ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Faced with a shifting global security environment that has grown even more uncertain in recent days, the Army is building readiness through the warfighting skills that come with trusting and empowering people, the commander of Army Forces Command said.

On the third and final day of the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Gen. Andrew Poppas led a discussion on what it will take to fight and win future wars, having listened in on security forums from Army leaders in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and Africa.

The Army National Guard must prepare to face and define a new reality of war, the commander of Army Forces Command said. 

“We have to win the first fight,” Gen. Andrew Poppas said Oct. 9 during the MG Robert G. Moorhead National Guard and Army Reserve Breakfast at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Exposition. “We have to prepare for the battle today, especially in this uncertain world. … We have to be ready today.” 

Readiness must be “at the forefront of all we do” if the Army is to stay ahead of complex global threats and win in any domain, a senior leader said.

Describing the world as a “much more uncertain environment” today than it was during 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gen. Andrew Poppas, commander of Army Forces Command, said this means that “our readiness must increase exponentially.”

Army leaders at every level must get back to knowing the soldiers in their formations and reestablishing the “human-to-human contact” that was lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior commander said.

Gen. Andrew Poppas, commander of Army Forces Command, said Sept. 15 at the Maneuver Warfighter Conference at Fort Benning, Georgia, that the only way to ensure a trained and ready force is through “engaged leadership.”

In an impassioned call to leaders, Poppas reminded members of the audience that leadership is a 24/7 task.

Soldiers from five active-duty divisions are providing “campaign-level support” to help the Army navigate the national recruiting crisis, a senior commander said.

A new two-day event focused on the Army’s warfighters, hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army, kicks off July 27.

The inaugural AUSA Warfighter Summit and Exposition will take place July 27–28 at the Crown Complex near Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The in-person summit is focused on the warfighter, and its theme is “America’s Response Force: Ready Today, Ready Tomorrow.”

On-site registration is available. For more information, click here.

In preparing for war, the Army cannot assume anything, the commander of Army Forces Command said.

“We cannot assume we’ll have the time to train. We cannot assume we’ll be familiar with the terrain,” Gen. Michael Garrett said during the recent Maneuver Warfighter Conference at Fort Benning, Georgia. “We cannot assume we’ll know where we will fight next. We cannot afford to orient our sights only along one theater.”

Because of that uncertainty, the Army must train “relentlessly,” he said.