For over 224 years, The Army -- active component (AC), Army National Guard (ARNG), U.S. Army Reserve (USAR), and Army civilians -- has provided landpower capabilities to promote and protect our Nation's interests. Today, the National Security Strategy (NSS) and National Military Strategy (NMS) require forces that are responsive and dominant across the full spectrum of operations. Due to the hard work of Army soldiers and civilians, coupled with the support of the Administration and Congress, The Army is meeting its responsibilities as the decisive component of U.S. military capability, but with risk in some scenarios. This risk does not mean that U.S. Forces would not prevail; however, achieving our objectives could require a larger expenditure of our national treasure.

By announcing a new Vision for The Army that entails a major transformation, we have charted a new direction that will allow us to meet urgent strategic requirements. Meeting these requirements means making The Army more responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable, and sustainable. These characteristics are necessary to meet the fast-paced, complex demands of the current and future international strategic environment.

The support of the Administration and Congress has helped immensely over the past months. The increases in Army buying power contained in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 defense legislation have been put to good use. In particular, the support for increasing compensation and fixing military retirement sent a strong message to our soldiers and their families that their service is appreciated. In combination with the hard work of the officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) throughout The Army, this support contributed to making FY1999 one of the most successful years ever for Army retention.

Notwithstanding this achievement, we must have your continued support to give America the force it needs for the 21st century. We must increase buying power to sustain the momentum we have achieved in our transformation. Without this investment, the risks associated with executing the NMS will continue to in crease. On the other hand, with the investment, The Army can provide the joint team and our Nation with the decisive landpower capabilities necessary to achieve full spectrum dominance.

There is much to be done, and the FY2001 budget is a critical first step. It will enable The Army to execute the NMS, with risk, in FY2001. It also allows us to continue the initial steps of our transformation. This Posture Statement describes the significant work The Army has performed in recent months, identifies the challenges we face, and requests continued support as we transform the world's most respected Army into a strategically responsive force that is dominant at every point on the spectrum of operations.

Engaged, Decisive, and Versatile
By law, The Army is assigned the tasks of defending the United States and its territories; supporting national policies and objectives; and defeating nations responsible for aggression that endangers the peace and security of the United States. These tasks, in the context of the international security environment, drive the size and shape of our force. As of the end of FY1999, The Army consisted of 1,268,633 people. Of these, there were 479,426 soldiers in the AC; 357,469 soldiers in the ARNG; 206,836 soldiers in the USAR; and 224,902 Army civilians. It is a globally engaged force, heavily committed to meeting the requirements of the NSS and NMS. More than 140,000 Army personnel are forward stationed or deployed around the world on any given day. Soldiers and civilians stationed in the United States perform other critical roles, from keeping warfighting organizations ready for worldwide employment today to building the tools necessary to ensure readiness tomorrow.

The activities of The Army's soldiers and civilians produce a force trained and equipped for the overwhelming and synchronized application of land combat power. Landpower is uniquely decisive. Committing soldiers on the ground is the ultimate statement of U.S. resolve to defeat an adversary or compel him to change his course of action. In concert with the joint team and the forces of our allies, landpower provides decisive capability for countering international threats and defending U.S. interests. The presence of landpower also guarantees compliance with the terms of peace. Finally, landpower enables the establishment of legitimate authority to rebuild the area of conflict.

Since the effective use of modern combined arms requires diverse capabilities, The Army trains soldiers in over 500 specialties. Skills that support the application of combat power also play a central role in operations aimed at shaping the international environment, one of the three pillars of our NMS. Furthermore, armies are the dominant component in the militaries of most other nations. They share organizational features with The Army that facilitate cooperative endeavors. Therefore, the United States Army is not only critical to America's ability to win wars, it is also the principal military-to-military engagement tool for influencing the policies and actions of other nations.

As the Nation's largest land combat force, globally engaged and comprising a wide range of specialized skills, The Army is the force the Nation relies on most heavily to perform the full spectrum of military operations. Since 1989, the average frequency of Army contingency deployments has increased from one every four years to one every fourteen weeks. Some of these operations have been brief; others have evolved into ongoing commitments for our forces. While executing these missions, The Army has remained ready at all times to meet the warfighting requirements of the NMS: to fight and win two nearly simultaneous major theater wars (MTWs). We are able today to meet the requirements for the first MTW with moderate risk, but there would be higher levels of risk associated with fighting a second MTW. The wide range of missions performed by the U.S. Army in FY1999 is evidence of the increased requirements placed on our Army in support of the NSS and NMS. From Kosovo and the Middle East to Asia and Latin America, The Army demonstrated its role for shaping the international environment, responding to crises, and preparing for the future.

