During Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) questioned Air Force officials about the necessary modifications needed for Trump's gifted Air Force One jet from Qatar.
00:00Thank you, Senator Schmidt. Senator Banks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wasn't going to ask about this, but General Alvin, the dumbing down of the conversation about the Air Force One from Qatar, I think, deserves some more attention.
00:13Can you talk about whether it's a domestically made aircraft or an aircraft that is gifted to us from Qatar, wherever that aircraft might come from, there would be major security protocols before the Commander-in-Chief would fly on the airplane. Is that correct?
00:30Yes, Senator, that's correct. And I think if it's possible, because of the, anytime we're talking about things having to do with the security of the Commander-in-Chief, if we can do that at the closed session, there are many more things.
00:45I totally understand, but the public deserves to know that major security protocols would happen no matter where the plane comes from.
00:52Yes, Senator.
00:53Right. And we can be, the public can be assured of that being the case because the United States Air Force isn't going to allow the President of the United States to fly on a plane that isn't secure.
01:03Yes, Senator. We will comply with the requirements for his security and all those that are given to us by the White House.
01:09Yeah, thank you. Mr. Secretary, we've talked about this before, but can you talk about just how important the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserves are to you and this administration,
01:17and what kind of goals we have over the next four years to strengthen those important institutions might be?
01:26Yeah, I'd be happy to. Before I do that, I just want to make sure that this airplane was, the one that we're talking about here, was actually domestically produced.
01:34Understood.
01:34That is a 747 platform.
01:35Understood.
01:36Just like the current platforms are.
01:39Yeah, with respect to the Air National Guard and Air Reserves, yeah, I actually was in the reserves.
01:43So, I have a long history of working in that environment.
01:49I think it's critical across the board.
01:51I think we've already had a number of discussions where additional aircraft are either being modernized within the Guard and Reserve Force and or new aircraft are being brought into the Guard and Reserve.
02:05So, yeah, it has always been and will continue to be a key part of the Department of the Air Force's strength and combat capability.
02:17As you know, from the Space Force perspective, there's a lot of transition going on.
02:21General Saltzman, you may have talked about that a little bit.
02:23In accordance with the NDAA, the transfer of the space capabilities in the Air National Guard are going to flow into the Space Force, and we're working on all the planning because those capabilities are critical.
02:36The work that's being done, both in the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard for space, is critical.
02:41Yeah, I appreciate that.
02:42But last month, as you know, the President came to the Midwest, and he spoke at Selfridge Air National Guard base, as Senator Slotkin alluded to a moment ago.
02:53And he said, quote,
02:53Mr. Secretary, can you talk about the President's direction on the need to invest more in these Air National Guard fighter units, which is important to me, whether it's Michigan or Indiana or across the country.
03:19Can you talk about what that investment looks like?
03:21I mean, I think that and many of the other President's comments kind of reiterate his perspective on the importance of bringing more air combat power into the service, and as General Alvin has been championing.
03:37So I think, you know, as we bring more of those combat capability in, as we build out more aircraft, both in the active duty units, but also in the reserve units and guard units, that will be critical to get those platforms into those locations.
03:55General Alvin, as we see this investment and focus by this administration, what should Air Guard units around the country be doing at the moment to prepare for the future?
04:05Even though there might be a transition to an F-15s in Michigan or F-16s in Indiana, what does an Air National Guard base need to do now to prepare for F-35s, F-47s down the road?
04:18Senator, I'd say the short answer to that is really what they have been doing, which is ensuring that they maintain the quality of their air crew, the quality of the maintenance, the quality of the support that has made them an integral part of our ability to deploy and fight overseas for the last, you know, quarter century and before.
04:37So I think the Air National Guard and, of course, working as a total force, because we are a total force, integrating, they continue to integrate into our deployment scheme.
04:46The Air National Guard is integrating into our new deployable combat wing scheme.
04:50So they are, much like the Air Force Reserves, they are transforming right along with the rest of the Air Force.
04:55And as we do that, then we're able to have a more balanced and even approach to modernizing our Air Force.
05:00I think they're doing all the right things.
05:01Appreciate that very much. I yield back.
05:02Thank you, Senator. This concludes what I would say has been a very informative, open portion of today's hearing.
05:09I want to thank our witnesses for their testimony, for the information and members' questions for the record to be due to the committee within two business days of the conclusion of the hearing.
05:18We will commence the closed portion of this hearing in Senate security at 1225.
