infrastructure or facilities that no longer meet the 
mission.
    The combined effects of our targeted site consolidations, FSRM, and 
MCNR Programs have steadily reduced the number of inadequate or 
substandard Reserve Training Centers and enabled improved support to 
the Reserve units and personnel. However, as our infrastructure ages, 
the operating costs have steadily increased and will continue to 
increase as the Marine Corps modernizes to meet the requirements of the 
National Defense Strategy. The continued support of our annual funding 
request for our facilities program will enable us to improve the 
overall physical infrastructure that reinforces the operational 
readiness of our units and personnel.
    The safety of our Marines, Sailors, and their families is of utmost 
importance; therefore, we are actively engaged in ongoing efforts to 
improve the overall force protection at all our sites. We take pride in 
working with our Service partners and the National Guard to improve our 
sites where joint occupation is optimal. Throughout the last 10 years, 
numerous force protection assessments have been conducted at our 
facilities and security-engineering reports have been generated to 
assist in developing designs that mitigate protection concerns, 
specifically within the realm of physical security. These assessments 
identify requirements and serve to prioritize enhancements, which 
ultimately improve the overall facility security for our Marines, 
Sailors, and their families. While we are funded for the Installation 
Physical Security of our owned sites, at Reserve Training Centers where 
we are considered ``tenants,'' we are reliant on the other Services to 
fund the physical security requirements. However, to ensure the 
Physical Security requirements for these units, the Marine Corps 
Reserve often funds security projects that should be funded by the host 
command. As a direct result, the Marine Corps Reserve plans to submit a 
budgetary increase in the future years to ensure our projects are 
funded to the required levels.
                            health services
    The Marine Corps Reserve Health Services Support (HSS) system 
prioritizes the health and wellness of our Reserve Marines and Sailors. 
We improve medical readiness through a robust Individual Medical 
Readiness Program within the Marine Corps Reserve and by accurate 
monitoring, identification, and supervision of unit-level actions 
necessary to attain readiness goals. Additionally, our Health Services 
personnel participate in Force Readiness Activation Assessment Program 
inspections and audits which provide oversight at the individual unit, 
as well as the ability to monitor readiness and adherence to policy.
    The Reserve Health Readiness Program (RHRP) has greatly increased 
overall medical and dental readiness throughout the force. This program 
uses contracted civilian medical and dental providers to work with 
units that do not have organic medical or dental support personnel or 
are remote from, or not supported by, a nearby Military Treatment 
Facility (MTF). During FY22, the RHRP performed 11,237 Periodic Health 
Assessments (PHAs), 54 Onsite Post-Deployment Heath Re-Assessments 
(PDHRAs), 17,465 audiological examinations, and 8,600 dental 
examinations.
    The Marine Corps Reserve HSS's priority is to achieve the DoD's 
goal of a 90% medically ready force. While national, regional, state, 
and local restrictions on travel and group activities due to COVID-19 
affected scheduling and availability of both organic unit and RHRP 
readiness events over the course of several months, FY22 individual 
medical and dental readiness rates were nevertheless 91% and 89%, 
respectively. Marine Corps Reserve units rely heavily on RHRP to 
maintain our medical and dental readiness, and continued support of 
this program is imperative for maintaining overall readiness.
    As a result of the overlapping Marine Forces Reserve/Marine Forces 
South relationship, MARFORRES/MARFORSOUTH HSS coordinates with 
Headquarters Marine Corps and Navy Medicine to align with Force Design 
2030. This relationship provides unique opportunities to achieve 
Mission Essential Tasks (METs) and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 
(KSAs) to address prioritized expeditionary medical support 
capabilities, including Prolonged Casualty Care, Multi-modal Patient 
Transportation and Patient Movement, and Scalable Force Packages for 
support to Expeditionary Advanced Based Operations (EABO) and Littoral 
Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE).
    In partnership with USSOUTHCOM, the Marine Corps Reserve has 
aligned with Service components to advance the USSOUTHCOM Global Health 
Engagement strategy. Opportunities to foster relationships with Partner 
Nations throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean could 
not have come at a more fortuitous time. In an environment where 
instability, post-pandemic restrictions, and malign near-peer influence 
may impact access, the Marine Corps Reserve is initiating smart, 
innovative, and cost-effective medical capability concepts in 
partnership with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab that include the 
Tactical Scalable Surgical System (TS3) and Virtual Reality training to 
demonstrate constant U.S. presence and support to our partners in the 
USSOUTHCOM region. A fully developed suite of collaborations in the 
Global Health and Medical Education spaces further demonstrate how the 
Marine Corps Reserve and other Service components will continue to be 
the partner of choice in the region, as well as a vehicle to 
preparation for operations throughout the world.
                           behavioral health
    The Marine Corps Reserve executes a multifaceted behavioral health 
program that includes Combat Operational Stress Control Capability, 
DoN's Deployment Health Program, Psychological Health Outreach Program 
(PHOP), and collaboration with the National Guard Bureau and the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as well as targeted initiatives 
for Suicide Prevention Capability, Substance Abuse Prevention, and 
Family Advocacy Programs. The Combat Operational Stress Control (COSC) 
capability provides essential knowledge, skills, and tools to assist 
commanders with improving mission readiness, force preservation, and 
improving the long-term health of Marines and their families. The COSC 
is comprised of two trainings: Operational Stress Control and Readiness 
(OSCAR) and Deployment Cycle Training (DCT).
    OSCAR builds teams of selected Marines and unit leaders along with 
medical and religious personnel to work together as sensors for the 
commanders by identifying small changes in personnel behavior. OSCAR 
teams help to enable a bias for action within the command and link 
individuals to appropriate resources. The DCT is conducted across every 
rank and is delivered to service members at the appropriate point in 
the deployment cycle. The combination of these programs helps to 
prevent, identify, and effectively manage combat and operational 
stress, whether deployed or in garrison. Each of these tools supports 
the unit commanders in building unit strength, resiliency, and 
readiness, as well as keeping Marines and Sailors in the fight.
    The Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery supports behavioral health 
through various independent and contracted programs such as Post-
Deployment Health Reassessment/Mental Health Assessment (PDHRA/MHA) and 
PHOP. The PDHRA Program is intended to focus specifically on 
identifying issues that emerge after our Marines and Sailors have 
returned home from deployment. The MHA is conducted at multiple 
intervals throughout the deployment cycle, annually with a Marine or 
Sailor's physical health assessment (PHA), and during the Separation 
Health Assessment (SHA). The MHA serves as a screening for any mental 
health concerns including but not limited to depression, alcohol 
misuse, and post-traumatic stress syndrome symptoms. PHOP secures 
behavioral health screenings, psychological treatment referrals, and 
essential follow-up treatment to ensure our service members' behavioral 
health needs are met. In FY22 PHOP connected with 9,129 Marine Corps 
Reservists; an estimated 13% of those connections resulted in intensive 
case management. Through their outreach services, PHOP addresses 
general behavioral health needs, post-deployment concerns and crisis-
related interventions by providing our Marines and Sailors access to 
local resources through a network of contracted behavioral health 
programs. Internally, PHOP and Marine Corps Reserve's Force Chaplains 
regularly exchange contact rosters to multiply networking 
effectiveness. These programs remain critical to maintaining a 
resilient force by providing pathways for Marines, Sailors, and 
families to seek behavioral health assistance.
    Access to reliable behavioral healthcare is a barrier to many 
Reservists and their families. However, memorandums of understanding 
(MOUs) with the National Guard Bureau, and the Department of Veteran's 
Affairs have greatly increased the resources available to Reservists 
and their families. Marines, Sailors, and their families can now 
utilize more than 400 additional resource sites through the National 
Guard Bureau's Family Assistance Centers, and 383 veteran centers (83 
of them mobile) through the VA. Veteran centers are able to provide 
psychological assessments, counseling, and additional treatment 
options.
    Signs of operational and combat stress may manifest long after a 
service member returns home from deployment. This delayed onset of 
symptoms presents unique challenges to Reserve Marines and Sailors who 
may be detached from vital medical care and the daily support network 
inherent in active-duty Marine Corps units. Encouraging Marines to 
recognize and communicate mental health challenges is a pervasive issue 
facing our commanders. The Marine Corps Reserve addresses the stigma 
associated with mental healthcare through key programs such as the 
Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP) and COSC. We market all our 
behavioral health initiatives and programs through our Marine Corps 
Reserve website, our smart phone mobile application (app), and during 
key Marine Corps forums throughout the year.
    The Marine Corps Reserve smart phone mobile app, USMC Reserve 
Connect, is tailored to Marine Reservists and family members. This 
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) approved app is an 
enterprise-wide, mobile app that serves as a gateway to public content 
on government websites. The app delivers portable, timely, and relevant 
information to Marines, Sailors, and their families and reduces 
reliance on traditional computers to access career and personal 
resources. The app is customizable, enabling units to provide Reserve 
Marines and Sailors with relevant, unit-specific information. The app 
includes a mobile Common Access Card (CAC) portal that allows Marines 
to pair their devices with a mobile CAC reader to access some CAC-
secured sites. USMC Reserve Connect increases engagement, 
communication, and connectedness through greater access to career, 
lifestyle, and behavioral health resources. The app is free to the 
public and is available for download in most mobile app stores.
    The Marine Corps Substance Abuse Program educates Marines and 
Sailors on substance misuse and how it may impact relationships, coping 
mechanisms, thinking patterns, and risk awareness. The Substance Abuse 
Program provides tools to promote the safety and total fitness of 
Marines, Sailors, and their families to sustain and improve personal 
readiness and unit performance. The Marine Corps Reserve relies 
profoundly on its Drug Demand Reduction Program that uses random 
urinalysis testing to deter the use of illicit drugs and misuse of 
prescription drugs. Each Reserve unit conducts monthly drug testing to 
screen Reserve Marines and Sailors for drugs as well as breathalyzer 
testing to screen for alcohol use while in a duty status. In FY22, with 
the decrease in COVID-19 restrictions and bases returning to Health 
Protection Condition Alpha (HPCON A), units have reintegrated the 
Alcohol Screening Program into their monthly testing requirements. In 
response to this, the Substance Abuse Program has increased education 
and training for Alcohol Screening Program Coordinators.
    Additionally, the Substance Abuse Program staff provides quarterly 
on-demand education and awareness training on the dangers of abusing 
prescription drugs, information on the proper disposal of unused and 
outdated medications, and annual supervisor-level training that 
increase leaders' awareness of the dangers of abusing prescription 
drugs. In FY22, the Substance Abuse Program continued the use of Prime 
for Life in our educational efforts. This 4.5-hour training is designed 
for Substance Abuse Control Officers and their unit leaders to explore 
how biology and choices affect an individual's risk of alcohol and 
substance dependence, with emphasis focused on values and goals.
    The Marine Corps Reserve recognizes there are a myriad of factors 
contributing to suicide-related events. Risk factors can include 
depression, social isolation, impulsive or aggressive tendencies, and 
substance misuse and abuse. Common precipitating stressors are 
consistent with the previous year and include relationship, legal, and 
financial challenges, as well as disciplinary problems. Commanders 
employ a coordinated and effective suicide prevention methodology that 
allows for the identification of stressors and application of 
mitigation measures to prevent and address conditions that lead to 
suicidal behaviors within their units. Force Preservation Councils are 
conducted monthly to optimize the potential of all Active and Reserve 
Marines and Sailors. Through engaged leadership and consultation with 
subject matter experts, unit leaders identify potential risk factors 
and apply holistic risk management courses of action in order to 
improve individual and unit readiness.
    The Marine Corps' Unit Marine Awareness and Prevention Integrated 
Training (UMAPIT) educates every Marine on the basics of suicide 
prevention, assists with normalizing life changes, and emphasizes the 
need to seek help with the aim of decreasing the negative stigma around 
behavioral health. UMAPIT is a tiered initiative designed to improve 
the total fitness of Marines, help foster mission readiness, and 
increase the chance for early intervention. This training incorporates 
evidence-informed practices and raises awareness about common risk 
factors and warning signs associated with a range of behavioral health 
issues such as substance abuse, suicide, family maltreatment, and 
combat operational stress before such issues become unmanageable. The 
Marine Corps culture toward encouraging Marines to seek help continues. 
This culture shift aids in reducing barriers to care and the fear of 
reprisal for seeking help. Lastly, all Marines are taught to recognize 
suicide warning signs and to seek appropriate resources for themselves 
and others to ensure that no Marine is left behind.
    Care Management Teams focus on supporting Reserve Marines and 
Sailors through the Department of Veterans Affairs Transition Care 
Management Program. The Reserve Marines and Sailors are provided with a 
Care Manager who oversees the referrals, follow-on care, and individual 
healthcare needs of the Reserve member. The Marine Intercept Program 
(MIP) is an evidence-informed, targeted intervention for service 
members serving on active duty or activated Reservists who have had an 
identified suicide ideation or suicide attempt. MIP includes a series 
of telephonic contacts in which a counselor assesses the Marine for 
risk, encourages the use of a safety plan, and identifies and addresses 
barriers to services or resources. These services are also provided to 
our Reserve Marines and Sailors through PHOP.
    Our Reserve Marines and Sailors have proven their strength in 
navigating challenging issues such as frequent moves, deployments, and 
separations from loved ones. To help with these challenges, our 
Marines, Sailors, and family members can access behavioral health 
programs at Marine Corps installations through Marine Corps Community 
Services (MCCS) while on active-duty orders. Additionally, we continue 
to support Military OneSource which provides confidential, non-medical 
counseling, resources, and support to service members and their 
families anywhere in the world.
                 sexual assault prevention and response
    Sexual assault is a corrosive problem across the Department of 
Defense with damaging impacts to the victims and their families, 
friends, communities, and the organizations they serve. Each case of 
sexual assault causes harm to unit cohesion, morale, unit and 
individual readiness, and the reputation of the Service as a whole. 
Recruitment, retention, and most importantly the health and wellbeing 
of our men and women in uniform also suffer. For the Marine Corps 
Reserve, improving the health and safety of our service members by 
fostering a culture of dignity and respect are top priorities as they 
are key to reducing and ultimately eliminating sexual assault within 
our ranks. The Marine Corps Reserve has a robust Sexual Assault 
Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program that provides training, 
advocacy, guidance, and supportive services across our geographically 
dispersed force. Our current SAPR Program is comprised of seven full-
time professional employee positions developed to ensure the efficacy 
of the program and provide both prevention and response services. In 
addition to the force-level Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), 
each Major Subordinate Command (MSC) within the Marine Corps Reserve 
has a full-time civilian SARC who serves as a special staff officer and 
subject matter expert to their Commanding General. The SARCs manage 
each MSC's SAPR Program from Marine Forces Reserve headquarters in New 
Orleans, Louisiana, along with two professional civilian SAPR Victim 
Advocates (VAs) who are available to travel throughout the country to 
provide in-person advocacy services, training, and unit-specific 
program guidance to Marines, Sailors, and their families. The Marine 
Corps Reserve's SAPR personnel work diligently to provide prompt and 
effective victim response, outreach, and sexual assault prevention by 
approaching these efforts as a team. The SARCs and SAPR VAs work 
together to ensure there is never a gap in coverage, regardless of the 
MSC or location. Leaders at every level and anyone in need of support 
services have access to a SAPR staff member for program guidance. To 
strengthen both prevention and response efforts, the Marine Corps 
Reserve will be adding more full-time civilian SAPR personnel across 
the Force in a phased hiring plan based on the Independent Review 
Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military (IRC)'s recommendations 
adopted by the Secretary of Defense. The additional SARCs will be 
advisors to our Regimental and Battalion Commanders, and professional 
full-time civilian Victim Advocates will further support our leadership 
at every level and the Marines and Sailors across the country. The SAPR 
staff historically have trained up to 160 service members to become new 
victim advocates each year during week-long courses held quarterly in 
New Orleans. We will continue to reinforce our SAPR program with 
collateral duty Victim Advocates in operational and deployed as well as 
geographically isolated environments as we establish a larger full-time 
civilian staff in alignment with the IRC recommendations approved by 
the Secretary of Defense. SAPR personnel respond to Marines, Sailors, 
and adult dependents who request support services related to a report 
of sexual assault. The SARCs and VAs screen for potential safety 
issues, develop individualized safety plans, and offer advocacy 
services and referrals in the military and civilian sectors. A 
nationwide database of resources is maintained in order to effectively 
support Reserve Component members who may not have access to military 
providers.
    The Marine Corps Reserve operates a dedicated Sexual Assault 
Support Line that is staffed by the professional SAPR team 24/7. The 
Marine Corps Reserve also actively publicizes the DoD Safe Helpline, an 
additional resource that offers crisis support services for members of 
the DoD community. The DoD Safe Helpline is available 24/7 worldwide 
with telephonic, secure chat, and web-based resources and can be used 
anonymously for confidential support.
    The Marine Corps Reserve's prevention strategy is holistic and 
integrated with other programs aimed toward eradicating sexual assault 
and interpersonal violence, such as the Equal Opportunity Program, 
Safety, Spiritual Readiness Initiatives, PHOP, Total Force Fitness 
initiatives, and Behavioral Health. Leaders at every level are 
encouraged to actively engage with Marines and Sailors to create a 
positive environment free from attitudes and harmful behaviors that are 
incompatible with our core values. Each year, all Marines and Sailors 
receive SAPR training that covers reporting options, available 
resources, and prevention techniques. New course material focusing on 
the prevention of interpersonal violence is in development and 
additional efforts toward fostering a healthy command climate are being 
highlighted. Along with overall education about the SAPR Program, these 
periods of instruction give individual Marines and Sailors an 
opportunity to interact with their local Command SAPR representatives, 
thereby helping to generate trust in the program and confidence that 
the prevention of sexual assault is a priority for leadership.
                       military equal opportunity
    A key component to mission readiness is a healthy command climate, 
devoid of unlawful discriminatory practices and unacceptable behaviors 
that are collectively referred to as Prohibited Activities and Conduct 
(PAC). These harmful behaviors may include bullying, dissident and 
protest activity, harassment, hazing, prohibited discrimination, sexual 
harassment, and wrongful distribution of an intimate image. The 
Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) Program is enforced throughout the 
Marine Corps Reserve to eliminate such behaviors and foster a culture 
of dignity and respect, regardless of race, color, national origin, 
religion, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, or sexual 
orientation. The MEO Program is staffed by fully trained, Active 
Component Marines who possess the 0147 (Equal Opportunity Advisor) 
Military Occupational Specialty. These billets include a force-level 
Equal Opportunity Advisor (EOA) and three additional EOAs at the MSC 
levels. Currently the MEO program is undergoing a restructuring to 
increase the number of personnel to support the Marine Corps Reserve's 
unique structure and geographical dispersion. The Marine Corps Reserve 
EOAs work cohesively as trusted agents to ensure seamless coverage by 
providing sound program advice to commanders and assistance to members 
across the force. EOAs are also assisted in program implementation by 
unit-level Equal Opportunity Representatives (EOR), a collateral duty 
maintained by Staff Noncommissioned Officers and higher at every O5 and 
O6 level command. Additional EORs are utilized at geographically 
dispersed subordinate units throughout the force for additional program 
implementation at the lowest level.
    Both EOAs and EORs provide training to all Reserve Component 
members in preventing, identifying, and reporting PAC. Additional 
guidance is provided to ensure members understand the benefits of a 
healthy command climate and the adverse impact that PAC has on 
individual members, units, and the Service. EOAs and EORs are 
responsible for monitoring and advising commanders on command climate 
issues to include those identified in their Defense Organizational 
Climate Survey (DEOCS) results. During FY22, Marine Corps Reserve units 
were in full compliance with the Secretary of Defense-directed DEOCS 
requirements, including all follow-on corrective action plans. In 
addition to MEO resources, commands utilize the SAPR and behavioral 
health programs for a holistic approach to maintaining healthy command 
climates. Both EOAs and EORs work cohesively to ensure formal PAC 
complaints are addressed in a timely manner and in accordance with the 
applicable references. During FY22, the Marine Corps Reserve resolved 
36 unique cases through the complaint resolution process. Throughout 
this process, commanders ensured complainants were protected against 
all forms of retaliation, maltreatment, ostracism, and reprisal.
                            quality of life
    The Marine Corps Reserve is committed to ensuring quality of life 
programs are designed to effectively assist all Reserve Marines, 
Sailors, and their families, whether they are deployed or on the home 
front. The Marine Corps Reserve is geographically dispersed throughout 
the country and often stationed away from most traditional brick-and-
mortar resources available at major bases and stations. Therefore, we 
strive to provide awareness of and access to the diverse support 
