The U.S. finds itself in pivotal times, facing challenges in a world that feels more perilous than ever. To continue to meet these challenges and prepare for the future, the Army continues to focus on transformation. The service must not be held captive to how it has done business for the past 30 years but rather develop innovative solutions to solve Army problems—focused on desired outcomes, return on investment and impacts to Army readiness. To do so, the Army must leverage the strength of the nation’s total industrial might in both traditional military-industry partnerships and new...
Robots—from autonomous to remotely operated—are everywhere on today’s battlefields. Yet on the ground, autonomy is just recently crossing from experiment to fielded capability. The Army has a short 12- to 18-month window to develop autonomous capabilities and field them at scale. Fielding and scaling quickly will posture the Army for the next two to five years as lessons from Ukraine, where the massing of autonomous systems, mines, electronic warfare and relentless tempo, are forcing change.
Continuous transformation is the vehicle for that change: rapid, soldier-led trials with the...
Robots—from autonomous to remotely operated—are everywhere on today’s battlefields. Yet on the ground, autonomy is just recently crossing from experiment to fielded capability. The Army has a short 12- to 18-month window to develop autonomous capabilities and field them at scale. Fielding and scaling quickly will posture the Army for the next two to five years as lessons from Ukraine, where the massing of autonomous systems, mines, electronic warfare and relentless tempo, are forcing change.
Continuous transformation is the vehicle for that change: rapid, soldier-led trials with the...
As war continues in Ukraine, Chinese global infrastructure and resource dominance grow daily. In South America alone, Chinese trade has increased by a factor of 26 in two decades, from $12 billion to $315 billion, according to the World Economic Forum. China’s “blue water” navy will be fully operational by 2030, providing strategic overreach onto the U.S. continent. Coupled with the simplicity and effectiveness of cyberattacks, major U.S. ports, rail and utility networks are in jeopardy. Simply put, China now can challenge a large-scale U.S. military domestic deployment from its installations...
Iraq was the last experience the U.S. Army had with large-scale combat operations and the transition from combat to stability operations. Iraq war veterans remember the long and fast march from the Kuwaiti border to Baghdad. We remember the battle for Saddam International Airport and the Battle of Baghdad. In one or two generations, history may forget our decades-long battle to bring peace and stability to Iraq once we concluded major combat operations. It may forget that critical period that marked the transition from combat to stability operations.
However, the “what comes next” phase...
Made up of 23 depots, arsenals and ammunition plants, the U.S. Army’s organic industrial base is a vital part of the service’s success on a modern, complex battlefield. To keep pace with Army efforts to transform continuously while facing fast-moving threats and evolving technology, the service is investing close to $100 million to modernize its organic industrial base facilities and equipment.
As the 15-year modernization plan unfolds, the depots, arsenals and ammunition plants continue to clank, hum and whir their way into the future of modern warfare, rapidly innovating and adapting to...
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
This was written by Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius some 2,000 years ago, and yet it could have been written this morning. Let’s be honest, most of us spend way too much time in our heads wondering what other people think of us. “Do I look confident enough?” “Do I sound smart?” “Did anyone notice that awkward thing I just said?” (Answer: Probably not, but your brain insists they did.)
That self-conscious voice starts early. If you grew up with...
Imagine a training rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. A platoon is deep in complex terrain when a sudden storm hits. Connectivity drops. The map freezes. The chat app goes silent. But the mission doesn’t stop. Cached data on a rugged tactical-edge node keeps the picture alive until the network comes back online.
Scenarios like this could happen at the National Training Center, the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, or during Project Convergence exercises—places where the Army tests combat scenarios in data-contested environments. These...
An expansionist dictator is on the march in Europe; European democracies, too late, mobilize to meet the threat after yielding territory to the aggressor in a futile bid for peace. In Asia, a rising naval and air power is confronting its neighbors and seeking territorial aggrandizement and natural resources; neither America nor her friends in the region have the military capacity to deter additional offensives. New technologies on land, in the air and at sea threaten to overturn the advantages of status quo military powers and, possibly, create a new world order.
Voices in America, sensing...
The U.S. Army is a cornerstone of American power projection, but it faces a significant challenge in maintaining its operational effectiveness across the vast and strategically vital U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. This region’s immense maritime expanses, diverse geographical terrains and complex geopolitical dynamics make two concepts critical: operational reach and operational endurance. These are essential for the Army to deter aggression, maintain regional stability and, if necessary, prevail in conflict. The Army must enhance these capabilities within this theater.
Th...
Company commanders bear immense responsibility for leading, training, equipping and caring for their soldiers while balancing mission requirements with organizational readiness. Yet they routinely are placed in positions where their success depends on navigating complex human issues with minimal preparation.
For example, a staff sergeant under my command endured prolonged financial and emotional abuse from his spouse, leading to foreclosure, repossession and the spouse moving another individual into the home. After months of silence, this NCO finally was referred to behavioral health and...
The combat training center has morphed in purpose and scope since its inception. After the Vietnam War ended in the mid-1970s, the Army created the combat training center to transform its force from a broken service to a highly lethal fighting force, which would be on display during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The overwhelming success of Desert Storm could not have happened without the validation of AirLand Battle doctrine, which was tested and refined at multiple combat training center rotations by warfighters in the interwar years.
During the global war on terror, combat training...
A no-notice alert to deploy to the U.S. southern border gave the 10th Mountain Division the opportunity to test new equipment, build military-to-military relationships and gain real-world experience against a determined and adaptive adversary.
The U.S. military has supported U.S. Customs and Border Protection for years. While previous missions seemed to erode readiness as soldiers were employed as unskilled labor instead of highly trained maneuver forces, that is not the case today. Empowered by new authorities and a refined purpose, troops deployed along the southern border lead...
A no-notice alert to deploy to the U.S. southern border gave the 10th Mountain Division the opportunity to test new equipment, build military-to-military relationships and gain real-world experience against a determined and adaptive adversary.
The U.S. military has supported U.S. Customs and Border Protection for years. While previous missions seemed to erode readiness as soldiers were employed as unskilled labor instead of highly trained maneuver forces, that is not the case today. Empowered by new authorities and a refined purpose, troops deployed along the southern border lead...
For the past 70 years, U.S. and South Korean armed forces have maintained the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, deterred aggression and provided a framework for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Doing this has required the collective might of the two countries and the placing of tens of thousands of service members and their equipment facing North Korea, locked in on their mutual adversary, like pieces on a chessboard.
This arrangement has worked for decades. But as the Indo-Pacific security situation has grown in size and complexity, there is a need to enable allied forces in...