At Hearing, Warren Secures Commitment from Pentagon Testing Office Nominee for Transparency, Integrity, and Independence
“Ensuring the safety of our service members means standing up for transparency and against any pressure that would compromise the integrity of the testing process.”
“I do not want us ever again to have to tell another military family that we asked their son or daughter to buckle into a piece of equipment we knew to be unsafe.”
Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Personnel, secured commitments from Dr. Douglas Schmidt, nominee for Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) at the Department of Defense, to ensure transparency, integrity, and independence to protect service members’ safety. DOT&E was created to provide Congress and the public with the truth about whether the planes, tanks, and ships service members operate are safe and effective.
Senator Warren’s questions come after a November 2023 V-22 Osprey crash during a training accident in Japan that killed eight service members, including Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. An investigation is underway, but the Osprey had a troubled history of safety problems, and the job of the testing office is to bring those concerns to light to help prevent future accidents and save lives. In December Senator Warren and Ed Markey and Representative Richard Neal sent a letter to the Department of Defense requesting an examination of the V-22’s safety record.
In questioning, Dr. Schmidt committed to ensuring that the testing office’s annual report is not keeping non-classified information from the public, telling the committee and the public if his office concludes that a system is not safe for service members to operate, and coming to the committee if he feels there is inappropriate pressure on his office.
“The independence of this office is crucially important, and I will do everything and work with you and your committee as much as possible to make sure we get the systems to the fight that work and safeguard our servicemen and women,” Dr. Schmidt said.
Transcript: Hearings to examine the nominations of Melissa Griffin Dalton, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of the Air Force, Douglas Craig Schmidt, of Tennessee, to be Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, and Aprille Joy Ericsson, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary, all of the Department of Defense
U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you Mr. Chairman, and congratulations to all of the nominees and welcome to your families.
Dr. Schmidt, you have been selected to head up the testing office that was created to provide Congress and the public with the unvarnished truth about whether the planes, tanks, and ships that service members operate are safe and effective.
There is no greater responsibility. In November, a V-22 Osprey crashed during a training accident in Japan, killing eight, including one of my constituents, Staff Sergeant Jake Galliher. An investigation is underway, but we already know that the Osprey has had a troubled history of safety problems. The job of the testing office is to bring those concerns to light to help prevent future accidents and save lives.
One of the ways the office is supposed to do that is through its annual report. While we need to keep our most sensitive secrets classified, this committee often sees DoD using designations like “controlled unclassified information” to keep the public in the dark—meaning that the information is not classified, but the military wants to keep the information from the public anyway.
Dr. Schmidt, if confirmed, do you commit to ensuring that the testing office’s report informs the public as much as possible about the problems that we need to fix in order to make sure our weapons are safe?
Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, Nominee, Director, Operational Test & Evaluation: Yes Senator, to the maximal extent possible, indeed.
Senator Warren: Good, that’s what I want to hear.
You know, defense contractors and even our military services sometimes have other priorities, like making the testing process faster or glossing over problems to keep these weapons programs on schedule.
But the testing office is supposed to be an independent referee. If the testing office determines that a weapon is unsafe, you have an obligation to say that you can’t recommend buying more of it – even if we’ve already spent billions of dollars on it, and even if the contractors are pounding at your door pressuring you to give your stamp of approval.
Dr. Schmidt, do you promise that you will come to this committee, and tell the public, if you conclude a system is not safe for our service members to operate?
Dr. Schmidt: Senator, the independence of this office is crucially important, and I will do everything and work with you and your committee as much as possible to make sure we get the systems to the fight that work and safeguard our servicemen and women.
Senator Warren: And you will come to this committee if you feel like there is inappropriate pressure on your office?
Dr. Schmidt: Senator, if I see inappropriate issues that I'm not able to address through my own means I will come and discuss them with the committee.
Senator Warren: Alright, because ensuring the safety of our service members means standing up for transparency and against any pressure that would compromise the integrity of the testing process.
It is essential that your conduct be beyond reproach. Even the appearance of bias in your assessments of the safety of our weapons programs would be a mortal wound to your office and to your ability to advocate for our service members.
I do not want us ever again to have to tell another military family that we asked their son or their daughter to buckle into a piece of equipment we knew was unsafe.
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