Defense Command and the U.S. Space Command, which I feel makes him a perfect candidate to be the first Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Herres has indicated that as the Vice Chairman of the JCS he will insist on close scrutiny of Pentagon programs in their initial phases before these programs get out of hand. This statement by General Herres is applauded by this Senator and I wish him well in his new assignment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman NUNN. General, would you like to make a statement, and then we will have a few questions for you. We may get called over to the floor on a vote in the near future, but why don't you give us any statement that you would like to make. [The nomination reference of Gen. Robert T. Herres follows:] NOMINATION REFERENCE AS IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, Ordered, that the following nomination be referred to the Committee on Armed Services: The following named officer under the provisions of Title 10, United States Code, Section 154, to be Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: To be Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Robert T. Herres, United States Air Force. [The biographical sketch of Gen. Robert T. Herres, which was transmitted to the committee at the time the nomination was referred, follows:] BIOGRAPHICAL Sketch of Gen. ROBERT T. HERRES, U.S. AIR FORCE General Robert T. Herres is Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command, and the United States Space Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. General Herres was born Dec. 1, 1932, in Denver where he attended East High School. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1954, holds master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Public Administration from the Air Force Institute of Technology and the George Washington University, and has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is also a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. General Herres began his flying career in fighter-interceptors, was graduated from the Aerospace Research Pilot School, served as chief of the Flight Crew Division with the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program, and later moved into bomber and aerial refueling aircraft operations in the Strategic Air Command. General Herres has also performed duties as an intelligence analyst, in system development and acquisition, and in communications operations; has commanded a B-52 bomb wing, an air refueling wing, the Air Force Communications Command and Strategic Air Command's Eighth Air Force. As Commander of the Air Force Communications Command, he was responsible for the development, installation and worldwide operation of all Air Force communications, ground radars and air traffic control services. As Commander of the Eighth Air Force, General Herres commanded a significant portion of our Nation's nuclear deterrent-to include B-52s, FB-111s, aerial refueling tanker aircraft, and Minuteman and Titan missiles. Prior to assuming his present duties, he served as Director for Command, Control and Communications Systems in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Herres now serves as Commander in Chief of the bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command and as the first Commander in Chief of the United States Space Command. In these capacities, he is responsible for the aerospace defense of North America, and for ensuring that military space systems adequately support national command authorities and U.S. forces worldwide. General Herres is a command pilot, and is qualified for the senior missile, air traffic controller and space badges. His military decorations and awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit. General Herres is married to the former Shirley Jean Sneckner of San Antonio, Texas. They have three children: Julie, Michael and Jennifer. STATEMENT OF GEN. ROBERT T. HERRES, U.S. AIR FORCE, NOMINATED TO SERVE AS VICE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF General HERRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to say a few words. In anticipation of your interests, I have prepared some preliminary remarks to offer in lieu of a formal statement. While I view the new position of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff created by the Goldwater-Nichols Act as an important position, it is a position I would not have actively sought. I say this for two reasons. First and most important is that my duties as Commander in Chief of North American Aerospace Command and Commander in Chief of the United States Space Command occupy my full attention and interest. I was honored to have been given the responsibility to bring into existence the new Unified Space Command. I was also gratified to be able to serve our binational North American Alliance with Canada as the Commander in Chief of NORAD. My expectation was, of course, that I would continue to serve in these roles until such time as I left active service, and I had in mind a very full and important agenda for the remaining 21⁄2 years before my mandatory retirement. The second reason is that I harbor no illusions whatsoever about the challenging difficulties of discharging the duties the first Vice Chairman will entail. The new law represents a change in the way our country organizes its senior military leadership. While some see such change