Fort Novosel's Aviation Industry Days 2023 event provided is first-ever panel session focused exclusive on maneuver at the Post Theater Aug. 9, 2023.
Panel members included Maj. Gen. Michael C. McCurry, Army Aviation branch chief; Maj. Gen. Curtis A. Buzzard, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Moore commander; and Maj. Gen. Charles D. Costanza, former 3d Infantry Division and Fort Stewart commander.
The session began with brief opening comments from each panel member, followed by an opportunity to take questions from the audience. Discussion topics included future maneuver in large scale combat operations, shifting the mindset from counterinsurgency to large scale combat operations and digesting intelligence at division level; dispersion down to the platoon level and consideration of impacts and tradeoffs of adjusted tactics, techniques and procedures to the future fight; warfighting together with allies and partners in the future; and concern about mitigating risk to personnel and equipment in the future.
“I want to thank my two good friends and brothers in arms here, Maj. Gen. Costanza and Maj. Gen. Buzzard, for coming down here and spending time with us today. We exist for one reason and that’s the soldier on the ground, so whether you’re in a tank or you’re on foot, that’s what Army aviation is all about,” McCurry said.
“When they need to know what’s over the next hill we’re going to tell them. When they need to be put in a position of relative advantage we’re going to put them there. If they need a little firepower we’re bringing it and, God forbid, they’re wounded on the battlefield we’re coming to get them,” McCurry said.
McCurry said as the Army shifts from COIN to LSCO, Army Aviation faces several challenges, including reconnaissance and security capacity; and the ability to air assault a Brigade Combat Team in one period of darkness, which Future Vertical Lift is addressing.
Other challenges are operating from standoff in relative sanctuary; the size of the command post in a prolific electronic warfare environment; being under constant surveillance and the need for increased mobility to increase survivability.
Costanza said he has seen the direction the Army has been trying to move from the vantage point of recently serving as the former 3d Infantry Division commander and having served at the Pentagon, and in FORSCOM G-3. While with 3d ID, the division had unique opportunities to fight as a division.
“We got to do that. We also got the unique opportunity to do the joint warfighting assessment last year where we fought the division of 2030. They gave us the capabilities, they gave us the organizations, and they said, go figure it out. So for the two weeks while we executed that warfighter, we fought with FLRAA, we fought with FARA. We saw the game changing capabilities that ALE provided and it potentially changes the way that both the corps and the division have to fight,” Costanza said.
Buzzard said he appreciates the partnership between Capability Development Integration Directorates, as maneuver and aviation work closely together.
“We are seeing a fundamental change in the character of war. You hear our senior leaders talk about that quite a bit. How we fight, the capabilities we fight with, largely driven by technology,” Buzzard said. “The nature of war for infantry and armor, really everybody, remains the same—a brutal contest of wills.”
Buzzard said the Maneuver Center is ensuring Soldiers know how to fight with, employ and use Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and reinforcing combined arms.
“Specifically employment of fires, obviously employment of aviation, air-ground integration. I think we’re still going to see brigades and battalions employing aviation and fires together, definitely at the brigade level,” he said.
As the Army looks at human-machine interface, robotics and sensors forward of a ground-based unit, in the future first contact shouldn’t cause bloodshed, he explained.
Buzzard said the Army’s two advantages are its people and the training, particularly at CTCs where the Army trains hard “at the threshold of failure,” makes mistakes and improves.
“We should be very grateful for the way we approach warfare. It’s a very distinct advantage,” he said.
Social Sharing