The Need for Change
Notwithstanding its current execution of assigned missions, The Army must simultaneously effect a comprehensive transformation to better meet current and future strategic requirements. With the emergence of an increasingly complex international security environment, sources of conflict and tension are increasing. Sources of unrest and conflict range from competition between states to the instability caused by the collapse of states unable to withstand the strains of resource scarcity, population growth, and ethnic and religious militarism. The technology enabling real-time transmission of information from any point on the globe has facilitated the rise of subnational and transnational groups, including criminal and terrorist elements, that may pursue objectives that threaten U.S. interests. The proliferation of space and information technology, ballistic missiles, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) makes it possible for small groups to pose significant challenges. As the number of potential challenges increases, the requirements for U.S. landpower to conduct full spectrum operations will also continue to grow. The new Army Vision aims to meet these requirements by transforming The Army into a force strategically responsive and dominant at every point on the spectrum of conflict.

The Vision
The Army's Vision is "Soldiers on point for the Nation...Persuasive in Peace, Invincible in War." The Vision's goal is to ensure that The Army fulfills its Title 10 responsibilities in continuously meeting the NMS. To make this Vision a reality, The Army will transform itself into a full spectrum force--the Objective Force--capable of dominating at every point on the spectrum of operations. The Objective Force will meet the challenges of the 21st century by providing the Nation with an Army that is more responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable, and sustainable. This force must be capable of reversing the conditions of human suffering rapidly and resolving conflicts decisively.

The characteristics of the Objective Force are complementary features that together produce an overall capability greater than the individual capabilities they describe. The characteristics arise from The Army's Title 10 responsibilities, the NMS, and the likely shape of the future international security environment. They are fully consistent with and support the Joint Vision. In turn, they provide the analytical foundation for developing the concepts, doctrine, and systems that will constitute the Objective Force.

The Army's Vision points to a synergy that will revolutionize the effectiveness of The Army in order to match its capabilities with the Nation's strategic requirements. Advances in information, materials, and weapons systems technologies will enable new organization al and operational concepts that optimize the employment of Army and joint capabilities across the full spectrum of operations. The versatility inherent in these organizations will be magnified through the training and leadership of our high-quality men and women, who will be prepared to transition from disaster relief to low-intensity contingencies to high-intensity warfighting without pause. Applying the Objective Force design across The Army will improve our overall capability, help alleviate operational and personnel tempo challenges, and enhance the Nation's capacity to sustain long-term commitments while responding to frequent contingencies.

Army Transformation
As The Army transforms to the Objective Force, it must maintain the capabilities required to fight and win the Nation's wars. Implementing the profound changes called for in the Vision, therefore, will require careful planning, sustained support, and periodic reassessments and adjustments. To do this, The Army will pursue a conditions-based strategy that will ensure appropriate conditions are met, and required capabilities are available, before implementing subsequent decisions. Changes to the operational forces will be the most visible aspects of transformation; however, the simultaneous transformation of the Institutional Army, along with the preservation of a core of trained and ready forces to address Commander-in-Chief (CINC) requirements, is an integral part of the strategy. Transformation will occur in three major phases: the Initial phase, the Interim Capability phase, and the Objective Force phase.

The Initial phase began with the announcement of the Vision in October 1999. During this phase, The Army will field initial Brigade Combat Teams. Initially equipped with available surrogate an d loaned equipment that is more conducive to meeting the capabilities expressed in the Vision, the initial Brigade Combat Teams will validate an organizational and operational model for Interim brigades and generate insights for further transformation of the force. At the same time, The Army will maintain the decisive capabilities of today's warfighting organizations through recapitalization and fielding of new, already-programmed equipment, and will challenge the science and technology (S&T) community to develop solutions for the Objective Force.

