ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

In addition to recruiting the best talent, the Army must also focus on retaining those soldiers once they are in the ranks, the service’s top personnel officer said.

The Army must “compete for and retain talent,” said Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, deputy Army chief of staff for personnel. “Manning the Army is a key component of readiness.”

The Army continues to look for ways to put the right talent in the right places across the force, all while focusing on improving quality of life for soldiers and their families, a top general said.

“We are absolutely trying to put talent where it needs to be used and actually allow it to grow,” Gen. Paul Funk, commanding general of Army Training and Doctrine Command, said May 6 during a virtual discussion hosted by the Center for a New American Security. 

Improving small-unit training and giving soldiers more predictable, mission-tailored schedules are just two ways the Army is working to reduce accidents across the force, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin told a House subcommittee.

“We can never, ever stop our relentless efforts to get after mitigating the risks in our formations,” Martin told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee during a March 23 hearing on preventing training mishaps. “What we do is very, very difficult. We ask our soldiers in our formations to do a lot.”

The Army has implemented more than a dozen new initiatives, with more on the way, as the service continues to transform the way it manages soldiers’ talents, skills, interests and careers.

In a new report, the Army Talent Management Task Force highlights major milestones during the last two years’ worth of talent management reform efforts.

They include new assessments to better select battalion and brigade commanders, a marketplace-style program that matches officers to available assignments, and programs for NCOs and warrant officers.

Combining two key Army commands serves as a “win” for the U.S. and its allies ahead of a major multinational exercise in Africa later this year, a senior Army leader said. 

“We’re very excited about the merger,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said Feb. 23 during a press call. 

He added that “the consolidation of our two commands is a win for Africa and a win for the United States Army.”

The Army’s plan to modernize close-combat training hinges on a dynamic virtual training environment that is interoperable, realistic and scalable across all domains.

It also must have software that is compatible with a common architecture and easily updated.