Many Army leaders already recognize that in a volatile world with a wide range of missions, we can no longer get by with training soldiers what to think. We must train them how to think, so they thrive in conditions of uncertainty and chaos, and are unpredictable to our adversaries.
Second, the Army must be ready with the right capabilities, both today and in the future – ensuring the equipment our soldiers currently have is well-maintained and that we continue to innovate going forward. Army knows its key weapons platforms for everything still comes down to the soldier, it also knows that a capability is about more than just new technology or equipment – with less money, it’s also about how we creatively use our technology and equipment to achieve our objectives.
“For the Army to fulfill its role as a guarantor of our national security, our soldiers must continue to be exceptionally well-led, well-trained and well-equipped.” It will need to continue to learn, adapt, evolve, and innovate. Readiness demands agility. “To succeed, I believe the Army must renew its commitment to readiness across three critical resources – its people, its capabilities, and its partnerships.”
“To be ready for the range of challenges we’ll, most likely face in the future, soldiers need to experience nonlinear, full-spectrum training that mimics today’s complex operational environment.” At these brigade-level training centers, soldiers are immersed in realistic threat scenarios where they face a dynamic mix of guerrilla, terrorist, criminal, and near-peer conventional opposing forces.
This is a particularly important question given the tight timelines the Army has imposed on its modernization efforts. Through 2022, it wants to complete current upgrade programs, at least for those forces likely to face a peer competitor, while conducting R&D on next-generation capabilities. After that, the focus shifts to the production of new platforms and systems that will be fielded in the late 2020s.
Soldiers and defense industry officials gather annually in Washington D.C. for the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting (October 12-14). This event consists of presentations, panel discussions on pertinent military and national security subjects, workshops and important business meetings. The Association of the United States Army’s annual convention (AUSA) main focus has been on how to fight and win in a complex world and on what the Army is doing outside of the United States, a logical direction considering the myriad growing threats around the globe.
In recent years, AUSA meetings became the seminal venues where Army leaders unveiled major conceptual and organizational reforms. Similarly, industry and the research establishments used the opportunity to display some of their most innovative new ideas in everything from meals and uniforms to small arms, ammunition, unmanned air and ground platforms, and even prototypes of new combat vehicles.
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