programs available for their benefit. Face-to-face and virtual learning 
opportunities are available along with toll-free telephone and Internet 
resources. The ability to access the comprehensive set of MCCS 
programs, which support operational readiness, warfighting 
capabilities, and quality of life can have a profoundly positive effect 
on the well-being of our Marines and their families. MCCS programming 
includes Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), School Liaison 
Program, personal and professional development, fitness and recreation, 
readiness and deployment support, family team building, and prevention. 
MCCS is an accessible and responsive resource that provides continual 
and lasting support to Marines and their families throughout their 
entire service or affiliation with the Marine Corps. The Unit, 
Personal, and Family Readiness Program is supported by civilian 
Deployment Readiness Coordinators and Uniformed Readiness Coordinators 
who implement a commander's family readiness vision and provide a vital 
link to Marines, Sailors, and their families to ensure a constant state 
of family readiness.
    MCCS programs are flexible, constantly adjusting to meet the needs 
of our geographically dispersed Reserve Marines and their families. The 
training programs provided to our commanders, Family Readiness Command 
Teams, and Marines and their families help to produce a ready and 
resilient force equipped to achieve success. The Marine Corps Family 
Team Building (MCFTB) Program enhances readiness and resiliency through 
non-clinical preventative education, professional training, and 
community-building support to Marines, Sailors, and their families 
throughout the wide array of mission, life, and career events. During 
FY22, the Marine Corps Reserve conducted 183 training events in which 
4,848 Marines, Sailors, and family members received essential 
information to assist them throughout the deployment cycle. These 
events helped them prepare for and flourish during deployments and 
achieve a positive post-deployment reintegration experience.
    A Reserve Marine's quality of life and resiliency runs deeper than 
mental and physical wellness. The Marine ethos includes an impressive 
resolve forged in the spirit and able to perceive that which is greater 
than self. This connection with the transcendent inspires Marines to be 
their best and is undergirded by 167 chaplains and Religious Program 
Specialists who deliver religious ministry support and care to all 
Marines and Sailors, regardless of religious affiliation. Beyond 
equipment, training, and technical skill, it is the strength of spirit 
that enables our Marines and Sailors to accomplish the mission with 
honor, to overcome adversity, and to sacrificially serve with meaning 
and purpose. Religious Ministry Teams (RMT) comprised of uniformed 
chaplains and Religious Program Specialists, help to increase the 
readiness of Marines, Sailors, and their families by preparing them for 
the rigors of military life, including the demands of military 
operations. The Marine Corps Reserve has chaplains embedded in 39 
Marine Corps Reserve units across the country and nine Religious 
Ministry Support Units directly supporting the Active Component. 
Through personal presence, these RMT's cultivate trust with leadership 
in carrying out the competencies of provision, facilitation, care, and 
advisement.
    Chaplain Religious Enrichment Development Operations (CREDO) is a 
programmatic means to increase the spiritual readiness and resilience 
of service members and other authorized persons as part of the 
Department of Navy's Strategic Plan for Religious Ministry. Operating 
within the Command Religious Program (CRP), CREDO provides 
transformational retreats and workshops, including the Marriage 
Enrichment Retreat (MER), the Personal Resiliency Retreat (PRR), and 
Suicide Intervention Workshops such as Applied Suicide Intervention 
Skills Training (ASIST). The MER initiatives equip Marines, Sailors, 
and their families with practical relationship and communication tools 
that strengthen marriages and individual resiliency on the home front 
and during mobilizations. The PRR helps Marines and Sailors set 
personal goals, make healthy decisions, develop coping skills for 
stress, and live their lives with greater purpose and satisfaction. 
During FY22, chaplains invested in 145 couples through 10 MERs and in 
578 individuals participating in 31 retreats and workshops focused on 
resiliency and team building in the context of leadership and human 
dynamics.
    In an ongoing effort to reduce death by suicide and suicidal 
events, the CREDO Program offers ASIST, Suicide Alertness for Everyone 
(safeTALK), and START training to Marines and their families. These are 
evidence-based skill trainings for intervention in suicidal events to 
prevent death and increase prevention until care is available. 
Chaplains trained a total of 71 people in five workshops including 
three in remote locations. Participants in these programs self-reported 
an 83% increase in their likelihood to intervene to help a person 
having thoughts of suicide.
    The Marine Corps emphasizes the importance of readiness for Marines 
and family members in many areas of life. The Marine Corps Personal and 
Professional Development Programs provide training and educational 
resources to increase awareness and build skills for individual and 
family development. These programs enhance the quality of life for our 
military community by promoting self-reliance and self-sufficiency, as 
well as continuing the tradition of ``taking care of our own.'' The 
Marine Corps Personal and Professional Development Programs include 
transition readiness, personal financial management, voluntary 
education, and information and referral.
    The Marine Corps' Transition Readiness Program (TRP) is a 
comprehensive program that helps Marines, and their families develop 
and attain effective post-transition employment, educational, and 
entrepreneurship goals. It provides the tools and resources needed to 
comply with DoD directed Career Readiness Standards (CRS). Transition 
Readiness is a process that occurs across the Marine for Life Cycle; it 
is not an event that occurs at a single point in time, but rather takes 
place throughout a Marine's career. The Marine for Life Network helps 
to link our Marines to employment, education, and community resources 
in their hometown areas to support their future goals. The Transition 
Readiness Seminar (TRS) is a week-long program required by Title 10 for 
all Active and Reserve Component Marines and Sailors who have served a 
minimum of 180 consecutive days on active duty. Marines are encouraged 
to attend TRS at the closest military installation to their location 
regardless of affiliation. For geographically dispersed Marines, many 
of whom are not located near a military installation, a virtual course 
is available to meet the requirement. In FY22, the Marine Corps Reserve 
transition staff assisted 800 geographically dispersed Marines with 
pre-separation counseling and capstone completion.
    Additionally, Marines may take advantage of the DoD partnership 
with Tutor.com, which offers our Marines, Sailors, and their dependents 
access to 24/7, no-cost, live tutoring services for grades K-12 and 
college students. Our Marines are also provided with remote access to 
language courses through Mango Languages, which supports more than 70 
languages, including English as a Second Language. Peterson's Online 
Academic Skills Course helps Marines and Sailors build math and verbal 
skills to excel on the job, pass exams, and advance their careers and 
education.
    Marines with a solid understanding of their personal financial 
situation and sound financial management practices are better prepared 
to meet the needs of the nation. The Personal Financial Management 
Program (PFMP) provides personal financial education, training, 
counseling, information, and referral as the number-one source for 
unbiased financial information to Marines and their families. The PFMP 
utilizes Financial Education Action Points to increase the knowledge 
and improve the financial practices of Marines at predetermined 
milestones within their career, such as promotion, permanent change of 
station, marriage, birth of a child, and others. The PFMP is available 
to all Marines and their families free of charge and on a variety of 
platforms (in-person, hybrid, and virtual).
    The Marine Corps' Semper Fit Program coordinates with our bases and 
stations to provide fitness education activities that promote physical 
and mental readiness and develops positive self-esteem and healthy 
lifestyles. Additionally, the High-Intensity Tactical Training (HITT) 
Program focuses on physical resiliency, combat readiness, and injury 
prevention. The HITT Program provides hands-on, science-based strength 
and conditioning courses and online physical fitness tools to include 
instruction on injury prevention, nutrition, and weight management. 
Life Athlete Readiness and Resilience programs provide opportunities 
for life skill development, social health, community connectedness, and 
stress management. Programs include recreational aquatics, outdoor 
recreation equipment checkout, community centers, community-wide 
activities, competitive events, parks, trails, picnic areas, youth 
sports, and other recreational programs.
    The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP) is a DoD-wide effort 
to promote the well-being of National Guard and Reserve members, their 
families, and communities by connecting them with resources throughout 
the deployment cycle. The YRRP is an enduring and invaluable part of 
our efforts to build resiliency. Since its inception in 2010, we have 
conducted more than 971 training events for more than 58,348 Marines, 
Sailors, and family members. In FY22, we conducted 27 virtual events 
connecting more than 1,795 participants with local resources before, 
during, and after deployments.
    The Marine Corps Reserve is a dedicated advocate for flexible 
quality of life programs and services that evolve and adapt to the 
changing needs of our Marines, Sailors, and their families. The 
combined effect of these programs and services is critical to the 
readiness and retention of our Reserve Marines, Sailors, and their 
families.
   supporting our wounded, ill, or injured marines and their families
    The Marine Corps ensures the availability of full spectrum care to 
all wounded, ill, or injured (WII) Active and Reserve Service members 
through the Marine Corps' Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR). Due to the 
unique nature of how Reserve Marines are activated and mobilized, they 
often encounter unique challenges to healthcare when WII. The Marine 
Corps has sought to address these challenges through the establishment 
of a WWR Liaison Officer whose sole purpose is to provide subject 
matter expertise in WII policies and procedures, coordination between 
Reserve leadership and WWR staff, and guidance and training to Reserve 
units throughout the recovery care continuum.
    The WWR staff includes the Reserve Medical Entitlements 
Determination (RMED) Section, which maintains specific oversight of all 
Reservists requiring medical care for service-incurred and duty-
limiting medical conditions. During this past year, RMED solidified 
professional relationships with key personnel at Defense Health Agency-
Great Lakes in order to streamline the process for Reserve Marines 
injured in the line of duty to access medical healthcare benefits. This 
close working relationship resulted in the publication of a coordinated 
Marine Corps Administrative Message providing detailed guidance and 
instructions to Reserve units in order to reduce the time between an 
injury occurring and a Reserve Marine receiving treatment. We believe 
that arming Reserve units with this knowledge results in improved 
access to medical healthcare, which will greatly aid in an injured 
Marine's recovery timeline and have a positive impact to overall 
personnel readiness throughout the Marine Corps Reserve.
    In addition to the oversight of medical care, RMED administers the 
Incapacitation Pay Program for the Reserve Component. Qualification for 
Incapacitation Pay is determined based upon the member being physically 
disabled as a result of their service-connected injury and the member 
demonstrating a loss of civilian earned income from non-military 
employment or self-employment as a result of that injury. During Fiscal 
Year 2022, the RMED section processed 323 Incapacitation Pay requests 
for payments totaling $272,274.
    Reserve Marines facing complex care and recovery needs have access 
to WWR's network of 45 Recovery Care Coordinators who provide one-on-
one transition support and resource identification for WII Reservists 
and families who often live long distances from military installations.
    The WWR also has medical advocates on the regimental staff who are 
available to assist Reserve, Active, retired, and veteran Marines in 
need of medical care coordination and advocacy. This support is called 
the District Injured Support Coordinators (DISC) program which is 
provided by WWR Reserve Staff Non-Commissioned Officers who are 
activated each year through Active Duty for Operational Support (ADOS) 
funding. The DISCs are dispersed throughout the country and assist in 
performing face to face meetings as part of their care and case 
management processes. The DISCs are the WWR Commanding Officer's 
representatives in the field with the mission to facilitate care and 
case management to personnel with highly complex needs and the 
successful transition of post-9/11 WII Marines from the Active or 
Reserve Component to veteran status.
    The DISCs also provide direct support to more than 1,500 Marines 
currently on the Temporary Disabled Retired List (TDRL) to assist them 
in meeting all their requirements prior to the Department of the Navy's 
final determination of their disability. The DISC mission is 
accomplished by providing needs-based support and problem resolution, 
to include non-medical case management to post-9/11 WII veterans and 
their families to ensure the Marine Corps keeps faith with all Marines. 
Due to the reduction of ADOS funding, WWR reduced the DISC manning to 
minimal viable capability in FY23. Much of the support to the recently 
separated WII Marines and those on the TDRL has shifted to fully 
remote.
    The Marine Corps will not forget the sacrifices our Reserve Marines 
made for this great Nation, and we will continue to work with WWR to 
establish resources and improve programs that address the unique and 
ongoing needs of our Reserve service members and their families.
                              force design
    The Marine Corps Reserve, operating as both a strategic and 
operational Reserve, is a critical part of the Total Force Marine 
Corps. As the Marine Corps transitions toward Naval Campaigning in 
response to Strategic competition, the Reserve Component continues to 
be an integral element of the planning effort. The Marine Corps' force 
design process is strategy- driven, threat informed, and concept based. 
Force development is then achieved through deliberate experimentation, 
wargaming, integrating planning teams, and analysis to provide valuable 
data in our Campaign of Learning to identify what is effective. The 
Marine Corps Reserve provides support to this force design effort, 
while remaining a vital global contributor in meeting Combatant Command 
requirements.
    Although the Active Component forces have been able to rapidly 
modernize under the direction of the National Defense Strategy (NDS) 
and the Commandant, the Reserve Component has yet to mature as quickly 
due to resource limitations. Currently, the deactivations of 4th Tank 
Battalion, bridging units, VMU-4, and VMGR-542 have been the only 
divestment requirements for the Reserve Component. The requirement to 
divest in Tanks and the associated bridging assets was a total force 
initiative, while the divestment in VMU and VMGR were specific to the 
Reserve Component. With each unit deactivation, whether a Marine is 
contractually obligated to serve or is no longer obligated, Personnel 
Transition Teams (PTTs) travel to those locations to meet with each 
individual Marine in order to assist them in finding opportunities for 
continued service. As changes to the Reserve Component alter the 
physical location of Reserve units across the country, we will continue 
to actively analyze their efficacy to ensure that any and all unit 
relocations are analyzed in detail and driven by relevant qualitative 
and quantitative factors.
    The Reserve Component remains nested with all Service-related 
initiatives supporting Force Design. As the Active Component evolves, 
so too will the Reserve Component while also remaining ready and 
relevant to maintain its position as a vital contributor in support of 
Combatant Command requirements. Additionally, the Reserve Component, 
alongside Active Component planners, specifically 2nd Marine 
Expeditionary Force, are working to design and mature the concept of 
Service Retained Forces in support of global crisis and contingency 
operations. The Service Retained Force concept provides an opportunity 
for the Reserve Component to remain relevant and ready and provides a 
clear role for Reserve Marines in the future force under Force Design. 
This will include potential adjustments to the current capabilities and 
platforms within the Reserve Component that will ultimately serve to 
make a more lethal and capable Reserve Force. Opportunities for Marine 
Corps Special Operations Command integration are also being explored in 
relation to the Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and 
Targeting (ISRT) focus area from the MCWL Littoral Maneuver 
Experimentation Plan.
                     innovation and experimentation
    The establishment of Littoral Craft Companies (LCC) is a 
comprehensive initiative producing strong linkages across several 
Marine Corps Reserve Lines of Effort (LOEs). The establishment supports 
numerous key objectives including Site Optimization, Talent Management, 
New Platforms and Technologies Integration, Experimentation and 
Wargaming Support as well as Service component integration in a way 
that effectively aligns broad aspects of the Marine Corps Reserve's 
strategic vision.
    The LCC initiative emerged in response to a 2020 Service-level 
decision directing the divestment of C (Galveston, TX) and D (Tampa, 
FL) Companies, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion (AA Bn) in FY25 and FY24 
respectively. Preserving the talent and facilities at these two key 
coastal sites became imperative. Recruiting and retention at both Tampa 
and Galveston are consistently well above average comparable to the 
rest of the force at a time when the Marine Corps Reserve Component is 
recovering from COVID-19 and other end-strength challenges. In 
addition, both sites offer exceptional littoral training venues and 
wide-ranging opportunities for Joint and Interagency maritime 
partnerships within the Gulf-coast region.
    Transitioning C and D Cos 4th AA Bn into LCCs presents an ideal 
Talent Management and Site Optimization solution to the problem, with 
the bonus of integrating new Platforms and Technology in the form of 
littoral craft. In partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, the 
Marine Corps Reserve is pursuing a rapid acquisition of dual-use 
commercially available vessels through an Area of Interest solicitation 
to Industry. This highly flexible process offers direct access to 
vendors capable of producing state of the art littoral craft to the 
Marine Corps Reserve on an aggressive delivery timeline.
    The Marine Innovation Unit and other staffs across the reserve 
component are coordinating closely with Service-level capability 
developers and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) to posture the 
LCCs for support to live force experimentation in response to Service-
level littoral maneuver, mobility, and tactical sustainment-oriented 
learning demands. Exploration is already underway in key focus areas to 
include ``Training and Training Sustainment'' and ``Littoral Maneuver 
Craft Characteristics.'' Support to Experimentation is expected to 
rapidly increase once the LCCs are formally established allowing the 
Marine Corps Reserve to contribute significantly to the ultimate Total 
Force capability solution(s).
    Initial planning efforts have begun for LCC participation during 
bi-lateral and multilateral exercises as well as waterborne Theater 
Security Cooperation activities in the U.S. Southern Command and other 
Global Combatant Command Areas of Responsibility once initial 
operational capability is achieved. Opportunities for Marine Corps 
Special Operations Command integration are also being explored 
especially in relation to the ``Surveillance and Reconnaissance'' and 
``Kinetic and Non-Kinetic Fires and Effects'' focus areas from the MCWL 
Littoral Maneuver Experimentation Plan. This represents yet another 
clear example of how the LCC initiative links the Marine Corps Reserve 
Infrastructure, Human Terrain/Talent Management, Capabilities and 
Capacity and Utilization/Employment LOEs in an extraordinarily cohesive 
manner with potential wide-ranging, operational benefits for the Total 
Force Marine Corps.
                           talent management
    Earning victory in the increasingly complex and multi-domain 
warfighting realm of the future requires Marines to achieve and 
maintain an advanced level of technical, intellectual, and physical 
capability, and to operate comfortably in distributed and ambiguous 
environments. The Marine Corps of the future will require significantly 
more low-density/high-demand skillsets that are difficult to achieve 
and retain, particularly if we continue to rely so heavily on the 
Active Component. To achieve Service objectives, the Marine Corps is 
leveraging the Reserve Component to attract and retain diverse 
personnel with unique talent and skill, while also providing a path to 
service more compatible for Reserve Marines who choose to maintain a 
civilian career in conjunction with military duty. The Marine Corps 
Reserve is aligned with service goals to mature the force through the 
introduction of new initiatives to increase career flexibility and 
further develop talent in the Reserve Component. Initiatives such as 
the Direct Affiliation Program (DAP) provide unique opportunities for 
departing Active Component Marines with valuable skills to continue 
their service in the Reserve Component and provide a vital advantage to 
increasing reserve unit personnel readiness. Additionally, the Marine 
Corps Reserve promotes a variety of talent management initiatives, to 
include the Diversity Aimed Officer Program (DAOP) which targets 
historically underrepresented populations and provides them an 
opportunity to visualize and pursue their career path as a Marine Corps 
Officer through educational events, hands on experience, and senior 
leader mentorship. In the summer of FY23 we will host our third annual 
DAOP event, comprised of Marines chosen through a highly competitive 
process.
    As the Active Component Marine Corps develops and implements new 
talent management and diversity objectives, policies and programs, the 
Marine Corps Reserve offers the Service many unique opportunities to 
attract, recruit, identify, incentivize, and retain the most talented 
individuals across the Total Force. The Marine Corps Reserve has 
already begun to integrate with Active Component teams at Headquarters 
Marine Corps, Manpower and Reserve Affairs and Marine Corps Recruiting 
Command to ensure the Reserve Component is seamlessly integrated into 
all Service-level talent management efforts. Soon, a sample Reserve 
Component officer billet will be included in the initial release and 
testing for the Marine Corps' Talent Management and Engagement Platform 
(TMEP). When this platform reaches full operational capability, TMEP 
will greatly enhance talent management, leadership development, as well 
as enhance diversity, inclusion, and equity throughout the Reserve 
Component. Moving forward, the Marine Corps Reserve will continue to 
develop innovative policies, pathways, and tools designed to capture, 
catalogue, and maintain visibility of our diverse pool of talent and 
ensure these Marines have a path for future service.
                               conclusion
    As the operational environment changes, your Marine Corps Reserve 
will continue to innovate and evolve in order to meet future challenges 
and deter the pacing threats as prescribed in the National Defense 
Strategy. Through efforts such as the MIU and the acquisition of dual-
use small littoral craft, we are constantly shaping and refining that 
evolution. As we are evolving our force, we are continuing to keep 
faith with and remain true to the communities that have supported us 
with programs such as Toys for Tots. The key to our success has been 
and will continue to be individual Marines, Sailors, and their 
families. Your Reserve Marines will continue to answer their 
``irrational call to serve'' and, with your continued support, we will 
remain ready. Semper Fidelis!

