<b>Prepare</b>

<b>What is it' </b>

Our Soldiers face determined enemies - so preparing the force for our current conflicts is essential for success. Prepare is the second of four Army imperatives and includes four key goals - accelerate the pace at which we grow the Army; improve training for a challenging operational environment; provide effective equipment in a timely manner; and transform the Army to a rotational model - Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) - the core process for generating trained, ready and cohesive units on a sustained and rotational basis - to meet current and future strategic demands.

<b>What has the Army done' </b>

In 2009, we made significant gains preparing the force. Accomplishments include:
Aca,!Ac We began the phase-out of stop-loss, today no mobilizing or deploying units have stop-loss Soldiers in their ranks.
Aca,!Ac The force achieved its "Grow the Army" end strength goal of 1.1 million and ended 15-month tours as of November 2009, when the last Soldiers on those extended deployments returned.
Aca,!Ac We completed fielding nearly 12,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan and delivered the first MRAP All-Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs) to Afghanistan - just 15 months after identifying the need for that capability.
Aca,!Ac The Army exceeded fleet readiness of 90 percent for ground equipment, to include MRAPs and 75 percent for aviation.
Aca,!Ac We established the Army Training Network (ATN) - a one-stop portal to share training best practices, solutions and products across the Army.

For more on what the Army has accomplished, see the 2010 Army Posture Statement at <a href="http://www.army.mil/aps/10" target="_blank">Army Posture Statement Web site</a>

<b>What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future' </b>

Highlights from the FY11 President's Budget include:
Aca,!Ac Funds permanent, active component end strength at 547,400; Army Reserve at 205,000; and National Guard at 358,200; supports a 22,000 temporary increase in the active component through the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request.
Aca,!Ac Procures and upgrades the Army's UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook, and AH-64 Apache helicopters, which are vital to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Aca,!Ac Provides over $1 billion for flight crew training in all components to fund flying hours, maintenance, fuel, airfield operations and specialized skill training.

<b>Why is this important to the Army' </b>

Preparing the force for our current conflicts is central to our continued success. Our units must have the people, training and equipment they need to prevail. Meanwhile, our institutions and systems must adapt to provide those critical capabilities in a timely manner and in sufficient quantities.

<b>Resources: </b>

<a href="http://www.army.mil/aps/10" target="_blank">Army Posture Statement Web site</a>

<i>Related STAND-TO! editions</i>:

<a href="http://www.army.mil/standto/archive/2010/03/04/" target="_blank">STAND-TO! Edition, March 4, 2010: <i>2010 Army Posture Statement</i> </a>

<a href="http://www.army.mil/standto/archive/2010/03/17/" target="_blank">STAND-TO! Edition, March 17, 2010: <i>Sustain </i> </a>