as promoting growth or improvement, there are always others who tend to see it merely as creating turbulence or trauma. However this new post is viewed, it must be seen as a formidable challenge, and I think you have already emphasized that very well, Mr. Chairman. Nonetheless, I consider creation of the Vice Chairman position as a necessary and important step in the evolution of our defense structure with the changing times, and I am deeply honored to have been nominated to you for that office. I expect that you might be interested in knowing why I feel this position is so important. All of my military experience-particularly the time I have spent on the Air Staff and the Joint Staff, as well as the time as Commander in Chief-has led me to conclude that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff needs help. I testified to this belief before the Nichols subcommittee last year. Among other things, the Chairman is responsible for advising the Secretary and the President on a broad range of military activities, as you all know very well, from requirements definition and development all the way to deployment of military forces. In the past few years, it seems to me it has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for the Chairman to discharge his diverse responsibilities by himself. The new law not only expands the responsibility of the Chairman and his opportunities to influence defense policy and decisions, but it also helps him discharge those increasing obligations in two significant ways. First, it makes the Joint Staff subordinate to the single direction of the Chairman. This provides him with his own staff and the authority to direct that staff. Second, the law creates the position of the Vice Chairman to function as a helper, an alter ego of sorts, and a senior person with sufficient stature that the presence of the Chairman's office can be helped through representation and participation in many forms that cannot be reached by him in person. While quite specific in some instances, the new law wisely provides flexibility regarding the specific roles and responsibilities of the Vice Chairman. I think to have specified otherwise would have been to erode the authority of the Chairman and limit his capacity to adapt roles to the combined strengths and experiences of the Chairman and his Vice. Each of us, I suspect, will bring different combinations of the various necessary ingredients to the office and there will be different approaches with each combination that can make it possible for them to be complementary. Thus, aside from the specific responsiblity as a stand-in for the Chairman in his absence, my principal role should be, I believe, to help the Chairman simply by picking up the reins where he judges my services will be the most helpful. If I can do that well, there is no doubt in my mind that the purposes for creating this position in the law will have been well-served; that is, a greater facility for jointness in the operational employment of our military forces will be achieved. While all of this takes place, the role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff continues, in my view, to bear an importance that must not diminish or suffer emasculation. Among the many key roles they play in the corporate body, each of the Chiefs constitutes a unique link between the force structuring and resource management chain of command of his service department and the Secretary's operational chain to the combatant commanders of the unified and specified commands. That, too, is a process that begs facilitation and is certainly recognized as an important role for the Chairman; the presence of a Vice Chairman and the continuity he can provide should catalyze that process. Again, I consider myself singularly honored to come before you as the President's first nominee for this unique role. I expect that as my duties begin to jell, somewhere among them will occur opportunities to appear before you on behalf of the Chairman to deal with issues of interest. I look forward to working with you as we collectively strive to provide the force structure and the operational capabilities that are the basic ingredients of our nation's security in this turbulent world. I am now prepared to address your questions, Mr. Chairman. Chairman NUNN. Thank you very much. I think your statement captured the intent of the legislation, as far as your job is concerned, very well. General, Title 10 requires that the officer appointed as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, specifically the Vice Chairman, must have the joint specialty and must have served in at least one joint assignment as a general or flag officer. Could you give us a rundown of your joint experience? General HERRES. Well, my very first job was as a young captain in the U.S. European Command, but that was a long time ago and I am not sure that qualifies under the intent of the law. My job before becoming the Commander in Chief in Colorado Springs was Director of Command, Control and Communications Systems in the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so I did serve the Joint Staff for about 20 months before going to Colorado Springs. And, of course, I have been wearing a purple suit in Colorado Springs as Commander in Chief of NORAD and then with the formation of the U.S. Space Command, as Commander in Chief of the Unified Command, so altogether I guess