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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) held a hearing to consider the nomination of Vice Admiral Rich Correll to be Admiral and Commander of United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM). As STRATCOM Commander, Vice Admiral Correll would be responsible for strategic deterrence, nuclear operations, global strike, nuclear command, control, and communications enterprise operations, joint electromagnetic spectrum operations, and missile threat assessment.

Minot Air Force Base (AFB) in North Dakota is the only base in the nation to house two legs of the nuclear triad, including B-52 bombers and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The Sentinel program was established to replace the 50-year-old Minuteman III ICBM weapon system with the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. Minot AFB will be the last base to receive Sentinel ICBMs.

If confirmed, Vice Admiral Correll would lead more than 41,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Guardians, and civilians who execute STRATCOM’s global missions.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), chair of the SASC Airland Subcommittee, questioned Vice Admiral Correll about the importance of the Sentinel program, modernizing B-52 bombers, and the United States’ strategic posture and nuclear deterrence.

Cramer, co-chair of the Senate Defense Modernization Caucus, asked what steps are being taken to ensure continuous alert coverage and personnel readiness during construction and testing of the transition from Minuteman III to Sentinel at Minot AFB.

“If confirmed as a STRATCOM Commander, one of my most [important] responsibilities that I see with respect to the transition from what we have to what we need in the future, is understanding where the risks are within the portfolio and where additional risks might manifest themselves, and communicating that with precision, together with the services to make sure that we're accounting for it,” said Vice Admiral Correll. “That's as we transition. […] But I’m comfortable with where we are. We need to continue to keep the pressure on, to pull new capabilities to the left and deliver sooner. But you know, the services are very focused on understanding where the margin is and how our systems are operating, and STRATCOM is as well.”

Cramer then asked if it would be acceptable to reduce our nation’s ICBM count below 400 to accommodate Sentinel’s cost and schedule challenges. Vice Admiral Correll said based on the strategic environment, his military advice would be to not reduce the numbers. He said, “the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts, and each leg of the triad has unique attributes that are really important.”

The conversation then shifted to the strategic, 70-year-old B-52, a long-range, heavy bomber capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and carrying nuclear or precision guided conventional ordinance. Cramer said, “not to be outdone by the age of missiles, we have some really old airplanes too at Minot,” and noted how the B-52s are due for modernization as well.

Cramer asked Vice Admiral Correll about how STRATCOM plans to sustain the aging B-52 fleet during the transition period before B-21 full operational capability, especially given its critical role in both nuclear and conventional deterrence.

Vice Admiral Correll echoed Cramer’s comment about the importance of B-52s and its “essential nature to our strategic deterrent.”

“That modernization is really important,” explained Vice Admiral Correll. “Essentially, it's an old airplane, but it's a new airplane, because every piece internal to that aircraft has been replaced over time. And that's part of that modernization for the avionics and those engines. There's some incredible technology being applied by Rolls Royce in terms of data for those engines that is almost certainly going to improve the readiness rate of those of those aircraft going forward.”