WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Senior-level leaders of the joint force have testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. border enforcement operations and a new domestic missile defense program, proposed by President Donald Trump.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James J. Mingus said troop readiness is taken into account more now than it was during the previous border deployment.
'The lessons we learned from 2019 is the troop-to-task was one for one . and so there was no time [for service members] to come offline to continue to train and do their mission,' Mingus said while testifying on Capitol Hill.
'[Now], we're going to make sure that the troop-to-task allows for rotations, so that the degradation in readiness is not as substantial as what we saw in 2019,' he explained.
On the topic of missile defense, senior leaders were asked about the feasibility of building the 'Golden Dome' missile defense shield that the President asked lawmakers to appropriate funds for during his joint address to Congress last week.
'It is a very bold vision that's going to have a lot of complexity to it,' said Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, vice chief of space operations.
Guetlein added the project would be of such magnitude that he finds it comparable to the World War II-era Manhattan Project.
Despite the scale of development and level of cooperation between government, the defense industrial base, allies and other stakeholders that would be required to bring the 'Golden Dome' online, senior leaders are optimistic of the project's success, the Pentagon said in a press release.
'In 2008, we shot down a satellite that was deorbiting and full of fuel in six weeks. The whole-of-government got together with agencies, the science community and industry; and we made it happen,' said Navy Adm. James W. Kilby, vice chief of naval operations.
'So, we can do this. We just need to do the things that were outlined . provide clear lines of [command and control] . solid, consistent budgeting, and I'm convinced that we can deliver,' he told the committee.
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