    Senator Tester. Thank you, General. Next up, we have 
General Healy, Chief Air Force Reserve.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN P. HEALY, CHIEF OF 
            AIR FORCE RESERVE
    General Healy. Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Collins, and 
distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the 
70,000 men and women of the Air Force Reserve, it is an honor 
for me to be here today with my senior enlisted advisor, Chief 
Master Sergeant Israel Nunez.
    As a Commander, I am continually amazed by the 
accomplishments of our Reserve Airmen as they meet every 
challenge put forth in front of them on behalf of our Nation. 
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Air Force Reserve, 
and during that time we provided the Nation with an operational 
capability, strategic depth, and surge capacity across every 
core mission set of the United States Air Force.
    As a largely part time force, we provide a ready now, 
accessible force that is both mission effective and cost 
efficient. As our near-peer threat increases, we are committed 
to the Secretary of the Air Force's operational imperatives, 
the Chief of Staff's vision of accelerate, change, or lose, and 
the Chief of Space Operations' three lines of effort.
    When I took command of the Air Force Reserve almost a year 
ago, I issued a task order with my two priorities of ready now 
and transforming for the future. In the past year, we have got 
to prove that ready now force through our ability to rapidly 
surge and provide experienced Reserve Airmen to Combatant 
Commands and the Joint Force.
    Reservists provided critical support to our NATO allies and 
our European partners, and performed everything from 
intelligence analysis and cybersecurity, to airlift and air 
superiority missions, to aircraft maintenance and force 
protection. The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force would 
not be able to support Ukraine and deter Russian aggression 
without Reserve citizen Airmen.
    To optimize our performance as part of the total force, the 
Air Force Reserve must transform for the future. That 
transformation requires the Air Force Reserve be 
proportionately and concurrently modernized with the regular 
component. Maintaining equipment parity with the regular 
component ensures our ability to match pacing threats.
    Legacy aircraft divestment without recapitalization and 
delayed modernization adds substantial risk to the ability to 
sustain combat credible air superiority and strategic storage 
capacity in the future. We are grateful to Congress for the 
National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account.
    NGREA enables us to modernize, sustain our capability, and 
replace obsolete equipment when recapitalization by the active 
component is not feasible. Our most important weapon system is 
our Airmen. We are focused on ensuring that Reserve citizen 
Airmen receive the support they need.
    This includes providing mental health resources, investment 
in resilience initiatives, offering social support through 
yellow ribbon reintegration programs, implementing 
recommendations from the Independent Commission on Sexual 
Assault, and policy changes to remove barriers from service.
    Over the past 75 years, the Air Force Reserve has provided 
conduct proven readiness. We are confident the Air Force 
Reserve will remain prepared to defend our great Nation now and 
in the future.
    Thank you for your continued support of the Air Force 
Reserve, its citizen Airmen, and their families. I look forward 
to answering your questions.
    [The statement follows:]
         Prepared Statement of Lieutenant General John P. Healy
                    united states air force reserve
    The Air Force Reserve is a combat-ready force, with a Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2023 end strength of 70,000 Reserve Airmen, stationed at over 60 
locations throughout the United States, and serving globally in air, 
space, and cyberspace. As a cost-efficient and mission-effective force, 
the Air Force Reserve provides the Nation with operational capability, 
strategic depth, and surge capacity, both overseas and here at home. 
The Air Force Reserve's wide-ranging operational capability serves the 
diverse needs of every Combatant Commander, whose requirements are as 
varied as the geographic and functional areas they support.
    With over 80 percent of our Reserve Airmen serving part-time, this 
combat-tested experience is retained in a cost-efficient force, 
available whenever the Nation calls. Further, the Nation benefits from 
the intrinsic value gained by a member's civilian experience in a 
variety of career fields, from pilots and nurses to teachers and 
cyberspace professionals.
    The Air Force Reserve directly supports the United States and 
neighboring countries with special capabilities, including aerial 
firefighting, aerial spray, and weather reconnaissance, better known as 
the ``Hurricane Hunters.'' The Air Force Reserve's relationship with 
other Federal agencies, including the National Weather Service and U.S. 
Forest Service, demonstrates how Federal, military, and civilian 
organizations can work together to support the entire Nation.
    The Air Force Reserve is a proven part of the Total Force. We are 
committed to the Secretary of the Air Force's Operational Imperatives, 
the Chief of Staff's vision of Accelerate Change or Lose, and the Chief 
of Space Operations' three Lines of Effort. The Air Force Reserve is 
critical to the Department of the Air Force's (DAF) effort to address 
the four National Defense Strategy (NDS) priorities: defending the 
homeland, deterring strategic attacks, deterring aggression, and 
building a resilient joint force. We execute the full spectrum of DAF 
missions, providing strategic depth and maintaining an operational 
readiness to deter our adversaries, defend the United States and our 
allies, and respond to any contingency--at a fraction of the cost of 
the Regular Component of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force.
          air force reserve fiscal year 2024 posture statement
    Total Force operations require Total Force investments. The Joint 
Force faces a complex battlespace across multiple domains. The Regular 
Component of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force are working to 
fulfill the NDS priority of building a resilient joint force and 
defense ecosystem. The Air Force Reserve meets these challenges as part 
of the Total Force. Our mission capabilities rest on one single 
foundation--our people. Our Reserve Airmen must be able to work side by 
side with their Regular Component partners in the U.S. Air Force and 
the U.S. Space Force. To do that, we must train and equip our Reserve 
Airmen in a manner that is proportional and concurrent with the Regular 
Component. This will ensure the Air Force Reserve remains a credible 
operational and viable strategic reserve that can provide a surge 
capacity in a crisis or contingency.
    With Congress' support, we were able to improve our readiness. Upon 
taking command of the Air Force Reserve, I issued a Task Order that 
emphasized two priorities: Ready Now and Transforming for the Future. 
The order empowers Reserve Airmen to own their individual readiness and 
establishes accountability across the entire command to become the 
force the Nation needs. The approval of our FY 2024 budget request will 
enable us to continue building readiness while also transforming for 
the future.
    This year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Air Force 
Reserve, and I am proud to say we have responded to every U.S. conflict 
and contingency since 1948. It has not been easy. The Air Force Reserve 
first mobilized to halt aggression on the Korean Peninsula in 1950, 
without a mobilization plan. Despite this challenge, Reserve Airmen 
brought combat air power to support United Nations Forces. Today, 
Reserve Airmen remain ready, such as when an Air Force Reserve C-17 and 
its crew supported earthquake relief operations in Turkey and Syria by 
transporting 28 tons of cargo, 76 personnel, and 6 search and rescue 
dogs within 10 hours of notification on February 6, 2023.
    During the last year, we accelerated the readiness of our nuclear 
deterrence forces and continued our focus on ensuring preparedness 
against pacing threats. We modernized key weapon systems and closed the 
gap on critical staffing shortfalls. We increased our organizational 
effectiveness and improved our ability to provide excellent care for 
our Reserve Airmen and their families while also working to bolster 
individual and organizational resilience.
    My intent is to prioritize every dollar spent on initiatives that 
optimize readiness. We will hold ourselves accountable from planning to 
execution of a comprehensive and effective strategy to build a ready 
force and transform the organization. By employing data analytics 
coupled with new tools and processes, we are making timely and informed 
programmatic decisions. We are implementing policy reform that 
facilitates modernization and reduces administrative requirements. The 
result is an agile and judicious execution of financial resources. 
Continuing resolutions hamper Total Force readiness and degrade our 
ability to sustain progress.
    While we continue to prioritize readiness, we still face 
challenges. Like the Regular Component of the U.S. Air Force, in FY 
2022 the Air Force Reserve did not meet its end strength and in FY 
2023, we are projected to fall short of end strength again. The FY 2024 
budget request includes funding that will allow the Air Force Reserve 
to offer bonuses to help recruit and retain personnel. The budget will 
also provide funds to bring Airmen on status for additional training to 
support readiness. This is dual purposed as readiness training also 
improves an Airmen's experience, providing our members a sense of 
purpose and thereby improving retention.
    The Air Force Reserve will support the DAF as it makes hard choices 
in Airpower and Spacepower modernization to keep pace with our 
strategic competitors. This is critical to address the four NDS 
priorities, which depend upon effective command and control 
capabilities that are survivable in the threat environment of today and 
tomorrow. The Air Force Reserve must be a part of that decisionmaking 
process since concurrent fielding, recapitalization, and divestment of 
airframes, systems, and equipment is essential to our ability to 
integrate effectively with the Regular Component and support the 
Geographic and Functional Combatant Commands. We conduct operations in 
every DAF core function and support both DAF services: the U.S. Air 
Force and the U.S. Space Force. For the Air Force Reserve to remain a 
viable contributor to joint operations, the Total Force must maintain 
equipment parity and interoperability. The FY 2024 budget continues to 
integrate Air Force Reserve capabilities with the Joint Force.
    Reserve Airmen and their families are the foundation of our 
readiness, operational capabilities, and organizational success. Our 
Airmen's diverse talent and depth of experience are a force multiplier. 
Their dedication to our mission is second to none. We owe our Airmen 
stability and predictability. The Air Force Force Generation (AFFORGEN) 
model will increase predictability and lessen Reserve Airmen's time 
away from family and the financial burdens they may incur being away 
from their civilian occupations.
    Our FY 2024 budget request supports our continuing efforts to 
implement the NDS by making deliberate and impactful investments in 
readiness. The Air Force Reserve value proposition is simple: we are a 
cost- effective strategic force that is experienced and accessible. We 
will use budgeted funds to ensure the Air Force Reserve has the 
capabilities and training required to generate combat power for the 
future security environment. We also will ensure readiness to answer 
our Nation's call, as we've done over the past seventy-five years. With 
the requested Congressional support, we will continue to organize, 
train, and equip our Reserve Airmen to remain a ready force to defend 
our Nation and its interests.
            air force reserve's role in defending the nation
    The Air Force Reserve is codified in law to provide trained and 
qualified personnel available for active duty in time of war, national 
emergency, or in response to a crisis or contingency. Recognizing that 
joint warfighters need air and space power, the DAF plays a critical 
role in defending the homeland, deterring strategic attacks, deterring 
aggression, and building a resilient joint force. The accessibility of 
the Air Force Reserve is critical to ensuring the DAF has a surge 
capacity to meet joint warfighter requirements. Because operational 
demands fluctuate, the Regular Component cannot be staffed to meet peak 
operational demands and is therefore right-sized for steady-state 
operations. The Air Force Reserve provides the strategic depth and 
operational support the DAF needs to meet these demands. This requires 
Reserve Airmen to be organized, trained, and equipped in line with the 
Regular Component to be a ready, resilient, and combat-credible force 
in reserve. We are transforming for the future to become the Air Force 
Reserve the Nation needs.
    Our President's Budget (PB) request for FY 2024 enables the Air 
Force Reserve to be an operational and ready part-time force with a 
strategic surge capability. The PB allows us to invest in readiness and 
continue supporting every DAF core function. As the Regular Component 
divests legacy systems and brings new weapon systems online, the Air 
Force Reserve is following suit. The Secretary of the Air Force and the 
Chief of Staff of the Air Force concurred with the recommendation from 
the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force report 
published on January 30, 2014, which stated that as the Air Force 
acquires new equipment, force integration plans should adhere to the 
principle of proportional and concurrent fielding across the 
components.
    When mobilized, our Reserve Airmen provide full-time support to the 
Joint Force. In addition to our daily contributions to global 
operations, we provide rapid surge capability and strategic depth for 
national defense. In FY 2022, 3,299 Reserve Airmen deployed to support 
taskings. In FY 2023, over 2,500 Reserve Airmen are projected to 
deploy. This support is critical to the Regular Component by burden-
sharing deployment requirements and providing the expertise of Reserve 
Airmen to Combatant Commands and the Joint Force. For example, since 
February 2022, 1,849 Reserve Airmen have supported U.S. Air Forces 
Europe and the United States European Command by serving 145,313 days 
on active duty orders. These Reservists have performed everything from 
intelligence analysis and force protection to aircraft maintenance and 
reconnaissance flights to deter Russian aggression.
Force Structure
    With 80 percent of Air Force Reserve members serving part-time, 
most Reservists serve alongside our Regular Component counterparts in 
association constructs. Approximately two-thirds of the Air Force's 
associations are with the Air Force Reserve. Integrating through 
associations delivers significant taxpayer value, both in cost savings 
and improved mission effectiveness, by sharing aircraft, equipment, and 
facilities with the Regular Component. Our part-time force brings a 
wealth of knowledge and expertise from their civilian careers to their 
military service. This strengthens our capabilities, enables the 
integration of commercial best practices, and facilitates beneficial 
partnerships with industry and other institutions. This can be seen in 
organizational initiatives known as ``Bullpens'' that leverage 
Individual Mobilization Augmentees who have critical high demand low 
density skills that are lacking in the Regular Component. These 
Bullpens are critical to supporting the Secretary of the Air Force's 
Operational Imperatives and a great example is the bullpen being 
established to study Hypersonics. The Hypersonic Bullpen has 13 Reserve 
Airmen who are experts from industry and academia. There is also a 
China Bullpen with Reservists who have expertise spanning several 
disciplines including language, internal politics, and strategy.
            Classic Associations
    Unit associations between geographically collocated Regular 
Component and Reserve Component units exemplify Total Force 
Integration. In this construct, equipment resources are officially 
assigned to the lead unit but are shared between the lead and associate 
unit. Associations further enhance our interoperability and give the 
Regular Component access to the experience of the more seasoned Reserve 
force. This ensures parity in equipment and training, while providing 
cost savings and readiness benefits to both components. There are 79 
associations between the Reserve and the Regular Components which span 
nearly every major mission set. The Reserve Airmen of the 477th Fighter 
Group at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, for example, include some of 
the most experienced F-22 pilots and maintainers. The pilots average 
over 1,200 flight hours in the F-22 alone, compared to their Regular 
Component counterparts' 400 hours. Every pilot is mission commander and 
instructor pilot qualified, providing vital operational and 
instructional capacity to the associate unit. As the F-22 costs $80,000 
an hour to operate, the cumulative F-22 flying experience of the 
Reserve pilots has a replacement value of $1.1 billion. Our Reserve 
maintainers provide a stable base of deep experience to mentor 
maintainers across the Total Force.
            AFFORGEN
    The DAF established AFFORGEN to enable force presentation to meet 
Combatant Command requirements in a sustainable, predictable manner 
while ensuring operational preparedness and required readiness. 
AFFORGEN is an evolution and maturation of the Air Expeditionary Forces 
model that balances risk between Combatant Command requirements, Air 
Force readiness, and modernization, by deploying pre-identified units 
who have trained together. Since 2015 the Air Force Reserve has 
executed a form of AFFORGEN through Reserve Component Periods (RCPs). 
In FY 2024, AFFORGEN will meet initial operational capability, and the 
Air Force Reserve will provide 671 personnel to the initial 
Expeditionary Air Base Sourcing rotations and another 548 personnel for 
Supplemental Expeditionary Air Base Sourcing rotations totaling 1,219 
Reserve personnel. These Reserve Airmen will include Logisticians, 
Security Forces, Administration Personnel, Civil Engineers, Aerial 
Porters, and Communications troops. The Air Force Reserve will also 
provide additional Airmen to augment gaps in the Regular Component 
AFFORGEN manning.
    The AFFOGREN model will provide Reserve Airmen with predictable 
deployment cycles. This predictability enables Combatant Commanders and 
the DAF to preplan and budget for the utilization of Air Force Reserve 
forces that is consistent with Congressional intent and Title 10 USC 
Section 12304b. It also enables Reserve Airmen, their families, and 
their employers to prepare for the demands of defending our Nation.
Core Functions
    Our ability to meet current taskings and to supply strategic 
reserve staffing are predicated on equipment parity and our readiness. 
The Air Force Reserve provides daily operational support to the Joint 
Force, while maintaining a ready and accessible strategic force during 
major conflict or surge operations and unforeseen events, such as 
national disasters and contingencies. As an operational Reserve, we 
must maintain our readiness to support present-day missions while 
aligning our capabilities to meet the requirements of the NDS. We 
remain ready to employ traditional capabilities, while continuing to 
modernize our equipment to deter and defeat pacing threats.
            Air Superiority
    Preserving the advantage in strategic competition requires 
generating combat power in contested environments. Maintaining 
equipment parity with the Regular Component ensures our ability to 
match pacing threats. Legacy aircraft divestiture without 
recapitalization and delayed modernization programs add substantial 
risk to the ability to sustain combat-credible air superiority and 
strategic surge capacity in the future.
    The Air Force Reserve provides vital experience to the DAF's 5th 
Generation fighter capabilities. The Air Force Reserve's first unit-
equipped F-35 wing at Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) 
Fort Worth, Texas will begin the conversion from F-16s to F-35s in FY 
2024. We currently execute F-35 combat operations through our Classic 
Association at Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Utah. We conduct F-35 formal 
training at Luke AFB, Arizona and Eglin AFB, Florida through Classic 
Associations. We also perform operational test and weapons instructor 
course missions at Nellis AFB, Nevada through a Classic Association. 
The experience of our Reserve pilots and maintainers in all aspects of 
5th Generation fighter operations reduces costs, improves the 
experience of the Total Force, and improves the Regular Component. This 
is critical to meet the challenge from our pacing threat in a future 
fight.
            Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
    Our ISR enterprise is optimized to provide strategic depth and 
operational surge capacity in traditional and emerging mission sets. 
Currently the ISR enterprise supports missions in Targeting, Special 
Operations, Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS), Signals 
Intelligence, Human Intelligence, Geospatial Intelligence, Measurement 
and Signatures Intelligence, Acquisition Intelligence, Combat Air Force 
support, Mobility Air Force support, Cyber, Space, and Combat 
Operations Squadrons (COSs). We continue to develop capabilities in 
areas to support the Joint Force while ensuring current mission sets 
provide decision advantage against pacing threats.
    There are 4,400 ISR Reserve Airmen supporting every Air Force Major 
Command and all Functional and Geographic Combatant Command 
Intelligence Directorates. We are exploring mission growth with Air 
Combat Command and 16th Air Force to determine the way forward for the 
Air Force Reserve ISR Enterprise to be involved in synchronizing and 
integrating Information Warfare efforts into daily operations. There 
are also plans in place to have steady state Air Force Reserve ISR 
units available to the Global Force Mission Allocation Plan for the 
Regular Component to have additional access to our capabilities.
            Rapid Global Mobility
    Global power projection through Rapid Global Mobility hinges on a 
robust airlift enterprise and the extended range provided by a modern 
aerial refueling fleet. The Air Force Reserve enables combat delivery 
through our strategic and tactical airlift fleets. We provide 65 
percent of the total aircrews and 100 percent of student aircrew 
training capabilities for the C-5. The Air Force Reserve also provides 
31 percent of aircrews for the C-17. Air Force Reserve's C-5 and C-130H 
fleets continue to face sustainment challenges due to aging aircraft, 
diminishing vendors, and increased part costs. Each of our mobility 
platforms require continued investment in modernization to ensure 
survivability in contested environments.
    The Air Force Reserve air refueling fleet consists of seven unit 
equipped wings. In 2022, the 916th Air Refueling Wing, a Reserve unit 
stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB completed the conversion to the KC-46 
and took possession of its twelfth and final aircraft.
            Nuclear Deterrence Operations
    Nuclear capability is foundational to national security. Our 
Nuclear Deterrence Operations assets include nuclear strike, air 
refueling, and nuclear command, control, and communications 
capabilities (NC3). To modernize our capabilities and maintain Total 
Force interoperability, we will equip all seven of our NC3 capable 
command posts with the new primary strategic communication system, the 
Global Aircrew Strategic Network Terminal, which will be fielded to 
units in FY 2024. This system will replace legacy terminals that are 
based on 1990s technology. The Air Force Reserve is also standing up 
the MH-139 Field Training Unit at Maxwell AFB as part of the 908th 
Airlift Wing mission conversion. It is postured to begin training in FY 
2026. The MH-139 will enable increased Intercontinental Cruise Missile 
(ICBM) security.
            Command and Control (C2)
    Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) is the Department of 
Defense's top modernization priority. The Advanced Battle Management 
System (ABMS) is the Air Force's primary contribution to JADC2 as it 
provides the situational awareness and decision support tools to close 
hundreds of kill chains on relevant timelines in all domains--air, 
land, maritime, space, and cyber--while operating in a highly contested 
environment.
    To assure strategic depth, the Air Force Reserve must maintain 
equipment parity to achieve enterprise mission optimization as the DAF 
fields new capabilities. This includes ensuring legacy platforms are 
equipped with ABMS capabilities to guarantee interoperability and 
lethality. The Air Force Reserve also provides non-material support for 
ABMS initiatives with C2 manpower. Investment in digital infrastructure 
and applications, along with modern air and space communication 
platforms, provides the foundation of C2 with the speed, adaptability, 
and resilience needed to achieve these objectives.
            Cyberspace Operations
    Integrating cyber capabilities enhances our ability to generate 
combat power but exposes us to new threats, as digital technology is 
both pervasive and inexpensive. The Air Force Reserve is exploring 
continued growth in cyber mission sets to counter persistent threat 
actors. We continue to posture our forces to better align with United 
States Cyber Command and Air Force Cyber requirements.
            Special Operations Forces and Personnel Recovery
    The Air Force Reserve has one wing dedicated to personnel recovery 
and another multi-mission special operations wing. Both wings operate 
in low-density, high-demand environments. As the Regular Component 
fields new platforms and realigns missions, we will continue to provide 
support across the spectrum of these no-fail missions. It is critical 
that Air Force Reserve units associated with Special Operations Forces 
