The nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate panel the U.S. lagged in deploying new technology in part due to dated acquisition rules but stopped short of advocating for a wholesale rewrite of how the Pentagon buys material.
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, 56, said the current processes of weighing requirements and developing new systems and technologies were too slow.
“The solution is probably somewhere in the middle. I don’t know that we need to tear the whole thing down. I definitely agree that we need to improve the speed and agility of our requirements process,” Caine told SASC chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), during the hearing.
“Technology is evolving so fast, our requirements process does not evolve at the same time, and we’ve got to have our combatant commander’s voice in the requirements process. The one area that I think we also need to do is to keep a global picture on those requirement process. No two combatant commands have the same requirements, and only the Joint Staff has the global view on those requirements, along with the [Office of the Secretary of Defense].”
In a later response to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Caine said there needed to be a broad balance between existing major defense contractors and smaller startups.
“We’ve got to have everyone weighing in, small businesses, new entrants and even the primes, the ability to bring advanced technologies from new companies, startups into the joint force and make it easier for them to bring their products and services into the military,” he said.
“[It’s] something that I’m passionate about.”
He told the panel there was urgency related to Pentagon’s budget.
“It comes down to ultimately finding more deployable or allocatable capital, and there’s really three ways to do that,” he said.
“We can find greater efficiencies in the budget through cost savings, we can reprogram from different programs, or we can get a higher top line. I think of it in terms of a business model where we get more revenue.”
Wicker has called for a major increase in defense spending across the board as part of the proposed “Peace Through Strength,” agenda he released last Spring.
Specific to the Navy, Caine said he was committed to an expanded Navy, in a response to Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
“We’ve got to up our game. I’m encouraged by the [secretary of the Navy’s] focus on this,” Caine said.
“We’ve got to get to our congressionally mandated number of 355 ships as soon as possible, which includes our ability to sustain them and repair them around the world… We’ve got real limits right now.”
In response to a question on nuclear submarine programs from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Caine said the Columbia-class ballistic nuclear submarine program, “needs to continue forward at a pace and tempo equal to the threat.”
Additionally, Caine supported the development of the Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCMN).
“Having an additional option is a key and essential component to our overall deterrence, and that’s where SLCMN command fits into the into the equation,” he said.
Caine is a 1990 Virginia Military Institute graduate who began his career as an Air National Guard F-16 fighter pilot with parallel stints in private business. On Sept. 11, 2001, he flew a combat air patrol over Washington, D.C., following the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Caine was part of an international group searching for Iraqi ballistic missiles.
“The Scud hunt in 2003 [is]where I had the opportunity to work very closely with our British and Australian allies, which is absolutely a coalition effort from day one. We went to war alongside them and I’ve thankfully sustained all of those relationships. Now, I have deep relationships with our closest allies, and if confirmed, look forward to continuing those,” he said.
Several times in the hearing, he emphasized the importance of U.S. allies.
“Allies and partners are a critical component to our ability to protect and defend our values and virtues around the world. NATO is a is a key component to that. The president’s been clear on his views of the importance of NATO, as has the secretary [of Defense],” he said in response to a question from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
“For me in particular, I value our allies and partners.”
Caine has deep experience with special operations forces, deploying to Iraq in 2008 to lead a SOF task force. In 2016, he served with Joint Special Operations Command and deployed to Iraq again. He retired from active service as the CIA’s Associate Director for Military Affairs last year.
After Gen. CQ Brown was removed from the chairman job in February, President Donald Trump nominated retired Caine for the top officer in the Pentagon. Trump cited his experience fighting ISIS as a key qualification for job in a social media post after his nomination.
During the hearing Caine emphasized several times that the military is an apolitical organization and denied claims he wore a “Make America Great Again” ballcap during a meeting with President Trump during Trump’s first term.
“For 34 years, I’ve upheld my oath of office and my commitment to my commission, and I have never worn any political merchandise,” he said in response to Wicker early in the hearing.
Later in the hearing, Caine said, “I went back and listened to those tapes, and I think the president was actually talking about somebody else.”
In a response to Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Caine said his goal was to keep politics out of the military.
“I think it starts with being a good example from the top and making sure that we are nonpartisan and apolitical and speaking the truth to power every day,” he said.
If confirmed, Caine will be recommissioned into service and will be promoted to a fourth star. While Title 10 of the U.S. Code requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have previously been a four-star service commander, combatant commander or the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs, the president can waive the requirements if he deems it to be in the “national interest.”
