Opening Remarks of Chairman WittmanSUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS
Washington, DC,
July 6, 2016
Tags:
Readiness
WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivers, on the hearing titled "Aviation Readiness." For testimony and to watch the hearing click here.
In separate hearings about Naval infrastructure readiness, both Admiral Mary Jackson and General Azzano testified about aircraft hangar fire suppression systems that were unusable and inadvertently activated. At the Air Force hangar at Eglin Air Force Base, the instability of those systems ultimately rendered the entire hangar unusable for nearly 3 months. The impacted portion of the hangar—17% of the hangar space—remains unusable. The Marine Corps and Army face similar facility challenges. The service branches also face real obstacles when it comes to the retention and training of flight and maintenance crews. Aging aircraft and prolonged maintenance times, not to mention the operational demands of the fight against terrorism, mean that aviators and other personnel are dealing with more danger and fewer training opportunities. Regrettably, the rash of recent military aircraft crashes has highlighted the human and other costs of dwindling aviation readiness. We owe our warfighters every protection and precaution available, and I look forward, today, to hearing from each of our service branches about aviation readiness, readiness recovery, impacts to safety, and whether and where we can continue to take risks. With that, I welcome all of you and the distinguished panel of senior aviators before us. We have with us: • Lieutenant General Jon M. Davis, USMC Gentlemen, thank you for your presence and your testimony today. I look forward to hearing your insights about readiness challenges to military aviation." |