ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army’s intelligence corps is focused on people, readiness, modernization and relationships with allies and partners as it prepares to compete in an increasingly complex environment. 

“In the 31 years I’ve been in the Army, the strategic environment has never been more complex or, quite frankly, ... harder to assess,” Lt. Gen. Laura Potter, the Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence, said March 10 during The AUSA Noon Report, a webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

David Norquist, the Pentagon comptroller nominated to become deputy defense secretary, is a former Army GS-9 program and budget analyst who believes in fiscal and structural reform and is a strong supporter of the military’s civilian workforce.

Testifying July 24 before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Norquist said the biggest challenge facing the Defense Department’s civilian workforce is competing for talent with other private and public employers.

Army Secretary Mark T. Esper has been confirmed to be the next defense secretary, giving the Pentagon its first Senate-confirmed leader since Jan. 1 and leading off a series of major changes in Army leadership.

The Senate on July 23 voted 90-8 to confirm Esper for the top Pentagon job. Senators are expected to soon also vote on Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where, if confirmed, he will succeed Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, who is completing his four-year term as the nation’s top military officer.

Defense secretary nominee Mark Esper, a retired Army officer with 21 years of service, says he’ll have a “particular focus” on the well-being of service members and their families if confirmed for the top Pentagon post.

Currently serving as Army secretary, Esper is a 1986 U.S. Military Academy graduate who served 10 years in the Regular Army followed by 11 cumulative years in the Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

Army Secretary Mark Esper told a Senate committee that his “broad and diverse experience” has prepared him to be secretary of defense.

Appearing July 16 before the Senate Armed Services Committee just 18½ hours after his formal nomination, Esper cited his 21 years as a soldier, experience working in staff jobs for Congress and the Defense Department, time in the private sector working on defense and foreign policy issues, and almost two years as Army secretary as reasons why he’s prepared.

The Army’s failure to modernize “has been detrimental across the board” but big improvements are on the way, said Lt. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski, Army Acquisition Corps director and principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology.

President Donald Trump hinted Jan. 17 that defense spending would not be cut in the 2020 budget request he’ll submit to Congress in early February.

Speaking at the Pentagon where he was greeted by applause, the commander in chief joked that the clapping was “because I gave you the biggest budget in our history, and I’ve now done it two times. And, I hate to tell the rest of the world, but I am about to do it three times.”

The 2019 defense budget was about $719 billion but now is expected to be $733 billion to $750 billion.

A retired three-star general who was in the Pentagon during the 9/11 terrorist attacks is heading President-elect Donald Trump’s defense transition team.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. was known as Keith Kellogg during most of his 32 years of military service. His last military assignment before his 2003 retirement was on the Joint Chiefs of Staff as director of command, control, communications and computers. This is the post he held at the time of the 2001 terrorist attacks.