2015 240 Years of Selfless Service to the Nation

ARMY POSTURE

STATEMENT
Sergeant

KYLE JEROME WHITE

United States Army

Staff Sergeant

RYAN PITTS

United States Army

ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

RECIPIENTS

2014

Medal of Honor
A STATEMENT ON THE POSTURE OF 

THE UNITED STATES ARMY 2015

submitted by

THE HONORABLE JOHN M. McHUGH and 

GENERAL RAYMOND T. ODIERNO

to the Committees and Subcommittees of the

UNITED STATES SENATE

and the

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1ST SESSION, 114th CONGRESS

March 2015

Executive Summary

Introduction 2

Increasing Velocity of Global Instability 3

Demand for a Globally Responsive and Regionally Engaged Army 6

Army Operating Concept: Win in a Complex World 9

President’s Budget Request 11

Impacts of Sequestration 14

Achieving End Strength Reductions 16

Ensuring a Ready Army 18

Ensuring a Modern Army 23

Modernization 24

Organic and Commercial Industrial Base 26

Cyber 27

Installations, Water and Energy 29

Soldiers and Civilians Committed to Our Army and Profession 30

Adaptive Army Leaders for a Complex World 31

Soldier 2020 and Increased Opportunities for Women 33

Sexual Harassment / Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program 35

Maintaining the Premier All Volunteer Army 37

Ready and Resilient Campaign 38

Soldier for Life 39

Closing 40
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Now more than ever, in today’s uncertain 

and dynamic security environment, we 

must be prepared to meet multiple, 

wide-ranging requirements across the 

globe simultaneously while retaining 

the ability to react to the unknown. The 

velocity of instability around the world has 

increased, and the Army is now operating 

on multiple continents simultaneously in 

ways unforeseen a year ago. In short, our 

Army is busy. We are fully engaged and 

our operational tempo will not subside 

for the foreseeable future. In the wake of 

Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, the Army 

deployed forces to Eastern Europe in a 

demonstration of U.S. commitment and 

resolve. In West Africa, the Army provided 

support for the U.S. Agency for International 

Development’s humanitarian mission to 

stem the tide of the Ebola virus. In response 

to regional instability in the Middle East, 

Army forces have recommitted to advise 

and assist Iraqi government forces and the 

Kurdish Peshmerga. Across the Pacific, 

thousands of Army forces are supporting 

operations to strengthen our partnerships 

and alliances as part of Pacific Pathways 

in places like Thailand, the Philippines, 

Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia and the 

Republic of Korea. We remain committed 

to protecting the enduring Armistice 

on the Korean Peninsula. Our Soldiers 

remain on point in Afghanistan, even as 

we draw down our forces there. Currently, 

nine of ten Regular Army and two Army 

National Guard division headquarters 

are committed in support of Combatant 

Commands, with more than 143,000 

Soldiers deployed, forward stationed, or 

committed and 19,000 Reserve Soldiers 

mobilized. 

Last year, we testified that the minimum 

force necessary to execute the defense 
strategy was a force floor of 450,000 in 

the Regular Army, 335,000 in the Army 

National Guard and 195,000 in the Army 

Reserve – a total of 980,000 Soldiers. 

That assessment has not changed and is 

based on certain planning assumptions 

regarding the duration, number and size of 

future missions. When determining these 

assessed force levels, we also made clear 

that risks at this level would grow if our 

underlying assumptions proved inaccurate. 

Although we still believe we can meet the 

primary missions of the Defense Strategic 

Guidance (DSG) today, our ability to do so 

has become tenuous. There is a growing 

divide between the Budget Control Act’s 

(BCA) arbitrary funding mechanism – 

that has seen the Army budget drop in 

nominal terms every year since enacted 

in 2011 – and the emerging geopolitical 

realities confronting us now across Europe, 

the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific, 

along with the growing threats to our 

homeland. Risk thereby increases to our 

force, our national security and our Nation. 

As the Army approaches a Total Army end 

strength of 980,000 Soldiers by FY18, we 

must constantly assess the operational 

tempo and its impacts on the health and 

viability of the force. We must ensure we 

have both the capability to respond to 

unforeseen demands and the capacity to 

sustain high levels of readiness.

So, as the Army looks to the future and 

continues to downsize, we have developed 

a new Army Operating Concept, “Win in 

a Complex World.” The foundation of the 

Army Operating Concept is our ability to 

conduct joint combined arms maneuver. 

The Army Operating Concept endeavors 

to build a force operating alongside 

multiple partners able to create multiple 

dilemmas for our adversaries, while 

giving commanders multiple options 

and synchronizing and integrating effects 

from multiple domains onto and from 

land. Recognizing the changing world 

around us, the Army Operating Concept 

envisions an Army that is expeditionary, 

tailorable, scalable and prepared to meet 

the challenges of the global environment. 