Once The Army has certified the initial Brigade Combat Teams, the Interim Capability phase will begin. The Army will field the Interim Force based on the initial Brigade Combat Team-validated structure. This force will seek the characteristics of the Objective Force, within the constraints of available, "off-the-shelf" equipment. The surrogate and loaned equipment used to equip the initial Brigade Combat Teams will be replaced by the Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV), a yet-to-be-selected, "off-the-shelf" system which The Army will begin procuring in FY2000. These vehicles will be used to equip Interim Force units until The Army is ready to begin fielding the Objective Force. Throughout this period, recapitalization of aging equipment and fielding of some new equipment will remain necessary to sustain overmatch of our legacy forces.

The Objective Force phase begins when technology permits the fielding of systems that will achieve the desired force characteristics. The characteristics of the Objective Force--responsiveness, deployability, agility, versatility, lethality, survivability, and sustainability--will guide the development of its doctrinal as well as S&T underpinnings. It is premature to discuss the Objective Force in more detail. The Objective Force phase will eventually result in the total transformation of The Army into the Objective Force.

The Army will begin the transformation of the Institutional Army in the first phase. This transformation will address the systems, organizations, and processes by which the Institutional Army supports training, leader development, infrastructure management, sustainment, combat and materiel development, and soldier well being. The transformation of the Institutional Army is essential to sustain readiness while developing and fielding the Objective Force.

People
Quality people are the cornerstone of today's Army, and will remain so in the future. Without highly skilled, competent, and dedicated people, it does not matt er how lethal our weapons are or how strategically responsive our formations are. Manning the force is an integral part of our transformation strategy. It encompasses a commitment to the well being of all the personnel that form The Army family--its soldiers, civilians, veterans, and their families--as well as an emphasis on superior ways of investing in our most precious asset: our people.

We face stark challenges both today and in the future concerning our Army uniformed and civilian personnel. The requirements for technical and advanced skills will only increase as our means of performing full spectrum operations become more sophisticated. Yet today's booming economy and increased opportunities for higher education have created unprecedented competition for the quality people that fill The Army's ranks today. We will continue to pursue innovative ways to attract and retain the quality soldiers we need.

Recruiting
Fiscal Year 1999 was one of the most challenging years for recruiting since the beginning of the all-volunteer force; however, record reenlistment rates helped The Army meet its required endstrength. The AC fell about 6,300 soldiers short of its goal of 74,500, but the ARNG exceeded its recruiting quota, accessing 132 soldiers above its tar get of 56,958. The number of USAR recruits was 10,300 below the goal of 52,084. Although The Army fell short in recruiting overall, new initiatives sparked a year-end upturn in the number of accessions.

The Army is aggressively restructuring its entire re cruiting operation, including upgrading its research into youth attitudes; improving its in-house marketing expertise; fully reviewing its advertising strategy and execution; and improving training, positioning, and incentives for recruiters. The Army will also implement two new recruiting initiatives. The College First program targets candidates who are college-bound or already in college by providing education benefits up-front in return for a period of service. The Army High School Completion program fo c uses on non-high school graduates who score well on motivation indicators and mental aptitude tests. This program will offer assistance in obtaining a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) to a select number of candidates. The Army will continue to emphasize creative solutions to the challenge of attracting sufficient numbers of young Americans to military service.

Retention
In spite of its recruiting challenge, The Army met its end-of-year strength requirements because of its tremendous success in retention. The AC exceeded its retention goals by 6,147 soldiers in FY1999. Enhanced bonus programs implemented by The Army, as well as improvements in military compensation by the Administration and Congress, have bolstered retention efforts.

Sustaining this kind of retention success is important for readiness, but will likely become more difficult in the future. Recent studies indicate that the propensity to remain in the military has declined steadily among junior officers and NCOs, a decline of 17 percent ov er the nine survey years. To retain sufficient numbers of our high-quality officers, NCOs, and soldiers, both military and civilian leaders must continue to take steps to improve soldier well being and compensation.

Readiness and Training
While people are an indispensable component of readiness, there are other elements as well, including training. The Army's training management system provides a framework to enable all Army units to conduct training on key tasks with enough frequency to sustain their ability to perform assigned missions. One function of this system is to identify resource requirements, based on the optimum frequency for conducting mission-essential task training at unit level to maintain minimum proficiency levels. Combined Arms Training Strategies (CATS) prescribe the integrated series of live and computer-generated training events deemed necessary to achieve readiness for each type of unit. These strategies provide the basis for ground and air operating tempo (OPTEMPO) requirements. The budget request funds virtually all of The Army's validated OPTEMPO requirements.

