Modernization: Army Leadership Must Seize Initiative
By Andrew Hunter and Rhys McCormick on August 02, 2016 at 9:30 AM
Woman Ranger in training Maj. Lisa Jaster, an Army Reserve soldier, performs a fireman's carry on a simulated casualty during the Ranger Course on Ft. Benning, GA. The 37-year-old engineer and mother of two children, aged 7 and 3, is the first female Army Reserve officer to graduate the grueling combat leadership course, joining the ranks of fellow West Point graduates and Active Duty officers Capt. Kristen Griest, 26, and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, 25.
Times are hard for the United States Army. It has experienced a budget decline of almost 50 percent in constant dollars since 2008 as a result of the combined effects of the drawdown of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the caps established in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Army force structure is on a path below its post-World War II lows, and potential competitors around the world are working overtime to challenge the Army in ways not seen since the Cold War.
To be clear, we are far from the hollow Army of the late 1970s. Today’s battle-tested, exceptionally professional Army remains far and away the world’s preeminent large-scale ground force. However, it is rare these days to see Army leaders with smiles on their faces. They look at today’s trends and see that the Army’s ability to retain its preeminent position is far from assured.
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