that is nearly 5 years. Chairman NUNN. So the President did not have to exercise his authority to waive this requirement. General HERRES. No, sir. Chairman NUNN. You mentioned that one of your main functions, in addition to presiding, of course, when the Chairman is out of town or unavailable, is to perform the duties assigned to you by the Chairman. And that was our intent, to leave it very flexible. Have you and Admiral Crowe had a chance to talk and do you have any idea at this stage what your duties will be? General HERRES. There are a number of things that I think are beginning to form in Admiral Crowe's mind. We have not had an opportunity to discuss them specifically. Although I have seen them written down, we have not had an opportunity to discuss what he might want to say to amplify his thoughts on the matter. But one of the key roles, I am sure, will be involvement with what is now the Joint Requirements and Management Board, formerly the DSARC, which I guess-the whole structure-is being looked at again, or at least its titles. But that forum in the OSD requires representation from the Chairman and I understand that one of the roles that I will play will be to represent the Chairman in that forum. There is another body I am sure you are familiar with, which was originally called the Joint Requirements and Management Board, and now is the Joint Requirements Oversight Council. There has been participation by the Joint Staff in that forum. It came about because of a recommendation that was made by the Defense Science Board several years ago. I happened to be on the Joint Staff at the time. It is a group comprised of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and previously the Joint Staff has been represented by its Director, and the chairmanship rotated. I understand that now the approach will be to have the Vice Chairman chair that group. It could be, I think, a fairly significant activity and, in fact, is what the Defense Science Board hoped for when it made its recommendations. I think it is possible, as I mentioned to the Nichols subcommittee last year, that the establishment of a Vice Chairman's position can facilitate that process. I think there will be a role in the oversight of the defense agencies. I kind of interpret the law to suggest that there should be some of that. Now, obviously, some of the defense agencies are supervised not by the joint side of the DOD or by the military side, but by the OSD. There will probably be a role to play there. I am sure that the professional military education program-the joint professional military education program will demand some of my attention as well. Chairman NUNN. I assume you are going to have a great deal of flexibility, in that there will be from time to time a lot of ad hoc assignments, will there not? General HERRES. I would think so. Yes, sir. And, as I say, I have not talked over any of these duties specifically with the Chairman. We were kind of waiting till I got to town. I have plenty to do wrapping things up in Colorado Springs. To be very honest with you, I have been concentrating on that. Chairman NUNN. I guess most top officers in the whole military structure have Vice Chiefs, do they not? Doesn't the Air Force have a Vice Chief? General HERRES. Yes, sir. Each of the service Chiefs has a Vice. Chairman NUNN. If you are going to be able to adequately preside over the Chiefs when the Chairman is unavailable, out of town, out of communication, so forth, does not that at least imply that you are going to have to be able to step into his shoes, and, therefore, you are going to have to know an awful lot about what he himself is doing? General HERRES. Yes, sir. Absolutely. Chairman NUNN. Would you like to describe the role of a Vice Chief normally, and how it operates in that respect? General HERRES. Well, I think it varies a little bit from job to job, because others that I might compare this job with are not quite so specific. I think in that context, the law is very specific about how the Chairman will act or the Vice Chairman will act in behalf of the Chairman. For example, I have a Deputy Commander in Chief on the NORAD staff and a Deputy Commander in Chief on my U.S. Space Command staff. Each assumes command when I am unable to carry out the command responsibilities. The role that each plays in the development of policy and command positions on issues, varies somewhat, and I think that changes with personalities, with individual commanders and the personalities of the individuals involved. A Deputy's position is one that lies squarely in the chain of command in a field organization, so that contact with the staff normally takes place through the Deputy and all correspondence and all issues go through the Deputy to the Commander in Chief. Such will probably not be the case here. However, I think it will be incumbent upon me to stay abreast of the issues so that in fact, as you say, I will be able to stand in for the Chairman in his ab sence. The important thing in that regard—and I hope this captures the thrust of your question-is for me to understand the Chairman's views in his position and how the position is developed and the arguments that underpin that position so that I can adequately represent his positions and views in his absence-not only in the forum of the JCS, but also with the Secretary and the OSD and also over here on the Hill. Chairman NUNN. Thank you. |