Towards Achieving a Better Understanding of the Nation’s Defenses
By Thomas Spoehr
January 22, 2024
ADM Charles Richard, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Thursday, April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Soon, in an annual rite of spring, Congress will summon Pentagon leaders to testify on the “posture” of their services, commands, and department. The hearings will explore how the President’s impending fiscal year 2025 budget request will or will not support the nation’s defense. Conducting dozens of such hearings requires thousands of hours of preparation and execution by Congress and the Pentagon. But in their current construct, the time is poorly spent.
Over time, DoD posture hearings have largely devolved into “information-free” events. At the outset, Pentagon witnesses affirm the president’s budget meets their needs. Thus satisfied, many Congressional leaders are then content to spend the rest of their allotted time asking about the Pentagon’s intent to buy pieces of hardware or to extol the virtues of installations – all made or located in their districts and states.
In the rare instance a congressman does ask a relevant question about readiness or preparedness, the witnesses often will seek to defer the answer to a forum outside the public eye. Or if they answer it, often the response is so vague as to be meaningless.
Further, when the uniformed military leaders present are asked questions, their answers often largely mirror the statements of their civilian political leaders, even though their perspectives are statutorily different.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/01/22/towards_achieving_a_better_understanding_of_the_nations_defenses_1006385.html
