ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

As the Army modernizes and readies itself against future threats, the National Guard will continue to be “indispensable,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin said.

“I've been around the block a few times, and I've served with National Guard service members [on] multiple occasions,” Martin said. “So, I hope you believe me when I say that based on my experiences, I consider you to be indispensable.”

Army efforts to take care of people are critical to maintaining readiness, the service’s senior enlisted leader said.

“We need to look at our people as readiness and then we build up from there,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said.

Speaking Aug. 31 at the Fires Conference 2021, a three-day virtual event hosted by the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Grinston emphasized the importance of the Army’s People First focus.

With approval for a federal 2022 budget lagging months behind, administration and congressional delays on the fiscal 2022 defense budget are deeply concerning to Pentagon leaders. 

Congress is still holding initial hearings on a $753 billion national security budget that includes $715 billion for DoD, including $173 billion for the Army. The services also submitted combined supplemental unfunded priority lists that include an additional $25 billion in needs. 

The Army is meeting 50% of the nation’s global security requirements while spending just 25% of the defense budget, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin said. 

This includes 63,000 soldiers involved in domestic operations such as border security, COVID-19 assignments and supporting law enforcement, he said. “The demand for Army capabilities by federal agencies and combatant commanders continues to exceed supply, and we do not anticipate a decrease in demand.” 

Commanders and leaders across the Army should always be working to build and protect readiness, the service’s top general said.

“Over the last three or four years, we’ve built back our readiness,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said recently during a virtual event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. “Readiness is fragile. You have to continue to invest in it because it can very quickly go away.”

While the Army has proven its readiness in the face of global and domestic challenges, the simple truth is the Army “cannot meet all requirements expected of us today,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin told Congress. 

Testifying June 9 before the House Armed Service Committee’s readiness subcommittee alongside his counterparts from the other services, Martin said a bigger and better funded Army is needed to ensure a busy force with a “fragile” state of readiness. 

Taking care of people while transforming the Army for the future are among the top priorities of the new Army secretary.

Christine Wormuth, who made history May 28 as the first woman to become the Army’s top civilian leader, called it a “distinct privilege” to “lead the finest men and women that our great Nation has to offer.”

The Army continues to have trained and ready troops and units despite cultural and fiscal challenges and busy operational requirements, the commander of Army Forces Command said.

Gen. Michael Garrett, who took command of Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, two years ago, said his top responsibility is to provide troops to “fight tonight,” but he and his team also have worked hard to create opportunities for important conversations between leaders and soldiers across the force and provide stable and predictable deployment cycles.

As the pandemic’s year mark approaches, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout showcases the “light at the end of the tunnel” and chance for a “new normal,” Army senior leaders said.

“Vaccines are among the most important accomplishments in modern medicine,” Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, Army surgeon general, said Feb. 22 during a virtual town hall with soldiers and family members. “They have saved more lives around the world than any other medical innovation, including antibiotics and surgery itself,” he said.

The Army’s modernization efforts remain as critical as ever in 2021 amid a high operations tempo and growing competition from adversaries such as Russia and China, the Army’s top general said.

“The Army must always be ready to fight and win,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said Jan. 19 during The AUSA Noon Report, a webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. “In this era of great-power competition, the Army must always be ready to compete to aggressively protect our national interests.”