(BIVN) – Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard had the chance to question military leaders on Thursday during an Armed Services Committee hearing entitled Army Futures Command: Will it help?

Gabbard, who sits on the Readiness Subcommittee and who represents Hawai‘i’s 2nd Congressional District, questioned witnesses Ryan McCarthy (Under Secretary of the Army), and General John M. Murray, (the Commanding General, United States Army Futures Command), about the transformation considered to be the most significant since 1973.

In a joint statement to the committee, McCarthy and Murray stated:

As the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) states, the U.S. faces a return to great power competition as well as threats from terrorism and regional adversaries. Over the last two decades, the Army made the difficult and warranted choice to defer modernization to support combat operations. During that time, adversaries made intellectual, organizational, and materiel investments designed to give them advantage in future wars against our demonstrated strengths. Simultaneously, the world is experiencing faster rates of innovation coupled with increased rates of social and economic change. Today, we believe that our warfighting dominance is increasingly challenged and we can no longer afford to delay modernization without risking overmatch on future battlefields. Thanks to Congressional support, the Army has the means to modestly increase investments towards the future and organize properly for force modernization with Army Futures Command.

Gabbard asked the witness panel how the Army Futures Command is assessing personnel needs, and whether or not the Army is looking into the National Guard for some of those needs. The Hawai‘i Congresswoman also asked about technical oversight for the new command.