US Army: Speakes-Martin

8/14/2019 US Army: Speakes-Martin

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By Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakesand

Col. Gregory M. Martin

he Army intends to remain the

preeminent landpower on earth,

dominant across the full spectrum

of operations, now and in the fu-

ture, to meet our enduring contract

with the American people to defend

our freedom. The Army’s moderniza-

tion strategy is designed to

meet the Army’s current and

future equipping require-

ments.

America is locked in a strug-

gle for survival against violent

extremists who seek to destroy our

way of life. Al Qaeda and similar

groups have attacked the United

States on our own soil and an-

nounced their intentions of estab-

lishing a global caliphate based on

Shari’a law. The United States is

not their only target; they haveJanuary 2008 I ARMY 31



perpetrated a number of attacksworldwide in pursuit of these aims.They claim grievances that date backto the Crusades in the Middle Agesand the loss of Andalusia (Spain) in1492. Our enemies take a long viewindeed. This enemy views itself ina protracted life-and-death strugglewith the West and our ideas of freedom and democracy.We are, whether we like it or not, involved in a long war.Indeed, we see a strategic environment of persistent con-flict, a protracted confrontation among state, nonstate andindividual actors who will use violence to achieve politicaland ideological ends.

The Army Strategy:Continuous Modernization

A strategic environment of persistent conflict requirescontinuous modernization to stay ahead of our enemieswhose asymmetric attacks have demonstrated their greatadaptive abilities. Continuous modernization will need the best efforts of industry to innovate and speed product de-

liveries and, in turn, will require the will of the nation to bear the financial burdens these conditions impose foryears to come.

Strategies are composed of ends, ways, means and risks.The “end” of our modernization strategy is to sustain the

Army as the dominant landpower in the world, capable offull spectrum operations. There are four points to theArmy modernization strategy.I Rapidly field the best new equipment to the current

force. The Army is committed to providing combatantcommanders with the capabilities they need to win the na-tion’s wars and to conduct operations across the full spec-trum of operations. Current combat operations in Iraq andAfghanistan feature adaptive adversaries bent on defeat-ing us. This fact requires us to maintain our technologicaladvantage through continuous innovation and moderniza-tion. We have not stood still. Since 9/11, the Army hasfielded 94 new systems for soldiers; we plan to field 64more over the next 10 years.

Timing is everything in war. As the Army entered theglobal war on terrorism, the existing processes were tooslow to effectively respond to wartime needs. The Armyhas corrected this deficiency by accelerating wartime ac-quisition and fielding through several initiatives, includingthe rapid equipping force and the rapid fielding initiative.These efforts procure commercial off-the-shelf equipmentfor deploying units. Today, we are institutionalizing theseinitiatives across the generating force.

Other initiatives include delivering Stryker variants toreplace aging ambulances, M113 command vehicles, andnuclear, biological and chemical vehicles throughout the

force. In addition, the Army now expedites resource deci-sions through the Army Requirements and ResourcingBoard, which allows commanders in the field to pass theirlatest requirements directly to the Army Staff for rapid de-cision and action. We will continue to apply the lessonslearned in war to accelerate the delivery of equipment toour soldiers.I Upgrade and modernize existing systems so that all

soldiers have the equipment they need. Army Chief ofStaff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. recently stated: “We mustcontinuously modernize our forces to put our Cold Warformations and systems behind us and to provide our sol-

diers a decisive advantage over our enemies.” Existing sys-

32 ARMY I January 2008

LT. GEN. STEPHEN M. SPEAKES is the deputy chief of staff,G-8, Headquarters, Department of the Army. He was director,Force Development, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8.

His previous assignments include assistant division comman-der (Support), 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Iraq,and deputy commanding general, 3rd U.S. Army and Com-

bined Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait. A gradu-ate of the U.S. Military Academy and a senior service college

fellow at Harvard University, he holds a master’s degree in government from Georgetown University. COL. GREGORY M. MARTIN is the chief, Director’s Initiative Group, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8. He served as deputy director,

Army Quadrennial Defense Review Office and with the Officeof the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State. A graduate of Creighton University, he holds a master’sdegree in education from the University of Louisville and is a

graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where he completedthe National Security Policy Program and earned a master’s

degree in security studies.

