ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Chinese army can “orchestrate mobilization” at a speed and scale that should make the U.S. hesitate, according to a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

“Since World War II, China has mobilized on a large scale several times—and the United States has not,” author and retired Army Col. Larry Wortzel writes.

In his paper, “Military Mobilization in Communist China,” Wortzel highlights five military campaigns between 1955 and 1979 to demonstrate China’s mobilization strength and its efforts to improve. 

A bipartisan House Armed Services Committee task force that spent a year focused on the challenging strategic environment facing the U.S. sees a window of opportunity for progress.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute, task force leaders Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana said DoD faces a pivotal period as it confronts current and evolving threats that require new concepts in warfighting and new technologies at a time when money to pay for the improvements could be scarce.

A new review by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies says the U.S. Army faces multiple challenges in the next few years. 

To focus on the possibility of so-called “great power” conflicts with China or Russia, the Army needs expensive advanced weapons and other capabilities. It has a day-to-day demand for deployed forces. It also faces difficulties recruiting. The combination of those three dynamics will shape the future as those competing needs are balanced, CSIS says in the Army portion of the larger report, “U.S. Military Forces in FY2021.”  

A new report to Congress reveals why the U.S. Army is thinking so much about China as a near-peer competitor. 

The army part of the People’s Liberation Army has 915,000 active-duty troops in combat units, making it the world’s largest ground force and one that is fielding upgraded combat and communications systems and other technologies in a drive toward a “more modern, mobile and lethal ground force,” says the DoD report titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.” 

The U.S. must constantly evaluate its own grand strategy if it wants to stay ahead of China’s global ambitions, much like it did during the Cold War era of competition with the Soviet Union, according to a new paper.

The paper, “The Strategy of a Great Power Competitor,” was written by Capt. Johannes Geist, an active-duty financial manager serving as a congressional budget liaison for Army headquarters, as part of the Landpower Essay Series published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Rigid mobilization processes and limited authorities restrict combatant commanders’ ability to quickly employ reserve component forces for contingencies that fall short of armed combat, according to a new report published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

The U.S. faces many challenges in a growing strategic competition with Russia and China, but making the situation even more complicated are signs of increasing cooperation between the two top U.S. competitors, according to experts who spoke Oct. 30 at a one-day conference hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare.

This was the first AUSA professional forum solely focused on competition with China and Russia.

The United States and its allies and partners must solve the problem of how to face adversaries in so-called "left of conflict" competition, a panel of experts said Oct. 15 during a forum at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

The term describes the concept of engaging without combat. Russia, a potential near-peer adversary, is highly skilled at "left of conflict" operations, the panelists said.