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General George W. Casey, Jr.'s Eisenhower Luncheon Address at AUSA Annual Meeting
10/15/2007
General George W. Casey, Jr.
Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army
AUSA
Washington, DC
9 October 2007
Thank you, thank you. (Applause) (inaudible).
It's great for me to have the opportunity to speak to you here after I've been on the job five, six months. In fact, six months tomorrow, but who's counting?
I was beginning to think that I was moving out of the ignorance-is-bliss stage, into the stage where I started to know what I didn't know. That was until I went downstairs on the floor. And the scope of what it takes to support this Army is absolutely mind-boggling.
And I was struck by the fact that I'm glad I have a lot of good help. Let me have a big hand for all these folks up here (applause) (inaudible).
General Sullivan, thank you for your kind words. I think you know, General Sullivan was the 32nd chief. He was the one that actually put us on the road to build out of our Cold War mindset, and (inaudible) Cold War systems. So thank you for your 36 years of active duty service, and for your almost 10 years as the President of the Association of the United States Army.
Secretary Pete Geren, thank you for your continued teamwork, and support, and advice on a daily basis. And for those of you who track these kinds of things, the door is unlocked, and used frequently.
Dick Cody, and Sergeant Major Preston, thank you both for your great leadership in this time of transformation and change, and for your support for our (inaudible) of Soldiers and their Families.
I see some of my other predecessors out here. I think General Bernie Rogers, General Carl Vuono, General Denny Reimer, and Ric Shinseki, I think, are out there. Without the foresight and vision that each of you brought to America's Army, we would not be the best in the world at what we do today. So thank you.
To our many outstanding leaders of our Army, to our Army spouses, to our wounded warriors that are here with us today, and to all the members of the Association of the United States Army from across the world, thank you for all you do every day to support our Soldiers and their Families.
Go ahead. (Applause)
(inaudible), to add my congratulations here to the AUSA award winners today. The [817th] 5th [Engineer] Battalion and the 3rd Personnel Command – well done. And to our recruiters of the year, thank you all for the great work that you do. One more round of applause for these (inaudible).
Now, General Sullivan mentioned, and Pete Geren mentioned yesterday, that the theme for this year's conference is America's Army – the Strength of the Nation. And I'd like to talk to you today about what that means, about what I've seen in my first six months on the job, and about the direction that the Secretary and I think we need to move the Army in the next three or four years, to ensure that we retain that strength.
Our Nation has been at war for over six years, following the September 11th attacks on Washington and New York. Our Army has been a leader in that war, and in the liberation of 50 million people from tyranny and oppression.
We have also been fully engaged in the difficult process of consolidating those successes, by providing security and by providing assistance to develop local security forces in [governments] that are (inaudible).
Over time, as these operations have expanded in scope and duration, they've stretched, and as a result, stressed our All Volunteer Force.
We live in a world today where global terrorism and extremist ideologies are realities. We're locked in the generational struggle against the global extremist network that is out to destroy our way of life. And as a result, I believe that the next decades that we face will be ones of what I call persistent conflict.
What do I mean by that? What I'm talking about is a theory of [retractive] confrontation among states, non-states and individual actors, who are increasingly willing to use violence to achieve their political and ideological ends.
The complexities of this environment will be compounded by several emerging global trends that are likely to exacerbate this confrontation. These trends will combine with the existing local and regional conditions, which will create conditions that can be exploited by extremists, to continue their destructive efforts.
Let me talk about just a few of these trends.
First of all, globalization. There's no question that globalization is already having positive effects around the world. But it can also create [have and have-not] situations that could be exploited by extremist groups, undermine governments and societies. And unfortunately, most of the benefits of globalization are being seen north of the equator, and not so much south of the equator.
Population growth, and the huge (inaudible) that (inaudible) that increase opportunities for instability, radicalism, and extremism.
Demand for energy, water and food, to support growing populations with increased competition, and potentially, conflict.
Climate change and natural disasters, as we have already seen, can cause humanitarian crises, population migrations, and epidemic diseases.