The Army has ‘committed to fielding

more than 10,000 mine resistant

ambush protected vehicles to provide

extra force protection for our troops

in Iraq and Afghanistan.’

F o r c e P r o t e c t i o n

I n c .

The Buffalo MPCV




tems slated for improvement includethe soldier as a system program, thetactical wheeled vehicle fleet, aviationplatforms, the Patriot missile systemand the existing communications net-work. In addition, we will upgradeour Abrams tank and Bradley fightingvehicle fleets, providing the two mostmodern variants of each across theoperating force by 2011. These im-provements are driven by combatantcommander operational requirements,an assessment of our capabilities gapsthat account for current and future threats, mission re-quirements and our enduring commitment to enhanceforce protection.

We have conducted system upgrades since the earlydays of the current fight and steadily improved our speedand efficiency in doing this. For example, we have de-ployed several iterations of improved armor for tacticalwheeled vehicles, such as Humvees and trucks, and re-cently committed to fielding more than 10,000 mine resis-tant ambush protected vehicles to provide extra force pro-tection for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our

modernization strategy specifically recognizes the physicallimits of simply adding more armor protection against anarray of increasingly lethal antiarmor threats. We cannot“up-armor our way out” of these challenges, so we seek in-novative solutions. That is where the promise of the FutureCombat Systems (FCS) offers truly transformational op-portunities to protect the force.I Incorporate new technologies derived from FCS re-

search and development. The FCS program delivers thelatest capabilities to the field as soon as they are developedin a process known as spin outs. Several precursors to spinouts, based on FCS research and development, have

already been used in combat operations in Iraq andAfghanistan. Examples include: Frag Kit 5 used on up-ar-

mored Humvees; the micro air vehicles, precursors toClass I unmanned aerial vehicles; and various robots thatare precursors to the small unmanned ground vehicle.

The Army will test and refine the systems of the FCSprogram with a dedicated brigade-sized special unit com-posed predominantly of combat-experienced soldiers ofthe Army Evaluation Task Force at Fort Bliss, Texas. Wewill deliver spin-out technologies across the force begin-ning in fiscal year (FY) 2010. The entire force, not just FCS brigade combat teams (BCTs), will benefit: “Some will getall, all will get some.” The impact will be tremendous. To

paraphrase Gen. Casey’s recent observation, technologygives us “an asymmetric advantage” over our foes.I Field the Future Combat Systems brigade combat

teams. The FCS program is truly revolutionary, not just anincremental improvement to existing capabilities. FutureCombat Systems BCTs will far exceed the capabilities ofour current brigades. Soldiers in FCS units will be betterprotected by better and scalable armor, by using unmannedvehicles and unattended sensors to see and destroy the en-emy at safe distances, and by using the active protectivesystem to destroy incoming enemy rounds. FCS will savelives as it increases soldier capability and productivity.

One of the transformational aspects of the FCS programis the network. FCS will complement the capacities of un-

manned sensors with a capability forsoldiers down at the platoon level tosee the battlefield as they have neverseen it before and to communicatewith their comrades in real time.

Today’s American teenager is ac-customed to using a cell phone to takea picture and send it to friends alongwith a text message explaining the im-age. Our soldiers’ expectations have

been shaped by this background; they

‘Other initiatives include delivering

Stryker variants to replace aging am-

bulances, M113 command vehicles,

and nuclear, biological and chemical

vehicles throughout the force.’

