ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The top officer for U.S. Southern Command was alarmed to learn how much China, Russia and Iran have expanded their influence and access in the region, describing it as the “most disturbing insight” he’s gained in the last several months. 

Navy Adm. Craig Faller, who took command of SOUTHCOM last November, overseeing Central and South America and the Caribbean, said the National Defense Strategy makes one issue clear: Great-power competition has reemerged as the top security challenge to the United States. 

The logistical and maintenance approaches of armies at war can help explain why military organizations fight as well or as poorly as they do and uncover implications of a competitor’s operational strategies, according to a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare.

China is investing in artificial intelligence at a “much, much faster pace” than the U.S. government, though It is not yet ahead, a prominent AI expert recently told Army intelligence planners.

Tuomas Sandholm, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a renowned expert on artificial intelligence, made his remarks at a lecture sponsored by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s intelligence division and the Association of the U.S. Army’s Virginia Colonial chapter.

The U.S. Army ranks behind Russia and China in the 2019 Global Firepower ratings, which measure a nation’s conventional arms war-making capability, resources and finances.

The United States ranks first in total military power in the comparison of 137 countries, ahead of No. 2 Russia and No. 3 China, but ranks behind Russia and China in terms of land power.

A new Institute of Land Warfare paper warns the People’s Liberation Army has and continues to grow military capabilities, giving China the ability to counter some of the ambitious expansions planned by the U.S. as part of its Multi-Domain Operations concept.

The Army nominee to head the U.S. Africa Command says the continent faces “numerous and complex challenges” combining local and outside forces.

Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, who has commanded the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command for one year, is nominated to head the Stuttgart, Germany-based unified command that he said faces threats from terrorists, near-peer competition and problems like rapid population growth, low economic growth and poor governance.

The “deep dive” cuts made to dozens of programs in the Army’s march toward modernization have resulted in funding for priority air and missile defense capabilities to be fielded over the next five years.

Lt. Gen. James F. Pasquarette, deputy chief of staff, G-8, who heads Army resources and planning, said the Army’s reprioritization of funds is in line with the National Defense Strategy, and is aimed at re-establishing “overmatch against China and Russia in areas where we lost it or will soon lose it if we don’t get after it now.”

The independent and nonpartisan National Defense Strategy Commission says the Army needs to grow in size and capability to match potential adversaries, warning the U.S. could suffer high casualties in a future war and “might struggle to win or perhaps lose.”

“U.S. military superiority is no longer assured and the implications for American interests and American security are severe,” the commission says in its final report. “The United States is particularly at risk of being overwhelmed should its military be forced to fight on two or more fronts simultaneously.”

U.S. defense strategy weighs three measures when looking at threats—power, urgency and will, according to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., Mattis said this three-part evaluation reveals different areas of concern.

In terms of power, the biggest threat to the U.S. comes from Russia and its nuclear arsenal, he said.

In terms of urgency, violent extremists remain the biggest threat, he said, noting the 70 nations are part of a coalition to defeat Islamic State groups militants.