The Army is implementing a variety of programs to improve soldiers’ "resiliency," or ability to deal with stress from combat or elsewhere, Army leaders told an Institute of Land Warfare Contemporary Military Forum, "Resilience in the All-Volunteer Force," Oct. 27 at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition.While the Army ethos towards stress has traditionally been to "suck it up," Army leaders realize this isn’t an appropriate approach anymore and are working to formally teach soldiers "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness" to manage stress better so that they react to difficult situations in a more...
The Army is investigating the possibility that a single grave at Arlington National Cemetery was used as a dumping site for a number of cremated remains that had been improperly dug up.The discovery of eight urns or containers in a plot that was supposed to contain a single set of remains that had been identified as "Unknown" on the headstone set off the criminal investigation.Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, told the New York Times, the discovery in October of so many remains raised questions beyond those of sloppy management identified in a year-long...
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn.Member, House Veterans’ Affairs CommitteeAs a 24 year guardsman and a veteran myself, I am proud to sponsor the Honor America’s Guard Reserve Retirees Act (H.R. 3787) which has been a priority among the veterans community for years.As you are all well aware, the reserve component of our military performs an invaluable role in supporting the active duty component, responding in times of national emergency, and most importantly standing ready to deploy to overseas missions in times of need, as so many of those who have served in the guard and reserve post-Sept. 11th have...
If the total Army is to remain combat ready after the drawdown in Iraq, it must get the dwell time between deployments to at least twice the time gone, it must retain the current force structure, must retain access to the Army Reserve and National Guard and it must be well funded, Lt. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, Army deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and programs, said Oct. 25.The Army also must resume training for full-spectrum combat, after nine years of mainly counter-insurgency operations and may want to review its modular structure based on brigade combat teams, Bolger told an...
"True professionals are servants" and experts in what they do, who derive their satisfaction for "a job well done," a senior fellow at the Center for Army Profession and Ethic at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said in answering his own question about: "How do we think in this campaign about [the word] profession," especially when serving in the Army?Don Snider said, "Not all work done in society is expert. It’s commercial; it’s done under the profit motive. A lot of productive work in society is done by government occupations."But, "a profession is society’s way of organizing expert work … the kind...
The command sergeant major of I Corps said that a very good reason for a broad-based study of the profession of arms now is to close the gap between operations in the field and operations and life at garrison and home.Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe said, "One takeaway has to be that it is … our young sergeants and junior officers … who take care of the majority of our forces on a daily basis." Although it is a force experienced in combat, "As a profession, we have to coach and mentor and affect at the lowest levels. That has to be translated down" to explaining why to the most junior soldier."...
The commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence contrasted today’s Army with the service several decades back and concluded "In the industrial age we could get by with the checklist mentality."As the Army embarks on a yearlong campaign of studying the profession of arms, Maj. Gen. Robert Brown said that the emphasis now is on agility and how to "solve the problem in a timely manner.""[Junior officers and NCOs] are solving complex problems with creative and agile solutions. A [young soldier] is now doing the kind of work a sergeant first class may have done, and a lieutenant is...
The command responsible for producing 60 percent of the Army’s new officers each year unfurled its flag and officially staked the colors Nov. 23 at its new home – Fort Knox, Ky.The event at Brooks Field marked the culmination of a transition from Fort Monroe, Va., set in motion five years ago by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission that also directed the latest round of military asset shuffling, including the move of Accessions Command to Fort Knox and the Armor Center from Knox to Fort Benning, Ga.Calling Cadet Command a pivotal piece in the development of the Army’s future...
The Army is attempting to speed up and streamline its acquisition processes to allow for more effective modernization of the force, senior leaders told an Institute of Land Warfare Contemporary Military Forum, "Modernizing the Army in an Era of Constrained Resources" at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition Oct. 26.As a result of the large-scale review of defense spending that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates mandated in July, the Army began Capability Portfolio Reviews (CPR) on every acquisition program in order to try to find redundancies and create efficiencies.In particular, Gates wanted...
In releasing its report on the shooting at Fort Hood in November 2009, Army Secretary John McHugh said. "This tragedy caused us to take a hard look at ourselves over the last year."Adding, "We are committed to ensuring the men and women and their families, who step forward and serve in these very challenging times, can rely upon us to take care of them in every way possible."To date, the Army has implemented or is taking definitive action on 66 of the 79 DoD Independent Review Panel recommendations. (DoD is the lead agency for the remaining 13 recommendations and the Army is working with DoD...
The Association of the United States Army’s Arizona Territorial Chapter sponsored its annual Armed Forces Career Officers’ Day Luncheon Nov. 23, the largest hosted by the chapter in the lunch’s 22-year existence.Designed to encourage young men and women to pursue a career in the armed forces, the 2010 luncheon had 350 Junior ROTC cadets and representatives from all the services in attendance.Two-hundred and twenty male and female cadets from over 40 high schools came to the event to learn the procedures on how to become officers in the armed forces.Chapter officials noted that "it was...
President Barack Obama should receive a report on a review of his Afghanistan policy next month, a senior administration official said Nov. 9.Speaking to reporters on background, the official, who is involved in the review, said the review will help to determine how well the strategy is working and aid in planning the start of transitioning to Afghan control of security."By now, patterns develop, which is quite helpful," he said.The annual review is the first since Obama announced the policy change in a December speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the official said, but he...
Although I had hoped to report that defense authorization and appropriations legislation is, at last, complete, partisan wrangling has prevented any forward motion.The defense appropriations legislation will either be a continuing resolution that will last for an amount of time to be determined or will be an enormous omnibus bill that passes at the last minute before the congressional lame duck session ends in December.For the first time in 49 years, there may not be a Defense Authorization Bill at all! The Senate version of the bill (passed by the House in May) is still sitting in the hopper...
President Barack Obama said he was reviewing the recommendations of his deficit reduction commission in a search to "correct our fiscal course."The 18-member panel drawn from Congress, business leaders and academia wrapped up its work Dec. 3 when the recommendations of its co-chairmen, former Sen. Alan Simpson, a Wyoming Republican, and Erskine Bowles, a former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, were endorsed by 11 commissioners and rejected by seven. Five Democrats, Five Republicans and one independent voted for the proposal.To move forward for congressional consideration, however, a...
The Association of the United States Army is urging Congress "to authorize and fund a force of at least 700,000 soldiers on active duty status, drawn from the active Army, the Army National Guard and Army Reserve" as a key piece of its legislative agenda for 2011.In the preamble to its resolutions approved by 122 AUSA chapters, the Association noted, "The demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply."The preamble added that legislative and regulatory policy changes are needed to "allow the reserve component to execute its role" as an operational reserve to meet the requirement for 700...