By Ann Roosevelt
The Army is regaining strategic flexibility, now able to prepare for a complex and uncertain future after several years of working to get back in balance, the chief of staff said.
Before the Association of the United States Army Institute for Land Warfare breakfast Jan. 5, Gen. George Casey said, “The greatest challenge over the next three to five years is to maintain our combat edge while we reconstitute this force and continue to build resilience for the long haul.”
Even though troops are leaving Iraq, it doesn’t mean the war is over, Casey said. The Army is designing itself for the long term in a period of uncertainty, ideological struggle and persistent conflict, while resources decline. The service can now focus on sharpening skills for full spectrum conflict that have had lower priority while troops concentrated specifically on conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The service goal is to build a “versatile mix of tailorable and networked organizations that are operating on rotational cycles,” Casey said. The force is expected to continue to succeed in contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and continue to build a hedge against the unexpected–“a capability we haven’t really been able to have for past four to six years,” and do it at a tempo that’s predictable and sustainable.
For the first time in several years, the Army in October held a full spectrum operation rotation against a hybrid threat at the Joint Readiness Training Center involving the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Div.
Some interesting lessons surfaced, such as the “rusty” battalion and brigade staff integration and synchronization skills, and troops were a little spoiled by having a fiber optic network in Iraq and Afghanistan, while they had to create a mobile network during the rotation.
What struck Casey was the level of intensity the troops brought when they closed with the enemy during the rotation. “They were absolutely lethal,” he said. “That is a huge strength.”
By Oct. 1, the start of fiscal year 2012, there will be as many brigades available for full spectrum training as will be in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
Keeping the combat edge also requires continuous adaptation.
“I believe we’re in a period of continuous and fundamental change, if you’re not comfortable with that you’re in the wrong place,” Casey said.
The Army is getting flexibility back in the personnel system, in the equipment and in getting troops on the ground into full spectrum training, he said.
“Nothing focuses the mind like war, and we have to take advantage of that,” Casey said.