Bergman: America Must Rebuild Readiness by Maintaining the Force We Already Own

Washington, D.C., April 15, 2026
"I think that we can all agree that the declining readiness trends are unacceptable," Rep. Bergman said. "These trends have been years in the making and are causing aircraft to be cannibalized and ground vehicles to sit idle...The sad fact is that we have allowed our military readiness to decline across the board because we are more focused on procuring shiny objects than on holistically managing the day-to-day maintenance necessary to sustain our military."
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Jack Bergman (R-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness, delivered the following remarks at a hearing on the posture of U.S. Military Readiness for FY27.

Rep Bergman's Statement as Prepared for Delivery:

I’d like to welcome everyone to today’s hearing.

I particularly want to thank all our esteemed witnesses for accepting our invitation to discuss the plight of our military readiness.
 
I think that we can all agree that the declining readiness trends are unacceptable. 

These trends have been years in the making and are causing aircraft to be cannibalized and ground vehicles to sit idle. 

While I look forward to our witnesses’ thoughts, I would like to offer a few ideas as to what we in Congress need to do to make our military more lethal and effective in the near term. 
 
First of all, we need to do the hard work and focus on sustaining the existing fleet.

The sad fact is that we have allowed our military readiness to decline across the board because we are more focused on procuring shiny objects than on holistically managing the day-to-day maintenance necessary to sustain our military.
 
Secondly, the overall topline requested by the administration in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget request is unprecedented, but absolutely essential to address the plight of our military forces. 

For too long, our military has relied on a legacy force structure that has not been maintained to the readiness levels required. 

One need not look further than the Joint Strike Fighter program and the readiness levels provided by this exquisite platform. 

Cannibalizing our Joint Strike Fighter fleet because we have not provided the basic parts to support this superior platform is not a reasonable long-term solution to maintaining current readiness. 

This budget request, with the accompanying reconciliation supplement, will break this cannibalization cycle and put the Joint Strike Fighter on a sustainable path. 
 
Finally, we need to develop a modernization strategy that provides for our ability to maintain legacy assets through their expected service life. 

A stark example of this readiness crisis is the state of our amphibious fleet.

The Marine Corps has long championed a naval strategy capable of accelerated national security response, and has consistently advocated for the restoration of a 3.0 amphibious readiness group worldwide presence — a standard the Navy has failed to meet. 

Years of neglect, misplaced priorities, and open derision from certain Navy pundits have left less than half of our amphibious ships available for tasking.

That is not a maintenance problem — it is a leadership problem.

This Subcommittee will hold the Navy accountable for restoring these ships to their expected service life.

The Marine Corps should not have to implore its sister service for the platforms it needs to execute America's crisis response mission.

In conclusion, I think any expanded force structure needs to be accompanied by a strategic focus on maintaining the existing forces through their expected service life.

This approach is not only cost-effective but also more rapidly expands our readiness force posture to best meet our ongoing national security challenges.
 
I thank the witnesses for being here today.

I look forward to your testimony and to working together to address these challenges.