VIDEO: Capito Honors WV National Guard Members During Defense Budget Hearing

To watch Senator Capito's questions, click hereor the image above.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, participated in a hearing to review the president's fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request for the National Guard and Reserve Forces.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON SPC. BECKSTROM AND STAFF SGT. WOLFE: "Two of our West Virginia National Guard were attacked here in Washington, D.C. while volunteering to make our streets safe. We lost Sarah (Beckstrom) on Thanksgiving Day, and we continue to send prayers to her family in West Virginia. I'm proud to report that Andy (Wolfe) has made a miraculous recovery, not full, but miraculous so far, and he threw out the first pitch at the WVU baseball game recently. […] It's a testament to the service and sacrifice of our National Guard members. I want you all to keep them in your thoughts, and their families in your thoughts and prayers. General Nordhaus, thank you for everything that you've done."

ON HOW WEST VIRGINIA MANUFACTURING SUPPORTS NAVY OPERATIONS

Senator Capito:

"Admiral Lofgren, it's great to see you again. Thank you for coming to visit West Virginia to see the Lockheed Martin facility that makes significant portions of not just the Navy's KC-130J, but also the C-130 variants across all the other services. Now, we've already covered ground here on the KC-130J, but I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about the significance of that aircraft for the Navy Reserve."

Rear Admiral Lofgren, Acting Chief of Navy Reserve:

"It's not just another aircraft for the Navy. It's the connective tissue for maritime operations, moving people, fuel, and equipment across these vast domains and distances, and being able to support the combatant commanders. In a fight defined by distance, the logistics really is combat power. The KC-130J delivers on that. It brings critical refueling capabilities. We're seeing that right now in theater, right at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, that's refueling the air wing. It's the first time that the Navy Reserve has refueled an aircraft in a combat zone, and helped evacuate nearly 3,000 family members and personnel. It's a real-world example of that speed, capability, and capacity under pressure. But it also highlights the real challenge that we've got right now. That KC-130 fleet, the tangos right now that we're flying, they're aging. They're 35 years old, the reliability, the survivability, and really the long-term sustainment, are problems […] and growing concerns. That's exactly why we need to recapitalize and replace those right now with a more survivable platform.

I'll tell you what stood out to me on our, during my time in West Virginia […] We met somebody that was working on that assembly line, second generation of his family to work on those aircraft. He said something that really has stuck with me, that every single American C-130 that's flying right now has been touched by West Virginians. What we really felt was that expertise, that pride, and the precision that's built into every single tail that we rely on. For us […] the bottom line for the KC-130, is closing that credibility gap and that capability gap that we need right now. So, the support from you and the rest of the committee is critically important as we think about replacing those tails."

ON NATIONAL GUARD INNOVATION

Senator Capito:

"General Nordhaus, thank you for your visit and our exchange in my office recently. There's been a lot of talk about drone warfare and the Admiral (Lofgren) talked a little about […] all of you did, about the innovation that comes from the warfighter, the ones that are in the theater. There's a lot of soldier-inspired innovation that goes on that they bring from their own jobs that they have outside of the reserves. I would say the Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare Exercise laboratory, which is hosted by our West Virginia National Guard, provides some of that. How is the National Guard harnessing that innovation from citizen soldiers to address the new age of warfare?"

General Steven Nordhaus, Chief of the National Guard Bureau:

"As we look at Ridge Runner […] and innovation, our guardsmen work out in industry and they bring all that innovation and technology. On the cyber side, they bring those skill sets. As we look at innovation at the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve Test Center, they take innovation and the dollars we get, and are getting 80 percent of the capabilities at 20 percent of the cost, because they're innovating those tools and systems in as we go across. I do appreciate the discussion on the UAS's, and one of the things that we continue to do is innovate with how we can protect and defend our bases. On the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard side, we're often operating in a Title 32 status, which doesn't have the same protection and benefits as Title 10. We look forward to working with Congress on those authorities so that when we're operating for counter UAS within our defenses also that we have the right authorities."

Click HERE to watch Senator Capito's full round of questioning.

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