[Marxism] Sec. Casey: US Army “on the edge of a cliff”

[jk68 <jkayo68@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/army_casey_070926/
Casey: Army strained by current demands

Chief of staff describes force as 'out of balance' in Capitol Hill testimony
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 27, 2007 10:12:15 EDT

Describing the Army as standing "on the edge of a cliff," House Armed
Services Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton probed the Army's top
leaders Wednesday on Capitol Hill on their plans to keep the Army
together as it heads into its seventh year at war.

Skelton, who held the hearing at the request of Army Chief of Staff
Gen. George Casey and Army Secretary Pete Geren, beseeched the two
officials to be forthcoming in what they will need to rebuild the
Army, take care of families and the wounded and give deploying
soldiers the training, equipment and installations they need.

"The Army's people are exhausted by repeated combat rotations and your
equipment is worn," Skelton said, warning of the strategic risk posed
by an Army that may not be able to react effectively to another world
crisis.

Casey, who appeared at the hearing with a truckload of some of the
Army's latest robotic equipment and personal protection gear for
soldiers, laid out his plans for addressing the committee's concerns
in what he called his four imperatives: prepare, sustain, reset and
transform.

But he also bluntly acknowledged his belief that the stretched-out
Army would be hard pressed to go charging into another conflict right
now, at home or abroad.

"I am not confident that we could respond as quickly as I would like
to," Casey said. "We have a combat-seasoned force, but it would still
take longer than I am confident with."

Casey predicted a future of persistent conflict and protracted
confrontation with a variety of state and non-state actors, in
addition to an increasingly complex world in which the benefits of
globalization share the stage with its drawbacks, namely the creation
of "haves and have-nots" and a growth in population that will include
a "youth bulge" and a race for scarce environmental resources.

His job, he said, is to readjust an unbalanced force by tackling the
needs of its people, shoring up equipment and growing an agile and
adaptable force.

"Our Army today is out of balance for several reasons. The current
demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," he said.

Casey told the committee that by next summer, when a drawdown in the
surge forces is expected to take place, the Army might be able to
begin a gradual decrease in the number of soldiers affected by
stop-loss and that the Army is pumping an unprecedented amount of
money into family resources such as child care centers, respite care
for parents, fitness centers, chapels and youth centers.

Casey and Geren were peppered by repeated questions about deployment
length and dwell time and whether making the Army larger would mean
shorter tour lengths.

Shorter tours, Geren told Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., "has to be
driven by the demands of commanders on the ground. The decision has to
be made based on what's going on on the ground. Those decisions cannot
be made here."

His job, Geren said, was to help those commanders get the resources
they need, not to make policy decisions about operations in Iraq.

A "good portion" of the Army's pre-positioned stock, he told Rep.
Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, was sent to Iraq with the five brigades that
made up the surge forces a few months ago, all of which will have to
be returned and reset.

"I share your concern, but all pre-positioned stocks were not
consumed. We have some flexibility," Casey told Ortiz.

The hearing was Casey's first before the House Armed Services
Committee since he was sworn in as chief in April. He requested the
hearing, according to Skelton, to present his assessment of the
current state of the Army provide his insight for the future and lay
out his plans for moving the Army forward in the next four years.

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