ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, speaking March 8 at an event hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army, said the force faced “a lot of challenges” over the years and now faces another one with the fighting in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has started an “illegal” war, McConville said, but the Army is ready. 

The Association of the U.S. Army’s 2022 advocacy efforts focus on people, readiness, modernization and on-time funding for the Army, with an eye toward supporting efforts to strengthen the force.

More than 2,900 soldiers have been reprimanded for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, but none have been involuntarily separated solely for not getting the shot, the Army said Jan. 11.

Almost a month after the vaccination deadline for active-duty soldiers, the Army said 97% of the active-duty Army had received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 96% were fully vaccinated. 

As the Army prepares for the next war, the service must decide what kind of readiness it needs and how it can be sustained over time, a panel of senior leaders said Oct. 11 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2021 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

“In 2021, no fighting force can afford to build readiness they will not require,” said Gen. Michael Garrett, commander of Army Forces Command. Any more than that would be “irresponsible,” he said, and sacrifice much needed time and resources that can be devoted to developing soldiers and leaders.

While major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have ended, the Army continues to be on a high operational pace and is “more ready than we have ever been,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said.

“We’re not 250,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan like we were in 2006 and [2007], but we are still extremely busy doing the missions that we’ve been asked to do for our country,” Grinston said Sept. 30 during a call with media hosted by the Defense Writers Group, part of the Project for Media and National Security at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

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.”