Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/09/1999 04:30 PM House MLV
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON
MILITARY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS
March 9, 1999
4:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Lisa Murkowski, Chair
Representative Jeannette James
Representative Gail Phillips
Representative Pete Kott
Representative Richard Foster
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative John Coghill, Vice Chair
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative Eric Croft
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
* HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21
Relating to new evaluation and selection criteria for military base
realignment and closure actions.
- MOVED HJR 21 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS:
Commissioner, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
Adjutant General, Alaska National Guard
Phillip Oates, Brigadier General
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Brigadier General, Alaska Air National Guard
George Cannelos, Colonel
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HJR 21
SHORT TITLE: MILITARY BASE REALIGNMENT/CLOSURE ACTIONS
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) MULDER
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
2/26/99 323 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
2/26/99 324 (H) MLV, STA
3/09/99 (H) MLV AT 4:30 PM SENATE FINANCE 532
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 507
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-2647
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HJR 21.
CHRIS NELSON, Staff to Senator Tim Kelly;
and Staff Director, Joint Committee on
Military Bases in Alaska
Alaska State Legislature
Goldstein Building
130 Seward Street, Suite 220
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-3865
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions relating to HJR 21.
PHILLIP OATES, Brigadier General
Adjutant General/Commissioner Designee
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
P.O. Box 5800
Fort Richardson, Alaska 99505-0800
Telephone: (907) 428-6003
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HJR 21; during
confirmation hearing, discussed his vision
for the department.
GEORGE CANNELOS, Colonel
Alaska Air National Guard
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
P.O. Box 5800
Fort Richardson, Alaska 99505-0800
Telephone: (907) 428-6072
POSITION STATEMENT: During confirmation hearing, discussed his
background and vision; answered questions.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-4, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIR LISA MURKOWSKI called the House Special Committee on Military
and Veterans' Affairs meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Members
present at the call to order were Representatives Murkowski, James,
Phillips, Kott and Foster.
HJR 21 - MILITARY BASE REALIGNMENT/CLOSURE ACTIONS
CHAIR MURKOWSKI announced the first order of business would be
House Joint Resolution No. 21, relating to new evaluation and
selection criteria for military base realignment and closure
actions.
Number 037
REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor,
explained that HJR 21 focuses on recommendations to Congress about
future rounds of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). It is a
by-product of efforts with the task force of military bases in
Alaska last year, and there is a companion resolution in the Senate
[sponsored by Senator Tim Kelly, who along with Representative
Mulder co-chairs the legislature's Joint Committee on Military
Bases]. Representative Mulder read from the sponsor statement,
with comments, as follows:
This resolution asks the leaders of the federal government to
reform the selection and evaluation criteria used in any
future military base closure actions. Previous BRAC
commissions allowed each of the military services to develop
categories for its own bases and then evaluate and rank their
bases, applying criteria established by the Department of
Defense and Congress. Under these single-service evaluations,
the concerns of individual services often overshadowed total
force considerations.
This process also seriously shortchanged Alaska's bases.
Strategic location and established Army-Air Force
compatibility, our bases' strongest points, were not fully
recognized, while their high cost in relation to other bases,
which is, by the way, our weakest point, was overemphasized.
Consequently, many of Alaska's bases did not score very well
under the old categorization or ranking.
House Joint Resolution 21 calls for the President, the
Secretary of Defense and Congress to establish Joint
Cross-Service Groups this year to study the issues which shape
our Armed Forces in the twenty-first century: power
projection and deployment, joint training, joint operations
and total force considerations. These Joint Cross-Service
Groups will then develop a new evaluation and selection
criteria and procedures for future BRAC commissions to ensure
that total force and power projection factors receive
increased consideration in future base closure decisions.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER told members that he and Representative
Phillips had the privilege of visiting with the Secretary of
Defense in Alaska a couple of weeks before; they had discussed this
very point, which the Secretary of Defense had believed to be
pertinent. Representative Mulder pointed out that the Secretary of
Defense is from Maine, a state with considerations similar to
Alaska's. For example, Maine has high costs, while strategic
location and coordination of effort are important to them.
