Some 992 soldiers have now tested positive, with a cluster among trainees at Fort Jackson, S.C., although many showed no symptoms.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.ROC-X – The solution to organic precision strike capabilities
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI will present integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
A Washington state National Guard brigade will stay home to help the governor with coronavirus response, while the Army Reserve has halted monthly “battle assemblies.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
HUNTSVILLE: Modernizing the Army is about much more than equipment. To defeat Russia and China in future multi-domain warfare — or better yet, deter them — the service is contemplating cultural revolutions as ripe for controversy as any multi-billion dollar weapons program. They include allowing junior officers more initiative, ending chronic micromanagement; creating long-term “regimental” affiliations…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: The Army Reserve is preparing 10,000 soldiers for major war with intensive training on machineguns and automatic grenade launchers. For many, these Cold Steel exercises held across the country are the first time they’ve touched such heavy weapons since basic training, said the chief of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. Charles Luckey. The Reserve…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
ARMY WAR COLLEGE: If you want to know what the Army Chief of Staff is thinking, don’t just ask around the Pentagon. Drive a couple hours north through rural Pennsylvania — passing the Gettysburg battlefield on the way — to the Army War College here in quiet Carlisle. An institution whose influence has waxed and…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: In stark contrast to past disputes, the head of the National Guard Bureau took pains today to praise the Army Chief of Staff for bringing full-time and part-time troops together. In particular, NGB director Gen. Joseph Lengyel said, the National Guard can train and deploy more often alongside the regular Army, it wants to…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AM General will sell Afghanistan 1,259 M1151 Humvees plus 414 M1152 models. Humvee maker AM General just announced a $356 million contract to build 1,673 Humvees for Afghanistan. (The US is paying). It goes to show that even after losing the biggest military wheeled-vehicle contract of the century, AM General just keeps trucking along. Last…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
B-21, hypersonics and more: How digital development is driving industry innovation
Technological advancements are key to keeping pace with customer demands and evolving threat landscapes.
WASHINGTON: Instead of begging for more money — which won’t come — it’s time to face facts and use the fiscal pressure to force efficiencies and reforms, says a new report from an elite group of officers at the Army War College, the service’s school for future generals. Army leaders “prefer to be prepared for…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wants to boost funding for readiness and modernization and he’s using a budgeting gimmick in the defense policy bill to do it that is prompting much head shaking. (A similar gimmick led to a short-lived presidential veto last year). Colin’s bet is that, should the Senate…
By Colin Clark
ARLINGTON: As it hustles towards a February 1st deadline, the National Commission on the Future of the Army remains pretty tight-lipped on what it’ll say in its report to Congress. Even our usually savvy sources are mostly shrugging their shoulders. However, the commissioners have dropped enough hints for us to make two educated guesses. First, the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: The Association of the US Army’s annual meeting is a massive gathering of the US Army faithful. But in his first address to AUSA as the service’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley made sure to avoid preaching only to the choir. After the obligatory thank-yous and jokes, Milley’s first substantive statements were in…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: Even as the first wave of 4,000 Army regulars deploys to West Africa, the service’s mobilization command is preparing for a possible call-up of Reserve and National Guard troops to replace them in six months, Lt. Gen. Michael Tucker told me today. “There are no orders yet,” the First Army commander cautioned, just precautionary…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Cancelled training. Deferred maintenance. Grounded aircraft. That’s been the damage to military readiness from the mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration in 2013. Now the Vice-Chief of Staff of the Army says the service may have to keep many units at lower levels of readiness for years. This is not a short-term expedient but new…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The military Reserves and National Guard have spent a decade operating with unprecedented intensity alongside the regular active-duty force in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, as budget cuts loom, their leaders are fighting hard to keep the funding needed to keep their edge in both training and equipment. Going back to the sleepy days of…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