and Personnel Recovery be proportionally recapitalized and concurrently 
fielded in the future.
            Space Superiority
    The establishment of the U.S. Space Force underscored the 
criticality of space operations to our national security. This point 
has been amplified by recent space weapons tests by our strategic 
competitors. The Air Force Reserve is a major contributor to space 
operations with 1,400 space operators in the Air Force Reserve. These 
personnel executed 26 percent of daily space missions directly 
supporting United States Space Command taskings. The Air Force Reserve 
will continue to provide focused support to the Space Force.
Equipment and Infrastructure
    Credible strategic depth requires concurrent fielding of systems 
for Active and Reserve Components. Effective support to the Joint Force 
demands continuous upgrades to legacy platforms to assure 
interoperability and combat effectiveness. Rapid technological 
advancement and the wide proliferation of digital technology have 
increased the tempo of strategic competition. These forces drive the 
need for continuous equipment modernization and equipment parity with 
the Active Component.
    The Air Force Reserve must also be able to divest its obsolete 
legacy platforms. Deliberate divestment avoids gaps in critical 
capabilities and frees up resources for investment in capabilities to 
match pacing threats. Asynchronous airframe divestment can cause 
significant per platform sustainment cost growth due to diminishing 
vendors for spare parts. Further, it can also drive increased training 
costs as we are unable to hire qualified Regular Component members for 
obsolete legacy platforms.
            Weapon System Modernization and Sustainment
    Fully funding the Air Force Reserve FY 2024 Weapon System 
Sustainment (WSS) request is essential to bridging the concurrent 
fielding gap and maintaining parity with the Regular Component. As new 
systems are brought online to enhance the DAF's combat capabilities, 
both the Regular and Reserve components will continue to rely on proven 
platforms in our inventory. Aircraft modernization and system upgrades 
will provide capabilities needed for strategic competition by ensuring 
survivability in contested environments. A balanced portfolio of new 
and legacy platforms will achieve adequate wartime readiness. The WSS 
budget increase to $186.8 million in FY 2024 will balance the 
portfolio. In addition to modernization, many of our airframes require 
upgrades, repairs, and component replacements to maintain airworthiness 
and extend service life. For example, to achieve adequate wartime 
readiness the FY 2024 budget provides increases in B-52, C-5M, C-130H, 
and WC-130J aircraft.
            Infrastructure and Facilities
    Maintaining and modernizing our infrastructure and facilities is 
critical to readiness, force protection, and ensuring a safe work 
environment for our Reserve Airmen. Military Construction (MILCON) 
appropriations fund new facilities and major infrastructure projects. 
The Facility Sustainment, Repair, and Modernization (FSRM) funds 
included in our Operations and Maintenance (O&M) appropriation are used 
to repair and modernize existing facilities and to extend the service 
life of existing infrastructure. While we work diligently to maximize 
use of existing facilities at our nine host installations and fifty-
seven partner locations, we still have $1.077 billion in MILCON 
projects and $1 billion in validated FSRM projects in backlog. We are 
grateful to Congress for providing an additional $49.3 million in 
MILCON funding and $10 million in FSRM funding for FY 2023, for our 
most urgent projects.
    During FY 2022, the Air Force Reserve utilized FSRM funding to make 
ongoing investments in airfield pavement sustainment and repair. FSRM 
funds are used to repair and modernize existing facilities to 
accommodate new missions such as the KC-135 Conversion at Niagara Falls 
Air Reserve Station (ARS), New York, F-35 bed-down at NAS JRB Fort 
Worth and KC-46 bed-down at March ARB. The Air Force Reserve FY 2024 
MILCON funding request includes plans to replace a facility from 1942 
at NAS JRB Fort Worth with a modern warehouse and three separate 
projects that will enable on-time delivery of KC-46 aircraft at March 
ARB. Finally, our Aerial Port Facility MILCON project request will 
replace an existing undersized facility at Andersen AFB, Guam and move 
port operations onto the flightline--enabling effective operations at a 
critical base in the Pacific.
           air force reserve's role in taking care of people
    Taking care of our Reserve Airmen and their families is critical. 
It begins the moment a member joins the Air Force Reserve and continues 
throughout their career. The Air Force Reserve does everything possible 
to support our Airmen as they balance their military career, civilian 
obligations, and family responsibilities. This assures the Air Force 
Reserve retains talented Airmen who can leverage diverse experience 
from their military service and civilian lives. The FY 2024 budget 
provides the support our Reserve Airmen need to be successful. This 
support includes suicide prevention through investments in resilience, 
social support through the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, working 
to implement the recommendations from the Independent Review Commission 
(IRC) on Sexual Assault, and removing significant barriers to service 
through expansion of childcare programs.
Recruiting and Retention
    Like the Regular Component of the Air Force, the Air Force Reserve 
did not meet its recruiting goal in FY 2022. The Air Force Reserve 
missed the Congressional mandated end-strength requirement of 70,300 by 
2,252 personnel. The projections for FY 2023 indicate the Air Force 
Reserve will fall short of the Congressional end-strength of 70,000.
    The recruiting environment continues to present significant 
challenges based on multiple factors to include a reduced propensity to 
serve, competitive civilian compensation and difficulty in medically 
clearing recruits. Along with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and 
collective Total Force team, we have identified accession policies that 
limit our ability to recruit young adults to serve in the military. 
Three important changes include: revising the tattoo policy to allow 
for limited hand and neck tattoos; adjusting body fat standards to 
align with the other Services (increasing to 26% for males and 36% for 
females for accessions); and allowing members to join without a 
driver's license. The Air Force Reserve human capital strategy calls 
for 70% prior service (PS) and 30% non-prior service (NPS) recruiting 
mix but currently we are challenged on both fronts. The accession model 
is built on the expectation that there will be sufficient prior-service 
members leaving active duty who will affiliate with the Air Force 
Reserve. The Air Force Reserve strives to affiliate ready trained 
airmen. However, current trends indicate increased reliance on NPS 
recruits which increases training costs and dilutes unit experience. We 
are proactively increasing our targeted outreach efforts to connect 
with potential recruits, specifically focusing on members of the 
Regular Component. By expanding our reach, we aim to effectively 
communicate the benefits and opportunities available in the Air Force 
Reserve. The Air Force Reserve is also executing a plan of action to 
mitigate recruiting challenges with Reserve Component Affiliation 
Incentive Bonuses and a deliberate on-boarding process to increase 
recruiting production.
    Increasing retention provides cost savings by decreasing training 
requirements. We are presently targeting retention through bonuses and 
special salary rates. A single $15,000 retention bonus results in a 
cost avoidance of roughly $45,000 in training funds and prevents an 
approximate three-year readiness gap, which occurs while a replacement 
is trained. In FY 2022, $24-27 million was spent in reenlistment 
bonuses and Air Force Reserve primary retention tools. In FY 2023, the 
Air Force Reserve offered a $10,000 bonus for enlisted members to fill 
vacant positions and a $5,000 bonus for fully qualified members to fill 
an authorized overage. To address shortfalls in pilot manning, the Air 
Force Reserve has utilized an Aviation Bonus Program to stabilize both 
full-time and part-time manning.
Pilot Staffing
    The Air Force Reserve provides a mechanism to retain talent by 
providing continued service options for members who separate from 
active duty. The DAF understands the importance of retaining 
experienced talent from both a cost-effectiveness and capacity 
perspective. During FY 2022, the Air Force Reserve had an 81 percent 
overall pilot staffing. This is a marked decline from FY 2021 when we 
experienced a high of 94 percent overall pilot staffing. Full-time 
pilot assigned manning decreased slightly from 990 at the beginning of 
FY 2022 to 981 at the beginning of FY 2023. During Calendar Year 2022, 
there was an unprecedented hiring effort by civilian airlines. This 
hiring has made full-time retention a challenge. For ART aviators, we 
offer recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives, which can 
equal up to 25 percent of annual base pay, and special salary rates 
which can equal up to 30 percent of annual base pay.
    In FY 2022, we offered aviation bonuses up to $35,000 for priority 
units at critical manning levels. Each of these measures has been 
implemented to retain significant investments in well-qualified pilots. 
While the overall Aviation Bonus Program cost increased from $3 million 
in FY 2017 to $31 million in FY 2022, this contributes to a cost 
avoidance of $10 billion in replacing the over 3,600 pilots in the Air 
Force Reserve.
Training
    Thanks to the FY 2023 increase in the Reserve Personnel 
Appropriation (RPA) budget, we were able to address the cost of 
training for NPS recruits. RPA execution for FY 2023 is showing a 
marked improvement as January's execution numbers were 29 percent, 
compared to the 22 percent 3-year average. The FY 2024 request was 
increased by $13 million due to a 5.2 percent military pay raise, a 2.4 
percent non-pay inflation adjustment, and 4.2 percent Basic Allowance 
for Housing increase.
    To make a meaningful contribution to the DAF core functions, the 
Air Force Reserve maintains a focus on being Ready Now which requires 
the Air Force Reserve to have the capability to train Reserve Airmen. 
The FY 2024 budget provides the Air Force Reserve the funds and flight 
hours to train our Airmen. The budget also allows the Air Force Reserve 
to work closely with Combatant Commands and gain joint experience in 
training events.
    Accelerated Mission Readiness Training (AMRT) is crucial to 
developing technically proficient Airmen to provide a qualified force 
to Combatant Commanders. In FY 2023, nearly 46 percent of the enlisted 
personnel and 38 percent of the officers in the Air Force Reserve were 
NPS. This places a significant strain on readiness thresholds. Emerging 
threats and evolving requirements of building Multi-Capable Airmen 
requires a technically proficient force that cannot be achieved through 
Unit Training Assemblies and Annual Tour days alone. Without AMRT funds 
to accelerate training, the average NPS Reservist would need two-three 
years to become minimally proficient on mission requirements. With 
decreasing numbers of fully qualified members transferring from the 
Regular Component to the Reserve, there is an increased training burden 
upon the command. Without continued funding, the Air Force Reserve can 
expect to see a 20% decrease in qualified, deployable airmen, and an 
increase in excessive training times across all career fields.
The Yellow Ribbon Program
    The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program is a vital resource for 
providing pre- and post-deployment education on mental health resources 
for Reservists and their families. Historically, the feedback for these 
events has been overwhelmingly positive, with 97 percent of attendees 
finding the events beneficial. After 2 years of disruption due to 
COVID-19, we have returned to in-person events which resulted in 
increased participation rates. The rising costs of travel and venue 
expenses has resulted in the Yellow Ribbon Program not being able to 
meet all attendance requests.
Childcare
    Access to reliable and quality childcare is crucial to the 
retention of service members in the Air Force Reserve, as it directly 
alleviates a major stressor for those balancing service and family 
responsibilities, enhancing their ability to focus on their duties and 
increasing the likelihood of continued service. The Air Force Reserve 
has worked to ensure that childcare is available during training 
periods at no cost to parents
    through the Home Community Care (HCC) program. Many of our Airmen 
have gaps in childcare due to being single parents or dual military 
couples. Airmen who do not have another adult to provide childcare 
during training periods are eligible for the program. The HCC program 
addresses gaps in coverage at host locations without Child Development 
Centers and at Regular Component host facilities without weekend 
childcare options. Currently, the HCC is available at 41 Air Force 
Reserve locations, and we are working to recruit more providers by zip 
code. This program is vital to retention, as 50 percent of Reservists 
cite family and work/life balance issues as their reason for separating 
during exit surveys.
Suicide Prevention
    We remain firmly resolved to preventing suicide across our 
workforce. Our suicide prevention efforts are along four lines of 
effort: building connections, detecting risk, promoting protective 
environments, and developing resilient Airmen and families. We have 
placed Violence Prevention Integrators (VPIs) at each of our nine host 
base locations and NAS JRB Fort Worth, who are keenly focused on 
preventing interpersonal and self-directed violence.
    In FY 2021, we completed the process of providing full-time 
Religious Support Teams (RSTs) consisting of a chaplain and chaplain's 
assistant at each of our nine host installations and NAS JRB Fort 
Worth. These RSTs fill a previously identified gap in care for Airmen 
and their families by providing spiritual support and liaising with 
helping agencies. In FY 2022, there was an increase from 757 to 1,571 
counseling sessions provided per year, as well as an increase in 
religious services provided per year from 2,500 to over 7,000. In FY 
2021, we hired 20 full-time First Sergeants to work directly with 
Airmen and their families to navigate support agencies. We anticipate 
being able to place full-time First Sergeants at each of our wing and 
wing- equivalent organizations by FY 2024.
Mental Health
    Access to Mental Healthcare is a challenge facing our Nation. The 
Air Force Reserve promotes mental health through early intervention, 
identifying and supporting members at elevated risk and managing crisis 
response. While traditional reservists are not eligible for active duty 
benefits, there are reserve specific resources available to them. This 
includes 37 mental health providers in the Director of Psychological 
Health (DPH) Program, who have been embedded throughout the Reserve 
Wings to advise leadership. DPHs provide non-clinical services to 
reservists and their families during unit training assemblies or during 
the week to include training and education, consultations, and 
referrals, needs assessments, suicide prevention, resiliency building, 
crisis intervention and command advisement on psychological and mental 
health issues. Reserve Airmen can also access the Military Family Life 
Consultants, who are licensed contract counselors that work outside of 
Military Treatment Facilities to provide anonymous and confidential 
assistance to all military members in problem solving issues resulting 
from deployment, reunions, reintegration, and/or other times of change. 
Finally, there is the AFRC Psychological Health Advocacy Program that 
provides psychological health referral services to Reserve Airmen and 
their families through telephone calls or site visits.
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
    We are working diligently with our Total Force partners to 
aggressively implement all the accepted recommendations from the 
Secretary of Defense's IRC on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment. We 
are working to recruit, retain, and develop our full-time prevention 
workforce to ensure our prevention footprint is optimized to meet the 
unique needs of Reservists. We will also continue increasing efforts to 
educate our force on prevention and local area resources for survivors. 
Based on the IRC's recommendations, our VPIs will focus on sexual 
assault prevention, allowing Sexual Assault Response Coordinators to 
focus exclusively on supporting survivors.
COVID-19 Vaccination Noncompliance
    The FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was enacted 
requiring the Secretary of Defense to rescind the mandate that members 
of the Armed Forces must be vaccinated against COVID-19. I immediately 
issued a memorandum that stated COVID-19 Vaccination Status was not a 
barrier to service in the Air Force Reserve. Prior to the FY 2023 
NDAA's enactment, the Air Force Reserve did not separate members for 
COVID-19 vaccination noncompliance, but rather utilized Individual 
Ready Reserve (IRR) reassignment actions. 547 members were consequently 
reassigned to the IRR for noncompliance with the vaccine requirements 
and this approach allows for a streamlined process for those members to 
return to duty.
Stability for Members
    Our Reserve Airmen and their families need stability and 
predictability. Exit surveys suggest the high operations tempo and the 
demands of maintaining a work/life balance are the top reasons for 
leaving the Air Force Reserve. Without deliberate and planned 
deployments and training, Reservists are unable to adequately prepare 
their families and notify their civilian employers. The Air Force 
Reserve is working to provide members stability and predictability. 
This is done via AMRT funding which allows Reserve Units to offer 
predictable training timelines. AFFORGEN offers Reserve Airmen 
predictable deployment cycles. These efforts aid our Reserve Airmen 
when preparing for deployments and guarantees Air Force Reserve support 
to the DAF and Combatant Commands.
            air force's role in succeeding through teamwork
    Teamwork for the Air Force Reserve begins within the DAF, where the 
Air Force Reserve provides an experienced and accessible surge capacity 
to the Regular Component of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space 
Force. We work to maintain a Ready Now posture that can support almost 
every core function in the DAF. Maintaining this readiness and teamwork 
with the Regular Component and the Joint Force requires consistent 
training.
    The Air Force Reserve is implementing training to develop Multi-
Capable Airmen proficient in sustaining operations, hardening air 
bases, and recovering air bases following attack. The FY 2024 budget 
provides funds for training, ensuring our Reserve Airmen are Ready Now 
to support the Regular Component as well as the Joint Force. At several 
Air Reserve bases, we have developed organic training centers that 
provide Reserve Airmen the chance to train in Agile Combat Support 
(ACS) and Agile Combat Employment (ACE) requirements and hone their 
expeditionary skillsets. These centers also support the Regular 
Component, the Joint Force, Federal, and local agencies. At Westover 
ARB, Massachusetts, the Dogpatch Expeditionary Training Area was 
revitalized to offer an expeditionary airfield, as well as a drop zone 
and tactical vehicle training route. At Youngstown ARS, Ohio, we 
identified a training need for Security Forces Reserve Airmen.
    This base established a site that provides a venue for Reserve 
Defenders to build proficiency and lethality through a 180-hour program 
of realistic training that simulates combat situations and prepares 
Security Forces members to deal with stress under fire. The training 
also prepares participants for ACE and ACS missions. The site has been 
so successful that we are partnering with U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. 
Marine Corps Reserve to use the area for joint force training events. 
Civilian and Federal law enforcement have also used the Youngstown site 
for training. Finally, at Grissom ARB, Indiana, we developed bivouac 
sites to better rehearse ACS and ACE events and conduct deployment 
exercises. Thanks to funding from Congress, we can provide our Reserve 
Airmen the facilities to conduct realistic training while also working 
with the Regular Component, joint partners, Federal, and local 
agencies.
    In addition to supporting the Regular Component in the DAF and 
global military operations, the Air Force Reserve expands it teamwork 
by partnering with and supporting multiple Federal and civil 
organizations. We routinely participate in humanitarian aid, disaster 
relief, and scientific research efforts. The Air Force Reserve provides 
direct support to civil authorities through the execution of Modular 
Aerial Spray System (MASS), Modular Airborne Firefighting System 
(MAFFS), and Weather Reconnaissance missions which utilize specially 
modified C-130 aircraft.
Modular Aerial Spray System
    The 910th Airlift Wing's 757th Airlift Squadron (AS) from 
Youngstown ARS operates the Department of Defense's only aerial spray 
capability. In FY 2022, the 757 AS conducted 11 MASS missions treating 
165,018 acres and applying 51,939 gallons of product. These missions 
control insect populations, eliminate undesired and invasive 
vegetation, and disperse oil spills in large bodies of water.
    In FY 2022, acceptance testing of the first Electronic Modular 
Aerial Spray System (EMASS) was completed. It represents a decade-long 
acquisition project to insure the sustainability of the Aerial Spray 
program. EMASS provides additional capacity and more accurate 
calibration for precise application of products when compared to our 
aging legacy MASS.
Modular Airborne Firefighting System
    The MAFFS is another specialty mission the Air Force Reserve 
supports, conducted by the 302d Airlift Wing (AW) from Peterson Space 
Force Base, Colorado. As the only Title 10 Aerial Firefighting asset 
available for direct tasking, the 302 AW's MAFFS mission supports U.S. 
Northern Command's Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) efforts 
and represents 25% of MAFFS assets in the DoD. The Air Force Reserve's 
MAFFS capability mobilized between 20 July and 29 September 2022 and 
represented 28% of 929 drops, 942.6 employment hours, and over 2.5 
million gallons of retardant delivered during California wildfires. The 
302 AW surged its MAFFS assets for 31 days, between 24 August and 23 
September and provided 3 aircraft and 37.5% of total MAFFS efforts.
Weather Reconnaissance
    The United States military has been flying into hurricanes since 
the Second World War. Today, the Air Force Reserve maintains the only 
operational military weather reconnaissance unit in the United States. 
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (WRS) is the only DoD unit 
that conducts aircraft reconnaissance missions into severe tropical 
weather during hurricane season and flies winter storm missions off 
both coasts of the United States. Flying out of Keesler AFB, 
Mississippi, the WC-130 operations improve forecast accuracy up to 30%, 
enabling commanders and civil authorities to make informed, fiscally 
responsible decisions to protect personnel and assets during extreme 
weather events year-round. Mission modernization and resourcing is 
essential to this expanding mission set that supports our military and 
civilian population across the United States.
    In FY 2022, the 53 WRS flew 141 missions with flight hours at the 
third highest in the past eight fiscal years (1,160 hours). This 
included 310 hours in support of 21 West Coast Atmospheric River 
requirements and 35 hours supporting East and Gulf Coast requirements. 
The Atmospheric River mission capability released 825 dropsondes over 
39 intense observation periods, resulting in a 30-75% forecast 
improvement across the US, translating to an additional 72 hours of 
lead time for decision makers. The 53 WRS also flew 815 hours of 
hurricane reconnaissance across 7 storms in the Atlantic, Caribbean, 
Gulf of Mexico, and East Pacific Ocean, supporting 112 lead Federal 
agency (LFA) requirements and safeguarding of forces throughout the 
Western hemisphere. Since the beginning of FY 2023, the 53 WRS flew 468 
hours into four storms supporting 54 LFA requirements.
    Mission modernization and resourcing is essential to the expanding 
weather reconnaissance mission sets that support our military and 
civilian population across the United States. The Weapons Systems 
Sustainment allocated to the Air Force Reserve allowed for several 
hardware and software upgrades some of which are still in progress. 
With funding from Congress in the FY 2024 budget, the Air Force Reserve 
can continue supporting critical weather reconnaissance as well as 
aerial spray and aerial firefighting missions, ensuring that the Air 
Force Reserve can defend and protect the Nation through teamwork with 
the Regular Component, the Joint Force, as well as Federal, state, and 
local agencies.
                                summary
    Our FY 2024 budget request is carefully crafted to ensure 
interoperability with the Regular Component and the Joint Force. The 
request will maintain Air Force Reserve readiness to support our allies 
and partners around the world. This request will continue weapon system 
modernization, positioning our force to be more capable, survivable, 
and lethal while also enhancing support to our Reserve Airmen and their 
families. In an era of strategic competition and increased resource 
constraints, we will continue to provide strategic depth and 
operational surge capacity to meet pacing threats in the most cost-
effective manner possible. Reserve Airmen will continue to leverage 
their unique blend of military and civilian experience to bring 
outsized impact to pursuing the DAF's Operational Imperatives. For this 
to occur, we need to take care of our Airmen and the FY 2024 PB request 
allows the Air Force Reserve to do that. With your continued support, 
we are confident the Air Force Reserve will remain prepared to deliver 
effects anytime, anywhere to fly, fight, and win in Air, Space, and 
Cyberspace.