And the two that worry me the most. A proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, one of those has the potential for catastrophic attacks that will be globally destabilizing and detrimental to the global economic development.
And finally, failed or failing states, that are unable or unwilling to maintain control over their territories. These states can provide (inaudible), ask for (inaudible) recently, or around the world.
Now, since that's the case, let me tell you what our Soldiers, Families and Civilians already know, and they know it full well. Let me tell you what's at stake in this struggle.
At stake is the power of our values and our civilization, exemplified by the promise of America. At stake is our ability to confront and defeat the menace of extremist terrorism. At stake is whether the authorities of those who treasure the rights of free individuals will stand firm against the ruthless, and (inaudible) men who want to make (inaudible) defenseless.
At stake is whether the future will be framed by the individual freedoms we hold so dear, or dominated by the (inaudible) forms of extremism.
And at stake, is whether we will continue to expand freedom, opportunity and liberty for (inaudible) the darkness of terrorism and extremism.
You can see why it's important that in this period, we remain the strength of the Nation.
Now, while analysts generally agree that the next decades will be ones of persistent conflict, they also agree that it will be unlikely to predict the time, location or the scope of coming contests. And frankly, looking back over history, the one thing we know about predicting the future is that we usually get it wrong.
We do know, however, that the Army will remain central to any national strategy to ensure our security in this area, and that would be versatile and agile Forces that can adapt rapidly to unexpected circumstances. The Army has a vision to build those Forces, and we're already executing it.
We intend to transform the current Force into a campaign quality, executionary Army, that is capable of supporting the (inaudible) across the spectrum of conflict in the 21st century. That's what we're about.
And oh, by the way, we're about halfway there, in completing our modular transformations, and the rebalancing of our Force.
So as we look to the future, we do so with an Army that is already stretched by over six years at war. And while we remain a resilient, committed, professional Force, today's Army is out of balance.
The current demand on our Forces exceeds the sustainable supply. We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight, and unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as we would like, for other contingencies.
Our Reserve Components are performing an operational role for which they were neither originally designed, nor resourced.
The limited periods between the deployments necessitate the focus on counterinsurgency training, at the expense of training for the full spectrum of operations. Soldiers, Families, support systems of equipment, are stressed by the demands of these repeated deployments. Overall, we are consuming our readiness as fast as we're building it.
Now, we will act quickly here, to balance our Forces here, to preserve our All Volunteer Force, to restore the necessary depth to our (inaudible) breadth of Army capabilities, and to build essential capability for the future.
Four imperatives frame what we need to do. And implementing these imperatives will require several years, considerable resources, and the sustained support of Congress and the American people.
Let me just run through those for you.
First, imperative – sustain. We need to improve the manner by which we sustain our Soldiers, Families, and Civilians. Recruiting and training and retaining our Soldiers, who are the centerpiece of this Force, can only be done by transforming our quality of recruits, and the Soldiers who are physically tough, [many adaptive], and who live the warrior ethos. And, by doing a better job of caring for their Families, who are impacted by their commitment and by their service.
Our warriors are our ultimate asymmetric advantage. The one thing that no enemy can duplicate now, or in the future. And we need to keep them with us.
Secretary Geren talked yesterday about the Army Family Covenant. It is our commitment to build a partnership with Army Families to ensure their strength and their resilience. We're committed to ensuring the quality of life of our Soldiers, Families and Civilians, as commensurate with the quality of their magnificent service.
Lieutenant Colonel Bob [Russet] has the lead for implementing our Army Solder / Family Action Plan. And that Plan has been set up to make the Covenant a reality.
We will also ensure that our wounded warriors are well cared for, and reintegrated into the Army or into society. And our Vice Chief of Staff Dick Cody is leading our Army Medical Action Plan, which is designed to ensure that we take great care of our wounded warriors.