Representative Mulder said Chris Nelson could answer questions
about the BRAC process.
Number 111
CHAIR MURKOWSKI asked whether Representative Mulder is looking for
the new Joint Cross-Services Group to come up with brand-new
criteria, including those stated in HJR 21, or whether it is an
add-on to criteria used in previous realignments.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said the categorizations need to be
re-prioritized but also somewhat refocused. The highest criteria
in the past has been cost, the state's weakest consideration. To
his knowledge, a total force concept hasn't been fully utilized as
a criteria. He deferred to Mr. Nelson for a more thorough answer.
Number 134
CHRIS NELSON, Staff to Senator Tim Kelly; and Staff Director, Joint
Committee on Military Bases in Alaska, Alaska State Legislature,
explained that the idea of the Joint Cross-Service Groups was
recommended by the 1993 BRAC Commission. Within the overall
framework of the BRAC structure, from the "BRAC rounds" in 1991,
1993 and 1995, there have been adjustments based on their
experiences. The 1993 BRAC Commission said that in the next round,
[the Department of Defense] should look at some areas, primarily in
the support arena, where the services could consolidate and save
money; examples include undergraduate flight training, depots and
laboratories. The Joint Cross-Service Groups met on each of these
categories and came up with recommendations, some of which were
adopted by the 1995 BRAC Commission.
MR. NELSON pointed out that when Fort Richardson is compared only
to other Army maneuver bases, it cannot now get credit for the
joint mobility complex, the most modern, well-thought-out power
projection facility in the world, to send soldiers to combat areas
overseas; this is because it sits on the Elmendorf Air Force Base
half of the reservation. The Army has no way in its evaluation
system to weight that as an asset for Fort Richardson, yet no other
base in the Army comes close to having a facility of deployment and
power projection facility that modern. Mr. Nelson stated, "That's
why we're talking about total force considerations and trying to
build some criteria, so that those things will get noticed."
MR. NELSON said right now there are only two areas where joint
considerations enter into the BRAC process. After the services
come up with their lists and evaluations of bases, then the
regional Commander in Chief (CINC) for Alaska, which would be the
Commander in Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC), looks at it and offers
input; then the Secretary of Defense himself looks at it. Those
are the two high-echelon reviews of total force considerations.
MR. NELSON concluded: "What we're asking for is that you begin the
process, looking at total force consideration. Total force should
be the building block that we're looking at all future BRAC actions
on. We're ten years past the end of the Cold War. We have
changed, in this period of time, from a forward-deployed force
based primarily overseas to a power projection force based within
our own borders. And when we talk about the force structure-base
structure interaction, you say, 'Well, we've reduced the force
structure, so we need to reduce the base structure.' That's true
as far as it goes. But we have to look at the base structure,
because we haven't changed our base structure to reflect the fact
that we're now a power projection force. ... Previous BRAC rounds
in 1991, '93, '95 did not do that. ... That's where we're trying to
go on this."
Number 193
CHAIR MURKOWSKI asked whether the idea in HJR 21 is unique to
Alaska.
MR. NELSON indicated Alaska would be the first, but he was sure
there would be support from elsewhere. He noted that some states
would not evaluate as well if they look at total force; those
states prefer that the system remain as it is, as high operating
costs in Alaska would put Alaska bases lower on the ladder. Alaska
has been shortchanged in the analyses used in the prior BRAC
rounds. Mr. Nelson concluded, "We're saying that if there is a
BRAC 2001, it has to look at the base structure of the total force,
not the base structure of the individual service."
Number 216
PHILLIP OATES, Brigadier General, Adjutant General/Commissioner
Designee, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, came forward
to testify. He told members:
I would like to applaud the resolution. In fact, it's so
good, I wish I'd written it myself; it's truly at the graduate
level. ... It argues exactly what our country needs, not just
a parochial argument for Alaska. Our country needs to think
in terms of joint capabilities that include both the active
and the reserve components, and the guard. And by supporting
this resolution, we are providing a very, very good model to
the Secretary of Defense when the BRAC process comes.
