During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) spoke about the delay in announcing where newly-acquired Gray Eagle drones will be stationed.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the subcommittee. Let me focus
00:10my time on the Army National Guard securing funding for the Gray Eagle drones. Since 2023,
00:21Congress has included funds to procure these platforms, and yet here we are still awaiting
00:32a decision from the National Guard Bureau on where they'll be stationed. There is a significant
00:40amount of infrastructure work that needs to be done to house the Gray Eagles, and we are at the
00:50point where we can't wait anymore. When can we expect a basing decision? When do we expect
01:02that'll be made, that decision? And what capability gaps might there be due to these delays? Sir?
01:15Congressman, thanks for the question. As far as the basing decision for the 12
01:20Gray Eagles that were in the NDAA 23, those have been pushed out, and the announcement was made to
01:28Arizona. As far as the NDAA 25, those will go through a basing decision and through the
01:36Army force structure like we do with any basing decision. And so we're very deliberate, follow a
01:42strategic process both on the Air Force side and the Army side to make sure that we take everything
01:49into consideration and then make funding decisions as we go into the future.
01:55Earlier this month, the Army Transformation Initiative was announced, which included a mention of
02:07of canceling Gray Eagle procurement for the active component. Tell us about the importance of the
02:18Gray Eagle drones for the National Guard. How might the Army Transformation Initiative affect your plans for
02:29Gray Eagle drones in the Guard? Congressman, as we look at the Army has 18 divisions. Eight of those divisions are in the Army National Guard. And currently, as we look to have UAS capability in those divisions in the future, we're looking to bed down and work with the Army on that. So the first one was Arizona, as we look at the Gray Eagle. And that will get bedded down over the next, you know, 26,
02:5927, 27, as we take that into the force. And we look forward to learning from that and bringing UASs into the Army National Guard and working with the Army on the future of UASs and the other divisions as we go forward.
03:13Well, we'll be keeping an eye on it. Thank you, Congressman.
03:18Quickly, let me ask you about the deteriorated facilities.
03:23You all would probably agree with me in saying that our facilities within the Guard and Reserve are old, deteriorated, lack the modernized infrastructure to support emerging missions, such as cyber operations and domestic responses.
03:50In Kentucky, the National Guard has been vital in the emergency response to natural disasters as we speak.
04:01The Guard is on active duty in my home county in Kentucky due to heavy tornadoes Friday night.
04:10So they serve a very important mission.
04:18Despite their indescribable value,
04:23there are multiple facilities in my district which are all but obsolete.
04:28And yet it seems nearly impossible for National Guard and Reserve units to get the funds necessary to make these much needed improvements.
04:40Congressman, what is the current backlog of deferred maintenance for National Guard and Reserve facilities and what percentage of Guard and Reserve facilities fail to meet modern standards?
04:57Congressman, on the National Guard, we have 2,200 armories around 2,000 locations.
05:05The average age of our armories are about 48 years old.
05:10So every dollar that comes in to get after facility sustainment, restoration, modernization is critical to the National Guard for our readiness and to be able to go forward.
05:19As far as the exact rates, I'll have to take those for the record and get those back to you, sir.
05:24Well, my time has expired.
05:27Thank you, Mr. Chairman.