The National Guard and the Army Reserve are ready to meet evolving national and global threats, said Gen. Andrew Poppas, commander of Army Forces Command.

“We saw flooding throughout the West, … record snowfall, tornadoes and wildfires throughout all of our communities,” Poppas said Oct. 14 in remarks at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition. The reserve components’ response to these disasters “all sent one clear message: Your soldiers stand ready today to face whatever threats that come our way as a nation,” Poppas said.

Most recently, more than 10,000 Guard soldiers from over 12 states were activated to assist with disaster recovery across the Southeast in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Addressing an audience of soldiers from the Army National Guard and Army Reserve, Poppas noted that readiness for the future fight is more important now than ever.

“Our future is not written,” he said. “We could be called to serve anywhere in the world at any time, so we've got to be more ready for increasingly diverse and dangerous threats that are emerging.”

The reserve components are training to outlast global competitors in a prolonged conflict that will challenge soldiers’ lethality and endurance in increasingly rugged environments, Poppas said.

“When you … watch the training that’s taking place, … we’re taking a hard look at the exercises and evolving every component at every echelon. That's the way that we're going to fight, and it's got to be the way that we’re trained,” Poppas said. “The character of war is changing. We've heard that for years, and we're seeing that unfold in front of us.”

–Karli Goldenberg