In our meeting with the Secretary of Defense, when he came to
Alaska, he was very convincing in his argument that BRAC will
come sometime in the future. He talked about the impact on
communities, and we sat and listened to him - ...
Representative Mulder, Representative Phillips - and he talked
about the need for adjusting the impact on rural communities.
However, we also talked about the need to ... do things that
were most effective for our Armed Services. And this does
what is most effective for our Armed Services, and oh, by the
way, recognizes the strengths that Alaska has to offer. So,
I applaud this resolution.
Number 240
REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER made a motion to move HJR 21 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the attached zero fiscal note.
There being no objection, HJR 21 moved from the House Special
Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs.
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
Next on the agenda were confirmation hearings for two appointees.
Resumes were provided in committee packets.
Commissioner, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
Adjutant General, Alaska National Guard
Number 245
PHILLIP OATES, Brigadier General, Adjutant General/Commissioner
Designee, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, came
forward.
CHAIR MURKOWSKI asked Brigadier General Oates what his vision is
for the department, and what he would like to see as commissioner.
BRIGADIER GENERAL OATES stated:
Now that I've been acting in the job for some 45 days, I think
I've got a little better grasp on a vision ahead, and I think
it's very important, not only for Alaska but also for our
Department of Defense. There are really two aspects to this
job, on the state side and on the federal side, but let me
talk with the military aspects of it first. We call it the
Alaska National Guard, not the National Alaska Guard, because
our first responsibility is to our state. We have to be ready
to perform those missions that our elected representatives and
our commander in chief call on us to do. And that, in this
state, deals first with responding to disasters, anywhere that
they may happen in the state. And in Alaska, as you know
better than me, it's not a question of if a disaster will
occur; it's a question of when that disaster will occur.
... And homeland defense now is taking on a bigger context, as
we look at incidents of terrorism, such as the Sarin gas
attack that happened in Tokyo on the subway, or the bombing in
Oklahoma City. And we have to have forces and homeland
defense that deal with those acts of terrorism, or accidents,
especially when you're thinking in terms of weapons of mass
destruction: nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. In
fact, we are in the process of fielding a team to deal with
the early detection and reaction to any weapons of mass
destruction use in our state of Alaska. So, that's an
important goal, and one aspect of homeland defense.
Also, homeland defense continues scenarios such as our drug
suppression efforts. It's a very, very important activity ...
we participate in as guards members. Our guards members are
not the individuals that go down and conduct the raids, but we
are the ones that facilitate ... the flow of information and
communication and coordination with all the disparate local,
state and federal agencies that deal with drugs and drug
suppression and drug education. We also bring resources to
those efforts; when those state, local or federal agencies
need resources such as military equipment, we can provide that
and then operate in direct support. And when you look at
crime rates in the state, or in the nation, your effectiveness
in dealing with the drug problem has a direct impact on your
crime rates that you experience. The more success you have in
keeping drugs out of our state, the lower the crime rate is.
So, the guard plays a very big role in that (indisc.).
Then our [Challenge Youth] Program, where we educate [at-risk]
individuals, is vitally important. We're taking young men and
young women, and putting them on a path where they can not
only be productive members of society and Alaska, they can be
our future members of the guard. That program, I would invite
all of you to come down and see that graduation, to see what
we do with those young men and women, and see the impact that
it has ... on our nation and our state. ... I've stirred in my
talk about drugs and about kids because that's homeland
defense; that's the front lines, keeping drugs ... out of our
state.
But also, homeland defense extends into other areas. On the
air guard side, we are moving ahead to take over the mission
of air defense and air sovereignty in Alaska, take over the
NORAD [North American Air Defense Command] mission here,
because that is homeland defense; take over the manning of
Clear Air Station for a space command, because that relates to
homeland defense, in the detection and tracking of space
objects. The Army is moving ahead with a role in ballistic
missile defenses. The Army guard will man those ground-based
interceptor sites when they come; and they will come, and they
will come to Alaska, because we have to protect all 50 states,
and you can't do that from anywhere else.
