ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Resilience is built through genuine connection, the kind that happens when soldiers talk around a campfire, said the Army’s chief of chaplains.

These “campfire moments” are “not laid out on a training calendar, they aren’t laid out on fancy PowerPoint slides, but they are decisive moments of leadership,” Maj. Gen. William Green said March 5 in remarks at a Hot Topic on “Holistic Health and the Resilient Soldier” hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

In today’s “unprecedented” strategic environment, the Army’s ability to deliver fires remains key, the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division said.

The Army is tailoring its ability to sense and shoot as it prepares to compete in a large-scale combat operations environment, a panel of experts said.

The prevalence of unmanned aerial systems presents a ubiquitous threat that is fundamentally transforming the battlefield, Undersecretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said.

“What we’re seeing, and not just in Ukraine, but really around the world, is that the availability and the impact of small, unmanned aerial systems and the threats that they present on the battlefield is here to stay,” Camarillo said May 17 during a discussion on drone warfare hosted by the Center for a New American Security.

As the character of war rapidly evolves, the Army must maintain its dominance in close quarters combat and its ability to harness new and emerging technology, the commanding general of Army Futures Command said.

“It would be an understatement to say that we’re not in … the most disruptive period … ever,” Gen. James Rainey said. “We’ve got to figure … out [how to adapt to the needs of the future fight] every month, every six months. We’re in this perpetual state of disruption in the character of war that is really phenomenal.”

Mastery of the fundamentals is crucial in the Indo-Pacific, a region where soldiers may find themselves operating anywhere from the Arctic to the jungle to a megacity, a panel of experts said May 15.

“If you’re not well versed in the fundamentals, you’re not going to be able to do collective tasks,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, commanding general of 8th Army in South Korea. “You have got to be able to do the basics, the fundamental blocking and tackling, at the platoon, at the company and at the battalion, synchronizing all those efforts.”

Facing adversaries that are looking to sense, shoot and disrupt farther, the Army is developing and expanding its capabilities to counter them, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus said.

The Army is creating a new team focused on helping the force better see, sense and target deep into the battlefield.

The All-Domain Sensing Cross-Functional Team will be stood up out of the Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team, Army Futures Command announced March 26 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama.

Dominance on the future battlefield will depend on the Army’s ability to quickly adapt to new technology and transform while on the move, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.

In remarks during a virtual event hosted by Defense One, George cited the importance of quickly putting new equipment into the hands of soldiers, including some who are deploying, so that the Army and its industry partners can adjust equipment and technologies based on their feedback.