    Senator Tester. Thank you, General. I want to thank you all 
for your statements. Appreciate it very, very much. I am going 
to start out with a story that has been well documented over 
the last 2 or 3 months.
    It is about a 21-year-old Air Guardsman that posted highly 
classified documents on the Internet, including intel about the 
war in Ukraine. I can tell you, I don't know anybody that can 
tell me why this person had access to this particular 
classified information, but it is troublesome, and I don't 
think it gives the Air National Guard a particularly good look.
    So, General Hokanson, what can you tell me about the status 
of the investigation?
    General Hokanson. Chairman, thank you for the question. 
With respect to the Airmen of the Massachusetts National Guard, 
the Secretary of the Air Force has initiated an IG (Inspector 
General) investigation, which is just about to complete, and we 
look forward to the results soon.
    Any and all recommendations they make will obviously be 
implemented immediately. With respect to the individual, it is 
an ongoing FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) investigation, 
and we look forward to the results of that investigation.
    Senator Tester. So, I think we need to learn from the past 
as we move forward in the future. How confident are you that 
with the IG information, with the information, you know, and 
the people that you have talked to, that this kind of situation 
will never happen again?
    General Hokanson. Chairman I am very confident this will 
never happen again based on what we have found. Unfortunately, 
we have been doing this for a long period of time. A lot of 
personnel, a lot of units are doing this.
    This one individual was an individual action and not 
indicative of the entire system. But we are looking at 
safeguards that we can put in place that would prevent any 
individual in the future from ever being able to do this.
    Senator Tester. Ultimately, this person didn't do it 
without somebody above him knowing what was going on. Are the 
people that allowed this to happen being held accountable to?
    General Hokanson. Yes, Chairman. They have removed some 
folks temporarily in light of the investigation. Based on the 
results of the investigation, not only active Air Force or if 
it applies to the National Guard, we will take appropriate 
action against those individuals.
    Senator Tester. Okay. A couple of the presenters talked 
about the NGREA account. Just for a point of reference, 
Congress has appropriated $2.9 billion over the last 3 years. 
And by the way, this was a Congressional add to make sure that 
the Guard and Reserves have the equipment they need, modern 
equipment that is ready when you are called upon.
    And I think it is important we plan for how utilize this 
money and so that the taxpayer gets the biggest bang for the 
buck. At the end of March, basically half the money had been 
spent.
    As I said, I think it is important to plan, but I think 
your needs are great--I don't think anybody would dismiss that. 
For all of you, and be as brief as possible, why does it seem, 
at least seem to me that it has taken so long to get this money 
out the door to actually get the equipment you need? Whoever 
wants to start can. It doesn't matter.
    General Hokanson. Chairman, on behalf of the National 
Guard, we program to get about a 99 to 100 percent execution of 
all our NGREA funding. And as you mentioned, it is absolutely 
critical to modernization and also for some of our dual use of 
equipment. Unfortunately, what we have found is some of the 
supply chain issues has delayed the delivery of some of those 
goods, but we are on track to spend all of that money.
    Senator Tester. Anybody else want to comment? Go ahead. 
General Daniels, go ahead.
    General Daniels. So similar to the National Guard, we take 
a very hard look at what equipping lines are open, what 
critical dual use capabilities are prioritized at the top of 
the list.
    Sometimes we cannot get access to that equipment in the 
sequence that we would like to get it, but we do monitor a 
lengthy list of requirements and make sure that we spend those 
funds judiciously across the 3 years that we have the funds 
available to us.
    Senator Tester. Admiral.
    Admiral Mustin. Comment was going to be very similar in 
that with the 3-year look, we phase out the expenditures. There 
is pressure in a CR (Continuing Resolution) environment, 
however, for new starts or new contracts, which has delayed in 
some cases what we had intended to originally buy. So, we will 
probably address that topic at a later moment, but CRs 
certainly have an impact on us.
    Senator Tester. General.
    General Bellon. Yes, sir. For us, the biggest delay this 
year was the fact that we wanted to reroll some of the money 
you had already approved and your staff, some of who are 
sitting here, helped us with that. We are going to be 100 
percent committed this year. And as a good teammate, if there 
is any leftover, we will spend that too.
    Senator Tester. General Healy.
    General Healy. Sir, the same. The CR does impact our 
ability to get a start with it. But once we do get started, the 
money does flow through our proportional multi-year plan of 
implementation. We plan to fully execute.
    Senator Tester. Thank you. I have got about 20 seconds 
left. General Hokanson, you talked about 25 flying missions 
within the Guard. You needed every one of them, I believe, is 
what you said. A-10s are going away and they should go away. 
How many missions does that impact?
    General Hokanson. Mr. Chairman, specific to the A-10s, we 
have three squadrons, and all three would convert to a more 
current aircraft, either F-35, F-15EX, or one of the, what is 
called a post block F-16, our newest ones.
    Senator Tester. Okay. So, there are plans for every A-10 
mission that goes away in the Guard to replace them with 
another fighter mission?
    General Hokanson. Yes, sir. That is the plan that we are 
working with the U.S. Air Force on. And we believe through 
fleet leveling, and by current scheduled aircraft buys or any 
additionals, we could provide the ability to do that.
    Senator Tester. Okay. Senator Collins.
    Senator Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to follow 
up on the important issue you just raised since we have heard 
our witnesses talk about the need to recapitalize the aircraft 
fleet. General Healy, I understand that more than three 
quarters of the 25 Air Guard fighter squadrons operate legacy 
F-15 fighter aircraft.
    That obviously reduces interoperability and compatibility 
with the active-duty units. The disproportionate fielding of 
the aircraft affects other units as well, such as the air 
refueling wing in my home State of Maine.
    My understanding is that the current KC-46A basing plan 
places 71 percent of the new KC-46 with active units, 14 
percent with Reserved units, and 15 percent with Guard units, 
even though the Guard flies almost 38 percent of all Air Force 
tankers.
    So, it seems disproportionate to me if only 15 percent of 
the new aircraft is going to the Guard, if the Guard is flying 
38 percent of all Air Force tankers. Should new aircraft be 
fielded in a manner that is proportional to the Guard's 
operational contributions?
    General Healy. Ma'am, I agree 100 percent that it appears 
disproportionate right now. 77 percent of the Air Force 
Reserves fleet is legacy. And in the words of the Secretary of 
the Air Force, legacy is defined as does not concern the PRC 
(People's Republic of China) in a fight. KC-135s, C-130Hs, pre-
block F-16s, A-10 divestment are all issues and concerns for 
the Air Force Reserve in terms of proportionality.
    The National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force 
in 2014 called for and recommended proportional and concurrent 
fielding of weapon systems with the Guard and Reserve in 
association with the active component, and we are constantly 
advocating adherence to that recommendation.
    As weapon systems are upgraded and recapitalized in the 
active component, if the Guard and Reserve, and specifically my 
concern, the Reserve are not proportionally recapitalized, we 
will ultimately lack the capacity and the capability to 
participate in that near-peer fight if we are still flying in 
37-year-old aircraft, pre-block F-16s.
    Whether it is the F-16s to the F-35, one for one, KC-135 to 
the KC-46, or any of the bombers for the B-21 family systems, 
we are looking to contribute and we want to be that surge 
capacity that we provided for the last 75 years.
    Senator Collins. Thank you very much. General Hokanson, I 
want to follow up on the Chairman's questions to you about the 
Massachusetts Air National Guard member who has been accused of 
leaking classified documents.
    What was most disturbing to me was when I learned through 
some of the court filings that there was an Air Force 
memorandum that indicated that he had been repeatedly warned. 
So, this was not a deviation that came out of the blue.
    But in fact, he had been reprimanded and he had been 
instructed to, ``stop any deep dives into classified 
intelligence information'' and focus on his job. He ``had been 
observed taking notes on classified intelligence materials.''
    These reports are very concerning because it appears that 
this serious breach might have been prevented or stopped much 
sooner if the Airman's Guard unit had taken greater action to 
restrict his access to classified information.
    My question is, what is the standard practice when someone 
has been reprimanded for misuse of classified information and 
then does it again? That to me shouldn't require an IG report. 
That should be on the books now, I think.
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. I found this extremely 
concerning as well. Any time there is a disciplinary action, 
the chain of command should address it immediately.
    I know it is not specifically the IG investigation that is 
looking at it, but also the FBI investigation that is looking 
at that to determine if there was negligence within the 
airman's chain of command at the time he was mobilized under 
Title 10 working for a Combatant Commander.
    And we were looking at very closely the chain of command 
who is responsible for that. And if there was negligence on 
their part, it will be addressed immediately.
    Senator Collins. Thank you.
    Senator Tester. Senator Shaheen.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, 
everyone. Thank you all for being here. As the co-chair of the 
National Guard Caucus, I am especially appreciative of hearing 
your concerns this morning.
    General Hokanson, I want to start with you, and I think you 
may wish to weigh in as well, General Healy, but in your 
opening statement, you talked about the readiness concerns, and 
you mentioned specifically the fighter squadrons.
    But I am--with the 157th Air Refueling Wing in New 
Hampshire at Pease Air Force Base, I am very concerned about 
the status of those KC-46 units, both the fact that we still 
don't have all of them flying the way they were commissioned to 
fly, but also what we have seen at the 157th is that they have 
face cuts to their personnel, placing them about 5 percent 
below the national average.
    While I recognize that you faced constraints, and you all 
talked about that, I am very concerned that we have got these 
aircraft sitting in New Hampshire and I know they are being 
used, but it doesn't feel like they are being used to their 
full extent because of those personnel constraints.
    So, can you talk about how you expect to resolve some of 
those issues? And I understand you are conducting a manning 
study for the KC-46. So, when do you expect the results of that 
study, and do you have any insights into what that is going to 
show?
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. And you bring up a great 
organization. In fact, I believe that refueling unit just set a 
world record for the longest continuous flight of an aerial 
refueling. So, it is a great----
    Senator Shaheen. We are very proud of them.
    General Hokanson. Yes, ma'am. It is a great organization. 
And when we look across the entire Air National Guard, as I am 
sure the Air Force Reserve does as well, if we have any 
positions that are in excess of our authorized end strength, we 
need to account for those.
    Now, the personnel actions were not specific to the 157th, 
but really holistically at all of our Guard units. But because 
you are the first of our KC-46 units, we are evaluating it on 
an annual basis to make sure that we have the right number of 
personnel in the right positions so that we can fully leverage 
the capability of that system.
    And so, this is a temporary measure, ma'am, to keep in 
touch with what we are authorized, but as we review this and 
identify additional capabilities, we will reallocate the 
manpower to fill those shortages.
    Senator Shaheen. But it has been temporary now for several 
years.
    General Hokanson. Yes, ma'am. And that is, as we have 
mentioned before, our end strengths have reduced in some cases, 
and so we have got to look across the entire Air National Guard 
to identify where that personnel savings could come from.
    Senator Shaheen. And so, do you have any insights from the 
staffing study for the KC-46? Do we know what that might 
recommend?
    General Hokanson. I am not aware of that right now, ma'am, 
but I can follow up with our staff on the exact specifics of 
that study.
    Senator Shaheen. General Healy, do you have any additions 
to that?
    General Healy. With the Reserve KC-46 units, we are 
currently in Seymour Johnson in North Carolina, and we have 
seen great results in terms of coming up to speed and 
delivering on schedule.
    I know that the Air Force, the Air Mobility Command, is 
holding the manufacturers to task to ensure that we are 
releasing all the capabilities as fast as they are able and to 
recover the capabilities that weren't initially produced the 
way they should be.
    We are very much looking forward to deliveries to March Air 
Reserve Base on California next, and expect by then, with the 
first aircraft delivery in 2026, we expect to see a fully 
capable KC-46.
    Senator Shaheen. How many years late?
    General Healy [continuing]. yes, ma'am----
    Senator Shaheen. I appreciate that, but I think it is a 
message to Boeing to do better in the future as well. General 
Daniels, you mentioned the importance of childcare in your 
opening statement, and I think that is very critical that we 
think about how important that is.
    We have an interesting cooperative effort between the 
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Air National Guard in New 
Hampshire to do a joint childcare center that they would share. 
But can you speak to why that is so important to the Guard?
    General Daniels. Yes, ma'am. My challenge is that I have 
got 850 Army Reserve centers sprinkled across the United 
States, most of which are not within a 50-mile radius of a 
major installation.
    Therefore, they are out in communities, and historically, 
we have challenges finding weekend care. We just can't find the 
providers that are willing to work on weekends. So, we have 
done a number of different pilot activities over the past year 
and that is still our challenge.
    We found a couple of organizations we think we are going to 
make some inroads with to help us have that weekend 
opportunity.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. I look forward to hearing 
more about what you have learned and seeing how this committee 
can be supportive of that.
    I am out of time, but General Hokanson, I just wanted to go 
to your first priority for how the Guard gets integrated into 
the Space Force, because I think that is a very real concern. I 
have asked General Saltzman about that issue on several 
occasions, and the ambiguous response has not been reassuring.
    So, I hope that we can continue to work with you on how 
that gets done. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Tester. Thank you, Senator Shaheen. From the 
beautiful Sunflower State, Senator Moran.
    Senator Moran. Thank you, Chairman. I have always known you 
to tell the truth, at least on some occasions. Thank you, all 
of you, for being here. Thank you for your service to our 
Nation. I understand and appreciate the crucial role that the 
National Guard and Reserve play, our components play in our 
military.
    Disaster at home, around the world, you are there and a 
great asset to the well-being and National Security of our 
country. General Hokanson, to follow up on Senator Shaheen's 
beginning conversation about the space mission. When General 
Saltzman was in front of this committee, I asked him about the 
creation of a Space National Guard.
    He testified that his best military advice supported the 
most cost-effective alternative that preserves operational 
capabilities. In your best military advice on creation of a 
Space National Guard, how would you answer that request from 
General Saltzman?
    General Hokanson. Senator Moran, thank you for the 
question. And I would argue that the comments that the Chief of 
Space Operations made describe exactly the Air National Guard 
units performing the space mission.
    From my best military advice, when I look at the fact that 
we have been doing this mission for over 28 years, in some 
cases, we are the only ones that ever have done those missions. 
We have got 14 units of about 1,000 people. We are about 30 
percent of the operational squadrons today.
    And to me, my greatest concern is readiness to the force. 
And by simply redesignating those Air Guard units performing 
the space mission to a Space Guard type organization, I could 
do that within the resources that I currently have in my 
budget, and it would simply be from one drill weekend to the 
next, where our Airmen would change their name tape from Air 
Force to Space Force.
    And at no time would it interrupt the capabilities they 
provide to our Nation. The personnel would stay in the same 
place, same civilian jobs, doing the same mission that they are 
doing every single day today. In fact, some of them are 
deployed right now providing that support to our Nation.
    My concern is, if we looked at reestablishing them in 
another component, it could cost our Nation about $1 billion. 
And that is not only to restructure and rebuild this within a 
different component, but then also the need to retrain those 
current Air Guard members that are performing the mission into 
another mission set.
    And overall, when you look at this, it is a, I think, a 
very easy decision.
    Senator Moran. Thank you, sir. I was going to ask you about 
the cost to stand up a National Guard component, and perhaps 
you have answered that, but I would give you the chance to in a 
sentence to make that clear.
    General Hokanson. Yes, sir. So, we look at the cost of 
about $640 million to re-mission what currently exists into a 
future type organization. But the concern that we have is right 
now the Air National Guard space units are the only unit 
equipped surge to war capability.
    Our Air Force Reserve counterparts that are being 
incorporated in the Space Force are primarily individual 
fillers, whereas the National Guard is actually manned, 
trained, and equipped units.
    The concern there, as well as when you look at the 28 years 
of experience that we have, to replicate that or to 
reconstitute it, it may take 7 to 10 years to get those folks 
through schools and trained, and I don't think our Nation can 
afford to see that reduction in readiness over that time 
period.
    Senator Moran. Thank you, sir. General Daniels, would you 
elaborate on the significance of the National Guard Reserve 
equipment account to the U.S. Army's Reserves mission?
    General Daniels. Thank you for that. It is vital to my 
ability to modernize. The Army has focused on lethality and 
modernizing its lethality elements over the last several years 
and looking forward to the 2030, 2040 future battles.
    The Army Reserve is primarily combat support and service 
support, and therefore our modernization efforts have lagged 
behind those of the lethality elements. And so, the NGREA 
account supports about 35 to 40 percent of my ability to 
modernize, in terms of raw dollar value.
    Senator Moran. Thank you. General Hokanson, you and I have 
had a conversation. I appreciate what you told me. I have a 
goal of seeing that the STARBASE Program is expanded in Kansas.
    STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) 
education is hugely important to the National Security and 
economic well-being of our Nation. STARBASE, which I have 
visited on several occasions, is very compelling in its mission 
and having success, but we have parts of the State, 
particularly those that are the most rural, that are 
underserved or unserved, and I appreciate your willingness to 
work with me to see that we change that circumstance.
    And General Bellon, we appreciate your service to the 
Nation. I thank you for your testimony today but thank you for 
the years you have spent in duty to country. And all Kansans, 
and particularly those who share your alma mater, are 
particularly honored by that service.
    Senator Tester. Senator Baldwin.
    Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to all 
of our witnesses this morning. General Hokanson, you have 
listed healthcare for the National Guard force as a command 
priority. Like you, I believe that increasing access to 
healthcare and dental care for our Guard and Reserves service 
members would pay dividends in readiness, especially for short 
notice deployments.
    Last Congress, I introduced the Health Care for Our Troops 
Act, a bill that would provide all National Guard and Reserve 
service members premium free healthcare coverage. Can you 
please describe the impact of this proposal, what sort of 
impact it would have on increasing the readiness of the total 
force?
    General Hokanson. Thank you, Senator. And I think you hit 
it right on the head. The premium free healthcare and dental 
care as well are critically important. And having been through 
multiple deployments, one of the biggest things that we see 
addressing--to address and readiness is medical and dental 
readiness for our personnel to go.
    In fact, I would say that is the largest thing that impacts 
our readiness. And so having that ability so that every 
Guardsmen and reservists that is in uniform, is serving that 
has that ability to get preventative care or care when they 
need that, and the same with dental care, will ensure their 
medical readiness.
    And we look at the investment that we put in our 
individuals in terms of the training and the time that goes 
into it, and not only that, but their investment and their time 
away from their families and employers--to me, this is the best 
way to ensure that when we make that call, they are ready to go 
to answer whatever our Nation needs them to do.
    Senator Baldwin. Thank you. General Hokanson, last month, 
the F-35 aircraft started to arrive at Truax Field in Madison, 
Wisconsin, entrusting the Wisconsin Air National Guard with a 
critical capability for our Nation's defense.
    I have a couple of questions about that basing. The unit 
supports a significant number of jobs. What are the economic 
benefits for the local community that we can anticipate from 
hosting the F-35 fighter wing?
    General Hokanson. So ma'am, first and foremost, just the 
community there that established such a fantastic unit 
obviously came out through the Air Force basing process.
    The benefits there is aerial ranges, there is gunnery 
ranges, there is aerial refueling units nearby, and there is 
airspace, which made that just a great choice. But when you 
look at the community now, you have a State-of-the-art aircraft 
that is going to be there for decades.
    And the number of folks that are employees and are going to 
be there to support that unit are going to make a huge 
difference to the local community. And frankly, having been 
there, just the coordination between the unit and the local 
community makes a huge difference.
    Senator Baldwin. Yes. While I am very grateful that my home 
State is making a significant contribution to National 
Security, I would say that neighbors proximate to the airport 
are concerned about the impact of increased noise in the area 
surrounding the airport.
    I helped secure resources in a previous appropriations bill 
to help us start planning for noise mitigation activities. Can 
you please elaborate on efforts the National Guard is taking to 
help with this planning and to engage the local communities 
that will be impacted by the noise?
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. So, the key there is for us 
to work with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and also 
the unit. And as we get the aircraft, and to identify those 
areas where we can reduce noise, and this may affect the 
approach patterns that they use or the type of approaches into 
the airport, also their departures.
    And also working with the air crews to identify the areas 
where they can reduce noise. And then also make the communities 
aware of grants or resources available to them to help reduce 
the noise locally.
    Senator Baldwin. And are these activities well underway?
    General Hokanson. Yes, ma'am. As we get more aircraft and I 
look forward to being out there September 7th for the welcome 
ceremony. But I think as we go on, they are going to definitely 
want to be good neighbors with the community there because they 
are great supporters of that organization.
    Senator Baldwin. Thank you.
    Senator Tester. Senator Boozman.
    Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you all 
for being here. We appreciate your service. I always enjoy 
getting to visit with you when we talk about military 
construction.
    And we appreciate your service, and as always, we 
appreciate your families. This is certainly a family affair, 
and again, all that you represent. General Daniels, one key 
element of funding for the Reserve component is the funded 
Reimbursable Authority.
    Each year, this committee authorizes this funding authority 
for military intelligence activities in support of Combatant 
Commands and defense agencies. Can you speak to the importance 
of this authority?
    And if you believe funded reimbursable authority should be 
expanded to other high demand skills such as cyber and space 
activities?
    General Daniels. Yes, thank you. The funded reimbursable 
authority allows the Combatant Commands to use their 
operational funds to bring on and pay for reservists. It is 
done in a voluntary manner, and it allows them to have 
additional capacity for those folks who are available and 
willing and capable of using their civilian skill sets and 
their military trained skill sets to support the requirements 
within the Combatant Commands.
    Expanding beyond intelligence to those other key technical 
areas would be of great value to the commands, and it allows 
the individuals to again use those civilian and military 
acquired skills and be very expert and facile in those areas. 
So, expansion would certainly be welcomed.
