Opening Statements

U.S. Representative Jack Bergman (R-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness, delivered the following remarks at a Readiness subcommittee hearing on the current state of military readiness in Fiscal Year 2026.

Stream the hearing here. 

Rep. Bergman's remarks as prepared for delivery:

I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today to discuss the current state of our military readiness.  

The time is upon us to take credible steps in the INDOPACOM area to deter future conflict.  

China’s ever-expanding military efforts threaten INDOPACOM nations and destabilize the global norm.  

While I am pleased that we took the first step toward addressing these INDOPACOM threats in our reconciliation efforts last week, we need to be particularly critical of our existing forces and their troubling readiness levels.  

For example, the readiness levels of our aviation forces are especially problematic.  

If we have 100 aircraft but half of that inventory is not available because of lack of parts, maintenance or personnel, have we really pushed forward in changing our overall readiness?  

We need to significantly reform our approach to ensure our forces are not only ready in the next decade but, more importantly, ready in the next year.

As to the Army, I am particularly concerned about their INDOPACOM response.  

Efforts to reduce Army watercraft and lack of modernization of our ship-to-shore capabilities are specifically troubling.  

Additionally, the Army has significant guard and reserve mobilization concerns.  

We need to substantially improve manning, training, and material readiness of these forces and expand efforts to provide joint logistics to further deter future conflict.

As to the Navy, we need to quickly reduce the 22,000 sailor shortage in our fleet.  

And we need to get our ships out of drydock.  

Our inability to construct and maintain our submarine force is a national and international imperative.

With our Air Force, it is hard to be a deterrent force when the overall aviation force structure will be diminished by almost 400 aircraft over the next five years.  

When this reduction is compounded with the reduced mission capable rates endemic across the enterprise, we appear to be going in the wrong direction.  

As to the Space Force, we find that their mission effectiveness is especially sensitive to their infrastructure readiness.  

And their military manpower shortage puts significant strain on a small but motivated cadre of Guardians.  

We need to ensure infrastructure redundancy is available with the right Guardians to ensure mission success.

And finally, my Marine Corps.  

In conversations with combatant commanders, I routinely hear about the need for the Marines but that the Navy and Marine Corps team are not available during critical demand periods.  

At the heart of this conundrum is the Navy’s inability to adequately support the amphibious force structure and their own assessment that 16 of the 32 amphibious ships are in unsatisfactory condition.  

Our amphibious forces are the bedrock of our 911 force and essential for the projection of power in the INDOPACOM area.  

We need to realize the 80% surge-ready vision for the entire fleet, including our amphibious forces.

To all of our witnesses, it is obvious that we all have much work to do to credibly deter future conflict.  

I look forward to working with each of you to significantly improve the readiness of our military forces.