ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army’s Future Vertical Lift aircraft will provide the joint force with flexible, agile and decisive options based on next-generation technological advancements as well as advanced tactics and teaming. Future Vertical Lift will feature transformational speed, range and endurance to generate strategic and operational advantages, operate from a place of relative sanctuary and rapidly deliver combat power to the tactical edge of the battlefield.

Next-generation technological advancements and Future Vertical Lift’s modular open systems approach set the conditions for interoperability and...

The Army’s Future Vertical Lift aircraft will provide the joint force with flexible, agile and decisive options based on next-generation technological advancements as well as advanced tactics and teaming. Future Vertical Lift will feature transformational speed, range and endurance to generate strategic and operational advantages, operate from a place of relative sanctuary and rapidly deliver combat power to the tactical edge of the battlefield.

Next-generation technological advancements and Future Vertical Lift’s modular open systems approach set the conditions for interoperability and...

The revolution will not be televised

Will not be televised

Will not be televised

Will not be televised

The revolution will be no re-run, brothers

The revolution will be live

While the above stanza, drawn from the Gil Scott-Heron song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, may appear at first glance to have nothing to do with the Army, a closer examination of the challenges we face reveals a more subtle connection. Between domestic issues and political challenges at home and a global pandemic and ascendant peers abroad, the Army must fundamentally change how it operates to...

The Army’s plan for the light division proposes the addition of an Infantry Squad Vehicle for every rifle squad in an infantry brigade. Incorporating squad vehicles could greatly increase infantry mobility, but also incur significant costs. Motorizing the infantry also would limit the tactical deployment of light infantry, further complicate movement control and do little to solve the Army’s greater transportation needs.

Transportation shortfalls have consistently represented the key constraint for large-scale combat operations, as detailed in the Army University Press’ 2018 collection The...

The Army’s plan for the light division proposes the addition of an Infantry Squad Vehicle for every rifle squad in an infantry brigade. Incorporating squad vehicles could greatly increase infantry mobility, but also incur significant costs. Motorizing the infantry also would limit the tactical deployment of light infantry, further complicate movement control and do little to solve the Army’s greater transportation needs.

Transportation shortfalls have consistently represented the key constraint for large-scale combat operations, as detailed in the Army University Press’ 2018 collection The...

Special Operations’ Rocky Evolution

Warfighter: The Story of an American Fighting Man. Col. Jesse Johnson With Alex Holstein. Lyons Press. 264 pages. $27.95

By Col. Keith Nightingale, U.S. Army retired

Retired Col. Jesse Johnson’s book Warfighter: The Story of an American Fighting Man, written with Alex Holstein, is a stirring, highly readable and satisfying work. It is a combination of special operations inside baseball as well as a descriptive trip through the life of one of America’s great soldiers.

The book describes the true nature of close combat, from Johnson’s time in...

Leaders frequently struggle with communication. In fact, command climate surveys identify communication as one of the top challenges within Army organizations. Why does this happen? What is it about communication that is so difficult? Why do leaders think their subordinates are not understanding them, and why do subordinates think their leaders are poor communicators?

Leadership is how we communicate with each other, and language is our tool for communication. Unfortunately, the perception of good communication is in the ear of the beholder.

Culprits Behind Failures

Mission Command...

Leaders frequently struggle with communication. In fact, command climate surveys identify communication as one of the top challenges within Army organizations. Why does this happen? What is it about communication that is so difficult? Why do leaders think their subordinates are not understanding them, and why do subordinates think their leaders are poor communicators?

Leadership is how we communicate with each other, and language is our tool for communication. Unfortunately, the perception of good communication is in the ear of the beholder.

Culprits Behind Failures

Mission Command...

On March 26, 2005, an explosion shattered the calm of the brigade operations center as our radio networks sprang to life. Tower guards quickly reported in, and we trained our dirigible-mounted TV cameras on the scene.

Zooming in only seconds after the blast, we saw a Humvee burning furiously only yards outside the perimeter wall. A small pickup truck had slammed into the vehicle and detonated, killing two Louisiana National Guardsmen and seriously injuring two others. Within minutes, the sergeant major and I were rolling to the scene, while the staff rushed field ambulances to the site.

Garrisons are the most complex colonel-level commands in the Army.

Garrison commanders solve wicked problems and punch way above their weight class. Their work also generates readiness disproportionate to the size of their command.

Every day, garrison commanders and their teams work in a dynamic environment that directly links tactical actions to strategic outcomes. Each one is responsible for the security, housing and welfare of soldiers, civilians and families living on their installation. They deploy forces, host unaccompanied children and Afghan refugees, lead through a pandemic...

It’s too early to talk about lessons learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but it’s not too early to observe how some of war’s perennial truths are illustrated in this, the most current of wars. This essay addresses five of them:

1. The future of war. Some writers have argued that war has changed so fundamentally that, if we have wars at all in the future, they will look nothing like in the past. Artificial intelligence, cyber, drones, robots, hypersonic weapons, space—pick a favorite technology—and you can find someone who predicts it is the future of war. Others have predicted...

As the Army continues to transform for the future, it is looking to robots to carry out some of the dull and dangerous work now done by soldiers.

This move toward robotic process automation (RPA) will enable soldiers to concentrate on nonrepetitive, high-value and complex tasks—and potentially save lives on a fast-moving and lethal future battlefield. Described as a digital work routine that automates repetitive activities or tasks performed by humans, RPA can help the Army bridge its digital transformation gaps before 2035. That’s when the service aims to be ready to conduct and sustain...

As the Army continues to transform for the future, it is looking to robots to carry out some of the dull and dangerous work now done by soldiers.

This move toward robotic process automation (RPA) will enable soldiers to concentrate on nonrepetitive, high-value and complex tasks—and potentially save lives on a fast-moving and lethal future battlefield. Described as a digital work routine that automates repetitive activities or tasks performed by humans, RPA can help the Army bridge its digital transformation gaps before 2035. That’s when the service aims to be ready to conduct and sustain...

While the lack of diversity in the officer corps is not news, historically Black college and university ROTC programs are making a tremendous impact. Historically Black colleges and universities, some with small enrollments, have produced some outstanding officers, but the contributions of these institutions have been largely ignored.

While approximately 270 colleges and universities have Army ROTC programs, 22 historically Black colleges and universities have supplied half the Black officers in the Army, according to a March 2000 article on the Diverse: Issues In Higher Education website...

Accelerating technological breakthroughs by competitors and adversaries point to an increasingly unpredictable future. In the next conflict, it is likely the U.S. Army might not possess the vast technological overmatch that has allowed it to wage certain types of warfare.

In view of this, countless experts are rushing to predict what the future battlefield will look like, only to arrive at the conclusion that it will be multidomain, interlinked, saturated with throngs of data and fast-changing. The sheer number of variables will test command and decision structures in ways yet to be...