    Senator Boozman. Thank you very much. Duty status reform is 
an initiative that seeks to streamline and simplify the 
activation and utilization of Reserve component members.
    Efforts to consolidate this burdensome duty status system 
has gone on for almost 3 decades, which I know has been 
frustrating for our servicemembers.
    Can you all just kind of jump in, and if you would, briefly 
discuss how consolidating this system would positively impact 
servicemembers and their families and increase retention? How 
can Congress be more helpful in getting this effort?
    Again, this is something we have talked about forever, but 
with the situation that we are in now with retention and this 
and that, it is more important than ever.
    General Hokanson. Senator, I will start out. When we look 
at the 28 different duty statuses, the ability under duty 
status reform to reduce these to about 8 really simplifies how 
we would mobilize and utilize our Guardsmen and Reservists. But 
the biggest thing that we have a concern is we just want equal 
pay for what we do.
    We want either Guardsmen or Reservists to be treated 
exactly the same as their active-duty counterparts if they are 
doing the same mission at the same location at any time. The 
last thing we want is two Soldiers or Airmen, or Sailors and 
Marines to be standing next door to each other, and one is 
getting a benefit that the other one isn't.
    And so, this goes a long way to resolve that and really 
address some issues that have long gone neglected.
    Senator Boozman. Very good. Anybody else?
    General Daniels. Yes, we would fully endorse being able to 
have that passed into law to help us not only to have, you 
know, equal pay and equal entitlements for those same 
activities, but also to remove the administrative burden of 
knowing which is the right pay status to put someone in and 
simplifying the entire process for everyone that is involved. 
That would be of great value and time savings as well.
    Senator Boozman. Very good. General Bellon, as we all know, 
every service has encountered challenges with meeting their 
recruiting goals. What has the Marine Corps Reserve done to 
meet your specific goals and are there specific examples you 
can provide that will help this committee better understand how 
we can help all the services going forward?
    General Bellon. Well, I think, sir, for this year, I think 
we are the only one that came close to meeting the goal. But 
our requirement is smaller, so let me frame that, and our 
population we are recruiting a slightly different. But I don't 
think we should draw their own conclusions.
    I would say we were successful this year, but as you know, 
sir, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Secretary of the 
Navy, and the Assistant Commandant all have testified that the 
future end strength of the Marine Corps Reserve is going to be 
back at 37,000. We are at 33,000 today.
    That has to happen by the end of the decade. And as I look 
at where we are now, the trends in society, I have questions 
about how we are going to do that. So, one of the things we are 
doing is proactively looking at reestablishing capacity where 
the population is and will be. By that I mean some of our drill 
centers are located where the population was in the 50s, not 
where it is and will be.
    So, there are a number of things we are doing, but a big 
part of it is simply proving to the American people that 
service is honorable and worthwhile. And as you know, the 
trends are not good in that direction, and I don't see that as 
a bad thing. Should we not have to prove to our citizens 
occasionally that the Nation is worth defending? Absolutely.
    Senator Boozman. Right. Very good. Thank you all. Thank 
you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Tester. Senator Hoeven.
    Senator Hoeven. Thanks. Just picking up on that, General, 
how do you do that? How do you convince them that, you know, 
that they should want to step up and serve?
    General Bellon. Well, I had a vignette earlier where I 
worked with your staff. We had a need that emerged, a very fast 
need for literal craft capability.
    At the same time, we were looking at sundowning a couple of 
units that were very healthy in Florida and Texas. And the 
demonstration, by working with this committee, and the staff, 
and Congress in General, to find the right authorities to move 
at the speed of relevance, took two units whose re-enlistment 
rates were going down because they saw no future in service, 
and now they are among the top of all of my formations.
    And all they needed was a demonstration from us that we 
value the service, and we are going to give them the tools and 
equipment they need to be ready when the Nation needs them. So 
that is an example of what we can do.
    But I also think days like this where we have open 
testimony, and we demonstrate an open conversation that we are 
trying to find ways to reestablish some of the faith and 
confidence we might have lost over the previous years.
    Senator Hoeven. I would add a recruiting tool that I think 
is incredibly important and has great utility, not only for the 
services and not only for the individuals while they serve with 
you, but for their future as well, and that is the Federal 
tuition assistance program. And I would like each of you to 
weigh in on that.
    And I want to start with you, General Hokanson, because we 
put together and funded a pilot program through this committee, 
and that Air National Guard Reserve pilot program is incredibly 
important not only to recruit those individuals in, but to keep 
them. And there is a difference between the services, and there 
is a difference between active duty, and Guard, and Reserves.
    And I think we need to beef that thing up right now. It 
won't only help pull people in. It will help keep them in and 
it will make them better, Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, you name 
it for all of you, and I would like to hear from each one of 
you on that.
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. It is a great program. And 
when I visit the 54, when I always talk to our recruiters and I 
ask them, what are those things why people still come in, and 
education is still one of those consistent things.
    And we have been fortunate, and we look across the entire 
National Guard, all of them but Guam, the State helps provide 
tuition assistance so that we have that stability throughout 
the process.
    Unfortunately, we had to balance sometimes with the fiscal 
year and the academic year to fully utilize that funding, but 
any time we have the ability to utilize that not only for 
tuition assistance but also for tuition payback, and then also 
retention bonuses, will make a huge impact.
    Senator Hoeven. Do you agree we should make it a priority 
to get that in place and strengthen it as a tool for 
recruitment and retention?
    General Hokanson. Yes, sir. Education. Any benefits we can 
provide to them is always a benefit when it comes to 
recruiting.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you. And I will come back to General 
Bellon and ask the same of the others.
    General Bellon. Briefly, I want to offer this context. Less 
than 1 percent volunteer. So, who are they? They have a call to 
service already. So, anything we can do to invest in them has 
an amazing return on investment. From a citizen's perspective, 
they are self-motivated. They already have a call to service. 
Why wouldn't we invest in them?
    Senator Hoeven. And particularly if they enlist the Marine 
Corps, right? Not easy duty. General.
    General Daniels. So, the Army Reserve used about $25 
million of tuition assistance in 2022, and then $31 million 
this year.
    And we put in a request for about $33 million next year. It 
is a growing--and its credentialing assistance is another fund 
that we use simultaneously. It is super important for our 
members to become more and more educated along with our--not 
just only our enlisted, but our warrants as well.
    They leverage the credentialing assistance quite a bit. So, 
this is vital for us to keep them on the cutting edge of their 
technical experience for their civilian careers and then to be 
ahead of their peers. So, it is super important.
    Senator Hoeven. Admiral.
    Admiral Mustin. It is a winning program, and we recognize 
the impact both on recruiting, which is obvious in that we can 
offer this incentive. Secondly, we continue to, like Lieutenant 
General Daniels, to invest within the Navy Reserve for selected 
Reserve tuition assistance as a new program, also recognizing 
the benefit that provides to our Sailors.
    The Navy is a very technical force. That education benefits 
the individual, but it is a selfish interest on my part as well 
to ensure that our Sailors are trained and ready to perform 
when we need them.
    Senator Hoeven. Right. I mean, I have been waiting to hear 
some of you lob that in. I mean, you are becoming so 
technologically sophisticated, every one of you, that they need 
that ongoing education to handle all the amazing systems that 
you have, and we are developing.
    Admiral Mustin. Absolutely, Senator. I would say that in 
the past we used to say, hey, we are competing for the same 
resources to recruit against the Marine Corps, or the Air 
Force, or the Army. Now, I tell people we are competing with 
Amazon, Google, Meta, and others. It is a very technical--out 
there.
    Senator Hoeven. Absolutely. General.
    General Healy. You know, the Navy beat me to the punch on 
that one. The Air Force is absolutely a very technical field, 
every one of them----
    Senator Hoeven. Yes, absolutely.
    General Healy [continuing]. And the $4,500 a year that we 
spend, and tuition assistance absolutely directly impacts our 
ability to recruit and retain.
    Senator Hoeven. Tester and I have to get old pickup trucks 
because the technologies on the new one, we can't figure out, 
so.
    Senator Tester. 100 percent correct.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Senator Tester. Senator Murkowski.
    Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you 
all. Thank you for your service. Thank you, certainly on behalf 
of the State of Alaska. We certainly appreciate our Reserve and 
our National Guard servicemembers and civilians. They provide 
extraordinary support to us in the State and certainly to the 
country.
    We have got continued success that we see with innovation, 
readiness, training, IRT (Innovative Readiness Training), 
certainly when it comes to homeland defense, missile defense, 
absent key air refueling, combat search and rescue, strategic 
airlift, there is just so much.
    And so, we are very grateful. I am very, very proud of the 
Guard and Reserve men and women who serve us and provide such 
benefit. I also am thankful for the cost savings that you bring 
to all of the effort here, so.
    General Hokanson, we had an opportunity yesterday to visit 
about some of the more specific concerns that you and I had 
shared, but we have discussed previously the issue of the Space 
Force and the mission there of the Air Guards, 213th Space 
Warning Squadron at Clear Air Force Base.
    They have been doing extraordinary work there with the 
ground-based radar missile warning mission since 2006 now. We 
are seeing Space Force becoming more mature. That is good. But 
I have been concerned that there hasn't really been a clearly 
articulated or perhaps an adequate plan to ensure that these 
Airmen and their mission are cared for in a way that works 
going forward with the Space Force. I fear that they may miss 
out on opportunities, or education, or equipment.
    I understand that prior to my arrival at committee here, 
you did address a question regarding Space Force to Senator 
Moran. I appreciate that. I don't know if you want to add 
anything further to that in terms of your opinion on the 
establishment of the Space National Guard to really ensure that 
these Guardians are equipped and trained for the mission set 
that they clearly are in the front on.
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. And as clear as you 
mentioned, this goes back to once again the years and years of 
experience that our Airmen have doing this mission set and just 
the incredible capability they provide our Nation each and 
every day. And as you mentioned, we are the only unit equipped, 
surged go to war capability that exist within the Reserve 
component for the space mission.
    And so having a clear pathway for them will not only help 
with our current recruiting, but it will also ensure that all 
of those years of experience, all the work that they have done, 
and frankly, the ability of our Guardsmen to bring--over half 
of them have backgrounds in technical or high tech or aerospace 
industries.
    They bring that knowledge base to work with them when they 
come to drill. And, you know, we rely on them to deploy around 
the globe and continue to do their mission. So, anything and 
everything we can do to retain them.
    And as I mentioned earlier, my best military advice to 
reduce any impact at all to readiness or the ability to field 
these unit would be to transfer the current Air National Guard 
units doing the space mission into a National Guard component 
for the Space Force so they can continue everything they are 
doing today, tomorrow.
    Senator Murkowski. Thank you for just clarifying that and 
putting that on the record. I appreciate it. I would like to 
direct a question to you, General Healy. I think, fair to say 
that we are both pretty proud of the 477th Fighter Group, U.S. 
Air Force's oldest, most experienced F-22 unit in the 
inventory.
    I think they have produced some pretty qualified fighter 
pilots. You had mentioned in your testimony the term concurrent 
and proportional fielding that allows the Air Force Reserve to 
incorporate new aircraft at the same rate and proportion as 
their active-duty components.
    How will the current--excuse me, concurrent and 
proportional fielding affect units like the 477th, especially 
as we are looking to the new airframes coming on such as the 
next generation air dominance and the E-7s?
    General Healy. Thanks very much for the question, ma'am. 
And I don't know who wants to brag more on the 477th. I have 
had the great opportunity to go twice this year up to Anchorage 
to visit them.
    Simply put, twice the F-22 fighter experience than their 
active-duty counterparts, three times the fighter time 
experience in their active-duty fighter time--or active-duty 
counterparts, makes them the most experienced F-22 unit in the 
entire Air Force, and they are exactly where they need to be, 
at the forefront of the defense of the country.
    They are the tip of that tip of the spear that Alaska 
provides. I think as we look towards the future and possible 
recapitalization from F-22s and to the possibility of next 
generation air dominance, I think that air superiority 
experience and 5th gen aircraft will translate perfectly and 
would be the template to go by, if we were to look at the 
current proportional servicing of and progression to the NGAD 
(Next-Generation Air Dominance) family of systems.
    Likewise, with the E7, the experience, both with the Guard 
in Alaska and the Reserves in the continuous States, allows us 
to provide that same degree of expertise and experience moving 
forward.
    Senator Murkowski. Yes, thank you. Mr. Chairman, I have got 
a couple more questions, but I will submit this for the record.
    Senator Tester. Perfect. Senator Durbin.
    Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I chair the Senate 
Judiciary committee, and I just happened to adjourn in time for 
me to make this hearing, and I am glad to be here. I would like 
to say to all the witnesses, the GAO (Government Accountability 
Office) noted last year that the Pentagon is facing the most 
challenging recruitment environment in 50 years.
    The Army, for example, has especially struggled to meet 
recruitment goals. The service missed its end strength number 
by 15,000 or 25 percent in fiscal year 2022. I am glad to see 
this budget request increases competitive compensation and 
funding for recruitment marketing programs, as well as 
improving quality of life for current servicemembers.
    So, I would like to ask you if you would tell me what the 
impact has been on the Guard and Reserve with this recruiting 
challenge?
    General Hokanson. Senator, I will start with the National 
Guard. So, when you look at where we are today, our recruiters, 
particularly in the Army side, have really been able to adjust 
to the current environment and we have seen a steady increase 
in our recruiting abilities. In fact, we have been over 100 
percent the last 3 months.
    And right now, the Army National Guard is on path to meet 
our end strength by the end of the fiscal year. In terms of the 
Air National Guard, we are a little bit challenging 
environment. We look at to be at about 97 percent of our 
authorized end strength by the end of the year. But we have 
seen very positive increases, especially over last year.
    Now, I am not declaring victory, but I am saying right now 
all the trends are very positive and we hope to continue those 
into the new year, and make sure we maintain our Army National 
Guard authorized end strength and reach our Air National Guard 
authorized end strength.
    Senator Durbin. Tell me what the elements are that you 
think are most persuasive for those who are enlisting.
    General Hokanson. Senator, thank you for the question. When 
I go across the 54, I visit with recruiters everywhere I go. 
Educational benefits are one of the first things they bring up. 
The other one is benefits such as healthcare. What they are 
finding in the current environment to be competitive is many 
companies are now offering benefits that they didn't before. 
Medical, educational benefits.
    And so, the competition out there for the same individuals 
is getting much stronger. And then also internally, we are 
working with our own systems, and that is reducing the time it 
does to get--personnel to get waivers. And also addressing 
policies that are preventing some folks from serving.
    Senator Durbin. Any other members of the panel have a 
comment?
    General Bellon. Yes, Senator, I think it is important to 
realize the math component here. The population that we are all 
trying to recruit right now is significantly smaller among Gen 
Z than the millennials, so that is a fact we have to deal with. 
But also, the propensity to serve has diminished.
    And that is all about us earning the confidence of the 
American people back that service is worthwhile. There is a 
pretty holistic problem but there is a math component as well. 
Thank you.
    Senator Durbin. I would like to just make a comment. I am 
about to say something that is a secret. It is not classified, 
but I am going to share it with you. We have 780,000 DACA 
(Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) recipients, people who 
are protected under DACA, many of whom want to serve this 
country, where they grew up.
    There is an obstacle, Congress. We have not given them a 
pathway to citizenship. This should be a pathway. You ought to 
open up your opportunities, we should across the board in the 
military, to Dreamers and to DACA recipients who really want to 
serve this country and I think are genuine about it.
    For some reason, there has been a resistance. Perhaps it 
was the luxury of a lot of recruits, and we didn't need others. 
But I would just tell you, I have met them. I know them. They 
would make great sacrifices for just to have this opportunity 
to wear the uniforms you are wearing today.
    And I hope that when you are in the highest levels of the 
Pentagon, that you discuss this candidly. Your predecessors 
have not always been cooperative when I have raised this issue. 
There is a resistance because these folks are, 
``undocumented.''
    They may not have been born here, but they love this 
country as much as any of us who pledge allegiance to that 
flag, so I hope you will consider that. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Senator Tester. Senator Capito.
    Senator Capito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank all of 
you, and I add my voice of thanks and gratitude to all of you 
for your service, and to your families as well.
    I wanted to ask General Hokanson, West Virginia is the home 
to some of the National Guard Special Forces capabilities, 
including the Special Operations Detachment Europe and the 
Second Battalion 19th Special Forces Group.
    Can you speak to the importance of the Guard's Special 
Forces capabilities and what they contribute to the Joint 
Force?
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. It is an incredible 
capability. When you look at the two Special Forces groups that 
are not in the active component, they are both in the Army 
National Guard. And if you go back really to the early days of 
9/11, it was Guard Special Forces folks that were there, and 
they have served admirably around the globe ever since that 
time.
    For us, it is something we have worked very closely with 
Special Operations Command to make sure that we make the 
ability for those leaving active duty to come into the National 
Guard and then also to recruit those directly out of the 
National Guard into our formations.
    It is a critical skill set that we utilize each and every 
day, and our Combatant Commanders can never get enough of them. 
So, we are doing everything we can to recruit and retain and 
provide those bonuses and incentives to keep them in our 
formations.
    Senator Capito. So, you have a transition pipeline from 
active to--for the Special Forces talents? Is that what you are 
saying?
    General Hokanson. Absolutely, ma'am.
    Senator Capito. Yes, good. Good. I would note that in the 
early days of 9/11, when the Special Forces deployed, we lost a 
good West Virginian at the very beginning of that, and he was a 
Special Forces National Guard.
    This is kind of a technical question, and I am going to ask 
it, but I am not sure exactly what I am asking in terms of the 
technical parts of it. Accurate positioning, navigation, and 
timing, and GPS (Global Positioning System) services are 
essential to U.S. critical infrastructure and for military 
operations.
    So, our State is one of the States of West Virginia to 
participate as a test site for the National Guard's National 
Integration of Time Resiliency for Operations, or called NITRO. 
Could you tell me a little bit about NITRO and where you see 
that is going, and how important that is?
    General Hokanson. Yes, ma'am. It is a very important 
capability because it provides alternate resilient timing for 
GPS, and many of our systems operate on that. Currently, we 
have six States that have fielded it, and we are working very 
closely to support the States because this provides that 
capability to the States and local first responders in the case 
there is a loss of the GPS terrestrial signal.
    Senator Capito. Does this capability go through all 
different forces? I mean, would this be something that every 
Guard and Reserve would have a great deal of interest in?
    General Hokanson. We are not sure of the exact fielding 
plan, ma'am. It is based on the funding that is provided. But 
we do have it in 6 States right now, and 21 others have 
expressed an interest. So, we are looking at the long-term 
viability of this, or if there are other alternate capabilities 
that provide the same.
    Senator Capito. Right. Does anybody else want to speak to 
that? Let me ask a question on cybersecurity. I am assuming 
that all of you have certain cybersecurity components. Is it 
growing? How important is it to you? And is there a 
coordinating aspect to this across the forces? So, I am going 
to start over here with General Bellon.
    General Bellon. I think, you know, acknowledging we are in 
the information age, it is only going to get more important. It 
is vital to everything we do.
    And I think for all of us, we are looking for a more 
streamlined way for us to get our Marines, Soldiers, Sailors 
and Airmen who have civilian expertise and qualifications, but 
may not have the military occupational specialty, to find a way 
to expedite their access to our systems.
    That doesn't exist right now. It is a very Byzantine, very 
ham-handed approach that we have now. We need to do better than 
that.
    Senator Capito. Yes. General.
    General Daniels. So, the Army Reserve is looking to expand 
the amount of our force that is cyber warriors. We are growing 
out a cyber-protection brigade, adding an additional 
capability.
    And I meet once a quarter with the Army cyber lead, along 
with the Army National Guard director, and we coordinate 
activities to make sure that we are not hitting the, you know, 
training pipeline too heavy, too fast. We are trying to make 
sure that we are all in sync as we go forward, looking to 2030.
    Senator Capito. Okay. I am going to go to the Admiral next. 
I am going to skip----
    Admiral Mustin. So, cyber is a growth area for the Navy 
Reserve.
    So, we currently have about 8,000 Sailors within our 
information warfare community, and we continue to work very 
closely with CYBERCOM, as well as our fleet cyber, which is 
10th Fleet, to ensure the creation of our cyber protection 
teams and offensive cyber capability continues to mature.
    Where I see this happening most effectively is also related 
to our recruiting initiatives----
    Senator Capito. Right. Absolutely.
    Admiral Mustin [continuing]. Because we have got some 
fantastic civilians that can walk in the door immediately and 
we can do direct commission. We have recently created a new 
cyber designator, which is a pretty significant step from a 
community management perspective.
    Senator Capito. Or out the door. I mean, once they have 
served and maybe they have decided where they want to 
transition, and they have got such an incredible skill set 
here. I mean, to me, that is a big selling point. And finally, 
yes----
    General Healy. Yes, ma'am. Absolutely a growth industry 
within the Air Force Reserve, currently getting into mission 
assurance, increasing in defensive and offensive cyber 
operations, and absolutely looking forward towards leveraging 
our civilian experience and taking that to benefit the Reserve 
as well.
    Senator Capito. Right, right. So, General Hokanson, do you 
want to wrap it up on cyber?
    General Hokanson. Yes, Senator. Obviously we have 4,000 
cyber professionals in the Guard. We are part of the Cyber 
National Mission Force and fully integrated into CYBERCOM.
    The one thing I would highlight though is we have State 
partnerships with 100 nations. One of their greatest requests 
is to help them with the cyber defense and network defense in 
their country.
    And we are finding when we look at misinformation 
campaigns, that this is absolutely critical to helping our 
partners and allies, and that is something we leverage at every 
opportunity.
    Senator Capito. Thank you all very much.
    Senator Tester. We appreciate your testimony here today. We 
appreciate your work and making sure that our national defense 
is up to where it needs to be. General Bellon, we wish you all 
the best in the next phase of your life.

