PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY www.ausa.org February 8, 2024 | AUSA Extra 1 Chief focused on warfighting mission T he Army must move with a sense of urgency as it contends with an increasingly volatile and complex world, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said. “The difference today is the tech disruption we’ve had, the volatility is completely different, and just how fast things are spinning on the tech side,” George said Tuesday during an Association of the U.S. Army Coffee Series event. “I think it’s completely different from what we’ve seen, and there’s a lot of implications with that and how we do business and how we change.” As he travels across the force, George said he’s been able to see how soldiers are adapting to the chal- lenges of missions around the world. “I’ve been really getting out there and talking to our troops,” he said. “What we want to do is focus on our warfighting mission and building co- hesive teams.” George said he also is focused on how the Army can “unencumber” commanders and soldiers, such as getting rid of excess equipment, so that they can focus on the important tasks. “Warfighting, I always tell every- body that that has to be the focus,” George said. “I want leaders at every level to understand that’s what we’re focused on. If you’re not relaying that message all the way down with what you’re doing, then we need to recali- brate what we’re doing.” As the Army prepares for the fu- ture fight, George said he’s looking at lessons from the war in Ukraine and fighting in the Middle East. This means prioritizing the network and looking for ways to incorporate un- manned aerial systems, robotics, 3D printing and other emerging tech- nologies to bolster the force. It also means minimizing units’ footprints—digital and physical—on the battlefield. “The network has to be the No. 1 priority,” George said. “You cannot communicate, you cannot command and control, everything we do across our warfighting functions depends on our network.” In addition to building a reliable, secure network, the Army must have a network that’s mobile and agile. “When you’re on the bat- tlefield, you don’t want to be seen, you want to blend into the environ- ment,” George said. During a recent visit to the Na- tional Training Center at Fort Ir- win, California, George said he ob- served as the 1st Armored Division tactical command post was “five ve- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George addresses the service’s transformation efforts during a Coffee Series event hosted at AUSA’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. (AUSA PHOTO) Contested Environment Threatens Sustainment 3 AUSA Paper Examines Logistics Challenges 4 Government Affairs AUSA’s 2024 Focus Areas 6 Chapter Highlights Fort Leonard Wood-Mid Missouri 7 IN THIS ISSUE VOLUME 5 NUMBER 39 FEBRUARY 8, 2024 See George, Page 3www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY February 8, 2024 | AUSA Extra 3 Smith: No more ‘safe harbor’ for Army logistics enterprise Maj. Gen. James Smith, director of operations for the deputy chief of staff of the Army for logistics, G-4, speaks Wednesday at an AUSA Hot Topic forum. (AUSA PHOTO) A s the air, land, sea, space and information domains are con- tested by adversaries, there will be “no safe harbor” anywhere in the world for the Army logistics en- terprise, a senior Army leader said. In a contested environment, “we’ll no longer be able to operate unimped- ed, and this includes the homeland,” Maj. Gen. James Smith, director of operations for the deputy chief of staff of the Army for logistics, G-4, said Wednesday at a Hot Topic forum on contested logistics hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. “In short, we’ll have no safe har- bor as we execute logistics across the globe,” Smith said. He added that logistics has always been contested, especially at the tactical level, as it was on combat logistics patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan. But now, more than 20 years into the 21st century, he said, the Army faces a future of multidomain envi- ronments in which adversaries will have round-the-clock visibility over U.S. military operations, particu- larly logistics operations that can be disrupted in myriad ways. “As we continue transitioning our Army from counterinsurgency opera- tions to one prepared to fight large- scale combat operations at echelon, … the sheer scale of what we antici- pate from our adversaries as they at- George From Page 1 hicles” protected by a radio frequency shield and a small unmanned aerial system, and a command-and-control node “that could be moved in five minutes.” The III Corps command post was hidden in a warehouse with no vehicles parked outside. “That’s what we need,” George said. “It was very low signature.” To further experiment with reduc- ing a unit’s digital footprint while maximizing technologies such as robotics and unmanned aerial sys- tems, the Army is selecting a num- ber of brigades for what George calls “transforming in contact.” The goal is to adjust these forma- tions for what the mission may de- mand. As an example, George said, a unit may get more unmanned aerial systems and electronic warfare capa- bilities. Another may get more robot- ics or the first batch of Next-Genera- tion Squad Weapons. They will then train with these new capabilities and provide feedback on what’s working and what’s not. “It’s a really busy Army. We have to make some adjustments,” George said. “There’s a sense of urgency to what we’re doing.” As the Army moves forward with its transformation, George said he tells leaders that everybody has a job to do at every level, and the service must do everything it can to make sure soldiers have the right leaders, equipment and training they need when they go into harm’s way. “We can’t forget that, regardless of how far you get from the front line, that’s our mission, and we need to keep that at the forefront,” he said. tempt to impose their will is greater than anything and anybody in this room can ever imagine,” Smith said. He pointed to China and Russia as adversaries that are