The Army is the "center of gravity of our military," but the nation needs to act resolutely to ensure that it can manage the strains that the service has experienced in nine years of combat, said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps awarded 2,579 four-year scholarships to incoming members of the class of 2014.

To adjust to the coming era of budget constraints, the Army is working to convert its commanders and managers from a "budget culture," where they spent whatever funds they were given, to a "cost culture," in which they determine what everything costs and what benefit the Army gains from it, a panel of Army leaders.

The Army Reserve has evolved internally over the past year while in the midst of becoming more aligned with the regular Army as an operational force, and Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz is keeping an eye on the future as well to determine what role the Army Reserve will take when deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan decline.

The commanding general of Africa Command told attendees at the Maj. Gen. Robert G. Morehead Guard and Reserve Breakfast, "What you are doing is important and it matters."