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Hearing National Defense Authorization Act For i [H.A.S.C. No. 112–106] HEARING ON NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND OVERSIGHT OF PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED PROGRAMS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FULL COMMITTEE HEARING ON BUDGET REQUESTS FROM U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND AND U.S. AFRICA COMMAND HEARING HELD FEBRUARY 29, 2012 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 73–432 WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone 202–512–1800, or 866–512–1800 (toll-free). E-mail, [email protected]. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON, California, Chairman ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland ADAM SMITH, Washington MAC THORNBERRY, Texas SILVESTRE REYES, Texas WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina LORETTA SANCHEZ, California W. TODD AKIN, Missouri MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania JEFF MILLER, Florida ROBERT ANDREWS, New Jersey JOE WILSON, South Carolina SUSAN A. DAVIS, California FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island MICHAEL TURNER, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington JOHN KLINE, Minnesota JIM COOPER, Tennessee MIKE ROGERS, Alabama MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam TRENT FRANKS, Arizona JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania DAVE LOEBSACK, Iowa K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine ROB WITTMAN, Virginia LARRY KISSELL, North Carolina DUNCAN HUNTER, California MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico JOHN C. FLEMING, M.D., Louisiana BILL OWENS, New York MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado JOHN R. GARAMENDI, California TOM ROONEY, Florida MARK S. CRITZ, Pennsylvania TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania TIM RYAN, Ohio SCOTT RIGELL, Virginia C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland CHRIS GIBSON, New York HANK JOHNSON, Georgia VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri BETTY SUTTON, Ohio JOE HECK, Nevada COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii BOBBY SCHILLING, Illinois KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, New York JON RUNYAN, New Jersey JACKIE SPEIER, California AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas STEVEN PALAZZO, Mississippi ALLEN B. WEST, Florida MARTHA ROBY, Alabama MO BROOKS, Alabama TODD YOUNG, Indiana ROBERT L. SIMMONS II, Staff Director KIMBERLY SHAW, Professional Staff Member LEONOR TOMERO, Professional Staff Member MARK LEWIS, Professional Staff Member LAUREN HAUHN, Research Assistant (II) C O N T E N T S CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS 2012 Page HEARING: Wednesday, February 29, 2012, Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authoriza- tion Budget Requests from U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Com- mand ..................................................................................................................... 1 APPENDIX: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 .............................................................................. 39 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012 FISCAL YEAR 2013 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BUDGET REQUESTS FROM U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND AND U.S. AFRICA COMMAND STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck,’’ a Representative from California, Chair- man, Committee on Armed Services .................................................................. 1 Smith, Hon. Adam, a Representative from Washington, Ranking Member, Committee on Armed Services ............................................................................ 2 WITNESSES Ham, GEN Carter F., USA, Commander, U.S. Africa Command ....................... 5 Stavridis, ADM James G., USN, Commander, U.S. European Command, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe ...................................................... 4 APPENDIX PREPARED STATEMENTS: Ham, GEN Carter F. ........................................................................................ 141 McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ .................................................................... 43 Smith, Hon. Adam ............................................................................................ 45 Stavridis, ADM James G. ................................................................................ 47 DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: Chart Prepared by Frank Boland, NATO Director of Planning for Defence Policy and Planning Division, Showing Volume Indices of GDP and Defense Expenditures for U.S. and NATO Allies, Submitted by Hon. Michael Turner ............................................................................................. 171 U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Letter to Admi- ral James G. Stavridis Regarding the Participation of the Republic of Georgia in NATO Special Operations Forces Activities, Submitted by Hon. Michael Turner ............................................................................... 172 WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: Mr. Langevin ..................................................................................................... 177 Mrs. Roby .......................................................................................................... 178 Mr. Turner ........................................................................................................ 177 (III) IV Page QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: Ms. Bordallo ...................................................................................................... 187 Mr. Conaway ..................................................................................................... 192 Mr. Johnson ...................................................................................................... 195 Mr. Langevin ..................................................................................................... 183 Mrs. Roby .......................................................................................................... 200 Mr. Schilling ..................................................................................................... 195 Mr. Scott ............................................................................................................ 196 Mr. Thornberry ................................................................................................. 183 Mr. Turner ........................................................................................................ 186 Mr. Wittman ..................................................................................................... 193 FISCAL YEAR 2013 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZA- TION BUDGET REQUESTS FROM U.S. EUROPEAN COM- MAND AND U.S. AFRICA COMMAND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, Washington, DC, Wednesday, February 29, 2012. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon (chairman of the committee) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA, CHAIRMAN, COM- MITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES The CHAIRMAN. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The House Armed Services Committee meets today to receive testimony from the commanders of the United States European Command and the United States Africa Command. I am pleased to welcome Admiral James Stavridis, Commander of the U.S. Euro- pean Command and the NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- tion] Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and General Carter Ham, Commander, U.S. Africa Command. Gentlemen, thank you for your long and distinguished careers and your service to our Nation. The last year has been very busy for both of your commands, from operations in Libya to the current tensions with Israel and Iran and the recent announcements of force posture changes to our U.S. forces deployed in Europe. Admiral Stavridis, for the last 2 years before this committee you have strongly advocated for the presence of four Army brigade com- bat teams. But 2 weeks ago the Defense Department announced its decision to withdraw the two heavy BCTs [Brigade Combat Teams] from Europe. You have talked about the ready, proven, mature bas- ing infrastructure in Europe that allows the U.S. military to rap- idly respond to crises in the world’s most likely hot spots. I am wor- ried about the decisions being made for the sake of efficiencies and budget that change our force posture in Europe and neglect our commitment to regional allies and stability. I also want to highlight my continuing concerns about President Obama’s missile defense strategy. It appears the United States is spending $4 on regional missile defense, like the European phased adaptive approach, for every $1 it is spending on homeland de- fense. What is more, European missile defense will be a national contribution to NATO, meaning the costs will be borne entirely by the U.S. at a time when most of NATO is failing to meet even the (1) 2 2 percent of GDP [Gross Domestic Product] threshold for NATO membership. I am also concerned that the new strategy continues to provide sufficient resources to EUCOM [European Command] for the de- fense of Israel, given the growing threats to Israel and its security. It is important the United States upholds our pledge to defend one of the most reliable and loyal allies from threats to their security and existence. General Ham, although operations in Libya concluded last Octo- ber, there remain significant challenges to stability and security on the African continent. While I am glad that the brutal
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