Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has proposed cuts in military spending that include further reductions in troop strength and force structure in every military service in the coming year as part of an effort to prioritize U.S. strategic interests in the face of reduced resources after more than a decade of war.At a Pentagon news conference Feb. 24 detailing President Barack Obama’s proposed Pentagon budget for Fiscal Year 2015, Hagel called the reductions – including shrinking the Army to its smallest size since before World War II and eliminating an entire fleet of Air Force fighter planes –...
Just a day after the president placed the Medal of Honor around the neck of former Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, the noncommissioned officer was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon – where the names and memories of all service members who have earned that honor have been enshrined.Among those attending the Feb. 12 ceremony at the Pentagon were Romesha and his family, soldiers from his unit – B Troop, 3-61 Cavalry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division – Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler...
Echoing Winston Churchill’s famous quote, Lt. Gen. Keith C. Walker told the Army: "Gentlemen, we are out of money. Now it’s time to think."Walker, futures director, Army Capabilities Integration Center, and deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, spoke on the need for focusing on the "human domain" (if one exists apart from other domains) during the Association of the United States Army’s institute of Land War Fare Winter Symposium and Exposition in Fort Lauderdale, Fla."Lasting strategic success has always been a function of understanding and controlling the human...
From ambulances to cargo/troop transports to tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missile carriers, the Humvee family of vehicles has played myriad roles across the military. Nevertheless, it is often cast into the shadows by the spotlights shining on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, the purpose of which is to provide greater protection to soldiers than that offered by the Humvee.
- Although the JLTV is receiving greater emphasis, the Humvee’s critical mission roles will continue for decades, as evidenced by recently stated Army intentions to develop a plan for the Humvee...
The commanding general of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command is advocating what he calls “re-greening” of maintenance: to have soldiers replace civilian contractors. “This will be a gradual transition,” Maj. Gen. Lynn A. Collyar said in an interview. “We will continually work with the contractors we have to decrease them and increase the number of green-suiters.”His immediate effort is aimed at retraining roughly 2,500 soldiers at the rank of sergeant and below who are involved in aviation maintenance, but it would also apply to other maintenance specialists whose skills may have eroded...
The Army’s ability to continue to dominate its adversaries while executing an ever broadening range of missions hinges on its ability to maintain and advance its current capabilities in space and missile defense. U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) provides the ability for the Army to leverage space capabilities while simultaneously protecting deployed forces and the homeland from ballistic missile threats. The Army has played crucial roles in the development of these space and missile defense systems from the early concept years through...
A provocative paper recently published by the U.S. Army War College raises the question of whether the Army can handle the truth. Called “Closing the Candor Chasm: The Missing Element of Army Professionalism” and written by Col. Paul Paolozzi, the paper says speaking the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is a way of building professional relationships and a stronger Army. Candor can be intimidating and unwanted in some circumstances, but it should be a key part of professional communication, Paolozzi says.Paolozzi cites performance evaluations, training, education and counseling...
The American military experience in the Asia-Pacific region has been based since its inception in the late 1890s on a joint and expeditionary footing. The U.S. Army has maintained a constant presence since then, fighting in more campaigns in that part of the world than anywhere else outside the Americas.
The Asia-Pacific remains, as it was in the 1800s, one of the world’s most important, dynamic and challenging regions. Its importance was shown by a U.S. Defense Strategic Guidance, signed by President Obama in early 2012, directing a national refocus of effort—or “rebalance”—toward the Pacific...
The American military experience in the Asia-Pacific region has been based since its inception in the late 1890s on a joint and expeditionary footing. The U.S. Army has maintained a constant presence since then, fighting in more campaigns in that part of the world than anywhere else outside the Americas.
The Asia-Pacific remains, as it was in the 1800s, one of the world’s most important, dynamic and challenging regions. Its importance was shown by a U.S. Defense Strategic Guidance, signed by President Obama in early 2012, directing a national refocus of effort—or “rebalance”—toward the Pacific...
As the rift between the Army and American society widens, our recruiters in the field are reporting increased challenges. This should not be surprising considering that a 2013 Gallup survey found that 76 percent of those polled put a great deal of trust in the military—the highest among 16 institutions rated. Yet youth interest in military service is decreasing, and fewer than one in four young people meet enlistment qualifications. Military service is respected but not desired.Our Army is left to either compete with other services, academic institutions and a slowly improving economy for a...
As the rift between the Army and American society widens, our recruiters in the field are reporting increased challenges. This should not be surprising considering that a 2013 Gallup survey found that 76 percent of those polled put a great deal of trust in the military—the highest among 16 institutions rated. Yet youth interest in military service is decreasing, and fewer than one in four young people meet enlistment qualifications. Military service is respected but not desired.Our Army is left to either compete with other services, academic institutions and a slowly improving economy for a...
As the rift between the Army and American society widens, our recruiters in the field are reporting increased challenges. This should not be surprising considering that a 2013 Gallup survey found that 76 percent of those polled put a great deal of trust in the military—the highest among 16 institutions rated. Yet youth interest in military service is decreasing, and fewer than one in four young people meet enlistment qualifications. Military service is respected but not desired.Our Army is left to either compete with other services, academic institutions and a slowly improving economy for a...
We hear and read a lot of advice about leadership. Some of the words roll past us, some we put into our kit bag, and some strike true and change us as leaders. This month, we share the words that have resonated loudest within each of us—the best, most meaningful advice we’ve ever received. These pearls of wisdom have enabled us to lead more effectively. Seeing them all together in one place, we’re reminded of former Army Chief of Staff GEN Creighton W. Abrams Jr.’s dictum: “Soldiers are not in the Army. Soldiers are the Army.” Overwhelmingly, the advice that means the most to us as leaders is...
The Army is changing the way it handles sexual harassment and assault cases. Under a congressional mandate, military hospitals providing emergency care are now required to have a trained, full-time sexual assault nurse examiner. MAJ Douglas J. Erdley, the clinical nurse officer in charge of the emergency department at Keller Army Community Hospital in West Point, N.Y., said the new policies result in more careful treatment of victims of sexual harassment and assault. Erdley has already begun to observe the changes as he treats his patients.
“I’ve seen some changes in the dedicated...
It was a sweltering afternoon in New Jersey: jungle-hot, tropically humid, dripping, draining, the kind of day that wrings you out and leaves you lying there gasping in the shade. Few who pass through bustling, industrial modern-day Newark think the Garden State lives up to its nickname, let alone merits rain forest status. But on the long, oppressive afternoon of June 28, 1778, it did.It was definitely the wrong day for a battle, especially for groups of cursing, sweating men wearing wool uniforms and packed shoulder to shoulder into firing lines three rows deep. The red-coated British...