                     ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

    Senators may submit additional questions. We would ask that 
if additional questions come in, that you answer them as 
quickly as you possibly can. The defense subcommittee will 
reconvene on Tuesday, June 20 at 3:30 p.m. for a classified 
hearing with the intelligence community.
    [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but 
were submitted to the Department for response subsequent to the 
hearing:]
           Questions Submitted to General Daniel R. Hokanson
               Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Tester
    Question. The National Guard and Reserve is a part-time force, but 
also relies heavily on Active Guard and Reserve.
    We understand that when Guard and Reserve personnel learn that a 
continuing resolution is on its way--especially longer-term, they stick 
with their civilian jobs.
    What impact does a continuing resolution have on your overall 
force?
    Answer. The impacts of a continuing resolution vary depending on 
its length. The longer the continuing resolution lasts, the likelihood 
increases that the National Guard will not be able to meet readiness 
requirements to support the Joint Force or support the nation's 
Governors when they need us most.
    Specific impacts from a short-term continuing resolution (1-3 
months) include: potential curtailment of non-statutory training such 
as additional training days (i.e. flight training), resulting in 
degraded readiness across the formation; degraded ability to maintain/
manage real property inventory and unit stationing actions; and the 
increased likelihood of missing critical training gates at prescribed 
times during the training year cycle resulting in the inability to meet 
readiness milestones.
    Continuing resolutions lasting beyond 4 months significantly 
increase risks for the National Guard. Impacts include: continued 
pressure on soldiers and civilians from the impacts of inflation by not 
receiving a pay raise; decreased ground OPTEMPO and flying hours 
resulting in lower readiness proficiency; curtailment of readiness-
enhancing training exercises; reductions in depot repair of airframes, 
tactical wheeled vehicles, and weapon systems; inability to address 
Base Operations Support (BOS) shortfalls (e.g., fire and emergency 
services; range services), impacting operational readiness and Soldier/
Family well-being; increased potential for the need to furlough State 
employees; delays in modernization of inadequately structured 
facilities/infrastructure and delays deficit reduction of critical 
facility types (readiness centers, maintenance facilities, and 
barracks); and inability to afford filling critical vacancies and limit 
bonuses/incentives which will degrade the ability to meet accessions 
goals and end strength.
    Question. How does a continuing resolution impact participation 
rates in drills, training, and schools?
    Answer. Continuing resolutions definitively impact the 
participation, attendance, and execution of schools. The uncertainty of 
funding degrades the capability to maintain fulltime staff and 
instructors to execute training, causes registered students to adjust 
commitments for attending, and has a risk to student lodging payments 
for courses longer than 140 days. Without the proper appropriation, 
there is a high probability for schools to cancel.
    Question. The National Guard is now in year six of the Southwest 
border mission supporting Customs and Border Protection.
    Today, there are approximately 2,500 Army Guard personnel at our 
Southwest border, with another 1,500 Active Duty troops headed down 
there following the Biden administration's decision to end Title 42.
    This mission has never been budgeted for by DoD or the National 
Guard. However, we have now spent more than $1.65 billion for the 
southwest border mission.
    General Hokanson, if the current surge of 1,500 Active Duty troops 
is prolonged, I understand National Guard personnel may be deployed. 
What can you tell the Committee about the likelihood and feasibility of 
such an expanded Guard footprint there?
    Answer. I acknowledge the difficult task the Department of Homeland 
Security is faced with in securing the Southwest Border. However, 
continued National Guard support has created an enduring, readiness-
degrading law enforcement support mission. In addition, the mission's 
costly personnel tempo is having a negative impact on our service 
members, their families, employers, and impacting retention of 
servicemembers. The primary mission of the National Guard is to fight 
and win our Nation's wars as the combat reserve of the Army and Air 
Force. In today's environment, combat readiness is paramount for all 
National Guard formations. Anything that negatively impacts readiness, 
that can be accomplished by other responsible agencies or can be 
contracted, should be eliminated. Lastly, development of a strategic 
plan to offramp military support may quicken development of more cost-
effective or contractual solutions to those currently being performed 
by the National Guard. I continue to recommend that the border mission 
can be accomplished by other agencies.
    Question. General Hokanson, how is this mission impacting the 
readiness of Guard personnel?
    Answer. During operational employment for the Southwest Border 
(SWB) mission, National Guard unit readiness is consumed rather than 
built. Unit preparation, deployment, and redeployment, may overlap with 
training and modernization year activities, further negatively 
impacting a unit's ability to build combat readiness and modernize on 
schedule. SWB units are mobilized for 400 days, resulting in nearly 13 
months with no wartime mission training. Additionally, the National 
Guard has received so many requests for support from National Guard UH-
72 helicopters that the SWB is depleting the serviceable life of the 
aircraft 2.5 times faster than programmed, significantly impacting Army 
aviation readiness and modernization.
    Question. In the past 2 years, Congress has provided funds for 
thirty-two new C-130J aircraft specifically for the Air National Guard.
    Upgrading our airlift fleet is a top priority of mine. The Air 
National Guard--including the 120th Airlift Wing based in Great Falls--
is in real need of capable airlift so that you can perform the critical 
missions assigned to you.
    I understand that the basing decision for these aircraft is still 
underway, with a decision slated for later this year.
    General Hokanson: What can you tell me about your priorities for 
the strategic basing process for these aircraft from the Guard's 
perspective? How are you coordinating with the Active Duty Air Force to 
ensure your equities are addressed?
    Answer. The Air National Guard is utilizing the Air Force Strategic 
Basing Process for the C-130J basing decision. The Secretary of the Air 
Force has delegated the C-130J basing decision to the Director, Air 
National Guard and the process will provide a standardized, repeatable, 
transparent, and deliberate decision.
                                 ______
                                 
              Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
Emergency Management Assistance
    Question. How would the National Guard provide technical assistance 
to guard units that are activated via Emergency Management Assistance 
Compact (EMAC) in expediting resources to states that have requested 
assistance but are geographically isolated, such as Hawaii?
    Answer. The National Guard uses five means to mitigate the risks 
associated with disaster assistance to geographically isolated States. 
First, the National Guard regularly embeds Liaison Officers (LNOs) at 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Response 
Coordination Center during declared emergencies. These LNOs inform FEMA 
of National Guard capabilities and forces available to support disaster 
response in geographically isolated States. Second, the National Guard 
may embed trained emergency management personnel with EMAC Advanced 
Teams (A-Teams) assigned to FEMA's Regional Response Coordination 
Center in impacted regions. Guardsmen and women assigned to A-Teams 
ensure National Guard support synchronizes with the Federal response. 
Third, the National Guard uses the Threat and Hazard Identification and 
Risk Assessment (THIRA) to assess risks, develop mitigation strategies, 
and develop needed capabilities for potential employment during 
disaster response. THIRA is especially valuable in synchronizing the 
National Guard's responses and resources with FEMA to ensure states 
such as Hawaii enhance their resilience in disaster response. Fourth, 
NGB dispatches Joint Liaison Teams (JLT) to impacted states prior to or 
at the start of an emergency. These teams assist the Joint Force 
Headquarters with coordinating response options between the state and 
the National Guard Bureau. Fifth, isolated states may authorize their 
Guardsmen and women already in a state active duty status to support 
immediate responses to domestic emergencies until such time as either 
the impacts of a disaster subside or resources from National Guard 
units external to the impacted state arrive. The National Guard Bureau 
ensures states and territories adhere to relevant statutes and policy 
for the use of immediate response authority.
    Question. What coordination is there between the National Guard 
Bureau (NGB) and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) 
when considering which guard units would assist another state that has 
requested assistance? How does NGB account for geographic isolation as 
factor when coordinating logistics?
    Answer. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) conducts annual workshops 
to coordinate with the 54 States and territories, FEMA, United States 
Indo-Pacific Command, and United States Northern Command to supporting 
relationships during emergencies through the construct of an Emergency 
Management Compact (EMAC). The National Emergency Management 
Association (NEMA), through the National Coordination Group (NCG), 
facilitates requests to deploy an EMAC Coordination Team. These teams 
synchronize EMAC activities with Federal personnel whenever requested 
by FEMA Headquarters during an incident.
    Responding to disasters in geographic isolated locations requires a 
whole of government logistics response. Upon the Federal Declaration of 
an Emergency or Federal Disaster Declaration associated with a domestic 
response requiring military support, a Mission Assignment (MA) is 
generated by the FEMA field office. The Defense Coordinating Officer in 
this office coordinates with the state or states Emergency Managers and 
the National Guard liaison and decides which forces are best suited to 
fulfill the request beyond the scope of EMACs already in place and 
executed. All requests for support, including logistics outlined in the 
MA are prioritized in coordination with FEMA, the state, NGB, and other 
agencies against available transportation assets to move personnel and 
supplies into the impacted region. These efforts require constant 
coordination between agencies to ensure allocated transportation space 
is maximized and support is provided at the point of need.
Training and Partnerships
    Question. How does the National Guard Bureau support unofficial 
partnerships between National Guard units and Taiwan's military to 
improve Taiwan's defensive and deterrence abilities?
    Answer. The Taiwan Relations Act requires the U.S to make available 
defense articles and defense services as necessary to enable Taiwan to 
maintain a sufficient self-defense capacity as determined by the 
President and Congress. The National Guard has several elements working 
with personnel in Taiwan to increase proficiency in several areas. I 
would be happy to follow up with you in person to discuss further.
    Question. How is the National Guard Bureau tailoring more State 
Partnership Program programming towards partnerships with nations in 
the Indo-Pacific?
    Answer. The National Guard Bureau works very closely with the 
Geographic Combatant Commands (GCC) including U.S. Indo-Pacific Command 
to prioritize programming. Because the State Partnership Program 
supports GCC Theater Campaign Plans, the prioritization of programming 
is a function of many variables to include availability of Guardsmen 
and women to participate in the event, partner nation availability, 
and--crucially--the timing of availability of funds relative to the NGB 
and the partner nation.
    Question. Which State Partnership Programs yield the best 
cooperation between National Guard units and foreign militaries? Are 
these high-yield partnerships primarily focused on niches the guard 
excels at like cybersecurity and disaster response?
    Answer. The State Partnership Program currently has 88 partnerships 
with 100 countries ranging in age from 30 years old to new ones just 
formed this year. Most of our partnerships thrive and encompass whole 
of government and whole of society. Consistently, the following 
partnerships stand out and yield the best access, influence, and 
friendships. Lithuania/PA, Senegal/VT, Jordan/CO, Uzbekistan/MS, 
Kazakhstan/AZ, Brazil/NY, Malaysia/WA, Morocco/UT, Latvia/MI, Poland/
IL. These partnerships all share the same attributes: highly-engaged 
state-level staffs, strong partner nation commitment and involvement, 
exceptional Combatant Command Security Cooperation staff with clear 
integration into their Theater Campaign Plan (TCP), and a strong 
motivation to engage with the United States in a mutual effort to gain 
increased security for our citizens.
    High-yield partnerships are not focused on any particular niche. 
All partnerships are based on the partner nation's desires, identified 
capability gaps, and the priorities of the Combatant Commander.
National Guard Pay and Benefits Reforms
    Question. Does the National Guard Bureau support states passing 
plans to reimburse health insurance fees for guardsmen?
    Answer. Yes, the National Guard Bureau supports any plan that 
improves Guardsmen's ability to receive health insurance and increase 
access to healthcare when not in a duty status. Proactively managing 
health through regular visits provides Guardsmen and women an 
opportunity to stay ahead of medical issues.
    Question. Have states that previously implemented health insurance 
fee reimbursement seen increases to recruiting?
    Answer. To the best of our knowledge, Maryland is the only state to 
enact health insurance reimbursement into law. The Health Care for 
Heroes Act of 2023 was passed on May 12th, 2023 and will not go into 
effect until July 1st, 2023. We look forward to working with the 
Maryland National Guard to determine if it has a positive impact on 
recruiting.
    Question. How will the National Guard focus future training 
opportunities on in-demand workforce skills, like cybersecurity and 
medical training, to support, recruitment, retention, and work-transfer 
opportunities for guardsmen?
    Answer. The National Guard offers many in-demand specialty jobs 
that can be leveraged to pursue a civilian career, which enhances 
recruiting and retention within the National Guard. We are implementing 
direct commissioning and constructive credit to not only allow us to 
meet emerging mission needs, but to reward and incentivize the civilian 
skills many of our recruits have gained.
National Guard Cyber Capabilities
    Question. How is the National Guard using its robust cyber 
capabilities to partner with state, city, and local government to help 
protect systems and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks?
    Answer. National Guard cyber forces routinely leverage full scale 
cyber training exercises (i.e., Cyber Shield, Cyber Yankee, etc.) along 
with tabletop exercises, innovative readiness training, direct 
engagements, and technical assistance engagements (when requested) to 
partner with state, city and local governments to build the appropriate 
relationships needed to help protect systems and critical 
infrastructure.
    As a specific example, over the last 10 months the National Guard 
participated in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) 
regionally aligned Homeland Defense & Critical Infrastructure tabletop 
exercises to improve the collaboration required to protect and defend 
critical infrastructure. The intent is to bring together state and 
Federal partners to: gain a shared understanding of the operational 
environment and understand threats and vulnerabilities to critical 
infrastructure (including force projection platforms and transportation 
nodes); consider potential Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) 
triggering events during a homeland defense operation; and reveal 
resource/capability gaps as applied to defense of the homeland.
    Question. What cyber capabilities does the National Guard need to 
further invest in to keep pace with growing cyber threats and what 
support does the guard need to enable this skillset?
    Answer. National Guard cyber forces need to be equipped with 
standard cyber tools and training common to all Federalized mission 
forces to operate effectively within the homeland cyber domain (i.e. 
operational technology, incident response).
    Question. How is the National Guard designing its cyber 
capabilities to assist CISA in protecting election infrastructure from 
foreign attacks?
    Answer. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) works with the Army and Air 
Force to design the required force structure to meet wartime 
requirements and to ensure the National Guard is structured to perform 
cyber operations as required. Like other types of force structure 
within the National Guard, the wartime capabilities of the cyber units 
allow our professionals to assist CISA and the states to protect the 
election infrastructure from foreign attacks.
                                 ______
                                 
             Questions Submitted by Senator Jeanne Shaheen
    Question. General Hokanson, can you provide an update on the 
importance of corrosion prevention and control for National Guard 
assets. Specifically, on the C-130 aircraft?
    Answer. Aircraft corrosion prevention and control, to include C-130 
aircraft, is critical. Corrosion contributes to increased need for both 
field-level and depot-level maintenance. Every ANG Wing adheres to 
strict standards of corrosion prevention and control through a 
Corrosion Prevention and Control Program detailed in Air Force 
Instruction and in Technical Orders.
    Question. How many C-130 aircrafts does the National Guard 
currently have in inventory?
    Answer. The Air National Guard has 127 C-130 aircraft in inventory, 
87 C-130Hs and 40 C-130Js.
    Question. I understand that the Air Force is undergoing an air 
worthiness assessment on a new blanket liner technology, the Improved 
Thermal Acoustic Blanket (ITAB), for the C-130 that has the potential 
to significantly reduce corrosion to the airframe. Could you also 
provide an update on what the National Guard is doing on this effort 
specifically, as well as the importance of corrosion control for the C-
130 in general?
    Answer. Corrosion control is extremely important for the C-130 
aircraft. The National Guard Bureau supports any and all efforts to 
better control corrosion on airframes. It is our understanding that the 
Air Mobility Command has the lead for testing a variety of acoustic 
blankets, and we are looking forward to their test results.
                                 ______
                                 
