Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washingtonpost.com
September 8, 2008
By John Milburn, Associated Press
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- Army units spending 18 months or more at home are being asked to spend part of that time honing conventional warfare tactics, Gen. George Casey said Monday.
The move was designed to keep the force in balance and not become too focused on counterinsurgency, typified by the fights in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past seven years, Casey said.
"We are at a point now where I am comfortable, if we had to change gears (to conventional tactics) pretty quickly, we'd be able to," Casey said.
The Army's top general said some younger officers think the force has lost its conventional skills and worry events in the world could catch it flatfooted. However, he said older officers who trained for fights with the former Soviet Union understand the need to be proficient in counterinsurgency and stability operations.
He said recent exercises at Fort Riley and other posts have demonstrated that units are proficient in tank, artillery or large infantry movements.
A new operations manual elevated stability, or nation building, operations as a key Army function. Next month, a stability manual will provide more details, though soldiers have been doing those missions to get Iraq and Afghanistan functioning. Humanitarian efforts by the National Guard along the Gulf Coast after storms fall into this category, as well.
Casey said the Army had invested time and resources toward improving the quality of life for soldiers and their families as it grows by an additional 74,000 soldiers by 2011. The Army will go from 38 brigades to 48, enough to help achieve the goal of 24 months at home between deployments.
That additional time will help them rest and reconnect with their families, as well as practice skills including large exercises at the brigade or division level on wide expanses of terrain.
September 8, 2008
By John Milburn, Associated Press
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- Army units spending 18 months or more at home are being asked to spend part of that time honing conventional warfare tactics, Gen. George Casey said Monday.
The move was designed to keep the force in balance and not become too focused on counterinsurgency, typified by the fights in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past seven years, Casey said.
"We are at a point now where I am comfortable, if we had to change gears (to conventional tactics) pretty quickly, we'd be able to," Casey said.
The Army's top general said some younger officers think the force has lost its conventional skills and worry events in the world could catch it flatfooted. However, he said older officers who trained for fights with the former Soviet Union understand the need to be proficient in counterinsurgency and stability operations.
He said recent exercises at Fort Riley and other posts have demonstrated that units are proficient in tank, artillery or large infantry movements.
A new operations manual elevated stability, or nation building, operations as a key Army function. Next month, a stability manual will provide more details, though soldiers have been doing those missions to get Iraq and Afghanistan functioning. Humanitarian efforts by the National Guard along the Gulf Coast after storms fall into this category, as well.
Casey said the Army had invested time and resources toward improving the quality of life for soldiers and their families as it grows by an additional 74,000 soldiers by 2011. The Army will go from 38 brigades to 48, enough to help achieve the goal of 24 months at home between deployments.
That additional time will help them rest and reconnect with their families, as well as practice skills including large exercises at the brigade or division level on wide expanses of terrain.