The force of the future

By Debra S. Wada, assistant secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)October 5, 2015

As the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, I am honored to provide overall supervision of manpower and reserve component affairs of the Department of the Army. The Secretary of the Army has further prescribed that I will set strategic direction to ensure Army policies, plans and programs for personnel, force structure, manpower management, training, military and civilian personnel readiness, Reserve Affairs, and Army protection are executed consistent with law, regulation, and policy. I am impressed every day by the talent, commitment, and spirit of the Soldiers, Civilians, and Family Members who make up our Army, and I will ensure that Army policy reflects our nation's commitment to take care of our Total Army as they serve at home and abroad. I'd like to highlight four areas that I see as priorities in the year ahead.

ARMY TOTAL FORCE POLICY

We face an unprecedented and unpredictable global environment. To win in that environment, we must have a truly integrated Total Force that fully leverages and synchronizes the capabilities of the Active Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve. To that end, I am wholly committed to the principles inherent in Army Total Force Policy and the integration of the Army's active component and reserve components as a "Total Force."

We must organize, man, train, and equip our active and reserve components as an integrated operational force to provide predictable, recurring, and sustainable capabilities. Total Force integration must be part of Army strategy and planning to fulfill national military needs. As an integrated Total Force, the Active Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve provide operating and generating forces to support the National Military Strategy and Army commitments worldwide. To ensure force depth needed to achieve victory while simultaneously deterring other threats, the Army will ensure that the integrated Total Force is organized, trained, sustained, equipped, and employed to support combatant commander requirements as force packages tailored to achieve anticipated objectives. It is important to distinguish that by deliberate design, the Active Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve independently provide the Total Force with distinct, complimentary, and essential capabilities that create the exigency for integration in accordance with Army Total Force Policy.

Army Total Force Policy is working and has us on the right path. As we continue to improve, adapt, and evolve Army Total Force Policy, it will become an even greater combat multiplier, providing integrated Total Force solutions to meet global demand for Army Forces.

CIVILIAN MORALE AND JOB SATISFACTION

Army civilians are an integral part of the Army team and a critical force multiplier as we build towards Army 2025 and beyond. We will continue to make a strategic investment in our civilians through our developmental programs while also targeting civilian morale and job satisfaction. The Army has launched several significant and innovative initiatives aimed at developing more adaptive, trusted professionals committed to the Army Team. Pillars of our civilian development program remain the Senior Enterprise Talent Management (SETM) and Enterprise Talent Management (ETM) programs that target the GS 13-15 population. Additionally, efforts to increase participation at an earlier career point have led to the innovation of the Emerging Enterprise Leaders (EEL) talent management program. Intent of EEL is to provide the opportunity to broaden mid-level employee's perspectives and build leadership competencies at a more localized level through individual command programs. These programs help create the conditions for future leader success and will enhance the professionalism of our Army Civilian Corps.

While continued civilian leader development of our workforce is paramount, equally vital is the job satisfaction and morale of our workforce. We hold that people are the strength of our Army, and we must ensure that employee engagement in the work that they do for our Soldiers is a key focus area for all leaders in the military. The launch point for effective engagement for new employees is the Army Civilian Acculturation program. This on-boarding program provides a comprehensive, supervisor-sponsored introduction into Army culture for newly hired Army civilians. Through this initiative, we will ensure that from the start, Civilians better understand and appreciate the Army Profession and their essential role while more rapidly becoming productive members of the Army Civilian corps.

SOLDIER 2020

The Army is committed to providing all Soldiers the opportunity to develop their talents and advance their careers while training, educating, and developing the best Soldiers for 2020. Correspondingly, we have continued to expand opportunities to women over the past year, including the first ever participation of women in Ranger School. In eight short months, women can now serve in open occupations in all infantry, armor, and field artillery battalions in Brigade Combat Teams in the conventional Army. In June, the Army opened the Combat Engineer Military Occupational Specialty, and 18 women have signed up for the occupation. The U.S. Army Special Operations Command opened positions in the headquarters of the Special Operations Battalions in 2014 and several women have completed initial special aviation training and are assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. We continue to build on the success of previous integration and lessons learned, and have completed the validation of physical and mental requirements to select, train and continue in all occupations.

TALENT MANAGEMENT

The Army's current year group, time-based personnel management system promotes "up or out" career progression. This system does not adequately identify, measure, and track individual talent, knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal goals nor does it provide flexibility in the recognition and management of long-term excellence in a specific career. The medical field is an example of a career path that could benefit from an alternative personnel management system. Arguably, it is more advantageous for a medical professional to concentrate on gaining advanced skills while practicing their trade for a longer period of time, rather than focus on promotion and retention on an inflexible timeline. Shifting the focus of career management to individual development based on talent, knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal goals rather than time in grade will enhance our operational capabilities and provide flexibility for longer developmental assignments. Such enhancements will appeal to many Soldiers while promoting increased retention in difficult to fill medical profession positions.

The Army Medical Command has begun a significant restructuring initiative to streamline their command and structure. The fundamental concept of this re-structure is to create multi-functional commands aligned with U.S. Army Corps in CONUS and Army Service Component Commands overseas. As a result of this organizational shift, the specialized corps within AMEDD will have opportunities for leadership in multi-functional commands. One of the significant initiatives that we are undertaking is to not only provide greater leader development opportunities for the AMEDD specialized corps, but to seek legislative reform to allow officers in these specialized corps to compete for promotion on a level playing field.

It is imperative that we continue to invest in the individuals who make up the Total Force through careful strategic planning and policy and programs that foster excellence in our Soldiers and Civilians. Simply put, people are our greatest strength, making it imperative that we maintain faith with those who dedicate their lives to serving our nation.

I am honored to serve our great Army and exceedingly proud of the Soldiers, Civilians, and Families who voluntarily serve our country. I remain steadfastly committed to providing each of them the opportunities, support, and care befitting their selfless service.

Debra S. Wada was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs on October 2014. She previously served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee, holding positions as the lead staff member and Deputy Staff Director for the Committee.