And then we have other missions that will continue for our
nation, a readiness ... to respond to any contingencies that
happen in the Pacific, most notably in Korea. We have in the
air guard, the 168th, the aerial refueling unit, and they
provide the aerial refueling bridge for all of our nation's
forces that flow to the Pacific, and flow through Alaska, the
NORTHPAC [North Pacific] route, ... for that war, if it were
to happen. And I can't tell you how vital that is to our
nation, our Department of Defense, our Air Force, and to our
forces in Alaska.
Number 320
We've got a tactical C-130 unit, the 176th, that (indisc.)
directly to Pacific air forces, if we go to war in the
Pacific; so they have to be ready every day. We've got the
206th Combat Comm [Communications] Squadron; it's responsible
to provide communications to any air expeditionary force, or
any joint force that flows from Alaska. We've got the Rescue
Coordination Center, named the best in the Air Force this last
year, that saves one life a day, on an average over time - one
life a day. ... What a magnificent accomplishment. And these
are warriors. They're out there training in conditions
tougher than I have experienced in my 30-year military career
in airborne (indisc.). And they're just magnificent in their
ability to accomplish ... that mission.
And then we extend out into the rural communities with our
Alaska Natives. We extend out into 84 communities in Alaska,
and we have to increase our efforts there. ... We need to come
up with legislation that will allow us to recruit and retain
and make members of our Native communities able to join and be
successful in our Alaska guard. And I think the Joint Armed
Services Committee that was talked about earlier could play a
big role in ... those areas, could play a big role in the
larger defense areas, could play a big role in the education
of our youth, and to making the guard a very, very strong
member in the Department of Defense.
So, I've talked about a lot of things here, but I'd like to go
back to my opening comment: We're the Alaska National Guard,
because our first duty is to Alaska, to the members of the
guard, the citizens of this state, and our homeland defense
role. Now, the other aspects of the department on the
commissioner's side, emergency services, and if you ask, do I
have a priority, yes, I do, and it's to be ready in emergency
services, to respond to the emergencies as they occur in this
state, and as we need funding from higher sources, from
federal sources, to be able to deal with disasters, and then
to be able to, on the front end, to do preventive things, to
plan for those disasters when they occur, and those
emergencies when they occur, to be able to respond with the
commercial, the local, the state, the guard, the federal
forces from FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and
others, and then to do the mitigation, the recovery, and make
sure we get the funding to help us in disasters - enormous
responsibility, and one that I don't take lightly.
And then, finally, our responsibility as stewards of the
resources that you give us: I have to do a job of officially
managing the money that you give me, to make sure I get the
best return on our investment. I need to "grow" the return
that we give to this state. And you might say that an $8
million state expenditure to bring in $160 million is a pretty
good return. And I would agree with you, but I think there
are more resources out there that we can get. And so, when
you ask me my goals, they are many. Will I achieve all of
them? No, I won't, but I'll sure make a good run at them.
Thank you very much.
Number 370
REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER commended Brigadier General Oates for his
dedication over 30 years. He then made a motion to advance the
confirmation of Brigadier General Oates to the joint session of the
House and Senate. There being no objection, the confirmation was
advanced.
BRIGADIER GENERAL OATES thanked the committee, then commended Chair
Murkowski for leading 21 legislators, possibly a record attendance
for any major military exercise, out to the field that coming
Thursday. He also thanked Representatives Phillips and Mulder for
attending the Challenge Youth Program graduation, saying, "It may
be our biggest contribution, is what we do for those young people."
CHAIR MURKOWSKI told Brigadier General Oates the committee was
honored to have him there.
REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS extended her congratulations and thanks, as
well. She emphasized how impressed she and Representative Mulder
were when they attended the Challenge Youth Program graduation
ceremonies. She said it is an excellent program, and they will do
their part to make sure they keep it going.
Brigadier General, Alaska Air National Guard
Number 419
GEORGE CANNELOS, Colonel, Alaska Air National Guard, Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs, came forward. He distributed an
article titled, "Rescue Force," relating to a rescue by the Alaska
Air National Guard's 210th Rescue Squadron's para-rescue jumpers.
