WASHINGTON (Oct. 4, 2009) - Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, spoke at the Association of the United States Army Chapter Presidents Dinner yesterday at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.
"We're going to discuss a lot of things this week," said Dempsey. "We'll review lessons learned from our on-going conflicts. We'll be introduced to new concepts. We'll consider current and emerging technologies."
Dempsey's speech highlighted trends facing the Army and TRADOC's plan to meet current and future challenges.
He cited the certainty of uncertainty, an increased pace of change, competitiveness, and decentralization as four trends facing the Army today.
"The complexity and uncertainty of the current and future operational environment is very similar to that of the physical atmosphere," he said. "As the number of variables increases, we grapple with the future by making assumptions."
Dempsey then introduced three ways TRADOC is working to meet those conditions: the Army Capstone Concept, leader development and modernization.
The Army Capstone Concept describes the broad capabilities the Army will require to apply finite resources to overcome adaptive adversaries in an era of complexity and uncertainty. The concept puts into operational terms Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey's vision of balancing the Army to win today's wars while describing how the future Army will fight.
"In addition to describing how we will fight in the future, the capstone concept will also address important aspects of institutional adaptation in the Army," he said. "Revisions to doctrine, training, leader development, and modernization will derive from the vision of future conflict outlined in this document."
One of the biggest changes to leader development that TRADOC is addressing is the need for adaptability.
"Our leader development strategy doesn't define a specific end state," said Dempsey. "Rather, it seeks to be as adaptive and innovative as the leaders whose development it will guide. ... The strategy does this by cross-walking these broad leader qualities with specific outcomes to be achieved over the course of a career."
The road to brigade combat team modernization began with Task Force 120, where the Army was given 120 days to develop a new plan after the Future Combat System was cut from the defense budget in April.
"What's become apparent during this effort is the compelling logic for a shift from the long-term, leap ahead approach of the FCS program to an incremental BCT modernization plan that uses shorter time horizons aligned to [Army Force Generation]," said Dempsey. "Such an approach preserves our focus on the requirement to provide a versatile mix of networked BCTs that can leverage mobility, protection, information and precision fires. It also acknowledges the reality of the resource constraints we face."
Dempsey sees this as a way for TRADOC to continually adjust and improve the Army of today and tomorrow.
"Looking ahead, TRADOC will work with the department [of the Army] to refine and complete a comprehensive modernization and vehicle strategy in the near future," he said. "By applying the grounded projections of the Army Capstone Concept to guide the way we prioritize, develop and integrate capabilities, we'll address our most pressing needs and close the most significant capability gaps while improving our ability to adapt as new threats emerge and become clearer."
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