During a House Armed Services Committee hearing held before the congressional recess, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) questioned Military officials about the US ties with INDOPACOM nations.
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00:00I recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Fallon.
00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Admiral, thank you for being here, General as well, Mr. No.
00:07I'd like to keep things simple, basic.
00:1020 years ago, would you agree, Admiral, that in the last 20 years,
00:16China's capabilities and ambitions have grown exponentially?
00:20I have a direct view of that over that 20 years, yes.
00:23And you'd agree they're a military peer now?
00:26I do.
00:26Okay. Same question, General.
00:30Sir, looking through the DPRK lens, I would say yes on both counts.
00:35So how many, Admiral, how many Marines do we have on Okinawa today?
00:4018,000.
00:42And was it roughly the same 20 years ago?
00:4520 years ago, it was about the same, yes, sir.
00:48What's the end strength goal right now?
00:51Presently right now, Third Marine Expeditionary Force is at end strength
00:56as it's stationed where it is.
00:59It really is optimized.
01:00Okay.
01:01And so there's no plans to reduce it from, let's say, 18,000, 19,000 to about half, 10,000?
01:06There is the Defense Policy Renew Initiative, our agreement with Japan,
01:11and it's a conditions-based process.
01:13And ultimately, 5,000 U.S. Marines are planned to be in Guam,
01:20and another 2,700 Marines are planned to be in Hawaii.
01:24So given the considerations that we talk about with China and the threat,
01:28something that I would recommend we do is to renegotiate with our Japanese friends
01:33and keep those 18,000, or that strength, the 18,000 to 19,000.
01:37Because if, God forbid, General, how many troops do we have in Korea in the 80s, roughly?
01:42Was it about 50,000? Is that right?
01:45Congressman, it's a bit lower than that.
01:48In the 40s, 45,000 or so?
01:50A little bit lower than that.
01:5140?
01:5228.
01:53No, so in the 80s?
01:5530 years ago, we only had, I'm not talking today.
01:59What was it then?
01:5960.
02:00What was our high strength?
02:01Probably about 60,000 when the division second idea was born.
02:04Okay, and what is it now, about 30, about half?
02:06About 30, sir.
02:07So we've established that this threat has grown exponentially, and yet we've reduced our footprint.
02:12So God forbid, it's a simple question and an obvious answer, but God forbid there is a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
02:19God forbid the Chinese do cross the Taiwanese Straits.
02:22Would you rather have 45,000 or 50,000 American troops on the peninsula, or would you rather have 30?
02:28You know, it's obvious, right?
02:31Yes, yes, Congressman, it's an obvious answer.
02:33You'd always want more, but the same thing, Admiral, in Okinawa, right?
02:39If a little bit's good, a whole lot's better.
02:41Yeah, you know, and I'm not worried that it's going to capsize either.
02:45I think that's going to be solid.
02:48So, Admiral, we have a great many allies in the region, wonderful allies.
02:53You know, so many of them come to mind.
02:56But what I want to ask is, what country, in your view, is already an established model ally that we could –
03:04what is that model ally, and how can we foster more of our relationships to look like that one?
03:11Indo-PACOM has five of the nation's six treaty allies in its AOR,
03:16and I have got tremendous pride in our execution of that alliance itself.
03:20Japan, South Korea, and Australia are very much model allies,
03:26and their ability to provide capability, and the Philippines is growing.
03:32And we've recently had a very good engagement with Thailand, and they continue to contribute.
03:37Yeah, Thailand's worried me a little bit about cozying up to China.
03:39That's why it's just so important what we do here.
03:41So another question.
03:42I'm very curious to hear your answer.
03:44Which friend or friendly nation in Indo-PACOM presents the most promise and potential benefit
03:52for the United States in our interests in the future?
03:55Vietnam and Indonesia, and India.
03:58Yeah.
03:58Absolutely India above all others.
04:01I noticed in India in 07, they only bought about $230 million or so dollars' worth of military equipment,
04:08and today it's neighboring around $24 billion.
04:11And it's very promising, but they're still playing with the Russians.
04:14And I get why, legacy systems and such, but they're still buying more from Russia.
04:18So we really do need to do, what do you think we can do to pull India more towards our sphere, if you will?
04:27India's security cooperation sales with Russia is approximately 30% of their gear.
04:35No new buys on this.
04:37It's all buys to maintain the vestigial equipment that they had with India.
04:41They'll continue to treasure their non-aligned status, but they'll move more and more in partnership with the United States
04:49and the other market democracies as we move forward.
04:52And just for the record, Mr. Chairman, I really hope that we do increase our footprint on the Korean Peninsula
04:57and in Okinawa.
04:58I think it's strategically important and vital, and I yield back.