Driven by a volatile global security environment, the new chief of the U.S. Army Reserve is prioritizing combat-ready formations, leader accountability and meaningful training relationships with the rest of the Army.

Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, who was sworn in Aug. 1 as chief of the Army Reserve and commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said there are many things to address within the component, but early in his tenure, his focus is ensuring that Reserve soldiers have what they need, are up to speed on their skills and are on the right footing to move out on short notice.

Harter takes command at a time when the Army is transforming at full tilt and posturing its formations and capabilities for large-scale combat operations. He believes that unlike the first two decades of the 21st century, when units often had a year to prepare for rotations to the war zone, Reserve troops won’t have that kind of head start if shots are fired today.

Soldiers need to be ready for a dangerous world, he said. “When you look at today’s national security environment, I guess what concerns me is that if something bad happens, Army Reserve soldiers are going, and it’s not going to be in 60 days; it might be 15,” Harter said Aug. 21 in his Pentagon office. “In the macro, my concern right now is making sure our young men and women are ready physically, mentally, soldier skills and then, of course, their formations. We need to make sure we’re laser-focused on that.”

Almost all the Army’s combat support and combat service support capabilities reside within the Army Reserve, Harter said. Using bulk fuel transportation as an example, he pointed out that the active Army “has tactical trucks, and they can move stuff around on the battlefield, but getting fuel to them, it’s us.”

“In a counterinsurgency, we could meet that need … on routine deployments,” Harter said. “My concern now is that if something bad happens, Army Reserve forces are going to be needed pretty quick.”

As he travels to observe training, talk with soldiers and assess the needs of the force, Harter works to instill a fresh mindset for action, encouraging leaders to “cherish every second you have with your soldiers when they’re at battle assembly, because that could be the last training opportunity you have before something bad happens. Think like that.”

“We were all fat, dumb and happy on Sept. 10, 2001, and those were a bunch of [non-state actors who attacked the U.S. on 9/11]. Imagine what a state actor could do,” said Harter, who, rather than come off as a harbinger of negativity, described himself as a “glass half-full kind of guy. I’m a positive, happy dude.”

Down in the Dirt

The Army Reserve’s new chief wants leaders to continue optimizing training opportunities and avoid being bogged down with creating metrics reports, a nod to his predecessor, now-retired Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, who encouraged unit leaders to put tough, realistic training ahead of paperwork.

“As a company commander, I expect you to know the status of your formation,” Harter said. “That’s hard to do without having some kind of objective data, but don’t be obsessed with it. Stay focused on purpose-delivering combat-ready soldiers.”

As part of “getting back to that mindset of why we exist,” Harter said he is pushing unit leaders to get down in the dirt on battle assembly weekends.

“Soldiers will run through a wall for you if they know you’re there with them,” Harter said. “In the dirt, misery breeds frickin’ bonds. Not all the time, but afterwards, you’re like, ‘God, that sucked. Wasn’t it awesome? Let’s have a beer.’ ”

On a visit to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, in August, he said, soldiers were “having the most fun and getting the most out of training where they had commanders engaged at echelon.”

“Where commanders had that mindset going in there, the units were crushing it,” he said, adding that he saw lower levels of enthusiasm in units where commanders were not engaged or not even there. “You could see the difference.”

The disengaged or absent leaders, he said, “haven’t been held to account.”

“If you’re in the dirt, they care,” he said. “The soldiers see you doing what you’re going to do, what you expect them to do, that’s hugely motivating, and they’re watching your every move,” Harter said. “At the same time, sometimes we have some senior leaders, and I could fall into this, so I have to be very self-aware, who think they’re leadership consultants.”

Drawing on the mentorship he received from general officers who preceded him, Harter said he expects to further empower unit leaders to make decisions but also to be held accountable for achieving readiness.

Leaders will be expected to have a battle rhythm, a process for determining readiness down to the individual soldier and ensuring plans are on track and not left to chance. Quality leaders also must lead by example and from the front, he said. Everything a leader does serves to inform those coming in behind them as they prepare to take on their next big role, he said.

Active Mentorship

Harter urged leaders in the Army Reserve to take an active role in developing the component’s future leaders by actively mentoring them. “Leadership matters,” Harter said. “The older I become, the more I realize how critical it is.”

As senior Army leaders consider how to reorganize formations in anticipation of shifting requirements, Harter said he is expecting a shift in the Reserve’s allocation of capabilities.

“They could probably bring to us maybe some multidomain task force, some signal [soldiers], some high-tech stuff. There’s even some talk of some light infantry if you had to get rid of some combat arms as part of a trade-off,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got to make sure that we’re prepared to deliver.”

As such high-level planning evolves, Harter has his sights on formalizing some of the relationships the Army Reserve has with the Regular Army and the Army National Guard. This means partnering more frequently, and formally, with each of the components.

As an example, there is an Army Reserve sustainment brigade 45 minutes outside of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Harter said. “Why would they never not be at Fort Liberty training with all those infantry formations, setting up and providing water and fuel and doing all that?” he said. “Why are they going to Arkansas to train? Let’s partner up.”

Harter also suggested that the Army Reserve should have participated in an XVIII Airborne Corps warfighter exercise that took place in early August. “Even if we had one or two of our one-star headquarters that were part of that, and you’re supporting a corps in contact, by the way, in an exercise that had 18,000 casualties, we would be the medical formation, and you build the relationships,” he said. “We’ve just got to codify [these relationships]. There are a lot of handshake agreements. Let’s go ahead and partner up.”

Family Tradition

Harter grew up in an Army family. His father, Bob, is a 1965 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. An infantry officer, he fought in the Vietnam War, received two Purple Hearts and retired from the Army after 20 years.

“He’s just a quiet, humble guy, like, totally opposite of me, just salt of the earth,” Harter said, praising his father for having been “my inspiration.”

Harter graduated from the Virginia Tech ROTC program in 1988 with a degree in business and communications. He was commissioned as a field artillery officer, spent 10½ years on active duty and transitioned to the Active Guard Reserve program, where he became an ordnance officer.

He was deputy chief of the Army Reserve before he took command of the 81st Readiness Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, his most recent assignment before taking over as chief of the Army Reserve.

Harter’s son, 1st Lt. Bobby Harter, is an executive officer in the 1st Squadron (Airborne), 40th Cavalry Regiment, part of the 11th Airborne Division’s 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. On Aug. 16, in celebration of National Airborne Day, 1st Lt. Harter and his company commander became tangled during a jump over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Lt. Gen. Harter downplays the danger they were in, happily announcing that the duo landed on target and took first place. After telling the story, he considers his stake in leading his troops for the next four years.

“As commander, I got skin in the game with all these troops, but I got my own flesh and blood that could be on the receiving end of Army Reserve support,” he said.