Army's Commanders Focus on Maximizing Unit Readiness, Total Army Force Cooperation

By Mr. Paul Boyce (FORSCOM)November 8, 2016

Army's Commanders Focus on Maximizing Unit Readiness, Total Army Force Cooperation
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Army's Commanders Focus on Maximizing Unit Readiness, Total Army Force Cooperation
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Maj. Gen. Ryan F. Gonsalves (center), commanding general 4th Infantry Division, addresses forum participants during a panel discussion at the U. S. Army Forces Command Commander's Conference at Fort Bragg, N.C. Nov. 3, 2016. Also part of the panel a... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Army's Commanders Focus on Maximizing Unit Readiness, Total Army Force Cooperation
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Dr. Nina Kollars, assistant professor of Government at Franklin and Marshall College, addresses participants on "Mastering the Fundamentals" during the U. S. Army Forces Command Commander's Conference at Fort Bragg, N.C. Nov. 2, 2016. U.S. Army phot... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Army's Commanders Focus on Maximizing Unit Readiness, Total Army Force Cooperation
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Senior Army commanders, command sergeants major and staff met Nov. 2-3 at the U.S. Army Forces Command Commander's Forum to focus on the readiness of the Total Army Force -- active, Army National Guard and Army Reserve. The theme, "Maximizing Unit Readiness and Total Army Force Policy," highlighted ongoing U.S. Army readiness initiatives and future priorities.

"The biggest drivers of Army readiness are in personnel, equipment and training," said Gen. Robert B. Abrams, commanding general of the U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., discussing the "three drivers of readiness." Army efforts are underway along each driver with the goal of improving readiness, Abrams said in his Fort Bragg, N.C., presentation -- similar to his Oct. 3 Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting Contemporary Military Forum, "Readiness For Today's Complex World." Ongoing Army initiatives for these three readiness drivers include: decreasing the number of Soldiers who unable to deploy for various reasons, improving the consistency of Army training across the force, and tackling maintenance issues and excess equipment. "Our biggest challenge is time," Abrams said.

The two-day event at the Army command's Marshall Hall Headquarters featured senior officers and enlisted leaders from 14 states' Adjutants General; First Army; Army Corps commanders; leaders from the Army's Active Component Divisions; U.S. Army Reserve units and U.S. Army Reserve Command; Army National Guard divisions and units; other FORSCOM units; and Department of the Army Headquarters representatives. In addition to focusing on Army readiness and training, the event featured presentations on the "art of mastery," personnel readiness, operationalizing the Army Total Force Policy, and numerous innovative Army home-station training initiatives at Army posts and camps nationwide.

"Our readiness is steadily improving across the entire formation of the United States Army," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the forum audience as part of his presentation on "Future Challenges." The general's Fort Bragg remarks echoed his Oct. 4 AUSA Eisenhower Luncheon presentation in Washington, D.C. "We've taken a number of steps over the last year to increase our readiness in the Total Army -- our regular Army, our Guard, and our Reserve." But, he cautioned, "the global security environment remains volatile, uncertain, and complex. And it demands high readiness," Milley said last month.

Milley outlined a number of likely future battlefield evolutions and some possibly revolutionary changes that could take place by mid-century -- focusing on possible situations the U.S. Army might face across the globe from 2025 to 2050, some with potential fundamental changes in the character of ground warfare.

National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel spoke about the ongoing cooperation between the Active Component and Reserve Components with the FORSCOM officers and non-commissioned officer leaders -- highlighting similar remarks he made earlier during a Defense Writers Group Washington, D.C., update in late October. He thanked Gen. Milley, Gen. Abrams and the National Guard Adjutants General, noting what a difference a year makes in their cooperation and progress in access and use of the Guard's vital force structure. Lengyel emphasized the importance of training standards, leadership commitment and building trust while reminding the group of his three "big goals:" readiness, people and innovation.

Dr. Nina Kollers, assistant professor of government at Franklin and Marshall College, also addressed the importance of innovation and "mastering the fundamentals," contrasting the nature of geniuses with individual mastery by professional practitioners. "Mastery is a different kind of wheelhouse," Kollers said. "As it turns out, mastery has its own creative capacity. The basis of jazz, martial-arts training and the Japanese system of 'Shu Ha Ri' (meaning obey, digress, transcend) -- advising 'follow the rule, break the rule, be the rule' -- mean true freedom comes from knowing deeply." Her remarks focused on personal practice and repetition, while citing famous examples as well as military historical case studies.

The two-day professional dialogue included leadership panel discussions and presentations on Associated Unit Pilot relationships, home-station training best practices, personal readiness and physical fitness, operationalizing Army Total Force Policy across military-sustainment organizations, and personnel readiness efforts "Shaping the Force." The Army announced in March 2016 that selected units from the Active Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard are part of Associated Unit formations to train and build readiness together, enabling the Army to provide more combat-ready formations to Combatant Commanders.

FORSCOM's essential tasks include supporting the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve to build unit readiness both pre- and post-mobilization. The 216,000 Regular Army Soldiers of FORSCOM are teamed with the Nation's 325,000 Army National Guard and 195,000 U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers "to remain the most powerful land force in the world."

U.S. Army Forces Command trains and prepares a combat ready, globally responsive Total Force in order to build and sustain readiness to meet Combatant Command requirements.