The micro air vehicle program provides a vertical take-off and landing UAV in the Class I category and is focused to support squad and platoon level units. The organic air is vehicle focused on platoon and company level units for the Class II requirement.

[CLERK'S NOTE.-End of questions submitted by Mr. Bonilla. Questions submitted by Mr. Frelinghuysen and the answers thereto follow:]

M855 "GREEN TIP" AMMUNITION

Question. In a recent visit to U.S. soldiers injured in combat overseas, I learned of an issue of concern to U.S. Special Operations forces in Afghanistan. Results of testing conducted at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey show that the 5.56mm M855 62-grain green tip projectile "over-penetrates" and does not effectively incapacitate the enemy at close range. Please comment on this concern.

Answer. After action reports from Afghanistan state that the M855 5.56mm, 62grain green tip bullet does not immediately incapacitate or kill an unprotected enemy at close range.

The projectile in the M855 cartridge was designed for superior penetration in hard and semi-hard targets, i.e., helmets and body armor, and targets at medium to long ranges. Its full metal jacketed, steel-tipped design is not the most efficient close quarters battle projectile.

The Army is investigating an improved close quarters projectile to be used strictly by Special Operations units in the war against terrorism. The Army is reviewing cartridges currently used by law enforcement agencies and conducting ballistic tests to determine the best 5.56mm close quarters projectile. In the near term, Special Operations Command has procured a commercial cartridge with a 77-grain projectile that has more mass to impart on the target and should improve the situation in Afghanistan.

[CLERK'S NOTE.-End of questions submitted by Mr. Frelinghuysen. Questions submitted by Mr. Lewis and the answers thereto follow:]

FISCAL YEAR 2003 SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

Question. The global war on terrorism operations, ranging from the protective air cap in the homeland, to the Philippines, to Afghanistan, and operations in the Iraq area have placed enormous strains on your operating accounts. The Army reports that it has borrowed against both the third and fourth quarter funding for fiscal year 2003 to continue operations.

Secretary White, when do you expect that the Congress will receive a supplemental funding request?

Answer. We are optimistic that the President's request will be submitted in order for Congress to consider it before the Spring recess.

Question. Will we see one request, or more than one?

Answer. Based on current planning assumptions, we understand there will be one Department of Defense request.

Question. Please describe the costs that will be covered in the supplemental request. Will the estimated cost of war be covered?

Answer. We anticipate the Defense supplemental request will cover incremental costs for mobilized Reserve Component personnel and other military personnel costs, projected military operations, transportation, reconstitution, replenishment of munitions and equipment, and preparatory actions for military operations. The supplemental is intended to cover the cost of the war, based on current planning assumptions, with the exception of long-term reconstitution and recapitalization, which we cannot predict at this time.

Question. Will redeployment of our forces back to their home stations be covered? Answer. Yes, the Army's request will include a component for returning the forces to their home stations. Total redeployment costs will be based on the actual return dates and cannot be estimated at this time. Not all redeployment costs will incur in fiscal year 2003.

Question. Will reconstitution costs be covered?

Answer. The Defense request will include a component for reconstitution. However, we cannot predict definitive and total reconstitution requirements at this time. Question. Are funds included for post-war assistance to rebuild Iraq?

Answer. It is our understanding that the President's request will include funds for post-war assistance to Iraq.

ARMY PERSONNEL ISSUES

Question. Please explain your active duty military personnel end strength levels to the Committee. What was the number of personnel on board in October when you started fiscal year 2003? Was that number over the authorized end strength level for the Army?

Answer. Fiscal year 2002 Active Army end strength, which approximates the starting strength for October 2002, was 486,543, which included 2,200 stop-loss personnel. This exceeded the authorized strength of 480,000 by 6,543. To meet current contingencies, end strength has continued to increase through fiscal year 2003. The projected fiscal year 2003 Active Army end strength is 508,800, including 20,600 stop-loss personnel. This will be 28,800 over the authorized strength of 480,000.

Question. Did the increase of personnel include those under a stop-loss action? Did it include any mobilized Reservists? If so, what were those numbers?

Answer. Stop-loss has significantly contributed to the increase in Active Army end strength. Since the end of fiscal year 2002, the Active Army end strength has grown by 22,200. Stop-loss accounts for approximately 18,400 of this Active Army end strength growth. This estimate does not include mobilized Reservists

Question. To date, what is the number of Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers currently on active duty in support of the mobilization?

Answer. The total number of National Guard and Reserve soldiers on active duty to support the mobilization is 130,101. This includes 68,424 Army National Guard; 59,049 Army Reserve; 1,935 Individual Mobilization Augmentees; and 693 Individual Ready Reserve.

