The Oct. 1 issue of Government Executive includes a story based on Army Chief of Staff's General George W. Casey's Sept. 6 remarks at a forum sponsored by that magazine. Unfortunately, the story contains some inaccuracies that the Army is working with the magazine to correct.
The story includes an attribution to the general that the Army is "too focused on fighting today's irregular wars and not enough on the conventional wars it might face in the future." That statement is the exact opposite of what the general said consistently at the Joint Force Land Combatant Commander Course Sept. 4, at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council forum Sept. 27 and his Association of the U.S. Army's annual Green Book October 2007 article. He was widely and correctly quoted during an Aug. 14 speech at the National Press Club, saying: "I believe that ... we're going to face globally here a period of protracted confrontation among state, non-state and individual actors who will increasingly use violence as a means of achieving their political and ideological objectives." He also said there: "As I look to the future what I see is a future of what I call persistent conflict. I define that as a period of protracted confrontation among states, non-states and individual actors, who are increasingly willing to use violence to achieve their political and ideological ends. That's what I see coming for the next decade or so."
Another factual inconsistency is a suggestion the general labeled the Army as "out of whack." Gen. Casey never called the Army "out of whack." He has repeatedly said that the Army currently is "out of balance." His public remarks clearly say that the Army needs to be prepared to operate along the full-spectrum of operations and that the answer to restoring balance to the force is to use the framework of sustain, prepare, reset and transform.
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