Military Officer - December 2007 - (Page 57) Q&A against the IED. Is it ideal? No. It’s heavy and bulky and has challenges with mobility. But the current state of battlefield demands this be the next improvement. How long will this be the gold standard? I don’t know. Fifteen months ago, the up-armored HUMVEE was the gold standard. Now it’s MRAP. I cannot predict where the enemy will go next. If you find things that make soldiers safer and more effective, if they are not a part of the modernization under FCS, how are you funding them? If they are essential, we need to find some more money, and we need to ask the American people to bear with us and understand while we have American soldiers committed as we do. We’ll ask for help, but we’ve identified contributions we can make. We have gone internally and identified programs that just are not panning out and have given money back. Funding is a collaborative effort between the Congress, the American people, and the Army. It has to be. Crusader and Comanche are two major programs that have gotten the axe. What’s to say this won’t happen again? We are concerned the Army has had a tradition of getting flagship modernization programs terminated. But we ought to realize that systems designed in the ’60s and ’70s and procured in the ’80s have some limitations on today’s battlefield. We are not into debating the past; we are making the case that what we are doing now is extraordinarily important. You have two sons in the Army. How does that affect what you do? It has been interesting watching them, and they are typical of a remarkable force. It is awe-inspiring to hear them describe surviving an IED blast, about the whole world exploding around LT. G EN . STEPH EN M . S P EA KES them and the follow-on impact that goes with it. Our soldiers are routinely subject to this. What I have learned from them on a more personal level is about the change and development as someone goes from adolescence and young adulthood to now being a combat veteran even though they are only 24. I see through them what it’s like to It will do the Army no good if a soldier is not operating with the best America can provide. deal with incredible tragedy. I see the premature aging of someone who is young chronologically but who has seen and participated in things that give you a deep reservoir of sadness. But they’re not unique. This is typical for this incredible group that has been deepened and broadened by their experience in combat. As a parent it inspires me. As a member of the Army it inspires me even more. What do you say to critics who claim too much is being put toward the future and too little toward the current force? There are some key issues right now from people with concerns — our critics — namely, “Do we have the right balance? Are we overinvesting in the future vice fulfilling our responsibility to ensure our soldier in combat today is properly supported, trained, and equipped?” It will do me no good — it will do the Army no good — in my view, to have a very fancy piece of equipment 10 years from now if a soldier you know today is not operating with the best America can provide. As you explain it, it sounds like this modernization does not end. It just keeps going on, doesn’t it? Exactly. Precisely. This is an everchanging, relentless, and continual process of transformation and modernization. There will never be an end state and frankly, the capabilities will always be there to improve. We want the best for soldiers today, but the best today won’t be the best tomorrow. So, in a very seamless way, we want to provide a continuous path of improvement. We want that soldier of tomorrow to be more survivable. We want that soldier to have more capability, more endurance, and more lethality. We need to keep a continuous suite of improvements founded around the soldier. America is engaged in persistent conflict. If this is to continue over months and years, we need to ensure we have an Army that is appropriate to the task at hand. So far, with congressional and public support, we have been able to provide the soldiers with the capability they need. I hope that we continue to give soldiers only the very best, today and tomorrow. MO WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Do you think today’s servicemembers are adequately equipped? What could be improved? Share your views at www.moaa.org/ discussion. Scroll down to Modernization. DECEMBER 2007 MILITARY OFFICER 57 http://www.moaa.org/discussion http://www.moaa.org/discussion
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