ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee has expressed concern about the Army and Marine Corps having the lowest troop levels in more than 60 years.

The current National Defense Strategy was developed when the Army had 485,000 active-duty soldiers and the Marine Corps had 178,000 active-duty personnel. The fiscal 2024 budget is dramatically smaller, with Army end strength set at 452,000 and the Marines at 172,300.

Fifty years after the birth of the all-volunteer force, the Army’s top concern is ensuring Americans understand their Army. 

“Large swaths of the country … just aren’t familiar with the Army,” said Agnes Schaefer, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. “We are seeing a really big and growing cultural knowledge gap about the military, and so … we’re trying to fill that.” 

On-time and adequate funding, as well as programs focused on people, modernization and readiness, remain top advocacy efforts for the Association of the U.S. Army.

From expanding benefits to modernizing its combat forces, the National Guard continues to prioritize its people after a challenging year, the component’s top general said. 

“What does the future look like for our National Guard? What are our priorities going forward? They’re … people, readiness, modernization and reform,” said Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

Soldiers will have more time to spend with their growing families under DoD’s recent expansion of its Military Parental Leave Program. 

“It is important for the development of military families that members be able to care for their newborn, adopted or placed child or children,” Gilbert Cisneros Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in the memo announcing the expansion. 

As the pool of eligible recruits continues to shrink, the Army is working to improve its recruiting strategy by focusing on untapped segments of the population and enhancing its marketing efforts, the service’s top personnel chief said.

The Army continues to refine and build its talent management system so it can recruit and retain the best, the service’s top personnel officer said.

Testifying before the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee, Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, Army deputy chief of staff for personnel, stressed that the Army will continue to prioritize its people.

Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, the Army deputy chief of staff for personnel, said having a people-friendly force that gives soldiers occasional time off isn’t a bad thing.

Speaking Dec. 7 at an Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic focused on medical care, the Army G-1 said recruiting and retaining a volunteer Army and making certain the force is ready for combat requires keep soldiers’ lives in mind.

“Don’t confuse taking care of our people, whether through medical issues or other efforts, with being soft,” Brito said. 

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth says efforts are underway to tackle issues that might cause a service member to consider suicide, citing behavioral health and financial issues and relationship problems as possible causes.