Army aviation is modernizing for large-scale combat operations with new doctrine, changes in education and a focus on supporting the Army in a dangerous global security environment.
As the Army adds new capabilities to the force, its efforts cannot stop at gear and hardware, a panel of experts said.
“It’s critical that we deliver that full capability to our force,” said Paul Reese, director of the fielded force integration directorate at the Army Combined Arms Center. This means making sure that the Army’s doctrine, organization, training, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy are synchronized with the new materiel, he said, referring to what’s known as DOTMLPF-P.
Army concepts and doctrine must evolve as the service looks to a future battlefield that arguably will be dominated by artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, according to the author of a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.
“The Principles for the Future of Warfare and Stand-off Warfare” by Lt. Col. Amos Fox is the third paper in a series focused on future warfare and how the military thinks about it. Fox is a doctoral candidate at the University of Reading and a freelance writer and conflict scholar writing for AUSA.
For the first time in more than 50 years, the Army is developing Arctic-focused doctrine to help soldiers contend with and operate in the harsh but increasingly competitive region.
Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 3-90.96, Arctic and Extreme Cold Weather Operations, will give soldiers information “to overcome the Arctic environment and succeed in temperatures as cold as -40 degrees Fahrenheit,” according to the Mission Command Center of Excellence. It is slated to be released in mid-2024.
The U.S. Army is at a strategic inflection point.
Marking a major milestone in its transformation, the Army has unveiled a long-awaited update to its doctrine that will change the way soldiers train and fight in the future.
“There will always be a critical role for combat-credible forces around the world,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said Oct. 11 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2022 Annual Meeting and Exposition. “There’s no substitute for having American soldiers on the ground for reassurance and deterrence.”
The general officer in charge of recruiting the next generation of soldiers said the shrinking pool of young people who are eligible to serve represents “a problem in our nation.”
Gen. Paul Funk, commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command, said the two biggest hurdles to qualifying young people for service are obesity and addiction, which he considers “national security issues that we’ve got to address.”
As the Army continues to refine its Multi-Domain Operations concept, the service is seeking to start a conversation about what the future may look like—and what kind of world soldiers will find themselves operating in.
From a world where the U.S. and China compete for global primacy to a future of persistent instability and conflict, the Army must think “rigorously and creatively” about the future, Gen. Mike Murray, commanding general of Army Futures Command, writes in the foreword of a pamphlet produced by the command.
Long-range precision fires will be “extremely important” in deterring future conflict amid “endless” competition ahead, the Army’s top general said.
“No one wants endless war, no one wants endless conflict, but how we compete is extremely important,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said Oct. 1 during the virtual Fires Conference hosted by the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The commanding general of Army Training and Doctrine Command will be the guest speaker on the June 30 edition of The AUSA Noon Report.
Gen. Paul Funk, who has led Training and Doctrine Command since June 2019, is responsible for 32 Army schools that recruit, train and educate more than 750,000 soldiers and service members annually.
The livestream program starts at noon Eastern and is hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. Retired Gen. Carter Ham, AUSA president and CEO, will provide opening remarks.
