ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

China’s growing aggression is forcing the U.S. to think more seriously about deterrence and competition in the Indo-Pacific region, a panel of experts said during a webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

The U.S. faces “unprecedented challenges” to its interests, particularly from China and Russia, said retired Gen. Robert Brown, AUSA executive vice president and a former commander of U.S. Army Pacific, who moderated the June 23 Thought Leaders discussion.

A new Landpower Essay published by the Association of the U.S. Army looks at the changing landscape of future warfare. 

Maj. Amos Fox, an armor officer who frequently writes for AUSA, uses the siege of a 16,000-population Ukrainian town to show how proxy wars and manufactured insurgencies have changed modern warfare. The 2014 battle pitted Ukrainian military and paramilitary forces against pro-Russian insurgents, leading to the Ukrainian forces being encircled by the insurgents for several days and facing heavy casualties from artillery barrages. 

Preparing soldiers for high-intensity combat against the Russians may be “commanders’ most important task,” according to a paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Retired Army Col. Richard Hooker, author of “How to Fight the Russians,” says combat against the adversary will be “fierce" and at a level the U.S. Army hasn’t seen since in several decades.  

“It is time to steel our soldiers’ hearts against the test to come,” he wrote.

A new review by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies says the U.S. Army faces multiple challenges in the next few years. 

To focus on the possibility of so-called “great power” conflicts with China or Russia, the Army needs expensive advanced weapons and other capabilities. It has a day-to-day demand for deployed forces. It also faces difficulties recruiting. The combination of those three dynamics will shape the future as those competing needs are balanced, CSIS says in the Army portion of the larger report, “U.S. Military Forces in FY2021.”  

Rigid mobilization processes and limited authorities restrict combatant commanders’ ability to quickly employ reserve component forces for contingencies that fall short of armed combat, according to a new report published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

There won’t be “anything easy” about deploying 20,000 U.S.-based soldiers to Europe for an exercise this spring, but planning and carrying it out will reinforce training and readiness and demonstrate the military’s ability to rapidly project forces anywhere in the world, senior leaders said.

Planning for the U.S. Army Europe-led Defender-Europe 2020 began more than a year ago, and it is set to launch in February with the deployment of more than 20,000 pieces of equipment from five U.S. seaports and 20,000 soldiers from units across the country.

The U.S. faces many challenges in a growing strategic competition with Russia and China, but making the situation even more complicated are signs of increasing cooperation between the two top U.S. competitors, according to experts who spoke Oct. 30 at a one-day conference hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare.

This was the first AUSA professional forum solely focused on competition with China and Russia.

Russia has developed its ground capabilities and the ability to sustain its forces, but it is not likely to initiate a large-scale ground war, according to a recent RAND Corporation report. 

In response, the report recommends the U.S. Army strengthen its regional partners’ security forces and consider how to prepare for potential conflict.