Smaller-Scale Contingency Operations
The Army is proud of the work its soldiers and civilians are doing in support of Smaller-Scale Contingency (SSC) operations around the world. Ongoing operations offer clear examples of The Army's central role in engagement and crisis response. For our people, participation in activities that are reshaping the international security environment is a source of pride and valuable experience.

Sustaining these operations presents a challenge for readiness resourcing. Since SSC operations are generally unforeseen, the expenses associated with the initial operations are paid from the same accounts that fund Army training. Therefore, in the absence of timely reimbursement, SSC operations affect training throughout the year. Early passage of supplemental funding for operations in Kosovo will preserve the increased investment in training reflected in FY2000 defense legislation. For FY2001, the President's Budget request includes provisions for non-offset funding of all current SSC operations.

Modernization
Based on its Vision, The Army is revising its modernization strategy to support the transformation to the Objective Force. The Army will develop enhanced capabilities by combining the information technologies that have been part of Army modernization programs for several years with advanced S&T still under development to meet the special needs of the Objective Force. The effort to integrate information technologies, known as digitization, greatly enhances unit effectiveness. Anticipating this enhanced capability, The Army redesigned its mechanized divisions. This redesign, to be implemented over the next few years, makes mechanized divisions more deployable by reducing their size, yet maintains their current lethality when enhanced with enabling systems like Crusader. In addition to these continuing efforts, The Army has made significant adjustments to its modernization strategy.

Planned adjustments to Army modernization include acceleration of a number of programs designed to improve strategic responsiveness and increase the lethality of light forces. Acceleration of logistical command and control systems and software will facilitate the deployment and support of Army units by making it easier to prepare and execute movement plans, ensuring integration with joint logistical systems, and providing the ability to track shipments in transit. Efforts to improve light force lethality include anti-armor systems and indirect fire systems.

Since much of the technology to provide Objective Force capabilities is still under development, The Army will focus S&T efforts until it becomes possible to develop systems that will give desired characteristics to the force. The Future Combat Systems (FCS) program will develop systems far lighter than today's combat vehicles with improved capabilities. In all of its modernization efforts, The Army strives to ensure interoperability with other Services and allied forces.

The support of the Administration and Congress has allowed The Army to begin its transformation. The $100.0 million provided by Congress to assist with our initial efforts is greatly appreciated. It provides The Army with important flexibility as we move forward with this critical endeavor. Over the past months, we have worked closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to resource transformation requirements in FY2001. We ask your support of the budget request to bring these efforts to fruition.

Fielding the Objective Force while sustaining decisive capabilities will require additional resources throughout the transformation. Given current funding trends, we estimate that The Army has identified funding for approximately half of the costs associated with transformation. We will continue to work with the Administration and Congress to request the necessary support.

Funding Infrastructure
The Army is pursuing a range of programs to better align its infrastruc ture with mission requirements. Elimination of excess and unusable infrastructure through Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and the Facilities Reduction Program (FRP) are essential to reducing The Army's annual facilities maintenance requirement. Savings achieved by these efforts could help defray the costs of transformation. Other important infrastructure initiatives provide modern facilities that will support readiness; enable force projection; and enhance well being, recruiting, and retention. The budget request supports these efforts by requesting funds for improving barracks, investing in strategic mobility facilities, and building reserve component (RC) readiness centers. It allows the continuing evaluation of privatization opportunities while funding some construction and revitalization to address Army Family Housing (AFH) requirements.

Conclusion
With the support of the Administration and Congress, The Army has charted a course that will better align our capabilities with the requirements of the international security environment, enhancing responsiveness while sustaining domina nce at every point on the spectrum of operations. Implementation of the Vision is underway, but it will take a sustained effort to transform The Army into the force America needs to secure its interests in the 21st century. The FY2001 budget request will enable The Army to execute the NMS, with risk as previously defined, in FY2001, and to continue its initial steps towards transformation. In conjunction with the speedy approval of a non-offset Kosovo supplemental, the budget request will sustain the positive momentum begun with last year's defense legislation.

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