Air Force secretary nominee Deborah Lee James told the Senate Armed Services Committee that budget cuts have caused a readiness hole for the service and also exacerbated some “fences to be mended” between the active and reserve component, but she said she looked forward to fixing those problems if confirmed as the next secretary.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) asked about the Air Force’s Total Force Posture (TFP), which generated some disagreement about the roles of the active component, reservists and National Guard units. James acknowledged the tension and said that budget cuts would continue the components vying for resources.
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| Deborah Lee James. photo courtesy Defense Department |
But she said she was friends with several commissioners charged with reviewing the TFP, and she promised, “I would like to think a hallmark of what I will bring to the table is very close consultations with all the components, talking to adjutants general, talking to members of Congress and trying to come up with a proposal which will basically meet the country’s needs as well as the states’ needs.”
James is familiar with the guard and reserve, as she served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs from 1993 to 1998, among other positions she held in 17 years of government service. She then left the government for private business, most recently serving as the president of Science Applications International Corporation‘s [SAIC] technical and engineering sector.
As part of the push to spend money wisely and preserve active and reserve capabilities to whatever extent possible, James threw her support behind another round of Base Realignment and Closure, which the Senate committee has already made clear it does not support. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) asked about the Air Force’s overseas bases, and James replied that the Air Force determined about 20 to 24 percent of its property worldwide is excess.
“The overseas piece is important, and that part is getting a big scrub at this point,” James said. “But I do believe it’s part and parcel of our being able to reduce overhead functions, consolidate facilities, free up money so we can plow that money back into other resources over time,” a process she said must include both overseas and domestic bases.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) asked about Air Force modernization efforts, primarily the service’s top three priorities: Joint Strike Fighter, the tanker and the long-range bomber.
“Based on the strategy we are pursuing, based on the thrust of the rebalance to the Pacific,” James said she believes those priorities make sense for the Air Force and would do her best to keep them on track despite budget cuts.