Resourcing Army Transformation: Solid Plan or House of Cards

摘要

We are a country at war. We are an army at war. The United States Army is heavily engaged in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other operations in support of our national military objectives. Be assured that achieving success in this post-9/11 environment comes at significant costs. We are also an army that is embarking on a monumental transformation effort. This ambitious plan to modernize and reorganize the force will take 30 plus years and over 210 billion dollars to complete. Meanwhile, the Army is undergoing an increase in the size of the active force that will produce an annual bill of roughly $6 billion. In the midst of Army force structure growth and transformation, it is projected that mandatory federal entitlements programs will consume increasingly larger shares of our nation's resources. This will likely create mounting pressure on future administrations to balance the federal budget, and 'hold the line' on defense spending. There are additional risks associated with transformation cost growth and technological solutions. In all, this begs the question, 'does the Army have a solid transformation plan or are we building a house of cards'.