acute threats, and he said that those and other competitors possess the technologi- cal abilities to disrupt and attack Army operations. As such, he said, success in multidomain operations will only work if the logistics com- munity constantly reevaluates and refines concepts and capabilities “at speeds commensurate or faster than our adversaries move on the global sustainment chessboard.” To meet the expected challenges, the Army must adapt by continu- ing to modernize its organic indus- trial base, Smith said. The service also must work closely with industry to shape procurements, implement technologically advanced equipment and improve innovations in doing business; strengthen ties and in- teroperability with allies and part- ners; and make contested logistics a whole-of-government and whole-of- nation concern. “These must-dos underpin our abil- ity to ensure our nation is prepared to meet the challenges and complexi- ties we will face in a contested logis- tics environment,” Smith said.www.ausa.org4 AUSA Extra | February 8, 2024 Gen. Bob Brown, USA Ret. President and CEO, AUSA Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, USA Ret. Vice President, Leadership and Education, AUSA Luc Dunn Editor Desiree Hurlocker Advertising Manager Advertising Information Contact: Fox Associates Inc. 116 W. Kinzie St. • Chicago, IL 60654 Phone: 800-440-0231 Email: adinfo.rmy@foxrep.com ARTICLES. 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Sensors, evolving technology pose growing threats to sustainment A soldier assigned to the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, helps guide a Stryker vehicle to a staging area after it is unloaded from a transportation ship Jan. 30 at the Port of Pohang, Republic of Korea. (U.S. ARMY/PFC. CAYDEN HALL) P rotection, deception and mask- ing are key investments the Army must make as it works to ensure it can get to the fi ght—and stay in the fi ght—on a complex mod- ern battlefi eld, according to the author of a new Association of the U.S. Army paper. In “Contested Logistics: A Primer,” Lt. Col. Amos Fox writes that con- tested logistics are not a “new wrin- kle of modern warfare.” Instead, it’s an issue that planners, strategists and industry have wrestled with “throughout the depth and breadth of armed confl ict.” “The only signifi cant difference to- day from the time in which German U-boats prowled the Atlantic Ocean, for instance, are the technologies available to detect the movements of logistics, and correspondingly, the technology available to strike a state’s logistics network from extend- ed range,” Fox writes. For the Army, whose operations are “almost always expeditious,” the service should look to build a force structure that allows for intra-the- ater transport across not only land but also air and water, writes Fox, a doctoral candidate at the University of Reading and a freelance writer and confl ict scholar writing for AUSA. “The U.S. military—to include the Army—is expeditionary,” Fox writes. “Therefore, it inherently possesses long supply pipelines. These pipe- lines—from manufacturing sites to tactical units on the front line of com- bat—are critical vulnerabilities in a contested environment.” Smart adversaries will make use of global sensor networks to pinpoint logistics manufacturing locations, nodal shipping positions and key routes between those nodes and the- ater-specifi c embarkation locations, Fox writes. “Moreover, adversaries possessing the capabilities and intentions might well attack anywhere, or perhaps even everywhere, along that long lo- gistics pipeline,” he writes. “Thus, Army forces, as well as policymak- ers, other military practitioners and scholars must continue to experiment with ideas, as well as notional forces and potential materials, to reduce the critical vulnerabilities that exist within the logistics pipeline.” Read the paper here.LEARN MORE & REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.AUSA.ORG/EVENTS Join us for a Noon Report with General Mark A. Milley, U.S. Army Re- tired, 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Milley will dis- cuss the Army’s role in the Joint Force and will look ahead to the future operating environment of the next decade, considering the challenges that the Army is facing and what it is doing to meet them. Additionally, General Milley will offer leadership lessons and reflections stemming from his more than 40 years of service to our nation. 13 FEBRUARY 2024 1200–1300 EST JOIN THE DISCUSSION! This webinar will include a Q&A session in which questions submitted by the audience will be selected and asked by the moderator. A recording of the webinar will be available on our Youtube page the following day. GENERAL MARK A. MILLEY U.S. ARMY, RETIRED 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Moderated by GEN Robert B. Brown, USA Ret. President & CEO, AUSAAUSA announces 2024 legislative advocacy priorities AUSA’s top recommendation for Congress is on-time passage of appropriations leg- islation and the National Defense Autho- rization Act. (ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL PHOTO) www.ausa.org6 AUSA Extra | February 8, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY T he Association of the U.S. Army’s Government Affairs directorate has finalized its 2024 Focus Areas, outlining the legislative priorities the association uses to advocate with Congress. This year’s document includes AUSA’s continued top recommenda- tion for Congress—on-time passage of appropriations legislation and the National Defense Authorization Act with increased funding to support Army requirements. Other advocacy priorities for AUSA include warfighting, delivering ready combat formations, strengthening the profession and continuous trans- formation. All the Focus Areas are critical to national security and seek to provide the Total Army—soldiers in all three components, families, Army civilians, survivors, caregiv- ers and veterans— the resources they need and the bene- fits they’ve earned. You can view AUSA’s Focus Areas here. With our Focus Areas, AUSA’s Government Affairs team is meeting with defense