ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine has provided a stark reminder that the U.S. and its allies and partners must be prepared for large-scale combat operations and for a regional conflict to have global implications, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said.

Speaking Jan. 18 at a Coffee Series event hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army, McConville had recently returned from an 11-nation tour that left him “impressed” with how American soldiers are working with troops from other nations. 

The Army has a lot to learn and a lot to develop to prepare for large-scale, high-casualty and remote wars. 

In an Oct. 11 Warriors Corner discussion at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2022 Annual Meeting and Exposition, medical leaders said they are sharply focused on caring for future casualties on distant battlefields from which quick evacuation isn’t possible.  

Across the XVIII Airborne Corps, leaders have their eye on getting the most out of the data that proliferates on and off the battlefield.

“Whether in the military or business, if you’re not learning, you’re failing, and in our line of work, you’re dying,” said Brig. Gen. John Cogbill, then-chief of staff for the XVIII Airborne Corps. “You have to continue to evolve and to learn. You need to be able to not only survive on the modern battlefield but dominate the modern battlefield.”

A new approach to the Army’s leadership concepts will be critical to maintaining unit cohesion on a dispersed battlefield, an Army psychologist writes in a new report.

With a reliance on “rational authority,” which motivates soldiers with external incentives such as pay or avoidance of legal problems, the Army is missing the chance to allow leaders to develop “charismatic leadership,” which relies on internal incentives such as loyalty to the leader.

Tough lessons on failures in leadership and the importance of seizing the momentum in battle were some of the issues discussed on an Oct. 9 staff ride hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Commanders on the future battlefield will find themselves racing against adversaries that are faster and more capable than ever before, a senior Army leader said.

“The ability to sense first, to understand first, to decide first, which gives you the ability to act faster than a future opponent, is going to be a significant advantage for any commander on the future battlefield,” said Gen. Mike Murray, commander of Army Futures Command.

People are “more important than hardware” as artificial intelligence and machine learning lead the way toward more efficient information operations on the battlefield, according to a top general.

“It's the talented people that we have to help foster,” Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commanding general of U.S. Special Operations Command, said Dec. 7 while speaking with the Hudson Institute. 

To become an “AI-ready workforce,” he said, DoD needs to invest in human capital—from interns to coders and data scientists.