An Alaskan since 1975, he told members he came to Juneau to work
for the Department of Community and Regional Affairs after a
four-year career in the Navy and graduate school, then moved to
Anchorage in 1978; that is when he discovered the Alaska Air
National Guard, "a well-kept secret." He joined, and he has flown
around the world as a navigator and air crew member. He led forces
into Somalia over Christmas in 1992, commanded the squadron after
that, then came to the headquarters and became the state director
of operations and chief of staff.
COLONEL CANNELOS noted that for most of those years, he was a
classic traditional guardsman, with a family and a different
career; only in the past two-and-a-half years has he gone full
time. On the civilian side, he has worked in over 50 communities
statewide, and he lived in rural Alaska for a time, as well. He
stated, "I hope I bring a depth to this position that I think will
be put to good use."
COLONEL CANNELOS discussed his vision for the organization. He
told members that Alaska has a very good air guard now. It is
unusual in the country; most states have single-scope
organizations, with one flying squadron detached from the Air Force
and little interaction. He noted that among the reserve services,
the Air Force and air guard have done it best. In Alaska, because
of the strategic importance of the state, because of the proximity
of Elmendorf and the air guard, and because both sides have worked
so hard to integrate the missions, neither service can do its work
without the other. Colonel Cannelos mentioned Eielson Air Force
Base and the necessity of using the air guard's aerial refuelers.
He stated, "The fighters could not launch without our combat rescue
forces on alert. Our air lifters, as General Oates said, are tied
right into the Pacific air forces and their plans. It's a very,
very good system, and we work hard ... to make it better."
COLONEL CANNELOS said they have also worked hard over the years to
acquire missions with direct state benefits, such as the C-130 air
lifters used in emergencies and for events like Operation Santa
Claus. They are involved in missions such as "innovative readiness
training" and "Arctic care" in the villages. He emphasized the
need to look for ways to use these resources, which are paid for by
federal dollars, to provide better benefits to the state and
communities. He stated, "I look for a partnership with this
committee to look for good ideas, into how we can better do that."
COLONEL CANNELOS pointed out that currently there are 2,000 men and
women in the organization, two-thirds of whom are traditional guard
members. He stated, "We've got some very special opportunities.
General Oates talked about the ... NORAD mission in Alaska and the
space mission at Clear. And those are two examples where the Air
Force, in this time of reorganization and downsizing the military,
has approached us with taking over those missions. Clear is an
excellent example where currently about 140 or so ... largely
single young military members rotate in and out of that facility,
that come and go year after year. They do a very good job, but
they're largely insular. They don't contribute to the regional
economy very much. They don't add value to the community, if you
will."
COLONEL CANNELOS continued, "If the air guard had Clear, it's my
view that ... we could have families there, living in that Interior
area, from Nenana to Healy to Fairbanks, Anderson. And because up
to 40 of them would be highly trained space operators, if you will,
in my view, again, with a partnership with the state, that's a
catalyst for the Fairbanks area, for the nation's space industry,
partnerships with the university; it all starts to add together.
So, I want to look for opportunities where we're in partnership
with the state, we can 'grow' the guard in meaningful ways."
Number 476
COLONEL CANNELOS told members the article he had distributed shows
the caliber of the young men and women in the Alaska Air National
Guard. He stated, "The most sobering aspect of this position is
how to inspire and motivate and lead these fabulous people. I had
a physical Saturday morning at Kulis, and most of the folks that
were doing probing and prodding were traditional guardsmen. I
asked them: What did they do for a living? One young lady is
training to be an Anchorage firefighter. One young man works at
McLaughlin Youth Center counseling troubled teens. One young woman
runs a day care center. And another is going after her master's
degree is social work and law. And those were the first four I
talked to. It's an incredible organization."
Number 488
CHAIR MURKOWSKI asked what opportunities Colonel Cannelos sees to
encourage recruitment in rural Alaska.
