ICYMI: At Hearing, Military Transportation Command Chief Agrees with Warren: Right-To-Repair is Crucial for National Security
“[T]he last thing our troops should be doing is waiting around for contractors who charge more for slower repairs.”
Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned General Randall Reed, Commander for Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), about the importance of the military’s ability to have the right to repair its own equipment.
TRANSCOM is responsible for air, land, and sea transportation that provides logistical support for troops around the world but is facing increasing challenges receiving the parts and supplies they need, which becomes even more concerning in a wartime scenario.
General Reed testified that even after Congress provided the Air Force with $10 billion to increase the availability of the C-5, one of its aircraft that carries cargo and personnel, its ability to complete missions dropped from 52% to 46% between 2022 and 2023.
The Air Force blamed the low C-5 availability on a lack of parts. Defense contractors often include restrictions in their contracts that deny the military the technical data needed to make these parts and repairs itself, which would often be cheaper and faster. General Reed agreed that providing the military with more flexibility to repair parts would increase the military’s ability to respond to threats.
Last year, Senator Warren and Senator Charles Grassley secured a provision in the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to create pilot programs for the services to reverse-engineer the parts they need. In an effort to further address this national security risk, Senator Warren introduced the Servicemember Right-to-Repair Act, which would improve the military’s ability to repair their equipment faster, easier, and at a lower cost to taxpayers.
Transcript: Hearing to examine the posture of the United States Transportation Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2026 and the Future Years Defense Program
Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
March 5, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this hearing. TRANSCOM is responsible for making sure that our military and our allies get everything they need to win on the battlefield, whether it is a new engine for a fighter jet in the Middle East or a missile battery in the Philippines. And that means that TRANSCOM knows better than anyone why it is a very big problem if the military doesn't have the right to repair its own equipment.
General Reed, one of TRANSCOM’s major workhorses, is the C-5M Super Galaxy, a strategic transport aircraft that carries cargo and DOD’s personnel around the world. But in 2022, it was only able to fly its mission only 52 percent of the time. That means nearly half of the time commanders needed it, it wasn’t there. Congress saw this, said that is not acceptable, and gave the Air Force $10 billion to fix that problem.
General Reed, about how often was the C-5 mission-ready the next year after you got the money?
General Randall Reed, United States Air Force Commander, United States Transportation Command: What I can tell you is that, in 2023, the mission-capable rate of the C-5 was about 46%.
Senator Warren: About 46%. So, it went from 52% to 46%. We could reasonably ask, what happened? Well, the Air Force said the supply chain for replacement parts had dried up, and when companies can't or won't meet DoD's needs, one option is for the military to actually make the parts themselves so you can get things up and running. It's often cheaper and faster anyway, but you can't do that if big defense contractors slip restrictions into their contracts that deny the military the technical data that they need to be able to make these repairs.
General Reed, it’s your responsibility to make sure the warfighter gets everything they need. How important is it to national security for C-5s to be ready to respond to commanders’ requests to carry cargo and personnel?
General Reed: The C-5 is a key aircraft for us, and some of the things that we may be asked to do in the future. It would actually produce about 20% of the lift for us.
Senator Warren: So, you need this thing ready to go?
General Reed: Yes, we do.
Senator Warren: So, TRANSCOM's job is getting harder here because our enemies are making it more difficult to send ships and planes to our troops. As Senator Wicker was talking about a minute ago, this is contested logistics, and TRANSCOM models show that the “fight to get into the fight” means that getting critical materials to our troops is only going to get harder over time. That means the last thing our troops should be doing is waiting around for contractors who charge more for slower repairs.
General Reed, do you agree that giving the military more flexibility to repair parts in the field will increase our military readiness?
General Reed: I do, Senator.
Senator Warren: Good. Thank you, General Reed. Senator Grassley and I got a provision into last year's NDAA for the military to start a pilot program to reverse engineer parts for sole source programs. It's a good start, but it is a backstop, because reverse engineering can actually take years to get done, but if DoD negotiates with contractors for the right to repair from the start, that means our men and women in uniform get their equipment faster and at a lower cost to the taxpayers.
That’s exactly what my Servicemember Right-to-Repair Act does. It has bipartisan support here in the Senate. What’s happening right now is fundamentally wrong and we can put a stop to it.
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