ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Readiness must be “at the forefront of all we do” if the Army is to stay ahead of complex global threats and win in any domain, a senior leader said.

Describing the world as a “much more uncertain environment” today than it was during 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gen. Andrew Poppas, commander of Army Forces Command, said this means that “our readiness must increase exponentially.”

A Government Accountability Office look at readiness indicators found ground forces—the Army and Marine Corps—have improved while sea forces have declined.

The congressional watchdog agency looked at changes in resource readiness and mission capability rates from fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2021. Ground forces were the only area to show improvements in both categories.

The Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength ranks the Army as a “marginal” power, which is better than the “weak” Navy and Space Force and the “very weak” Air Force. 

The Oct. 18 document rates the Marine Corps as “strong.” 

The 2022 Heritage rankings also listed the Army as “marginal.”

The U.S. Army has “accomplished a lot” this year, but Army Secretary Christine Wormuth isn’t celebrating. 

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” she told the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee at a May 10 hearing about the fiscal 2023 budget.

The fiscal 2023 Army budget submitted to Congress asks for $177.5 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, with a pending request for an additional $5.1 billion for unfunded priorities if lawmakers provide more funds.

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. 

In the face of growing threats around the world, the U.S. military must remain ready for a range of challenges, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said.

“We’re going to have to deal with a rising China, we have to deal with Russia, we will have North Korea, we have Iran, we have terrorists, we have climate change, we have COVID, we have wildfires, we have a lot of challenges,” Milley said. “As a great power, we have to be able to do all of those simultaneously.”

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.

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.”

The Army must continue to juggle a high demand for troops around the world with an urgent need to modernize the force, the service’s top general said. 

Soldiers remain busy overseas and at home, from combat operations to COVID-19 response missions, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said. Ideally, the active-duty force would number 540,000 to 550,000 soldiers, he said.