ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Recruiting challenges are creating unit manning shortages, but Army leaders are optimistic that initiatives to boost enlistments will soon pay off.

With a goal to recruit 55,000 new soldiers and enlist 5,000 more into the delayed entry pool by the end of fiscal year 2024, Army leaders aim to begin relieving the strain on operational units.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth acknowledged that many soldiers she’s spoken with “have very full plates and are doing the work of one-and-a-half to two soldiers.”

Any further budget delays, including the possibility of a full-year stopgap funding measure, will have “significant consequences” for the Army and its efforts to recruit, modernize and support missions around the world, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warns.

After more than a decade of operating under temporary spending bills, the Army has gotten “used to” the uncertainty, but spending is inefficient and programs are delayed and disrupted, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said.

“At one level, we’re a little bit used to this, but I think it’s important to not lose sight of the fact that every time we go into a continuing resolution, we’re essentially spending the money we have much less efficiently,” Wormuth said Nov. 14 during a defense summit hosted by Politico.

The Association of the U.S. Army’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Exposition was “a huge success for the association and the U.S. Army,” declared retired Gen. Bob Brown, the educational nonprofit’s president and CEO.

A Leader Solarium organized by the Association of the U.S. Army concluded Oct. 11 with the opportunity for about 160 mid-grade NCOs and officers to pitch ideas to senior Army leaders about solving some of the service’s big challenges.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer listened to ideas on fixing a troubled soldier pay system, expanding cold-weather training and straightening out a complicated batch of unit rosters that don’t always agree on how many soldiers are in a unit.

In a town hall for family members featuring the Army’s top leaders, one soldier stood and stated his problem bluntly. His wife, he said, “would rather deal with Comcast than try to find information from the Army.”

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth visibly reeled from the rebuke, but then turned to the service’s new chief of staff, Gen. Randy George. 

The Army is pulling excess equipment out of some of its formations to “reduce the complexity” of maintaining and accounting for gear that’s no longer needed, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.

In the first round of inventory reviews, he said, excess equipment belonging to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, will be removed and taken to a warehouse.

The U.S. Army is at a critical moment in history, and it must use this moment to ask hard questions and make big decisions, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Oct. 9 in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Exposition.