A Shadow UAV

Stryker



expect the same standards when they join the Army. Thecapabilities available today in the commercial world aremade possible by a strong communications infrastructurein America and other technologically advanced nations butnot available in many austere environments where theArmy fights. FCS will solve this problem

by bringing the network to the soldier

wherever he or she operates.The future network will have three lay-ers: land-based, aircraft-based andsatellite-based, for a redundant ca-pability that can deploy anywherein the world. This network will beembedded in FCS manned groundvehicles (MGVs) and extended to thesoldier. The MGVs are specifically de-signed to meet the significantly increasedpower loads of the network and will bepowered by a hybrid electric engine pro-viding a tenfold increase in onboard electri-cal power.

The network will be distributed to thelowest possible level. The platoon leader inthe FCS brigade combat team will have adirect link into the network built into his vehicle and sup-ported by all three layers. This will provide soldiers unpar-alleled situational awareness on the battlefield.

FCS offers other transformational capabilities. For exam-ple, the common chassis of the manned ground vehicle re-quires fewer spare parts and fewer mechanics to performmaintenance and repairs. A lighter vehicle with an im-proved hybrid electric engine will yield remarkable fuel ef-

ficiencies. These two innovations permit much smaller lo-gistics tails to maintain and resupply the FCS brigade, withfewer convoys that expose our logistics troops to attacks, aleading source of casualties in Iraq. These efficiencies willallow a Future Combat Systems BCT to field twice thenumber of infantrymen as today’s heavy BCTs, allowingfor more boots on the ground, a key force multiplier incounterinsurgency, urban, humanitarian, peacekeepingand nation-building operations.

In this sense, FCS is also a window to the future,with machines replacing soldiers in performing manyof the most dangerous tasks. This transforma-

tional approach portends the development ofa stronger and more efficient Army, ableto operate effectively across the spec-trum of operations. For example,MGVs feature scalable armor thatsheds like a snake’s skin, allowingnew and improved armor to replaceolder “skins” rather than designing whole newgenerations of vehicles and thus saving lives, timeand money.

The Army will field the first Future Combat Systems brigades in FY 2015, five FCS brigades by FY 2020 and all

15 brigades by FY 2030.

The Means of the Army Modernization StrategyCongressional funding provides the means to imple-

ment the Army modernization strategy. The Army enteredthe current conflict with an estimated $52 billion shortfallin its modernization programs. Congressional supportsince then has helped to make up for some of these short-falls, and there is emerging strong bipartisan support to

fully fund the Army’s current and future needs.The FY 2008 Army base budget provides: $15.5 billionfor rapid fielding of new equipment; $3.9 billion forupgrading and modernizing existing systems; $85

million for FCS spin outs; and more than $3.5 billionfor FCS research and procurement. FCS repre-

sents 34.0 percent of the Army’s overall re-search, development, test and evaluation

budget and 0.4 percent of the procure-ment budget for FY 2008. The

Army will seek to increase the base budget for modernization

over current amounts of roughly$25 billion in the Program Objective

Memorandum for FY 2010–15, both toensure that previous funding shortfalls are

corrected and to prevent the loss of funding of crit-ical programs should supplemental funding suddenly startto decline.

Risks to the Army Modernization StrategyForemost among the risks to the modernization strategy

would be loss of support by the administration or Con-gress. Even small decrements to certain program elementscan delay fielding of critical capabilities to soldiers in the

current fight. For example, the FY 2008 AppropriationsAct provided more than $3.5 billion in FCS funding, butthe relatively small $228 million cut to that programthreatens to delay several critical components, includingSpin Out 1, by several months. A second major risk is thatthe high costs of the current fight may cause a withering ofsupport for the Future Force. The nation cannot pit theneeds of the current force against the needs of the Future

Force. Protecting our soldiersnow and in the future is nothingless than a national moral im-perative.

We live in an era of persistentconflict that demands continu-ous modernization to stay aheadof our enemies. Our soldiersmust always have the best equip-ment available; it is a moral im-perative, and Americans expectno less. Our modernization strat-egy will work with full andtimely funding but requires the

continued commitment of Congress and the American peo-ple to succeed. With that support, the Army will remain the

strength of the nation. (


Infantry carrier

vehicle

Non-line-of-sight

mortar

US Army: Speakes-Martin

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