Second imperative – prepare. We need to prepare our Forces for success in the current conflict. We made great strides in (inaudible) our Soldiers, and we're continually adapting our training and our equipment to keep pace with an evolving enemy. We remain committed to providing our deploying soldiers with the best available equipment, so that they can maintain a technological advantage over any enemy that they face.
We'll also continue to provide tough, demanding training at home stations, and at our combat training centers, to give our leaders the confidence they need to succeed in these conquest environments.
Military success in this war is tied to the capabilities of our leaders and our Soldiers. And we will not fail to prepare them for success.
Third imperative – reset. We must continue to reset our units to rebuild our readiness to prepare them for future deployments and contingencies. Since 2003, equipment has been used to at rates of over five times that program, and it's been used in harsh, demanding, desert and mountainous environments. In addition to fixing and replacing and upgrading our equipment, and retraining for future missions, we also have to revitalize our Soldiers and Families by providing them the time and the opportunity to recover from the cumulative effects of sustained operation.
Resetting our Force is critical to both restoring readiness, and rebuilding for the future. We will reset for the future. We will not rebuild the past.
We told Congress that reset must continue as long as we have Forces deployed, and for several years thereafter. The commitment to providing resources to reset our Forces is essential to restoring strategic depth and flexibility to our Army. It will be the difference between a hollow Army and strategic flexibility in an era of persistent conflict.
Lastly, transforming. We must continue to transform our Army to meet the demands of the 21st century. Transformation, for us, is a holistic effort, to adapt how we fight, how we train, modernize, develop leaders, base our Forces, and support our Soldiers, Families and Civilians.
It's a journey. It's not a destination.
Let me just say a few words about four aspects of our transformation – growth, modernization, operational (inaudible) our Reserve Components, and leader development.
First, let me talk about growth.
As you know, we are growing our Army by 74,000 Soldiers, to provide sufficient Forces for the full range of current operations and future contingencies. We have approval from the Secretary of Defense to accelerate this growth by two years – from 2012 to 2010. And we believe, that by accelerating our growth, we can increase the grow time of individuals in units, improve [man], and improve opportunities for leaders to attend their professional military education.
Meeting this target will not be easy. It will require a total Force effort if we're going to expand more rapidly and maintain the quality so essential to our long-term success.
Second point: Modernization. We believe we must continually modernize our equipment to put our Cold War systems behind us, and to provide our Soldiers a decisive advantage over any enemy they face in the future. We'll continue to rapidly [field] the best possible equipment to our Soldiers. They're fighting every day. We'll upgrade and modernize the existing combat and support systems.
We'll incorporate new technologies that are spun out of the future combat systems, research and development. And we will finally begin to feel the future combat system, brigade combat teams themselves.
I will tell you that I have recently visited the future combat system laboratories in California, and I am convinced that the future combat system is the full spectrum combat Force that we need for the 21st century.
We are ultimately working toward an agile, globally responsive Army, that is enhanced by modern networks, surveillance sensors, precision weapons, and platforms that are lighter, less logistics-dependent, and less manpower-intensive. It's truly a 21st century Force.
Third element of transformation – adapting our Reserve Components. Our Reserve Components are performing magnificently, but in an operational role for which they were neither designed nor resourced. They are no longer a strategic Reserve, mobilized only in national emergencies. They are now an operational Reserve deployed on a cyclical basis, to allow us to sustain the (inaudible) operations.
We must continue to adapt our Reserve Components for an era of persistent conflict. Operationalizing Reserve Components will require national and state consensus, as well as continued commitment from employers, Soldiers, and Families.
It will require changes to the way we train, equip, resource and mobilize, and also to (inaudible) Cold War administrative policies, if we are to build the truly total Force that we have been working on for so many years.
We changed the paradigm for our Reserve Component Soldiers and Families, and we owe it to them to make this transition right. General (inaudible) [Campbell], our Forces Commander, is working closely with our Reserve Component leadership to make this happen.