Question. What is the Army's current mobilization cap?

Answer. The Army's current mobilization cap is 168,003.

Question. What stop-loss action is currently in effect, and how many military personnel are affected by that?

Answer. The global war on terrorism and, operations in Iraq have required the Army to use limited stop-loss. The estimated fiscal year 2003 stop-loss end strength is 20,600, which includes a military occupational specialty stop-loss of 3,800 and an operational unit stop-loss of 16,800.

Question. Can you estimate what your end strength level will be in September 2003, the end of this fiscal year, and starting fiscal year 2004? What level of end strength is funded in the budget request for fiscal year 2004?

Answer. The current fiscal year 2003 Active Army end strength projection is 508,800, which includes an estimated stop-loss strength of 20,600 to support the global war on terrorism and operations in Iraq. The budgeted fiscal year 2004 end strength and average manyear strength are both 480,000. Average strength equates to personnel cost. The projected fiscal year 2004 Active Army end strength is 485,600 and, due to the high fiscal year 2004 starting strength, the projected fiscal year 2004 average manyear strength is 492,200. The projected fiscal year 2004 Active Army strength estimates assume that stop-loss is lifted at the end of fiscal year 2003 and that the Army accesses 72,500 personnel in fiscal year 2004 to maintain future force readiness.

Question. Currently, what is the monthly "burn rate" for your personnel costs? Answer. The burn rate for active duty military personnel costs, to include those for soldiers mobilized in support of the global war on terrorism, is expected to average $3.0 billion per month, from March through September 2003.

Question. When do you anticipate the military personnel accounts will run out of money? Are you using your third or fourth quarter funds now?

Answer. The Army is using third and fourth quarter military personnel funding now. Without supplemental funding, the Army will run out of Military Personnel, Army funding in June 2003.

Question. Are you considering implementing the authorities of the "Feed and Forage Act"?

Answer. Without timely and sufficient supplemental funding, the Army would have to consider implementing the authorities of the "Feed and Forage Act."

Question. What is the amount of supplemental funding you will need for military pay and allowances through the end of this fiscal year?

Answer. We are currently working with the DoD Comptroller to refine our military pay and allowances requirements based on revised operational planning assumptions.

JOINT EXPERIMENTATION AND TRANSFORMATION

Question. In the fall of 2000, the Chief of Staff of the Army announced a farreaching initiative to transform the Army's combat units and the systems that the Army would field to support those units. The effort continues along several lines including formation of the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs) and the associated variants of Stryker, and an aggressive effort to develop and field the Future Combat Systems.

General Shinseki, please comment on the progress the Army has made toward transforming itself over the past three years, and on those initiatives you feel are most important to maintaining the momentum for change.

Answer. With the unwavering support of the Administration and Congress, we have made great strides towards achieving our Army Vision of People, Readiness, and Transformation over the past three years.

Our people-soldiers, civilians, and their families-have risen to the challenges posed by our vision. For three consecutive years, the Army-Active, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard-has achieved its recruiting mission with quality recruits, who exceeded the Department of Defense (DoD) standard of 90 percent high school graduates. We have the lowest officer attrition rate in 15 years. Satisfaction indicators such as basic pay, retirements, and job satisfaction are at a 10-year high. We continue to meet our retention goals in all categories and components as we have every year since 1998. Our soldiers are seeing vast improvements in housing as a result of the Residential Communities Initiative. By the end of fiscal year 2005, the Army will have privatized over 71,000 homes, equaling 82 percent of the Army family housing inventory in the United States.

Our soldiers remain ready to meet the demands of an uncertain world and the war on terrorism. The Army has manned its warfighting units to 100 percent. We have maintained rotations of our battalions and brigades through our unmatched training centers and our battle command training program for both the Active and Reserve Component headquarters. The Army has played an active role in Joint experimentation in such exercises as Millennium Challenge 2002. The Army has created the Installation Management Agency to streamline the control of our installations and enhance their readiness. We continue to enhance leadership through the transformation of the officer education system at every echelon from the upcoming Basic Officer's Leader Course for newly commissioned officers up to the ongoing Army Strategic Leadership Program for general officers.

