Facing unprecedented global volatility, rapidly evolving technology and changes in the character of warfare, the U.S. needs all components of its Total Army, the service’s top officer said.

“It’s a dangerous world,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said, citing the conflicts in Europe and  the Middle East and recent events in the South China Sea and the Korean peninsula. The Army needs “a sense of urgency to make sure we are adapting to these challenges,” he said Aug. 24 during the National Guard Association of the United States General Conference and Exhibition in Detroit.

“Change is a hard thing,” but "given the world we are talking about, from my perspective, what America expects us to do is be as ready as we can be," George said in a keynote address.

George highlighted the four focus areas laid out by the Army’s senior leaders at the 2023 Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition: warfighting, delivering ready combat formations, continuous transformation and strengthening the Army profession.

Success in warfighting will require “building lethal and cohesive teams,” which “takes a lot of time,” George said. “We need to take a hard look at this at training meetings and at the company, battalion and brigade level, and we have to make some hard choices.”

As new technologies are fielded to Army units, such as electronic warfare and counter-unmanned aircraft systems equipment, George asked leaders to examine how best to train soldiers at home station “to make sure that we remain as lethal as possible.”

Readiness requires secure installations, particularly from the growing threat of cyberattacks, and investment in the organic industrial base, George said. “We have the best weapons in the world, but we need to maintain magazine depth—the ammunition, the missiles—to effectively use them,” he said.

Transformation has been a particular focus area for George, and his “transforming in contact” initiative aims to accelerate the Army’s transformation for the future fight. Guard units currently deployed to the Middle East are part of that effort, he said.

“We want to test things in different environments. What may work here in Michigan may not work in the Philippines because of the humidity … or in very cold weather,” he said. “We’re letting the units tell us what works and what doesn’t.”

On the importance of the Army profession, George said that “being a professional is the foundation of who we are in the military. It is what gives us trust with the American public.” Standards, accountability, discipline and tradition are keys to strengthening the profession, he said. “It’s up to us as leaders to make sure we’re demonstrating and reinforcing those things inside of our units.”

George also emphasized his pride “in all our National Guard, our Army National Guard, is doing around the world.”

He pointed to the Guard’s State Partnership Program, which pairs state Guards with a partner country. “Everywhere I go, I hear from our partners about how valuable the partnerships are,” and how much the relationships accomplish for the Army and the joint force, he said.

George also asked for “bottom-up feedback” from the audience. “Make sure you’re communicating where you are having challenges inside your formations, and we can start doing something about it,” he said.