“Today the subcommittee will hear testimony on the fiscal year 2010 national defense budget request for military personnel.
 
 “Each of your written statements makes clear the heartfelt commitment by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the services to protect and enhance the programs that support service members and their families.  You can be sure that the subcommittee shares your view that the men and women who serve our nation in uniform are deserving of the highest praise and our best efforts to protect the programs that are the foundation for their quality of life.
 
 “I was pleased to observe that Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, feels as strongly as we do that personnel programs must be protected.  In a speech at the Brookings Institution on Monday this week, the Admiral indicated that tighter budgets will put increasing pressure on leaders to reduce programs that sustain people and that those leaders, including him, needed to resist the temptation to make those cuts. 
 
 “The Admiral did note that health care and other personnel related costs were growing and that more needed to be done to control such costs because the rate of growth associated with personnel programs was not sustainable over time.
 
 “We have all felt the budget pressures increasing in recent years.  For example, the ongoing cuts to recruiting and retention are understandable so long as the military continues to attract and retain quality people.  However, the cuts must be structured so as not to preclude our ability to respond when the economy begins to recover. 
 
 “Other less prominent indicators of budget pressures are more troubling.  For example, the Navy’s freeze of permanent changes of station for the reminder of the year is causing hardship for many families.
 
 “There are rumors of funding cuts to programs such as the Army Knowledge On Line that is so important to communication within the Army and the Virtual Army Experience that is important to understanding the recruiting of a new high tech generation.  We now know that the Marine Corps Reserve will for the third consecutive year not achieve its authorized end strength during fiscal year 2009.  And the Air Force, the one service most reliant on retention, continues to struggle to achieve certain goals.

“Our purpose today is to better understand how those budget pressures will be translated to fiscal year 2010 and how those pressures will impact end strength, recruiting, retention, force structure, compensation, and service member, retiree, and family morale and welfare.
 
 “Mr. Wilson, did you have any opening remarks?”