America’s Army: The Strength of the Nation
American Soldiers, in their seventh year of continuous combat, remain the strength of the nation. Today, more than 250,000 Soldiers are deployed around the world in 80 countries, 140,000 of them in Iraq and Afghanistan. In this era of persistent conflict, the Association of the United States Army remains committed to supporting our Soldiers and their Families. To this end, we must ensure timely and adequate resourcing of the Army is a national priority.
American Soldiers are central to any strategy devised to ensure our national security. Land forces will continue to be the critical, strategic element of our national defense strategy for the foreseeable future. The ability to control land and influence people is essential to the defense of American global interests. Therefore, the Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Forces are crucial to our success – our strategic triad.
These are difficult economic times and with the federal deficit increasing to record heights, some may be tempted to decrease defense spending. The reality is, given the current and future challenges, defense spending must be increased.
The Global War on Terrorism likely will last for several decades. In future years, the demands on our land forces will continue to increase in scope and magnitude as our nation deals with the national security implications of threats such as the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, failed and failing states, extremism, global climate change, pandemic disease and increased competition for scarce natural resources.
We face the challenge of an unknown future. More than ever, a strong defense is the best insurance we can buy. Thus, we must continue to build the land forces necessary to meet the nation's challenges and ensure those forces are sustained by the administration and Congress. Our national political leaders, as a minimum, should:
- Begin an accelerated, bipartisan development of a new national security strategy based on the realities of the global environment and the potency of the available instruments of national power.
- Commit our nation to an expansion of land forces end strength beyond the growth already announced.
- Commit to making the hard resource decisions. The aggregate defense budget must grow, and the proportion allocated to the Army must increase substantially.
The AUSA message remains constant. The focus of our 2009 resolutions is on people, readiness and force transformation. The nation must act immediately if it is to recruit, train, equip, prepare and deploy land forces to meet current and future challenges. Growing today's Army by 25 percent will allow our national leaders to make strategic decisions without the constraints imposed by a smaller force. Unfortunately, the current demand for land forces exceeds the supply, and Soldiers, their Families, and their equipment are the bill payers.
The Association of the United States Army believes that a fully-manned, fully-resourced Army is an absolute necessity. The authorized and funded end strength of our Active Army must be at least 700,000 Soldiers. The Army National Guard must be increased to 371,000, and the Army Reserve must have at least 206,000 Soldiers.
The Association seeks to highlight the fact that people are the heart and soul of the Army – Soldiers, Civilians, Family Members and Retirees. The well being of this Army Family is key to increased readiness; it is a force multiplier. Therefore, Congress always must factor in this human dimension as resources are allocated.
Current congressional defense authorization and appropriations legislation is making significant strides in funding compensation, health care, retirement and survivor programs, housing, readiness and procurement and transformation initiatives. The Association of the United States Army sincerely appreciates congressional support for our Army. Much has been done, but more remains to be accomplished.
The pay gap for both Soldiers and Army Civilians must be closed. The Reserve Component compensation package must be updated and enhanced. Access to high quality health care must be increased. Erosion of benefits, especially in health care, must be resisted to ensure the continued success of the All Volunteer Force.
Wounded Warriors and their Families must receive the finest medical care and rehabilitative support. In particular, the administrative process and procedure link between the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs must become seamless to ensure a continuum of care. The full value of retiree and annuitant income must be maintained, and legislation must be enacted to end the VA offset on retirees’ military entitlement (concurrent receipt). The Army Family and Community Covenants must continue to be resourced, and new initiatives should be encouraged. Finally, the Army share of the defense budget must increase.
Our resolutions concerning readiness include urging the administration and Congress to increase defense budget funding. The current level of defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product is about 4 percent. AUSA maintains that an amount of at least 5 percent is required. The Army also must be given a greater share of the Defense Department budget – at least 28 percent, instead of the longstanding 24 percent. Further, the funding stream must be more consistent. Inconsistent and unpredictable approval of authorization, appropriation and supplemental funding must not continue because it creates enormous stress within an Army at war that is having to balance current operations and modernization.
Further, the Association urges full funding for key readiness elements: operations and maintenance, individual and unit training, and Army recruiting and retention programs; support for the rebalance of the force between the active and reserve components; and funding timely supplemental appropriation support for resetting the force.
Resolutions on force transformation address funding of advanced technology development focused on Future Combat Systems (FCS) and countermeasures for improvised explosive devices; providing funding for stable and sufficient research, development, test and evaluation; funding for modernization and enhancement programs; and acceleration of funding for high-pay-off weapon systems that support the Army's modernization requirements for current and future forces.
We must continue to foster a culture of innovation to allow full utilization of the new equipment, technology and tactics embodied by the FCS. The FCS combines the best of current manned systems with the futuristic capabilities of unmanned and robotic platforms and allows “spinouts” of new technologies derived from its research and development to be incorporated into the Army today.
Transformation affects the entire fabric of the Army. The Army must grow to provide the strategic depth to field and sustain sufficient forces that meet the full range and duration of current operations and future contingencies. Modernization will continue the transformation of our Army and provide Soldiers with a decisive advantage over our enemies.
Organizational change has created formations that are more deployable, tailorable, and versatile and allows a rebalancing of capabilities by shifting high demand forces into active components to reduce demand on the Reserve Components. Transformation will affect the Reserve Components as they change from a strategic reserve only mobilized in national emergencies to an operational reserve, used on a cyclical basis to add depth to the active force.
Institutional change is the adaptation of processes, policies and procedures to support the operational Army during war. This includes business transformation to achieve a high level of continuous, measurable improvement in business processes and functions. We cannot afford to have industrial age processes in the age of technology. Finally, transformation requires the development of agile and adaptive leaders who can handle the challenges of full spectrum operations in an era of persistent conflict.
Acceleration of Army transformation and reset must be fully funded. Reset funding must continue for several years after the end of current hostilities in order to restore readiness. Costs associated with the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), and Global Base Posturing Review (GDPR) must be provided. If the Army is required to self-fund implementation of these processes, it will degrade its ability to remain the world’s dominant land power force.
The defense of the United States of America is a shared responsibility. The American people, through their elected representatives, must continue to shoulder the responsibilities that come with the freedoms we enjoy. One of these responsibilities is to provide the resources necessary to secure freedom for ourselves and those who follow. Make no mistake--if freedom is to endure, this shared responsibility is a moral imperative.
Our congressional leadership and the members of this Association must make the case with the American people that we cannot risk the future. To remain secure and a force for good in the world, we must pay the price to ensure the preeminence of our Army. Americans deserve the peace of mind that comes with a strong defense and the knowledge that their Army is ready to meet current and future challenges in a very dangerous world. In an environment of increasing competition for resources across the broad spectrum of national programs: health care, education, social security, etc. and defense, short changing defense is not an option.
The resolutions that follow contain the Association of the United States Army’s roadmap to a campaign quality expeditionary force, appropriately sized and supported so that it can be successful in an era of persistent conflict. In a time of strategy-resource mismatch, the implementation of these resolutions will lead to a transformed Army that is fully manned, trained, equipped, competently led and ready - truly the Strength of the Nation!