experts, industry repre- sentatives, like-minded associations and congressional staff to advocate for the Army. Government Affairs Meanwhile, the situation on Capi- tol Hill remains as uncertain as ever, and the next few weeks may be choppy, even by Washington, D.C., standards. The appropriations process contin- ues to present a significant challenge for lawmakers. Several continuing resolutions to fund the government and prevent a shutdown have been necessary since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. These stopgap mea- sures keep funding at the previous year’s levels and prohibit new pro- gram starts. Congress has continued its bifur- cated approach to deadlines for the 12 appropriations bills that fund the government. On Jan. 5, AUSA joined with five like-minded associations to advocate for swift passage of in- creased funding for the Army and DoD. The letter also highlights the considerable detrimental effects of continuing resolutions. You can read the letter here. Most notably, the current pair of continuing resolutions runs through March 1 for the military construc- tion, veterans affairs and related agencies bill and March 8 for the de- fense appropriations bill. Some prog- ress has been made, as a bipartisan agreement was reached on the fund- ing amounts for each appropriation bill, but much work remains. Because of the many challenges facing the appropriations process, a full or partial government shutdown or a full-year continuing resolution could occur in March. A full-year continuing resolution would be un- precedented for the Pentagon and very damaging to national security and the Army. You can help to build momentum for enactment of appropriations bills and AUSA’s Focus Areas by contact- ing your representatives and sena- tors. Lastly, efforts continue on a sup- plemental bill to fund national secu- rity priorities. As of this writing, the House and Senate are working with very different versions, and prospects for a final bill are anyone’s guess. It’s also possible that no supplemental funding bill is enacted. We will continue to monitor these and other developments as we advo- cate for the Total Army with Con- gress. Mark Haaland is AUSA’s Government Affairs director. AUSA’s Focus Areas are critical to national security and seek to provide soldiers the resources they need and the benefits they have earned. (U.S. ARMY/SPC. JOSHUA ZAYAS)I n honor of the women veterans in the community, the Association of the U.S. Army’s Fort Leonard Wood Mid-Missouri chapter is work- ing to bring to the forefront their stories—and those of the women who are still serving in uniform. During a recent chapter event ti- tled “Bridging Generations of Women in Service,” the chapter provided an overview of women in the military and introduced the 11 women veterans in attendance. The forum was moder- ated by former Sgt. 1st Class Lynn Richardson, who served as a military police soldier from 1980–2000. Women make up about 17% of ac- tive-duty service members and 21% of the reserve components, according to a DoD demographics report from December 2022. That’s a dramatic increase from the Vietnam War, when women made up just 3% of ser- vice members. Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Fred- die Brock, the chapter’s vice presi- dent of NCO and Soldier Programs, spoke about the motivation behind the panel discussion. “Your stories matter, and providing a generational connection is important to under- standing what is needed for women to continue to succeed in their ser- vice,” Brock said. During the discussion, Richardson talked about some challenges women face when serving in the military and asked the group to reflect on their time in uniform. Former Staff Sgt. Cheryl Boothe, a Vietnam-era veter- an, talked about her experience and choosing to leave the service when she became pregnant, framing the discussion around the development of regulations surrounding women and families to include the increased allowances for parental leave avail- able today. Though more work needs to be done, military culture has shifted and progressed, the women said. One www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY February 8, 2024 | AUSA Extra 7 Chapter event honors contributions of women veterans aspect of the discussion centered on women’s skills and contributions in the service, as well as the perception of their peers and those outside the military. Retired Lt. Col. Jo Ellen Ferguson talked about her choice to join as a nurse in the Women’s Army Corps in 1976. “I can remember working in a civilian hospital as a nurse and hearing others talking about a new nurse—a military nurse—and how respected they were,” Ferguson said. “Where I was from was so anti-mil - itary during Vietnam, I was fasci- nated.” Ferguson joined the Army and saw her pay and benefits double, which was life-changing. Additionally, the schools provided by the military were opportunities she wouldn’t have had otherwise. In recent years, there have been more and more women leaders in the military. Cathy West, who served from 1978 to 1992, discussed the lack of female mentors available to her during her time in service. “I was the only female most times,” she said. The active-duty service members in the room agreed and said they are seeing other women like them rising to high places and levels of respon- sibility, paving the way and giving them someone to look up to. Listening to these women’s stories is critical to understanding their experiences and continuing discus- sions about policies and best prac- tices. Hearing from them also helps the Army capitalize on the talents and skills these soldiers bring to the table. Brittany Raines is AUSA’s Fort Leonard Wood-Mid Missouri chapter secretary. Fort Leonard Wood-Mid Missouri The ‘Bridging Generations of Women in Service’ panel centered on women’s skills and contributions, as well as the percep- tion of their peers and those outside the military. (AUSA/MARGARET BOURNE) Women service members, past and present, share their stories during an event hosted by AUSA’s Fort Leonard Wood Mid-Missouri chapter. (AUSA/MARGARET BOURNE)Next >