Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, released the following statement today after the results of an investigation into the crash of two CH-53 helicopters last January that resulted in the deaths of 12 Marines confirmed that significant readiness shortfalls contributed to the incident:

“Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines have always been willing to do more with less—that’s what makes them the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. But the fact is that there are human costs to ignoring our readiness shortfalls. Fewer training hours, outdated equipment, longer deployment times, and fatigue lead to incidents like the one in January and create a working environment that is unsafe for our men and women in uniform.

“These kinds of problems exist across the forces, and they threaten the missions we ask our servicemen and women to undertake. Marine Corps and other leaders have been unequivocal about the readiness challenges they face, and it’s our responsibility to provide the resources necessary to buy back full-spectrum readiness. That’s my goal as Readiness Subcommittee Chairman, and it’s my hope that this Administration can put aside political gamesmanship over domestic spending and do the right thing by our military men and women.”

Congressman Rob Wittman represents the 1st District of Virginia. He serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, where he is Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee.