WASHINGTON, D.C. -- National Guard and Reserve chiefs testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense regarding the fiscal year 2023 budget justifications for their respective services at the Dirksen Senate Office Building here June 7.
Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, and his fellow Reserve chiefs from the Army, Navy, Marines and National Guard Bureau used this opportunity to explain their budget prioritizations and requests.
“Our requested FY23 budget will ensure the Air Force Reserve meets the priorities laid out in the National Defense Strategy to succeed against pacing threats,” Scobee said. “We remain in lock step with the Secretary of the Air Force’s operational imperatives as well as the Chief of Staff’s vision to accelerate change or lose.”
Modernization and force readiness to meet current and future threats were the themes for the hearing.
Scobee highlighted that the three Air Force components – Reserve, Air National Guard and Active Duty – have been working hard to ensure they have the force structure needed to meet the needs of the National Defense Strategy.
“I think this has been one of the things we’ve really worked hard to do,” the general said. “Ensuring the Reserve has the strategic depth we need in order to surge and fight the wars the American people need us to fight has been key to that.
“What we’re looking at is what weapons systems will be needed as we go forward, what legacy systems do we need to keep as we’re going forward in order to have the capacity we need and how do we balance those things with the need for modernization. So what we’re endeavoring to do is ensure the force structure we bring in the Air Force Reserve is synergistic with the other two components to gain those things.”
National Guard and Equipment Appropriation, which allows the Reserve and Guard to move forward with modernization projects, was also a common topic for all five chiefs.
“NGREA enables us to modernize gear, sustain our capability and replace obsolete equipment when recapitalization by the active component is not feasible,” Scobee explained. “Parity is critical to seamless Total Force integration and countering those pacing threats outlined in the National Defense Strategy. We remain grateful for these appropriations, and cannot overemphasize how vital they are to our readiness.”
A rebroadcast of the hearing can be viewed here.