Soldiers will not have the luxury of clarity when the next global conflict breaks out, said Gen. Andrew Poppas, commanding general of Army Forces Command.

“We came up through 20 years of continuous conflict, and that brought us a level of clarity. Our future was written because we knew when we’re going to deploy [and] we knew where we were going to deploy,” he said. “We don't have that luxury of clarity anymore. … Our future is not written, not anymore. So, we've got to be ready for the unknown. You’ve got to look at those emerging threats in very unfamiliar territory.”

Speaking at the 2024 Maneuver Warfighter Conference at Fort Moore, Georgia, Poppas cited the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war as examples of how “today's battlefield, which [soldiers] are going to be competing on, are test beds for weapons that we could see anywhere” across the world.

Winning the future fight will require Army leaders to set themselves and the soldiers they lead up for success, Poppas said.

“You’ve got to have multiple planning horizons, … [and] synchronize and understand all the capabilities within your warfighting functions,” he said. “[Doing] the things we have to do at the higher level … ensure[s] that our fighting formation is going to dominate. We can get this right.”

As it transforms, Army Forces Command is focused on modernizing structure, equipment and training.

“We're modernizing our formations, and … we're giving latitude [to] commanders out there with bottom-up requirements from the company commanders, bottom-up requirements from the battalion commanders, and identifying what structure works, what equipment works, and how much we need of each,” Poppas said. “Then, as we progress from removing that structure, we continue to push additional equipment into the formation and [test] out that new equipment.”

To win the next fight, the Army will need to approach it as a “total, balanced Army,” Poppas said.

“We've got to be able to work together,” he said. “We’ve got to be ready to fight anywhere against a multitude of threats. It could be as soon as tonight, but … it can't be at the cost of tomorrow.”