00:00Gentlemen, thank you for your lifetime of service to our nation, and thanks to
00:06your family for putting up with your lifetime of service, and to some members
00:09of your family who are also wearing the uniform. We appreciate what you've done
00:13for our country. Congratulations on your nominations as well. I apologize. I had
00:17to step out for a few other commitments, and I can't get back and be here for
00:24fewer than two minutes without hearing the Democrats talk about illegal orders,
00:28which has been much in the news as of late. So I asked General Gio, Gio, Northcom
00:39commander, I'm not quite sure how it's pronounced, but that's the Arkansas
00:43pronunciation, whatever it is, if in his vast and storied career he had ever
00:47received an illegal order, and he said no. So General Donovan, I would like to ask you,
00:53have you ever received an illegal order? No, Senator. And you're a pretty high-speed
01:00Marine, as I understand it. You've been out on
01:04the front a lot in your lifetime. So from the time you were Lieutenant Donovan to
01:10the time now where you've got three stars and you're about to add a fourth, no one
01:15has ever given you an illegal order. No, Senator. General Rudd, you're a pretty high-speed soldier.
01:26I see a lot of impressive badges on your uniform. I think it's jump master, military free-fall
01:39jump master, more commonly known as halo. I think I even see scuba, very rare in the army, a ranger tab,
01:50a combat infantryman badge. In all of your vast military experience, have you ever
01:55received an illegal order? No, Senator. Not even from Lieutenant Rudd as
02:03quartermaster all the way up to three-star general and now about to be
02:09four-star general. No one's ever given you an illegal order? No, Senator. Well, it seems to me
02:16that our military does a very good job of training our troops from the time they enlist as privates
02:28or the time they commission as lieutenants all the way up to your level and to the commander-in-chief
02:36not to issue illegal orders.
02:38Or, especially at your level, when you have lawyers hanging around you all the time,
02:47to seek their counsel, as anyone would. I bet, as some of the politicians on this dais,
02:54understandably seek legal counsel in affairs related to their job.
03:00So I'm glad to hear from so many of our military's senior leaders that our military has done such a
03:09good job of ensuring that our troops don't receive an illegal order.
03:17General Donovan, I'd like to return to a topic that I also know has been addressed,
03:21and this is the presence of such a large number of forces in the South Com area of responsibility,
03:31and whether that drains forces from other regions like PACOM and CENTCOM.
03:37Although I have to say, I think the people asking those questions
03:41wouldn't like those forces to be employed in PACOM or CENTCOM either.
03:46It's more of a gotcha question.
03:47But understanding, General Donovan, that any combatant commander in any combatant command's
03:55answer for how many forces he needs is always going to be more pleas,
04:01could you explain a little bit about how, if confirmed, you'll manage the needs of maintaining
04:07security with the proper force posture in your area of responsibility along with those others
04:14around the world, especially in the old world at UCOM, CENTCOM, and PACOM?
04:21Senator, I'm very aware after three years, the Pentagon of the push-pull between each of the
04:26geographic combat commands and the spreading out our very, in many ways, our very high demand,
04:33low-density assets, a carry strike group, nuclear submarine, marine amphibious unit,
04:38expeditionary unit. So very aware of that natural tensions that's there, but I pledge,
04:44if confirmed, to work with the joint staff to ensure that SOUTHCOM's needs are registered and met.
04:49And if we do lose assets, what are the other capabilities we can bring to bear from other
04:55hard-powered type assets, physical assets, to increase resourcing for some of the softer power
05:00to counter the PRC-malline influence in the region?
05:04Thank you again, gentlemen, for your lifetime of service.
05:13REif
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