As the guardians of our nation’s freedom, American Soldiers are the strength of the nation. After more than six years of war, our Soldiers have proven that it takes boots on the ground to achieve success on today’s battlefields, just as American Soldiers have shown for more than 230 years. In an era of persistent conflict, American Soldiers will remain central to any strategy devised to ensure our national security.

American Soldiers are men and women of skill, courage, and creativity – who have never failed the nation. While they are resilient, the Army in which they serve is out of balance. It is an Army at war that is transforming itself. Fighting in today’s security environment while continuing to rebuild and reset, has stretched the Army. The demand for forces exceeds the sustainable supply. The depth of forces needed to be prepared for other contingencies and missions is not available. Limited time between deployments stresses Soldiers and their Families. The Army leadership is aware of the risk that the Army could cross an invisible red line into unreadiness.


To restore the Army’s balance, the Association of the United States Army believes that a fully-manned, well-resourced Army is a necessity. The Army must grow as rapidly as possible in order to meet increasing mission requirements that are global in scope and extend through the foreseeable future. The funded end strength of our Active Army must grow to at least 700,000 Soldiers. The Army National Guard must also grow to at least 358,000, and the Army Reserve to at least 206,000.

The Army Chief of Staff has outlined four imperatives that will restore balance, provide depth to Army capabilities and build capacity for the future. The imperatives are: Sustain, Prepare, Reset and Transform.

Sustain means improving the way the Army recruits, trains, develops and retains high quality Soldiers and Army Civilians. It addresses the need to ensure that the quality of life the Army provides to Soldiers and their Families is commensurate with those they serve. It means ensuring that Wounded Warriors receive the finest medical care and rehabilitative support to reintegrate effectively into the Army and society. Finally, it means never forgetting the moral obligation to support spouses and Families who have lost their Soldiers in service to America.

Prepare - the second imperative - concerns preparing Soldiers to succeed in the current conflict. It requires properly equipping and training Soldiers to fight an evolving enemy. The best technologically superior equipment combined with demanding, properly-timed training, grows leaders and Soldiers who can succeed in today’s complex fighting environments.

Reset – the third imperative – involves obtaining the resources to rebuild the equipment base and prepare it for future deployments and contingencies. Equipment is being used at five times the rate that was programmed. The Army’s equipment must be fixed, upgraded or replaced. Further, Soldiers and Families must have time to recover from the effects of sustained combat, high operational tempo and family separation. This year alone the Army with our industry partners will reset more than 130,000 pieces of equipment and almost 200,000 Soldiers.

Transform - the fourth imperative - involves completing the fielding of modular forces with increased capabilities as well as improving strategic responsiveness and joint interdependence. Doing so will provide forces that are organized, trained and equipped for full-spectrum joint, interagency and multi-national operations, and will support Future Force development. It involves transformation of: installations; the way the Army trains and develops leaders; acquisition and fielding; as well as logistics and human resource systems. A culture of innovation must be fostered to allow peak utilization of the new equipment, technology and tactics embodied by the Future Combat Systems. The Future Combat Systems (FCS) combines the best of current manned systems with the futuristic capabilities of unmanned and robotic systems and will allow new technologies derived from research and development to be incorporated into the Army.

Army Transformation affects the entire fabric of the Army. Modernization will put legacy formations and systems behind us and provide soldiers with a decisive advantage over our enemies. Organizational change will create modular formations that are more deployable, tailorable, and versatile as well as rebalance capabilities by shifting high-demand forces into active components to reduce demand on reserve components. Institutional change will adapt processes, policies and procedures to support the expeditionary Army during war. This includes business transformation to achieve a high level of continuous, measurable improvement in business processes and functions. In addition, the Reserve Component is undergoing a dramatic transformation as it changes from a strategic reserve that is only mobilized in national emergencies to an operational reserve, used on a cyclical basis to add depth to the active force. Finally, transformation requires the development of agile and adaptive leaders who can meet the challenges of full spectrum operations in an era of persistent conflict.

The Army is an investment-starved institution that is forced to trade long term modernization for near term requirements. How will the resources be secured to fund the war on terrorism and Army Transformation? The current level of defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product is about four percent. AUSA maintains that an amount of at least five percent is required. The Army must also be given a greater share of the Defense Department base budget – at least 28 percent instead of the longstanding 24 percent.

Further, the funding stream must be more consistent. Congress must approve authorizations and act to appropriate base and supplemental funding in a timely manner. Unpredictable funding degrades readiness, creates inefficiencies and places enormous stress on an Army at war as it is forced to reallocate money to cover shortfalls while awaiting congressional action.

The Association of the United States Army, throughout its resolutions, highlights the fact that people are the heart and soul of the Army – Soldiers, Civilians, Family members and Retirees. The Army is adopting six years of lessons learned on the battlefield - it now needs to apply six years of lessons learned from Army Families to help the larger Army Family adapt to the new reality of the Army as an expeditionary force. To accomplish this, the Army leadership has signed a covenant to support the transformation of Army Family support. AUSA will support the Army’s covenant with the Army Family.

The Army is the strength of the nation and the strength of the Army is the strength of its families. This Army Family and its well-being is a key to increased readiness and is a force multiplier. Therefore, Congress must remain mindful of this human dimension as resources are allocated.

Congress 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 appreciates congressional support for our Army. Much has been done, but more work remains. The military and civilian pay gap must be eliminated. The care of injured and disabled soldiers must be enhanced and the administrative process and procedure link between the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs must become seamless. The Reserve Component compensation package must be revised and enhanced. Army budget share must increase. Erosion of benefits, especially in health care, must be prevented to ensure the continued success in recruiting and retaining the All Volunteer Force.

Full funding must be provided for reset, readiness and acceleration of Army Transformation. These funds must be moved from the supplemental to the base budget to ensure stability. Reset funding must continue for several years after the end of current hostilities.

Funds associated with the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), and Global Base Posturing Review (GBPR) must be provided. If the under-funded Army is required to continue to implement these programs, then its ability to remain the world’s dominant land power force will be degraded.

The Association of the United States Army and the congressional leadership must remind the American people that we cannot mortgage the future. Together we can sharpen the understanding that national defense is a non-negotiable, shared responsibility. The American people must shoulder the load that comes with the freedoms we enjoy. Today’s reality is that the debt of the many, to the few, grows daily. We must pay the price to ensure the preeminence of our defense if we desire to remain secure and a force for good in this world. If freedom is to endure, this shared responsibility is a moral imperative. Our nation requires and deserves nothing less.

The resolutions that follow will lead to a campaign quality expeditionary force. The United States Army today is the key component of our national security – truly the strength of the nation.