Lastly – agile/adaptive leaders. In this era of persistent conflict, it is absolutely essential that we can develop leaders who can handle the challenges of full spectrum operation. Our leaders in the 21st century must be competent in their core competencies, brought up to operate across a full spectrum of conflict, able to operate a joint interagency and combined environments, at home and in other cultures, and courageous enough to see and exploit opportunities in the complex environments that they will be operating in.
General [Scott Wallace], Commander of our Training and (inaudible), is leading this initiative, and you'll hear about some of the great work they're doing at other forums in this conference.
We are committed to investing in our Officer, Warrant Officer, Non-Commissioned Officer, and Civilian leaders.
So that's what we have to do to rebalance our Army. Sustain, prepare, reset, and transform. And we must do that while we're at war, and it won't be easy. But it will be essential to keep our Army the strength of this Nation, in an era of persistent conflict.
Faced with such challenges, it's useful to remind ourselves that this Army exists to [field] Forces for victory. We've fought this way since 1775, and we always will.
We've been at war for over six years, fighting for our freedom, fighting for our security, and fighting for our future as a Nation. We made hard sacrifices. We've lost over 2,400 Soldiers, and over 20,000 wounded – a quarter of these in the Reserve Component.
We've also awarded the Medal of Honor, six Distinguished Service Crosses, over 260 Silver Stars, and over 6,700 other awards for valor.
Soldiers are the strength of this Army, and they make this Army the strength of this Nation. It will be our Soldiers who lead us to victory over the Nation's enemies, and it will be our Soldiers who preserve the peace for us and for our [Gods].
Our Combat Veterans know well that we need an Army Strong. Baptized in fire and blood, they've come out of steel, and that steel endures. Our war ethos has it right – I will always place the mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit, I will never leave a fallen comrade.
So within our history have Soldiers faced great challenges. We serve at a time when the stakes for our Nation and for our way of life are high, and the demands on our Force significant.
We will continue to reflect the very best of our Nation by defending our Homeland, by defeating the enemies of freedom, and by assisting our Nation to build a better future for coming generations.
Your Army, while stretched, is unquestionably the best in the world. And we are that way because of our values, because of our ethos, and because of our people. Most especially, because of our people.
Let me tell you about one of those people.
I was in Baghdad in August, and I had the opportunity to pin a Silver Star on a young sergeant. Sergeant [Jimmy] Thomas from Utopia, Texas, was out on a riverboat patrol with some Iraqi police on the Tigris River. By 11:30 in the morning, they came under fire from one of the banks of the river. They faced 70 to 100 insurgents.
The Iraqi policeman that was manning the machine gun abandoned the weapon. Sergeant Thomas jumped on the weapon and began returning fire, as the rounds were bouncing off the steel plate that was protecting the machine gun.
They tried to push through – they couldn't get through. So they diverted to the other bank of the river. They got everybody out in a (inaudible). They weren't taking fire, but they were pinned down – they couldn't get out.
The squad leader looked at Sergeant Thomas and said, "Get us out of here." He charged up the bank from under enemy fire, only to find that his way out was blocked by a fence. He took out his wire cutters – he began cutting the fence. The fence was electric.
It knocked him down. He got back up, continued cutting the fence while the glove melted in his hand. Got the fence open enough so the squad could get through. The last guy got hung up. Sergeant Thomas went back, knowing he was going to get shot again – got knocked down, got the guy through, and then organized the squad, assaulted the building, and cleared it so they could be evacuated. Two hours of combat.
That's the kind of Soldier – that's the kind of men and women that we have in this Army today, and that's why we are the strength of the Nation.
Sergeant Thomas is not alone, and I'd like to show you just a short but powerful video that captures the spirit and the tradition that makes this Army great.
(inaudible), roll that.
(Video presentation)
Thanks to our Public Affairs (inaudible) for putting that together.
Let me just close out here, by saying that I could not be more proud to be a Soldier today, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Sergeant [Jimmy] Thomas, Sergeant Major [Brent James] of (inaudible), and PFC [Chase Dirksen]. And with our Families, and with our Civilians.
Together, we are the strength of this Nation.
God bless you. Thanks.
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