COLONEL CANNELOS replied:
That is the question of the day. If I only look at the air
side, it's a challenge. ... Every one of the members of the
air guard maintains (indisc.--coughing) every member in the
Air Force, despite the fact that we do it on a part-time basis
and they do it full time. So, it means that our folks have to
be present for duty quite often. And the old paradigm of "a
weekend a month and two weeks a year" is pretty much going
away, and our folks are doing much more than that on a regular
basis. And we need to be honest with our recruits that that's
now an expectation. That puts an added stress ... on the "can
you balance your family and your civilian employment and your
military career," keep all that going together.
Another dimension of this is transportation. We do fly, on a
regular basis, to the Kenai Peninsula, up to Fairbanks, and on
occasion out to the big delta to bring our folks in to drill.
And that allows people who don't live in Anchorage and
Fairbanks to be able to participate. But ... the challenge of
cost-effectively going out every month to Bethel or Nome or
Kotzebue, or down here to Southeast, so far we haven't found
a cost-effective way to do that. And we're unfortunately not
at the point where we can do a lot of drill training via
computers and long-distance, in the in-between stages.
However, the Army guard and the air guard have taken some good
steps. We have linked our drill schedules together, so that
we in the air side can fly Army folks in and out; that's a
step in the right direction. And like General Oates, I would
very much like to "grow" the rural areas. ... I encourage you,
as you can, to visit the rural armories. ... It's an
extraordinary challenge to effectively have quality training
in these rural areas when you only have five to ten people per
armory meeting on the weekends.
The Army guard has a tremendous challenge ahead of it. Part
of it is the equation of, "what is the relevant federal
mission?" Without that, there's nothing. And the Army guard
has made great strides to obtain relevant missions after the
Cold War, and they're working towards air-based perimeter
defense and other things. So, that's part of the equation,
too. I know the force dropped. They went from about a
hundred villages down to about 75 villages, and that was due
partially to the mission going away. ... And that's a BRAC,
and that's, frankly, what the resolution would come up with.
You should view each of those village armories as a mini-base,
because in their own way, they contribute to those local
economies, like Fort Richardson contributes to Anchorage. So,
please don't forget those as you think about BRAC and the
future of the military in this state. No solutions, but
that's some of my thoughts.
Number 521
REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS asked how many of the 2,000 Alaska Air
National Guard members are from Anchorage and Fairbanks.
COLONEL CANNELOS replied, "Because of the location of our flying
squadrons, they are mostly from Anchorage and Fairbanks. There are
some from the Kenai Peninsula, some from Delta and outlying areas
around Fairbanks. Very few, frankly, from the rural areas; it's
just too hard to get them back and forth, so far."
REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS asked whether Colonel Cannelos sees a
problem in today's society with employers' letting members off of
work in order to come in for training or maneuvers, for example.
COLONEL CANNELOS answered that it is a very important issue.
Formerly led by Governor Sheffield, there is a strong statewide
group of active businessmen and women called the "Employer Support
for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)"; the recently announced leader of
that organization is Jim Campbell. That organization advocates on
behalf of guard members with employers to work out these problems.
Colonel Cannelos pointed out that guard members have a
responsibility to give advance notice to employers, for example,
which most do. However, if that is not happening, the ESGR
ombudsman can step in.
COLONEL CANNELOS expressed concern that as the Air Force migrates
towards the air expeditionary force (AEF) concept, the guard will
be asked to step up to increasingly more rotations. If a
traditional guard member is asked to do a lengthy deployment more
than once a year, for example, that causes stress to an employer.
"We do need to look at that," he added.
Number 541
REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER commended Colonel Cannelos on his 30 years of
service, noting that it included combat time. Referring to the
extensive resume, he asked how many jobs Colonel Cannelos has now.
COLONEL CANNELOS responded, "I have a business license now that
says 'Cannelos Group,' but I haven't used it for quite some time,
and don't plan to. This is absolutely full time."
CHAIR MURKOWSKI asked whether there were further questions; there
were none.
Number 550
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES made a motion to advance the confirmation of
Colonel Cannelos to the joint session of the House and Senate.
There being no objection, the confirmation was advanced.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs meeting was
adjourned at 5:20 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|