{"id":470157,"date":"2025-06-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=470157"},"modified":"2025-06-05T22:08:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T22:08:45","slug":"army-leaders-propose-bolstering-lethality-through-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=470157","title":{"rendered":"Army leaders propose bolstering lethality through transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy A. George join \u201cFox and Friends\u201d to discuss the new Department of Defense memorandum on Army transformation and acquisition reform, at the Pentagon, on May 1, 2025. Driscoll and George recently testified before Congress during a House Armed Services Committee June 4, 2025.
\n (Photo Credit: DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)<\/span>
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WASHINGTON \u2014 During a hearing with Congress members, the Army\u2019s top leaders shared details on the Army Transformation Initiative<\/a>, which calls for cutting spending on stagnant programs, upgrading equipment and restructuring forces.<\/p>\n

In April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Army leaders to prioritize building lethality and to eliminate unnecessary cost.<\/p>\n

Following the success of Ukraine\u2019s effective, low cost unmanned aerial systems attacks on Russia\u2019s bomber fleet, Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll stated before lawmakers that the Army needs cheaper solutions to bolster U.S. Soldier lethality. Using swarm attacks of more than 300 drones in a single attack last week, Ukrainian forces dealt a catastrophic blow to the Russian military.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a cost of a mere tens of thousands of dollars, Ukraine inflicted billions in damage, potentially setting back Russia’s bomber capabilities for years,\u201d Driscoll said Wednesday. \u201cThe world saw in near real time how readily available technology can disrupt established power dynamics. And drones are but one example of a broader shift. The Army needs to keep pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the service prepares to posture its Fiscal Year 2026 budget, Driscoll and Gen. Randy A. George, Army chief of staff, asked Congress for more \u201cagile\u201d or flexible funding to support unmanned aerial systems and counter-UAS initiatives that bolsters the force. The Army\u2019s top officer said that the service cannot afford to be locked into a program of record but rather must purchase new technology when available.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is changing too rapidly,\u201d George said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be able to buy capabilities, not specific programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

To restructure the Army into a more efficient, combat ready force, George said that the service would cancel obsolete unnecessary programs that do not contribute to enhancing the lethality of Soldiers, including eliminating a budget request for more Humvees to be added to the service\u2019s fleet of vehicles.<\/p>\n

In May, the Army stopped funding to the M-10 Booker Tank, citing design flaws and concerns over its deployability. Instead of spending on programs like the M-10, Hegseth said the service will focus on drones and counter drones, \u201coff the shelf\u201d technology, and strengthening sensors and the Army\u2019s network.<\/p>\n

The service will also cut funding to the AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopters, removing Apache battalions from the active component. George said four Apache battalions will remain in the National Guard, which will eventually receive the AH-64 E model. He added that UH-60M Blackhawk, a medical evacuation aircraft, will replace the UH-60L and V models.<\/p>\n

Driscoll also proposed giving the service more autonomy on repairing certain equipment immediately instead of waiting on defense manufacturers. Driscoll cited one example, where at one installation Soldiers could not use a piece of advanced technology for up to a year due to a missing piece. However, the Soldiers learned they could 3-D print the required part at a fraction of the manufacturer cost.<\/p>\n

Army also plans to cut 1,000 positions from the Department of the Army staff and will move many Soldiers to more combat-related jobs, George said.<\/p>\n

Upgrading Soldier training <\/strong><\/h5>\n

For the first time, the Army Reserve partnered with active-duty Army units in the largest mass exercise of its scale, Mojave Falcon<\/a>. Beginning May 28, over 9,000 reservists and active-duty Soldiers participated in the mass logistics training moving equipment and supplies across vast distances in northern and southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen not deployed, our units are conducting tough, realistic training at their home stations and at our combat training centers,\u201d George said. \u201cOur Army is a professional team that remains focused on its warfighting mission, and young Americans want to be a part of it. And this is evidenced by our strong recruiting numbers this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The service announced it had met its recruiting goals early<\/a>, welcoming more than 61,000 new Soldiers to its ranks, despite raising its recruiting goal by 10 percent from 2024.<\/p>\n

The service recently began phase two of Transformation in Contact, or TiC, the service\u2019s initiative where Soldiers rapidly train, equip and field new technology. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment from Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany and 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Georgia will take part in TiC 2.0, which, expands the scale to two divisions and two Stryker brigade combat teams. The Soldiers will incorporate UAS and counter UAS.<\/p>\n

In January, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Johnson, Louisiana, successfully completed a TiC training rotation as part of Combined Resolve<\/a>, an annual exercise hosted by U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa.<\/p>\n

One TiC brigade that trained in Europe improved to 300 percent more effective in lethal targeting, George said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a great proof of concept,\u201d George said. \u201cIt confirmed that our formations are capable of rapidly improving their lethality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTransformation in contact taught us some valuable lessons about what our Army should be buying and how we should be buying it, and we’re just getting started,\u201d George added.<\/p>\n

RELATED LINKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transforming in Contact<\/a><\/p>\n

Army News Service<\/a><\/p>\n

ARNEWS archives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy A. George join \u201cFox and Friends\u201d to discuss the new Department of Defense memorandum on Army transformation and acquisition reform, at the Pentagon, on May 1, 2025. Driscoll and George recently testified before Congress during a House Armed Services Committee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470159,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=470157"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470160,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470157\/revisions\/470160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/470159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=470157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=470157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=470157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}