While the Army looks to the future by taking on its largest transformation in decades, the force still must contend with a variety of challenges in the near-term, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.

“I generally don’t talk about 2030 because I don’t think we have that much time,” George said, according to an Army news release. “[The year] 2030 is too far down the road. We are going to be a lot different before that, I can guarantee you. We are going to be a lot different in the next four years.”

George spoke Nov. 29 at the 2023 FORSCOM Commander’s Forum at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, where leaders from Army Forces Command and the reserve components gathered for training and conversations on leading warfighters.

Today’s world is very complex, George said, noting that the Army has interests in many volatile areas, including the Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan and Africa. The service also is dealing with recruiting shortfalls and funding instability, he said, according to the Army news release.

Warfighting is the Army’s No. 1 priority, and while the service’s modernization efforts will help equip soldiers with the tools they need, transformation also means changes to training and how Army formations look, George said.

“I want our leaders to decide what our formations will look like, not a bunch of us sitting inside the [Pentagon],” George said. “I can certainly do that, I definitely have my own opinions on a lot of this, but I want everybody involved in what we’re doing.”

Army training must build teams and formations that are lethal and effective, said Gen. Andrew Poppas, commanding general of Forces Command. “The strength of that formation is that they rely on each other,” Poppas said, according to the Army news release. “It’s the person to your left that’s carrying the shield that protects you. It’s the strength of the formation that moves forward.”

During the forum, Poppas explained his “4-Wins” philosophy for moving the command into the future: Win Trust and Empower Leaders, Win the First Fight, Win the Future Fight and Win as a Balanced Total Army.

“I will tell you that at every touch point within each one of these domains, I feel we’ve made great success,” Poppas said. “In the way we are building the team, in the way we’ve embraced it … strengthening the relationships we have and engaged leadership.”