The Senate’s confirmation of Pete Geren as the 20th secretary of the Army was an important step toward providing continuity of senior leadership for the service, said AUSA’s President Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret.

Gen. Sullivan noted that the new secretary “has the experience necessary to meet the many challenges the Army faces in this era of persistent conflict. As under secretary and acting secretary, Pete Geren has shown compassion for soldiers and their families. He also demonstrated the depth of understanding in addressing critical Army issues from preserving the All-Volunteer Force, ensuring the successful completion of base realignment and closure, the movement of forces from Korea and Germany to the United States, to the successful implementation of modularizing the force to the continued need for key modernization initiatives such as the Future Combat Systems. He and Gen. George Casey, the chief of staff, are a very strong leadership team for the Army.”

Gen. Sullivan said he particularly noted comments Secretary Geren made at his confirmation hearing and at a recent AUSA Institute of Land Warfare breakfast regarding the disability system for injured troops.

Secretary Geren told the committee and attendees at the ILW event that “a complex disability system that can frustrate and fail to meet the needs of soldiers” still remains.

He called it “a system that fails to acknowledge, understand and treat some of the debilitating yet invisible wounds of war – leaving soldiers to return from war and battle the bureaucracy at home. And, leaving families at a loss on how to cope.”

Secretary Geren added, “The Department of Defense, working with the Congress and VA have an opportunity that does not come along often, to move our nation a quantum leap forward in fulfillment of that commitment” made by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War to “care for those who have borne the battle, his widow and orphan.”


Iraqi War Dominates Hill Debate

Much of the debate on Capitol Hill last week centered on the Iraqi War.

House lawmakers passed the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act (H.R. 2956), a bill sponsored by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep, Ike Skelton, D-Mo., which requires the withdrawal of American combat forces within 120 days. The bill would have the withdrawal complete by April 1. President Bush has said he would veto such a bill. The vote was almost strictly along party lines and does not have the two-thirds majority to override a veto. Four Republicans voted with the Democrats and 10 Democrats with the Republicans. The total was 223 for the withdrawal and 201 against.

After the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, “We will repeat that judgment legislatively as often as necessary, hopefully with an increasing level of support from Republican colleagues.”

“This is negligence,” House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said of the plan to have repeated votes on combat force withdrawal. The July 11 vote was the second time the House passed a bill with a timetable to withdraw combat forces from Iraq.

The House vote came hours after President Bush sent to Congress a mixed report on Iraqi efforts to secure the country militarily, govern effectively and rebuild economically.

Acknowledging “there’s war fatigue in America,” President Bush said in a White House press conference that the Iraqis were making satisfactory progress in eight areas, but not in 10 others.

The war also dominated the Senate’s return from their July 4 recess as floor debate on the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill began. Although the debate on the bill was expected to last until the end of this week, it is now anticipated that it will take three weeks to weed through all of the amendments related to the war. Sen. John McCain, ranking member of the Armed Services Committee offered an even bleaker assessment when he said he is uncertain if the Senate can even pass a defense authorization bill this year with so many amendments looming. Not a pretty picture.

The Senate did pass the AUSA-supported Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warrior Act (S.1606) that will improve treatment, service and benefits for wounded warriors and their families.

The legislation mandates such changes as requiring the Defense Department and the Veterans’ Administration to coordinate the electronic transfer of veterans’ medical records as well as expanding medical coverage for family members of active duty personnel and veterans.

Look for the war to dominate much of this week’s agenda also.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. has set up a test of Senate support for the Iraq War for Wednesday when senators must decide whether to debate an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill offered by Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I. The bill would require a redeployment of U.S. troops by the end of April 2008, one month later than the House bill. Like the House version, it would mandate a start to the redeployment within 120 days.

While that amendment has three Republican cosponsors, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, it is unlikely to have the support of all Senate Democrats. At least one, Jim Webb of Virginia, has indicated he will support a mandatory start to a troop redeployment but not a fixed deadline to complete the withdrawal of combat forces.

In the meantime, many amendments important to AUSA and its members such as TRICARE fees for retirees, the Survivor Benefit Plan, Guard/Reserve retirement and the GI Bill are still pending. AUSA will push the Senate to complete its work and pass these important amendments.


Army Vice Chief of Staff: Army Too Small

Even factoring in an increase to 547,000 soldiers in the active force, the Army’s vice chief of staff said he believes the nation has “still too small an Army for the unknowns we have out there.”

Speaking last week at AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare breakfast, Gen. Richard Cody said the goal is to have one active unit forward backed up by three in various states of training.

“The current issue we have is supply and demand. Automatically that means we have to change the guard and the reserve from a strategic reserve [to] an operational reserve” to meet the demand for forces.

Adding, “The operational demand is greater than the Quadrennial Defense Review strategy and we have had to pay for that,” largely through supplemental appropriations and also in setting a rotational policy of 15 months in theater for active force soldiers so they can return to their home station for a year.

The base Army budget request for fiscal 2007 was $110 billion. The supplementals totaled $111 billion, and Army budget officials expect the emergency spending numbers to remain about the same. The base budget request for fiscal 2008 is $130 billion and is expected to rise to $141 billion in the following year.

In addition to resetting equipment and replacing damaged or destroyed equipment, Army budget officials said the emergency spending bills are paying for the increase in the size of the active force, building ranges and housing for the new modular formations, and buying equipment developed to meet specific operational needs.

“We are going to be in a boots on the ground war for the foreseeable future,” Gen. Cody said.

He added that 33 of the Army’s 36 modular combat brigades are engaged in operations around the globe.

That means the Army needs to train and equip reserve component forces at a high level to have their boots on the ground for about nine months under the Defense Department’s policy of mobilizing them for one year.

Despite two months of missing the recruiting mission, Gen. Cody said, “I still think we’re going to make our 80,000 goal,” but “we will be into FY ’09 with a very small DEP,” recruits in the delayed entry program.

He said that recruiting standards have not been lowered and that basic training and advanced individual training remain rigorous.

He added, “I am more concerned about something called heart and patriotism rather than [worrying about] someone who had to quit school to support their family.”

The technology “edge we have is not as good as it should be. We entered this war short on modernization – aircraft survivability, armor,” Gen. Cody said. While the Army plans to upgrade its Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, “we can only product improve so much.”

Gen. Cody said the Army plans to have 15 brigades equipped with the Future Combat Systems starting in fiscal 2014. “FCS only represents 3 percent of our budget and is our only modernization program. If that gets cut, we will have the tank for another 40 years,” he said.

Gen. Cody said the Army will buy as many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as needed in the coming fiscal years but, that the exact amount would be determined by continuing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“It’s an interim fix.”


Did you know…

…that effective July 1, 2007, TRICARE implemented coverage for anesthesia services and associated costs for dental treatment for beneficiaries with developmental, mental or physical disabilities, and children age 5 or under?

Beneficiaries who received these services between Oct. 17, 2006 and July 1, 2007 are encouraged to contact their TRICARE regional contractor for help with reimbursement. “TRICARE will do all that is possible to ensure that beneficiaries receive the appropriate payment for these services received since October 17, 2006,” said Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, TRICARE’s Deputy Director.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2007 legislated the change, and TRICARE revised the regional contracts to expand coverage for the services. The services require preauthorization through the regional TRICARE contractors.

The change in statute does not provide coverage for the actual dental care services. Coverage for dental care services is available through the TRICARE Dental Program and the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program.