‘I Have Sound Judgement… I’m A Fast Learner’: Nom Pushes Back on Tommy Tuberville’s Experience Concerns

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) questioned Matthew L. Lohmeier, nominee to be Under Secretary of Air Force, about his gaps in experience.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, gentlemen, for willingness to serve Mr. Zimmerman.

00:13Since March 15th, CENTCOM has, forces have conducted a sustained campaign targeting the

00:22Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen to restore freedom of navigation and American

00:26deterrence. As of April 27th, CENTCOM has struck over 800 targets.

00:31These targets have killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including

00:37senior Houthi missile and UAV officials. Mr. Zimmerman, in your assessment, have U.S. operations

00:44against the Houthis been a success? Senator, I support the administration's

00:52forcible approach toward the Houthis, beginning in the early days of the administration with

00:57the executive order that called for the elimination of the threat of the Houthis with allies and

01:03designating them as a foreign terrorist organization. I don't think I have access to the classified

01:10information that I would like to have to make an assessment about the efficacy of these strikes,

01:14but I support what the administration is trying to do. Thank you. Mr. Overbaugh, one of the

01:18organizations you will help oversee, if you are confirmed, is the Missile and Space Intelligence

01:24Center, we call MISIC, which is a component of DIA and located in my state of Huntsville,

01:29Alabama. MISIC provides a world-class analysis on the performance of foreign weapons systems,

01:35which is critical to ensuring our warfighters dominate the battlefield against our adversaries.

01:40Mr. Overbaugh, are you familiar with MISIC and MISIC's analysis? And if so, can you talk a little bit

01:47about how important this mission is? Senator, I am familiar with MISIC and particularly their

01:54role in feeding quality intelligence into other entities like DIA to ensure that we have an

02:01accurate picture, a threat picture. I think even more important is the potential for MISIC

02:07to play a key role in ensuring we understand the adversarial threat as it relates to ensuring

02:12that our Golden Dome is as effective as it possibly can be. Have you had the opportunity to visit

02:17MISIC headquarters in Huntsville? Huntsville, yes. MISIC, no, not yet, Senator. Thank you.

02:23Hope you get too soon. Thank you. Mr. Lohmeyer, you have an absolutely outstanding unique career

02:30path as a respected military officer. Thank you for your service. You've got a breadth of experience

02:36in both the Air Force and Space Force, which is very uncommon, but none of those experiences were in

02:41managing large budgets. Why should you be trusted now with such a heavy responsibility at a time

02:47when we are taking physical responsibility more seriously, thank goodness, than ever before,

02:53and while there is a growing demand from the American people that we have a clean audit of the Defense

02:58Department? Thanks, Senator. I'm glad I get to readdress this. While it's true that I don't personally

03:07have extensive experience with a large budget in an organization or acquisition experience,

03:15I have sound judgment. I've demonstrated it throughout my life. I'm a fast learner.

03:21Secretary Mink, if he's confirmed, has demonstrated that you can pass 16 or 17 clean audits at the

03:28National Reconnaissance Office. He'll be a phenomenal leader to work with on this problem in the Department

03:32of the Air Force. What I can say is that we've got exceptional professionals who have been trying

03:37administration after administration to solve our budget problems, our acquisition problems in the

03:41Department of the Air Force, and many of them have had extensive acquisition and budgeting experience,

03:47but that doesn't mean you're able to solve the problems well. And so if confirmed, what I can commit

03:51to this committee and to the American people is that I'm interested in making data-driven decisions.

03:57I'm interested in exercising keen judgment, discernment about these budget decisions,

04:02and coming to the right decisions that I believe the American people will be grateful for and trust,

04:06and doing that in concert with Secretary Mink in support of the President's priorities,

04:11and in support of the Secretary of Defense's priorities. Thank you. And your knowledge will

04:14be very important moving into space. You have a lot of experience in that area. We look forward to

04:20working with you in that area because, as we know, it's going to be a much, much more important

04:24part of our military in the very near future. Thank you, gentlemen. Look forward to confirming you.

04:29Thank you, Senator Tarverville. I would mention to members a vote is going on on the floor.

04:34I think we can possibly finish this hearing before that vote ends.

Category

Transcript

Recommended