Washington D.C. – On Wednesday, April 15, 2026, Congresswoman Strickland questioned General Christopher LaNeve on the current state of U.S. Army readiness and questioned General John Lamontagne on the current capabilities of the U.S. Air Force fleet. Strickland also demanded answers on Secretary Hegseth’s decision to fire General Randy George as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Army. Strickland’s remarks are transcribed below, and can be viewed here:
Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland: Thank you Chairman Bergman, Ranking Member Garamendi, and thank you to all of our witnesses for your testimony today and your continued service.
This hearing comes at a critical moment. U.S. forces are not just preparing for conflict – they are actively engaged while continuing to meet global commitments across multiple theaters. The core question I have today is not whether the Joint Force can fight tonight. It is whether we can sustain operations, absorb losses, and regenerate combat power fast enough to remain ready for a large-scale conflict.
So, I’m going to start with General LaNeve. I want to discuss Force Allocation, health, and long-term readiness.
General LaNeve, the Army is deploying high demand systems, like air defense systems across multiple theaters. Are these the same systems we would rely on in a large-scale conflict?
General Christopher LaNeve: Yes, ma’am.
Strickland: Alright. And, what risks does that create for our ability to respond to a second contingency?
LaNeve: Ma’am, you know, my role as the Vice is to man-train, equip, and certify. And to build the Force that COCOM Commanders will utilize. We’re supporting Admiral Cooper and team. If we have to surge to another location, then we’ll have to look at how we balance that to be able to provide the resources necessary. I appreciate the question.
Strickland: Alright. This is about Force Health and long-term readiness now.
General LaNeve, are sustained operational demands impacting retention, family stability, or overall Force Health in ways that could degrade readiness over time?
LaNeve: And ma’am, again, thank you for the question.
We are not seeing a degradation in retention, you know, right now. We will let you know if we see that over time. It’s something that we look at. We continue to assess for the Forces, but right now, retention and recruiting is up.
Strickland: Alright, thank you. Now, I’m going to go to General Lamontagne to shift to aircraft capacity and the Air Force’s role in sustaining operations.
General, last year, the Air Force testified it was operating the oldest and smallest fleet in history with elevated readiness risk. Since then, we’ve seen confirmed aircraft losses and additional battle damage.
At an unclassified level, what concerns do you have that the Air Force has regarding its ability to maintain aircraft capacity and maintenance depth to sustain current operations, while possibly preparing for a large-scale conflict?
General John Lamontagne: Congresswoman Strickland, thank you very much for the question.
Key issue for our United States Air Force, as you outlined and as we’ve testified previously. And so, we are redoubling our efforts to invest in our ability to maintain the airplanes. Historically, we’ve invested in our weapon system sustainment, which is largely spare parts, engineering, and a lot of other things that supports that to about an 85 percent level. Last year, it was an 86 percent level. So, some improvement but not enough. This year’s budget in ’27 takes us to 93 percent, an additional $3.2 billion to help us sustain those airplanes over time. Very important issue for your United States Air Force.
Strickland: Great, thank you.
And in closing, I want to just remind us that we’re experiencing aircraft losses and damage, expanding munitions at high rates, operating within an industrial base that is constrained, and placing sustained demand on the Force itself. So really the question we should ask ourselves; are we maintaining readiness for a large-scale peer conflict or are we consuming the Force faster than we can regenerate it?
And to my colleague Congressman Austin’s question about what happened with General George, General George was in charge of First Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when I was Mayor of Tacoma. He and his wife have dedicated their lives to serving our country. And just to be clear, once the Secretary of Army clears an individual for promotion to General, the Secretary of Defense should not be removing them, because their records have been highly vetted, highly scrutinized, and these people are qualified for the jobs. And we look forward to hearing an explanation from Secretary Hegseth when he meets with the full House Armed Services Committee on April 29th. I yield back.