             Questions Submitted by Senator Lisa Murkowski
    Question. The Alaska Air National Guard's 168th Wing at Eielson AFB 
is the only Arctic region capable air refueling unit in the United 
States. Due to the extreme environment at Eielson AFB, the addition of 
four KC-135 aircraft without the addition of hangar space will put DoD 
objectives at risk. The current fleet of nine KC-135 aircraft at 
Eielson often see mission capable (MC) rates below 60 percent during 
the coldest months. These MC rates are largely driven by extremely 
limited hangar availability and based on historical data, scheduled and 
fuel maintenance alone will utilize the two current hangars at 85%. If 
additional hangars are not constructed, an MC rate above 50% will be 
difficult to achieve in the winter months. (ANG OPR)
    Do you support additional hangar space at Eielson AFB to facilitate 
the additional maintenance requirements while simultaneously providing 
secure alert parking?
    Answer. Yes, The National Guard Bureau has assessed current and 
future tanker aircraft hangar needs at Eielson AFB, AK. Through a 
Business Case Analysis conducted in 2022, we have validated a 
requirement for an additional covered aircraft maintenance spot. This 
would provide two covered aircraft maintenance positions as well as a 
covered fuel cell maintenance position for 3 total covered aircraft 
spots. A project to construct the additional maintenance space is in 
early scope development.
                                 ______
                                 
               Questions Submitted by Senator John Hoeven
    Question. Last year's omnibus included $350 million to bring 12 
Gray Eagles to the Army National Guard, and we expect to procure 
additional Gray Eagles for additional Army National Guard Divisions. We 
need to ensure that the National Guard has capabilities equivalent to 
its active duty counterparts.
    How important will this new capability be to the National Guard?
    Answer. It is always vitally important that the Army National Guard 
(ARNG) has the same force structure, training, and equipment as the 
Active Army to ensure interoperability with the Joint Force.
    Question. When do you expect the 12 Gray Eagles procured last year 
to be fielded in the National Guard?
    Answer. The ARNG expects to field Gray Eagle in the middle of 
calendar year 2027.
    Question. When would you expect the Army National Guard to have 
personnel trained to operate and maintain those 12 aircraft?
    Answer. The training seat allocations for Soldiers to be trained to 
operate and maintain the 12 Gray Eagle aircraft will be available after 
the unit's force structure, which allocates personnel authorizations 
and equipment fielding, is finalized. The Army National Guard currently 
expects to field the aircraft in mid-2027, and begin training in 2026 
or early 2027.
    Question. In the fiscal year 2022 defense appropriations bill, 
$15.5 million was included for the Dickinson Readiness Center. This 
project was fully authorized and appropriated for, but due to inflation 
and the rising costs of construction and materials, the project now 
carries a cost-to-complete of over $5 million. This problem isn't 
specific to North Dakota, but is affecting National Guard projects all 
over the country.
    How important of a role do readiness centers play in helping the 
National Guard carry out its missions and objectives?
    Answer. Readiness Centers are vitally important to the National 
Guard because they serve as the ``Home Base'' for all National Guard 
Soldiers. The Readiness Centers serves as the primary Command Center 
for Mobilization, Disaster/Emergency and Contingencies, and support the 
unit home station. Readiness Centers are crucial to training and 
readiness preparation, supporting Individual and Collective Training, 
Supply distribution, Family Support, Community support, Recruiting and 
Retention.
    Question. The 817th Engineer Company is operating and training out 
of a substandard facility in Jamestown, North Dakota. The North Dakota 
Army National Guard has prioritized and has expected the Jamestown 
Readiness Center to be listed on the future years defense program 
(FYDP) since 2021. The unit is currently preparing to deploy to the 
U.S. southern border and my concern is that without a new readiness 
center, the unit's ability to meet readiness, recruiting and retention, 
and training objectives will be adversely affected.
    Can you take a close look at the need for the Jamestown Readiness 
Center and work to have it listed on next year's FYDP?
    Answer. The Army National Guard uses a transparent scoring process 
called the Installations Requirement Plan to score all 54 States' and 
Territories' priorities in order to maximize total ARNG readiness. The 
North Dakota Army National Guard (NDARNG) has submitted the Jamestown 
Readiness Center project for consideration to be included in the FY30 
program year. The National Guard Bureau will continue to work with the 
NDARNG to ensure their requirements are being fairly considered.
    Question. We need to do more to ensure Guardsmen and their families 
have timely access to mental healthcare services. Due to accreditation 
and licensing obstacles, only a limited number of civilian mental 
healthcare providers are eligible to participate in the TRICARE 
network. As a result, many of these providers do not have availability 
due to high workloads, leaving Guardsmen and their families waiting 
weeks, if not months, to access the mental healthcare they need and 
have earned.
    How are you working to address this problem?
    Answer. The National Guard has hired Psychological Health 
Specialists in every State and Wing to provide Soldiers and Airmen 
access to mental health assessments, psychological education, solution-
focused mental health interventions, and referrals to community-based 
resources. Additionally, the National Guard Bureau (NGB) has developed 
partnerships with several national organizations focused on improving 
access to mental healthcare allowing members to access additional 
treatment options within their local communities (e.g., psychological 
evaluations, evidenced based therapy, crisis counseling, etc.). We have 
established and implemented a program to provide community-level 
civilian providers with no-cost training on military culture, treatment 
protocols, and other relevant topics to enhance care and incentivize 
providers to join the TRICARE network. NGB continually evaluates the 
effectiveness and feasibility of expanding best practices of State 
initiatives nationally.
    Question. Have you identified any solutions to increase the number 
of mental health providers participating in the TRICARE network to 
increase timely access to these important services?
    Answer. The TRICARE benefit is managed by the Defense Health Agency 
(DHA). The National Guard Bureau (NGB) is working closely with DHA 
leadership to address access issues for Guardsmen and women with 
TRICARE. More than 237,000 National Guard members currently live 
outside of TRICARE Prime service areas, where there are little to no 
contract incentives to maintain robust provider networks. Future 
TRICARE contract modifications could address reimbursement rates and 
provide incentives to expand service, especially in more rural areas.
                                 ______
                                 
       Questions Submitted to Lieutenant General Jody J. Daniels
               Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Tester
    Question. The National Guard and Reserve is a part-time force, but 
also relies heavily on Active Guard and Reserve.
    We understand that when Guard and Reserve personnel learn that a 
continuing resolution is on its way--especially longer-term, they stick 
with their civilian jobs.
    What impact does a continuing resolution have on your overall 
force?
    Answer. Budgeted annual increases for Military and Civilian 
personnel costs remain unfunded throughout a continuing resolution. The 
U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) will curtail the accession of Active Guard and 
Reserve (AGR) Soldiers and the hiring of Military Technicians (MILTECH) 
and Department of the Army Civilians (DAC) to restrict budget execution 
within prior-year, short-term funding allocations. The USAR's full-time 
support, consisting of AGRs/MILTECHs/DACs, comprises only 14% of the 
overall force, but is responsible for providing direct support to 
prepare USAR units for their wartime mission by conducting maintenance 
and other operational support, including organizing, administering, 
recruiting, instructing, and training Army Reserve Soldiers and units. 
Reduced full-time support will impact the planning, execution, and 
effectiveness of training for Troop Program Unit (TPU) Soldiers (part-
time), resulting in lower levels of individual and unit readiness. The 
cumulative effect of the uncertainty and lost purchasing power 
associated with multiple, short-term continuing resolutions, results in 
inefficient spending, lost training opportunities, sub-optimal 
decisionmaking, and the decreased likelihood that the USAR will be able 
to sustain the recruiting and retention momentum, having begun in 
Fiscal Year 2023, necessary to achieve our authorized end strength 
objective.
    Question. How does a continuing resolution impact participation 
rates in drills, training, and schools?
    Answer. Commanders continue to execute monthly statutory drills/
training periods for Soldiers during a continuing resolution, in 
accordance with 10 U.S. Code Sec. 10147, but units will delay the 
planning/scheduling of exercises, larger training events, and schools 
necessary for professional development, functional training, and MOS-
qualification. The Army Reserve schedules most of its large-scale 
exercises and collective training in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the 
fiscal year. Continuing resolutions that extend past the 1st quarter 
may result in the postponement, cancelation, or scaling back of 
training events and schools which leads to a decrease in individual and 
unit readiness. Multiple, short-term continuing resolutions that last 
well into the fiscal year preclude commanders from conducting long-
range planning. Delays in planning/executing exercises, collective 
training events, and schools results in late notification to Soldiers/
Families/employers as well as ineffective budget execution and 
contracting actions, which leads to decreased Soldier availability/
participation and increased costs.
    The President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2024 includes requested 
increases of +$418 million for Operation and Maintenance, Army Reserve 
(OMAR) and +$155 million for Reserve Personnel, Army (RPA). The USAR 
would limit expenditures to the FY 2023 funding levels under an 
extended continuing resolution, which, when combined with continued 
inflationary cost increases, significantly decreases purchasing power. 
The USAR would be unable to fund planned Military and Civilian pay 
increases or fully execute all equipment maintenance, statutory drills/
training periods, exercises, collective training, and schools if funded 
at FY 2023 levels.
                                 ______
                                 
           Questions Submitted to Vice Admiral John B. Mustin
               Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Tester
    Question. The National Guard and Reserve is a part-time force, but 
also relies heavily on Active Guard and Reserve.
    We understand that when Guard and Reserve personnel learn that a 
continuing resolution is on its way--especially longer-term, they stick 
with their civilian jobs.
    What impact does a continuing resolution have on your overall 
force?
    Answer. A full-year continuing resolution (CR) would be a fiscally 
unsound way of funding the Department, the Navy, the Navy Reserve and 
government as a whole. It would misalign billions of dollars in 
resources in a manner inconsistent with evolving threats and the 
national security landscape, which would erode the U.S. military 
advantage relative to China, impede our ability to innovate and 
modernize, degrade readiness, and hurt our people and their families. 
And it would offer comfort to our enemies, disquiet to our allies, and 
unnecessary stress to our workforce. A full-year CR cedes ground we 
cannot afford to yield. Put simply, it puts our national security at 
risk.
    Specifically, a full-year continuing resolution will impact our 
ability to pay and grow the force. The Fiscal Year 2023 enacted amount 
is over $100 million less than the Fiscal Year 2024 Presidents Budget 
request for Navy Reserve MILPERS (RPN). An obligation authority equal 
to the FY 2023 level in FY 2024 is not sufficient to grow the force we 
need and conduct the necessary readiness training. This is especially 
challenging given the record low unemployment and recruiting challenges 
we all face. An overall shortfall in MILPERS will require a reduction 
in end strength, curtailment of PCS moves, reduction in training and 
elimination of most new bonus awards. Navy Reserve will end the year 
significantly below authorized end strength.
    The Navy Reserve Operation and Maintenance (OMNR) appropriation 
would also have a reduction of over $100 million to the FY2024 
Presidents Budget request in a full-year continuing resolution. This 
overall shortfall in OMNR accounts will delay maintenance on 
facilities, equipment, and aircraft, and likely reduce flying hours, 
impeding our ability to maintain the required readiness in support of 
the National Defense Strategy.
    Question. How does a continuing resolution impact participation 
rates in drills, training and schools?
    Answer. The Navy Reserve does not anticipate negative impacts due 
to a full-year continuing resolution on drill participation and annual 
training. However, a full-year continuing resolution will force a 
reduction of funding for schools and additional training in order to 
fund the basic entitlements for drills and annual training. The lost 
opportunity to attend schools and conduct additional training will 
degrade readiness in the long term.
                                 ______
                                 
       Questions Submitted to Lieutenant General David G. Bellon
               Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Tester
    Question. The National Guard and Reserve is a part-time force, but 
also relies heavily on Active Guard and Reserve. We understand that 
when Guard and Reserve personnel learn that a continuing resolution is 
on its way--especially longer-term, they stick with their civilian 
jobs.
    What impact does a continuing resolution have on your overall 
force?
    Answer. Continued budget uncertainty negatively impacts the Marine 
Corp's ability to modernize and build a force that is manned, trained 
and equipped for the future operating environment.
    The inability to reprogram funds under CRs drastically reduces the 
ability of the Marine Corps to respond to unplanned urgent requirements 
or to address funding gaps that potentially impact our forces in high 
threat areas.
    There is a direct relationship between readiness and modernization. 
We seek to modernize platforms, systems and training rather than 
continuing to expend resources to maintain aging, less lethal systems 
not suited for the future operating environment. Although DoD has never 
been forced to operate under a full-year CR, continued budget 
uncertainty delays modernization efforts, resulting in reduced 
readiness and exposing our forces to greater risks on future 
battlefields.
    CRs drive cost increases that result in a reduction of purchasing 
power. Available funding in each incremental CR period drives the 
requirement to break contract actions into multiple transactions that 
would otherwise be done once. This incremental approach results in the 
Marine Corps not getting the best contract price, paying multiple times 
for contract fees, and losing time and skilled labor in redundant 
tasks.
    Question. How does a continuing resolution impact participation 
rates in drills, training and schools?
    Answer. CRs have not proven to impact participation rates in 
drills, training and schools for the Marine Corps Reserve. 
Participation rates have remained consistent and steady over the past 
several years with the only downturn attributed to COVID, however 
current rates have returned to pre-COVID levels.
                                 ______
                                 
        Questions Submitted to Lieutenant General John P. Healy
               Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Tester
    Question. The National Guard and Reserve is a part-time force, but 
also relies heavily on Active Guard and Reserve.
    We understand that when Guard and Reserve personnel learn that a 
continuing resolution is on its way--especially longer-term, they stick 
with their civilian jobs.
    What impact does a continuing resolution have on your overall 
force?
    Answer. The operational effectiveness of the Air Force Reserve 
(AFR) is heavily reliant on a stable and predictable budget, necessary 
for maintaining readiness, driving modernization, and ensuring 
consistent and effective training. Continuing Resolutions (CRs) 
introduce significant instability, curtailing improvements in Total 
Force readiness and hinder our ability to make sustainable progress.
    As a predominately part-time force, our Reserve Citizen Airmen rely 
on predictability to help balance military commitments with their 
civilian careers. CRs introduce a level of unpredictability that 
strains this delicate balance, and when CRs extend over a long term, 
this unpredictability intensifies, potentially damaging the trust and 
morale our members. This can lead to considerable difficulties in 
recruiting and retaining personnel, thereby affecting the strength and 
functionality of the force.
    Question. How does a continuing resolution impact participation 
rates in drills, training and schools?
    Answer. Continuing resolutions (CRs) have a direct negative impact 
on participation rates in drills, training, and schools within the Air 
Force Reserve (AFR). The uncertainty and funding disruptions created by 
CRs can lead to cancellations of formal school programs, causing a 
ripple effect of rescheduling into limited class schedules. As a CR 
extends into the fiscal year, rescheduling becomes increasingly 
complex, resulting in lost seats and reduced future training capacity.
    Furthermore, the funding delays caused by CRs significantly disrupt 
the careers of personnel on long-term formal school orders, who are 
only funded until the end of the current CR period. This causes 
discontinuities in pay and benefits, which can deter Reserve Citizen 
Airmen from fully committing to these educational opportunities.
    Additionally, the delays introduced by CRs negatively impact 
recruitment efforts, notably postponing Basic Military Training (BMT) 
attendance. This leads to lost potential recruits and delays in mission 
posturing, further reducing participation rates.
    Continuing resolutions (CRs) also lead to a notable delay in the 
attendance to initial skills schools and advanced courses for new 
recruits, a consequence that can significantly impede the readiness of 
the AFR. These training courses are critical to developing the 
necessary skills, qualifications, and expertise among our new 
accessions, equipping them to become fully integrated, capable, and 
deployable assets. Any delay in this process hampers the immediate 
effectiveness of these individuals and slows down the overall readiness 
rate of our force. Over time, this can create a backlog of untrained 
personnel, leading to a continuous cycle of deferred readiness, 
potentially compromising the AFR's operational capacity.
                                 ______
                                 
             Questions Submitted by Senator Lisa Murkowski
    Question. My understating is that the Air Force is not planning on 
standing up a reserve NGAD squadron, like they did with F-22s at the 
477th Fighter Group.
Do you have specific concerns regarding future basing and structure 
        decisions as these new platforms get fielded?
    Answer. The Air Force Reserve (AFR) stands ready to defend our 
Nation while concurrently adapting for the future. We are committed to 
investing in a comprehensive range of systems that enable our Air Force 
to maintain effective deterrence and command of the skies.
    In transitioning from the F-22, we will fully support the Air 
Combat Command, capitalizing on our rich experience to integrate manned 
next-generation air dominance (NGAD) platforms with collaborative 
combat aircraft (CCA). Coupled with command and control, sensors, and 
weaponry, this approach will enhance our force's lethality and 
performance in highly contested environments.
    Our strategy hinges on concurrent and proportional fielding and 
progression to the NGAD family of systems, and as of now, we are not 
aware of any approved decisions that deviate from this plan.
    As these new platforms are fielded, it will provide a tremendous 
opportunity to harness the continuity, expertise and cost-effectiveness 
of the AFR. By leveraging our strengths and actively integrating the 
AFR into these systems through a strategy of concurrent and 
proportional fielding, we will position ourselves to significantly 
bolster our operational efficiency, readiness and ability to defend our 
Nation.
    Question. The Alaska Air National Guard's 168th Wing at Eielson AFB 
is the only Arctic region capable air refueling unit in the United 
States. Due to the extreme environment at Eielson AFB, the addition of 
four KC-135 aircraft without the addition of hangar space will put DoD 
objectives at risk. The current fleet of nine KC-135 aircraft at 
Eielson often see mission capable (MC) rates below 60 percent during 
the coldest months. These MC rates are largely driven by extremely 
limited hangar availability and based on historical data, scheduled and 
fuel maintenance alone will utilize the two current hangars at 85%. If 
additional hangars are not constructed, an MC rate above 50% will be 
difficult to achieve in the winter months. (ANG OPR)
    Do you support additional hangar space at Eielson AFB to facilitate 
the additional maintenance requirements while simultaneously providing 
secure alert parking?
    Answer. Yes, The National Guard Bureau has assessed current and 
future tanker aircraft hangar needs at Eielson AFB, AK. Through a 
Business Case Analysis conducted in 2022, we have validated a 
requirement for an additional covered aircraft maintenance spot. This 
would provide two covered aircraft maintenance positions as well as a 
covered fuel cell maintenance position for 3 total covered aircraft 
spots. A project to construct the additional maintenance space is in 
early scope development.
                                 ______
                                 
               Questions Submitted by Senator John Hoeven
    Question. We need to do more to ensure Guardsmen, Reservists, and 
their families have timely access to mental healthcare services. Due to 
accreditation and licensing obstacles, only a limited number of 
civilian mental healthcare providers are eligible to participate in the 
TRICARE network. As a result, many of these providers do not have 
availability due to high workloads, leaving servicemembers and their 
families waiting weeks, if not months, to access the mental healthcare 
they need and have earned.
    How are you working to address this problem?
    Answer. While the Air Force Reserve (AFR) does not directly control 
the TRICARE program, we recognize the need for improved access to 
mental healthcare services for our Reserve Citizen Airmen and their 
families.
    We have implemented the Director of Psychological Health Program 
(DPH) that places Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) within our 
units. We currently have 37 LCSWs who provide supportive services, to 
include, but not limited to needs assessment, psycho-educational 
skills, goal/value clarification, short term problem solving, enhanced 
mental health referral coordination, advocacy, and appropriate training 
to members of the AFR population. They provide short term supportive 
counseling (approximately 3-6 visits) and refer Reserve Airmen for 
appropriate complex or high-interest related treatment to military or 
community-based providers.
    The AFR DPH program is currently under review as we work to assess 
expanding coverage across all Reserve wings, in addition to redesigning 
the clinical support, guidance, privileging, and data/trend tracking 
initiatives within the program.
    Question. Have you identified any solutions to increase the number 
of mental health providers participating in the TRICARE network to 
increase timely access to these important services?
    Answer. The Air Force Reserve does not oversee the TRICARE network, 
which is managed by the Defense Health Agency (DHA). However, we are 
dedicated to ensuring that our members have access to necessary mental 
health services. To this end, we've implemented the Director of 
Psychological Health Program, which positions Licensed Clinical Social 
Workers directly within our units (as mentioned in the response to 
Question 1a above).
    Additionally, our Airmen have access to the Military Family Life 
Consultants, who provide free, short-term support to service members, 
their families, and survivors utilizing confidential non-medical 
counseling on installations worldwide. While we cannot directly 
increase the number of providers within the TRICARE network, these 
initiatives significantly bolster the mental health support accessible 
to our members and their families.
    DHA has reported that they continue to accept applications from 
eligible mental health providers. This policy indicates an active and 
sustained effort by DHA to expand the provider network. Despite the 
global shortage of mental health providers, we remain committed to 
improving mental health support within our capabilities for all Reserve 
Citizen Airmen.

                          SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

    Senator Tester. This committee stands in recess.
    [Whereupon, at 10:51 a.m., Thursday, June 1, the 
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, 
June 20.]