00:00Chairman and gentlemen thank you for your testimony. Mr. Dodd, the
00:06administration is in the process of reducing personnel in the Department of
00:10Defense, allowing early retirements, many times not evaluating the need for the
00:19individual, just simply wanting to clear a space. Based on these current challenges,
00:25how do you plan to ensure the Department has the needed technical skills and
00:29sufficient personnel to do what you're going to do, which is a revolution, if
00:36you will, in terms of the way we do business? Thank you, Senator Reed, for your
00:41question and I appreciated the time to sit with you in your office and the staff.
00:44I think there's a couple things to kind of weigh in here. So as the
00:48department is going through a workforce optimization effort, as that flows down
00:53into, if confirmed, the critical technologies portfolio, I would have
00:59some unique hiring authorities to actually identify and onboard some of
01:04the most technical experts in certain topic areas to represent the department
01:10in those topic areas. Additionally, with my work currently in the Defense
01:14Innovation Unit and the engagement with over 50 Tier 1 research universities, I
01:21would expect that engagement to continue and that collaboration to continue at
01:26scale as well. Thank you very much. Mr. Ingraham, you are going to be one of the key
01:33drivers of the Army Transformation Initiative. That is becoming, if not, one of the most
01:46important elements of the new Army approach. And the Army has acknowledged its own
01:51need to become a better customer and which comes down to requirements in many cases.
01:59So, what are you going to do to make the Army a better customer with regards
02:04requirements? Senator, I think we have an incredible opportunity to implement ATI, the
02:13Army Transformation Initiative, to optimize and be more efficient with how we think
02:19about capabilities required on the battlefield. You know, very quickly, we need to get
02:27after aligning not only resources but our acquisition authorities to the right
02:33requirements. And so, implementing things like configuration steering boards will
02:38give us a great opportunity to ensure that we are aligning those capabilities and
02:43ensuring we are absolutely getting the right capability in the soldier's hands fast. Along with the
02:48transformation and contact capabilities that the Army is actually employing, it allows us to
02:52get the capabilities quicker into the hands of the soldiers faster so that we can ensure
02:57that as we're going through the requirements process, we're delivering the right capabilities.
03:00And related to this is the sense of right to repair all the new equipment the Army buys. I presume
03:09that's going to be written, hopefully it's written in every contract, because I can't see contractors going by
03:16submarine to the Philippines to replace a screw on a machine. So, is that part of your mandate also?
03:24Senator, absolutely. We need right to repair on every capability. And so, ensuring we get the right data rights and intellectual property written in the contract up front is absolutely critical.
03:35Thank you. Mr. Gillis, you are committed to addressing the shortfalls in housing and barracks. That's the quality of life issue, probably the most central one in most families' lives.
03:48However, as I indicated in my opening statement, the Army just submitted a reprogramming request to divert $1.1 billion of FSRM funding to standards of the border. How are you going to deal with the
04:05housing crisis when the money is going elsewhere?
04:09Record member Reed, I'd share your concern and focus on housing and quality of life initiatives. I was not part of those budget decisions, but I can assure you that going forward, I will advocate unequivocally to be sure that we fund FSRM and MILCON to meet the requirements that we have.
04:28Thank you very much. And Mr. Kow, the Secretary has shown great vision and purpose in getting after this shipbuilding issue, particularly submarines, which I encourage him and you.
04:43I hope you will be sharing his activities, his attention and his, in a way, passion for getting our ships back on time and on schedule.
04:55I will recommend Reed, but also we need sailors to go on those ships. We need munitions and we need the right maintenance for them too.
05:07Thank you very much. My time is expiring. Mr. Hurst, I will send you some questions in written form. Congratulations. I'm impressed with your performance to date.
05:24And your family. Thank you.
05:28Thank you, Senator Reed. Senator Rounds.
05:31Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, let me say thank you to all.
