some things that are going on in France, or Japan, or perhaps some other countries, should evolve into more advanced fighter capabilities in the next century, it will be all the more important. But it is possible to take the existing fighters which exist in large numbers-they are spread around the world in modest numbers but they exist in large numbers in the Soviet Union, in the former Soviet Union, and they are continuing to be produced, as well as in France-it is possible to take those aircraft just the way they sit today with the kind of avionics advancements that continue to flow into them and with a much greater investment in pilot training and tactics to close the gap on us considerably. That is not a comfortable situation, as we look forward 10 years or more into the next century. Senator SASSER. Well, Mr. Chairman, the hour is late and I am going to refrain from asking any more questions. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, General McPeak. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. PRICE OF MILITARY PREPAREDNESS Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much, Senator. Apparently, this Nation goes through a heavy debate and much pressure to reduce military spending after the conclusion of every major war, so it is not something that is new in the attitude of our people. History tells us, for example, that at the end of the Revolutionary War, despite the pleas of our first President, President Washington, a continental army that numbered 30,000 was reduced to 80 55 at West Point and 25 at Pittsburgh, and soon thereafter the British saw this as a signal to return, and they burned down the Capitol. After World War I, when the world was made safe for democracy, and on the eve of World War II, our armored corps consisted of 325 tanks and one-half of them did not move. Fortunately, the first commander was General Patton, and he was a very wealthy man, so he was able to go to Sears and buy spare parts and get those tanks operational, and General Marshall, who was soon to become a commander of the world's largest army of 12 million men, when he took over the command of Leavenworth with 200 men, cooks and drivers and clerks, most of them had never fired a gun. But we had time and distance as allies at that time. In fact, after the great victory of World War II we once again found ourselves in great debates and great demands. Our military in 1949 came down to 1.2 million-that is all the combined forces-and a year later in June 1950 it was reduced to about 500,000. Then we know what happened June 25, 1950. All of these may have resulted in temporary savings, but at each event we had to pay a heavy price. December 7 was a heavy price for unpreparedness. June 25, 1950, was a heavy price for nonpreparedness. I just hope that I will not be presiding over a committee that will be once again repeating these errors. I realize that we are called upon to gamble with the future, but this time we will not have as our allies time and distance, so the odds may have to be a bit more in our favor. Some of those who are now recommending the severe cuts may make that odds unpalatable as far as I am concerned, because I do not want to repeat Korea, or repeat World War II, or repeat any one of these very expensive engagements that we have been called upon to move into. So I can assure you that as chairman of this committee I will study your recommendations very carefully and I am not a gambling man. I want the odds to be on my side at all times. I can assure you that this will be a very intensive debate. You have had a bit of a sampling of some of the issues that we will be faced with, and I hope you will be patient with us as we demand more an swers. The F-22 is going to be a biggy here. The B-2 is going to be a biggy. So we will have to be ready to provide the answers to colleagues who may not be on this committee, so it is going to be a very interesting time. I would hope that this came about next year after the election, but we cannot always ask for the very best conditions. Before I close this hearing, I would like to point out that there were five hearings going on at the same time in which members of this committee were members of the other committees, so Senator Stevens had to go to two other hearings. I am supposed to be at two others, but I am chairman of this one so I am here. As a result, members have requested that they be given the opportunity to submit questions to both of you, and I am certain you will respond to them. I, too, have a whole book of questions here. I have a very active staff, as you can see, and they have their little items they like to have discussed. General MCPEAK. Now you know why we cut ours, Senator. [Laughter.] Senator INOUYE. So I thank you, General McPeak, and I thank you, Dr. Rice for giving us your testimony and your responses to our questions. ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS [CLERK'S NOTE.-Additional questions submitted by subcommittee members, together with the Department's responses, will appear in the appendix portion of the hearings.] SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Senator INOUYE. This subcommittee will stand in recess until Thursday at 9 a.m. At that time we are taking up another big issue-National Guard and Reserves. Thank you very much. Dr. RICE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Whereupon, at 12:22 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 9 a.m., Thursday, March 19.] D'Amato, Hon. Alfonse M., U.S. Senator from New York, prepared statement ........ DeConcini, Hon. Dennis, U.S. Senator from Arizona, prepared statement Kelso, Adm. F.B., II, Chief of Naval Operations ............... Joint prepared statement with Hon. H. Lawrence Garrett III and Gen. McPeak, Gen. Merrill A., Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force 333 364 Mundy, Gen. Carl E., Jr., Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps 154 122 Powell, Gen. Colin L., U.S. Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 51 86 Prepared statement Sullivan, Gen. Gordon R., U.S. Army, Chief of Staff, Army Biographical sketch Prepared statement 203 |