Mobile Courant

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) questioned Lieutenant General Steven Nordhaus and Vice Admiral Alvin Holsey in a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing regarding their pending nominations. The senator addressed issues related to recruitment numbers in the National Guard, the strategic importance of the Panama Canal, and the use of Saildrones in the Caribbean.

On National Guard recruiting, Tuberville expressed concerns about meeting recruitment goals. "Gentlemen, thanks for being here. Congratulations. Thanks for your service and your sacrifice. Lifetime of sacrifice. Both of you have done a great job," he began. He then asked General Nordhaus for recent recruitment numbers.

Nordhaus responded: "Senator, as I prepped for the hearing to get with both the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, that was one of my questions was where are they at in this year for meeting [recruitment goals] and strength? It’s my understanding from them that they’re both going to miss it by roughly about 700 to 800." He noted improvements following pandemic-related disruptions: "They’ve turned the corner coming out of the global pandemic where they weren’t able to get into schools and other things where they normally recruited from."

Tuberville emphasized the importance of reaching recruitment targets: "I think it’s so important because we’re not reaching our goals in full-time military. And I think it’s very important for us to, you know, fill up or even exceed what we do in recruiting in National Guard." Nordhaus agreed with his assessment.

The discussion then shifted to U.S. involvement in Panama. Tuberville remarked on his recent visits there and criticized past decisions regarding U.S. presence at the Panama Canal: "We’re fortunate to have a new president there in [President] Mulino. He thinks like we do... Probably one of the most asinine decisions is us fully pulling out of the Panama Canal... They’re hurting economically." He highlighted potential vulnerabilities if control over the canal were compromised.

Vice Admiral Holsey acknowledged these concerns: "Yes, Senator." When asked about U.S. personnel assisting with operations around the canal, Holsey explained: "We generally have our SFAB teams... but I will assure you [that] just recently we just completed a PANAMAX exercise where we had hundreds of troops working together—maritime assets, aviation assets, ground assets."

Lastly, Tuberville questioned Holsey on military drones used in the Caribbean: "Tell me about the Saildrone that we use in the Caribbean and in your AOR." Holsey praised their effectiveness but indicated a need for more units: "These Saildrones have been able to use them from an experimental standpoint and operational and they’re showing promise... We could use more."

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of several committees including Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.