We have structured Army Transformation along three broad and mutually supporting vectors. We have laid the groundwork for developing the Objective Force: the Army Transformation Campaign Plan with supporting subordinate command plans; the operational and organizational plan for the Objective Force unit of action; and the operational requirements document for the Future Combat System (FCS) of systems. The Army has taken the lead in DoD's transformation of the acquisition process, in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to contract for a Lead Systems Integrator to accelerate the transition of FCS to the system development and demonstration phase following the Milestone B decision in May. In just over three years from concept to execution, we developed a medium capability-the Stryker Brigade Combat Team-to fill the operational gap between our heavy and light forces. Once certified following successful completion of the operational evaluation, our first SBCT will achieve its initial operating capability providing a capability to the combatant commanders with a responsive force that can deploy where access is limited.

Our second SBCT will act as the test unit for the Stryker's initial operational test and evaluation this year and will achieve its certification in May 2004. The third SBCT will begin fielding new equipment this year while acting as the Army's test bed for a hybrid unit-manning concept. It will achieve its certification in May 2005. Funding for our fifth and sixth SBCTs remains on hold until we complete a study required by DoD that will examine possible enhancements to the SBCT force struc

ture.

While our Legacy Force is presently engaged in fighting the war on terrorism, we have accelerated the insertion of transformational technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and blue force tracking to enhance the combat power and situational awareness of our deployed forces. We are proud of our efforts within these three vectors of Army Transformation.

Obviously the Army cannot rest on its laurels, we must continue our efforts to attain irreversible momentum for transforming the Army as part of the Joint force. On the materiel side, we must continue to fund the FCS and other transformational systems, such as the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical System, Medium Extended Air Defense System, the Joint Tactical Radio System, and the Army Air

borne Command and Control System that will enable Objective Force. We must continue our efforts in the area of aviation modernization: to field the Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter; to upgrade our Apache Longbow aircraft, and Chinook heavy lift aircraft in both Army and Special Operations variants; and to continue the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. We must field all six of our Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. We need to support our efforts to achieve Reserve Component transformation through actions such as the Army National Guard Restructuring Initiative. We must support initiatives that allow us to achieve the best mix of force structure within the Active and Reserve Components and allow us to develop a continuum of service. We must continue our efforts to support our soldiers, civilians, families and retirees through efforts such as the Residential Communities Initiative and barracks revitalization. In addition, we require transformed business practices, which achieve the best value for the taxpayer's dollars, conserve limited resources for investment, enhance the management of our personnel, installations, and contracting, and accelerate innovation throughout the force. With your continued support for our efforts, we will fully realize the Army Vision-People, Readiness, and Transformation.

Question. Please explain the Army's experimentation plan, and how it supports both Army Transformation and Joint Forces Command's initiatives in the Joint

arena.

Answer. The Army developed its Transformation Concept Development and Experimentation Campaign Plan (AT-CDEP) to integrate and synchronize Army experimentation to support Objective Force development, integrate Army concept development and experimentation, and shape and support Joint concept development and experimentation. The AT-CDEP's four components-exploratory concept development and experimentation (CD&E); developmental CD&E; Service/Joint engagement; and annual integrating experiments-provide the respective focus areas for innovative and aggressive experimentation, Objective Force development, integrating and linking Army and Joint experimentation and ensuring Objective Force networked system of systems are fully integrated within the Army and within a Joint context. This plan and its processes fully support DOD's transformational pillars to strengthen Joint operations, experiment with new approaches to warfare, exploit intelligence advantages, and develop transformational capabilities. The Army reviews and updates the AT-CDEP annually to integrate, synchronize, and prioritize Army experimentation with Joint experimentation through ongoing collaboration and long-range planning. The recent decision by the Army and Joint Forces Command to co-sponsor the upcoming Army Transformation Wargame as a fully joint wargame (Unified Quest 03) is an excellent example of this collaboration and integration. We see this trend continuing as Army Transformation becomes fully embedded within Joint transformation.

REDEPLOYMENT OF ARMY FORCES FROM EUROPE

Question. Given that the Department of Defense is studying the possibility of adjusting force levels in Europe, does it also make sense to study possibly redeploying European-based forces, now deployed to Southwest Asia, back to the continental United States (CONUS) locations after operations in Southwest Asia are complete? Answer. The Secretary of the Army has directed the Army Staff to conduct an extensive review of Army strategic posture looking out over the next ten years. The intent is to ensure that the Army is able to meet all the requirements of the combatant commanders and is well positioned to seamlessly transform to the Objective Force. Concurrently, the Secretary of Defense has directed that his staff, the Joint Staff, and the combatant commanders review future posture and overseas basing. The Army is working in coordination with these efforts to ensure the synchronization necessary to meet the Army's responsibilities for flexible power projection and sustained land dominance as part of the Joint Force. The Army will continue to work closely with the combatant commanders, the Joint Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to ensure we have the appropriate posture and force structure to meet both the current strategic requirements and the many future challenges to our national security.

