{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hartzler.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/opening-remarks-chairwoman-hartzler-1", "Opening Remarks of Chairwoman Hartzler", "2016-12-01", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Vicky Hartzler", "H001053", "hartzler.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, made the following remarks on the hearing titled \u201cForce Management Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan; Readiness and Strategic Considerations.\u201d\u00a0 For hearing testimony and to watch the hearing live click here.\"Good morning.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to extend a warm thank-you to our witnesses testifying before us today.Before I begin, I would like to welcome the members of the committee present today (or who may yet arrive) who are not members of the subcommittee.\u00a0 I ask unanimous consent that these committee members be permitted to participate in this hearing with the understanding that all subcommittee members will be recognized for questions prior to those not assigned to the subcommittee.Without objection, so ordered. This hearing will help the subcommittee to assess \u201cForce Management Levels,\u201d or \u201cFMLs,\u201d which are more commonly known as \u201ctroop caps.\u201d\u00a0 The White House set a troop cap for Iraq and Afghanistan.\u00a0 That cap is 5,262 for Iraq.\u00a0 In Afghanistan, the cap is 8,448 beginning this January.\u00a0 These are very precise numbers.Some might argue that setting a troop cap upends an orderly military planning process.\u00a0 Typically, military leaders are first given a mission and then they determine what resources are required to meet that mission.\u00a0 Setting a cap first, however, constrains subsequent military choices.\u00a0 An imposed Force Management Level leads to potentially dangerous trade-offs.Indeed, one consequence of a troop cap may be our military readiness.\u00a0 I look forward to learning about the extent to which readiness factors are (or should be) taken into consideration when a troop cap is implemented.In July, during a readiness subcommittee hearing, the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army\u2019s Training and Doctrine Command expressed concern that, because of troop caps, Army aviation brigades were deploying to Afghanistan without maintenance personnel.He said (and I quote) \u201cCombat Aviation Brigades are not meeting readiness rates.\u201d\u00a0 He noted that soldiers were losing their edge in maintenance skills.\u00a0 This was, he warned, degrading \u201cthe ability of an aviation unit to regain readiness.\u201dI am eager also to know how troop caps affect the deployments of Army brigades which are charged with the Train, Advise, and Assist mission.\u00a0 As I understand it, although it might be preferable for the Army to deploy entire brigade combat teams for this work, this is not possible because doing so would breach the troop caps.\u00a0 Therefore, as an alternative, individual senior soldiers are chosen from a variety of units to undertake the TAA mission. \u00a0I want to gain a better understanding of how this practice might harm Army readiness, unit cohesion, career development, and retention. Furthermore, I am concerned about how troop caps might influence the positioning of force protection personnel.\u00a0 For example, are medevac teams being placed outside the theater because doing so allows them to not be subject to troop caps?\u00a0 If so, can they still respond quickly to recover injured warfighters?I would also like our witnesses to discuss other considerations associated with setting troop caps.\u00a0 How does the development of a troop cap fit into the planning process?I am pleased to recognize our witnesses today and I want to thank them for taking the time to be with us.\u00a0 Members have been provided with the full biography of each witness.\u00a0 Joining us today are:Mr. Cary Russell, the Director of Military Operations and Warfighter Support for the Government Accountability Office.\u00a0 Mr. Russell will summarize some of the important work the GAO has done on this subject.Retired Army General Carter Ham.\u00a0 General Ham retired from the United States Army in 2013 as the commander of U.S. Africa Command.\u00a0 He spent nearly four decades in the Army and is one of a very small number of military leaders who rose from the rank of Private to four-star General.andRetired Army Lieutenant General Jim Dubik.\u00a0 General Dubik retired from the US Army in 2008 after 37 years of active service.\u00a0 General Dubik\u2019s last job on active duty was as the Commanding General of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq and the NATO Training Mission-Iraq.Thank you all again for being here today. We will now hear your opening remarks.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hartzler.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/opening-remarks-chairwoman-hartzler-1"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8456860668957233, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}