00:00Senator Sutherland. Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Lohmeyer,
00:07the role of Undersecretary of the Air Force is not a platform for ideology or
00:17grievance. It's a demanding leadership position that's responsible for overseeing a budget,
00:23personnel, institutional integrity. It requires a strategic vision and really importantly managerial
00:33experience. That is to say hands-on experience managing a major organization. I'm at a loss to
00:47see what in your background qualifies you to lead or actually run the Air Force when you've never
00:59led an organization that approaches this one at anything like the scale and scope of what
01:06you would be expected to do if you're confirmed.
01:10Senator, thanks for the opportunity to address that. As I mentioned in my opening statement,
01:19I've spent time in both the Air Force and the Space Force. I was trusted to be an aircraft commander
01:26on the $50 million F-15C air-to-air superiority fighter and then later was placed in command
01:31of our $18 billion space-based architecture a decade ago. In fact, that was my first foray
01:38into working with program managers, acquisition experts, budget...
01:40What is the largest number of people under your direct responsibility that you...
01:47Senator, at the time that I finished my career, I was a squadron commander and we had just over
01:53100 people in our unit.
01:55A hundred?
01:56That's right.
01:58And how many will you be responsible for if you're confirmed?
02:01The Department of the Air Force is approximately 700,000 active duty guard and reserve and civilian
02:08personnel.
02:09So, a hundred versus 700,000. How long were you in charge of that squadron?
02:14I was a squadron commander for one year, Senator.
02:17One year? Is that the standard length of time?
02:21It is not.
02:22Why was it shorter?
02:25Senator, it was cut short when I was relieved of my command for publishing a book that's been
02:31mentioned in this hearing that was advocating for a return to an apolitical military workplace
02:36instead of dividing troops along political ideological lines.
02:40So, this is very strikingly reminiscent of what we've heard before in these confirmation hearings,
02:48seemingly for the Secretary of Defense, who also, in effect, was relieved of his responsibility
02:59when he was running a veterans organization and, in effect, ran it into the ground, which should
03:08have been a warning for all of us, as it was for me and others on the committee, about lack
03:16of managerial experience being potentially a really grave pitfall.
03:21And I'm very fearful that we're going to see the same in others in the Department of Defense.
03:31There's no room for managerial misguidance or mistakes.
03:41Again, let me ask you, what, in your experience, qualifies you for this job?
03:46I agree with you and share your concern.
03:48We have no room at this critical time with the threats that we face for our service secretaries
03:55and our undersecretaries to mismanage, to break the law, to not take the priorities of
04:02an administration seriously.
04:05And, in fact, we need real leaders in place to make hard decisions about budgets and acquisition
04:10processes, major defense programs.
04:12We need them to make hard decisions about the nuclear modernization efforts that we have
04:17underway.
04:18And if confirmed, I'll take that very seriously.
04:20I'm a fast learner and I'll surround myself with experts, including Dr. Mink, if he's confirmed,
04:24to try and solve those problems for the Department of Defense.
04:26Would you use signal?
04:29I do use signal, Senator.
04:30Senator, to talk to others in the Department of Defense or the National Security Establishment
04:39about the plans for pilots in the Air Force to do military missions?
04:48Senator, one of the things I've become quite good at over my 15-and-a-half-year career in
04:53the Air Force and Space Force is understanding very well that there are sensitive and classified
04:57materials that should only be discussed in appropriate platforms, and we have appropriate
05:02platforms and media for those communications.
05:05So the answer is no?
05:06Signal is an unclassified messaging app, just like other apps, although it's end-to-end encrypted.
05:11And so, if confirmed, that's something you need to take very seriously in those roles.
05:15Yes, Senator?
05:16Is your answer no?
05:18My answer is that I will use...
05:20Would not use signal?
05:21I will abide by the law, and I will make sure that any sensitive or classified communications
05:26are accomplished on the appropriate mediums.
05:28But this is a yes or no answer.
05:31You would not use signal, I assume, from your answer.
05:34Yes or no?
05:35I will use signal for private discussions that are unclassified with friends or colleagues,
05:40as I always have.
05:41So you would not use it to discuss missions that pilots in the Air Force...
05:46You're going to be undersecretary of the Air Force if you're confirmed.
05:50Easy commitment, Senator.
05:51Would be flying in hostile territory, such as those pilots were, when the Secretary of
05:57Defense used signal on two occasions to communicate about those highly sensitive, confidential,
06:04potentially dangerous missions, putting pilots at risk.
06:07You wouldn't do it, correct?
06:08Senator, you have my commitment.
06:10I will not use signal to discuss those things.
06:13Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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