SOLDIER SUPPORT EQUIPMENT

Question. General Shinseki, please define by type of equipment and the unit requirements for soldier support equipment such as body armor, ballistic plates, basic communications equipment, basic navigation equipment, cold weather clothing and related items.

Answer. The Army is dedicated to reducing the weight our soldiers have to carry. Our benchmark soldier-the Infantryman-currently carries a standard basic load

of 77 pounds; the heaviest load soldiers carry on the battlefield. The Army leadership directed an objective reduction in that overall weight to 40 pounds. The Army's Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) best illustrates our efforts to transform and provide improved, reduced-weight soldier support equipment. Program Executive OfficeSoldier (PEO-Soldier) provided much of this equipment to units in current oper

ations.

This equipment express includes advanced environmental protection, individual protection, lethality enhancements, leader systems and specific equipment for military operations in urban terrain (MOUT). The soldier environmental protection equipment includes a new cold weather cap, silk weight underwear, Coolmax Tshirts, black fleece bibs, Smartwool socks, and improved desert boots. Individual protective equipment enhancements include the Advanced Combat Helmet, sand/ wind/dust goggles, Interceptor Body Armor, and knee and elbow pads. New lethality enhancements include improved close combat optics, target acquisition scopes, machine-gun optics for the squad automatic machine gun, rail kits for light and medium weight machine guns, and new M4/M16 rifle magazines. Advanced leader systems include the multi-band, inter-squad, tactical radio; mini-global positioning system; small binoculars; and cutting edge laser target designators. MOUT equipment advances embrace new assault ladders, grappling hooks, quickie saws, door rams, and entry tools.

Question. General Shinseki, please tell us what the Army is learning about soldier's equipment as we prosecute the global war on terrorism in disparate, challenging environments, like Afghanistan, and as we prepare for a possible conflict with Iraq. In your response please address such items as body armor, hydration systems, boots, undergarments, weapons optics and enhancements, communications gear, and night vision devices.

Answer. The primary lesson learned from our soldiers who had served in Afghanistan was that soldiers and units required items of field equipment, which they had not received through normal supply procedures. In many cases, soldiers were buying items with their personal funds. These shortages represent the highest-priority, Army-wide soldier equipment shortages. Based on these lessons learned, the Army senior leadership directed PEO-Soldier to initiate the RFI. The aforementioned items are being procured as a result of the RFI.

Question. Are there new or contingency item fielding plans? If so, who is receiving this equipment and what are the timelines? Will Guard and Reserve soldiers get this equipment?

Answer. Recognizing that both funding and commercial production rates for equipment would limit the scope of RFI, and based on Army guidance to focus on the "soldier who sleeps on the ground and walks a patrol," we decided that RFI would focus strictly on the deployable Brigade Combat Teams (BCT). This puts the equipment into the hands of the infantry battalions, engineer, squads, medics, artillery forward observers, air defense teams, and military police that are at the very sharpest point of the spear.

In fiscal year 2003, the RFI provided equipment to units in current operations. To institutionalize and continue the RFI, we have identified the requirement to resource nine BCTs in fiscal year 2004—a requirement which is currently unfunded. The Army is competing funds in the Program Objective Memorandum for RFI to continue at a rate of nine BCTs per year. At that rate, each BCT will be revisited approximately every fourth year. This accomplishes one of the significant goals of RFI to get newer, better, commercially available equipment into the hands of our troops as quickly as possible. This will allow the Army to field to each BCT new equipment that capitalizes on the rapid advances in the commercial sector. A new cutting-edge technology weapon sight, a small lighter hand-held GPS, and improved cold-weather gear are just a few examples of the types of equipment that develop and improve rapidly in the commercial sector. The Army's plan is to field all Active and some Reserve Component units in the first round of RFI.

Question. The Committee has heard reports of deploying soldiers paying for soldier support equipment (boots, some clothing items, gloves, etc.) out of their own pockets. How widespread is this, and does the Army have a plan to address this? Answer. While the Army cannot track every individual expenditure, personnel in some units have spent their own funds to buy private equipment ranging from socks to commercial GPS units. Lessons learned following combat operations in Afghanistan in 2002 validated this fact prompting the Army to direct PEO-Soldier to initiate the RFI.

PEO-Soldier assessed what items soldiers were procuring and what was currently not in the Army supply system. These were mainly commercial items, newly available on the market, which had not been previously considered for procurement or fielding by the Army. PEO-Soldier conducted follow-up visits with soldiers and lead