The Army Operating Concept sets the 

foundation upon which our leaders can 

focus our efforts and resources to maintain 

strategic and operational flexibility to 

deter and operate in multiple regions 

simultaneously – in all phases of military 

operations – to prevent conflict, shape the 
FY16 defense spending cap insufficient for 

operating in an unstable global security 

environment that presents the Army 

with a number of urgent, complex and 

challenging missions. The FY16 spending 

cap – set almost four years ago – has not 

kept pace with the geopolitical reality 

unfolding around the world. 

We know we must strike a balance 

between resources and capacity. The Army 

fully supports fiscal responsibility and has 

worked diligently and consistently to be a 

good steward of taxpayer dollars. In that 

regard, we have made many tough choices. 

There are critical cost-saving measures that 

allow the Army to further reallocate scarce 

resources to ensure Army forces remain 

as trained and ready as possible. These 

include compensation reform, sustainable 

energy and resource initiatives, a new round 

of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 

and the Aviation Restructure Initiative 

(ARI). We ask Congress to support these 

initiatives because without the flexibility 

to manage our budgets to achieve the 

greatest capability possible, we will be 

forced to make reductions to manpower, 

security environment and win wars now 

and in the future.

Nevertheless, fiscal challenges brought on 

by the BCA strain our ability to bring into 

balance readiness, modernization and 

end strength. The BCA puts at significant 

risk the Army’s ability to meet the Army’s 

obligations within the DSG and fulfill its 

national security requirements. Even 

as demand for Army forces is growing, 

budget cuts are forcing us to reduce end 

strength to dangerously low levels. We face 

an “ends” and “means” mismatch between 

requirements and resources available.

The BCA and sequestration have already 

had a detrimental impact on readiness 

and modernization. Budget constraints 

have significantly impacted every Army 

modernization program, forcing the delay 

of critical investments in next generation 

capabilities, to include training support 

and power projection capabilities across 

Army installations. Although the Bipartisan 

Budget Agreement (BBA) provided fiscal 

relief to the Army in FY14, in FY15 the Army 

budget decreased by $6B. We now face a 
modernization and training that are larger, 

less efficient and longer-standing in the 

damage they inflict on the Army. 

We also need consistent and predictable 

funding. The use of Continuing Resolutions 

wreaks havoc with Army readiness, 

modernization and end strength. It makes 

long term planning difficult, especially 

with the uncertainties that exist if we 

return to sequestration in FY16. As a result, 

we are forced to train intermittently and 

the materiel and equipment we buy costs 

more and takes longer to acquire. This 

ongoing budgetary unpredictability is 

neither militarily nor fiscally responsible. To 

maintain an appropriate level of readiness, 

the Army must receive consistent funding 

for training each year. Unless Congress 

eases the BCA defense caps, the Army will 

experience degraded readiness coupled 

with increased risk, making it more difficult 

for us to provide for the common defense. 

Each passing year, the BCA increases risk 

for sending insufficiently trained and 

equipped Soldiers into harm’s way, and 

that is not a risk our Nation should accept.

Lastly, our profession is built on trust. In 

holding true to that trust, our Nation 

expects our competence, commitment 

and character to reflect our Army values. 

To that end, we are working to reduce 

and, in the future, eliminate sexual assault 

and sexual harassment, which destroys 

good order and discipline and is contrary 

to our core values. We are also increasing 

opportunities for women and opening 

positions based on standards free on any 

gender bias. Finally, our programs like 

Soldier for Life and the Ready and Resilient 

Campaign are demonstrating our sacred 

commitment to care for our Soldiers, our 

Civilians and their Families who selflessly 

sacrifice so much. These are actions we 

have taken because it is the right thing to do. 
U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 1
INTRODUCTION

Last year, we testified before Congress 

that the minimum end strength 

the Army requires to execute the 

2012 Defense Strategic Guidance is 

980,000 Soldiers – 450,000 in the 

Regular Army, 335,000 in the Army 

National Guard and 195,000 in the 

Army Reserve. We described how 

the Army moved to implement the 

2014 Quadrennial Defense Review 

(QDR) guidance by shaping the 

force while supporting the fight in 

Afghanistan and deploying forces 

to address several unexpected 

challenges around the world. In 

contrast to the projections outlined 

in the defense strategy, the regional 

security and stability in Europe, 

Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific 

have deteriorated over the past 12-24 

months in ways we did not anticipate. 

These growing and emerging threats 

to the global security environment 

compel us to rethink our assessment 

of the drawdown. For the next three 

years, as we restructure to operate 

as a smaller force, the Army faces 

readiness challenges and extensive 

modernization delays. Under 

the President’s Budget, we will 

begin to regain balance between 

end strength, modernization and 

readiness beyond FY17. Although 

we still believe we can meet the 

fundamental requirements of 

the DSG at 980,000 Regular, 

Guard and Reserve Soldiers, it is a 

tenuous balance. The risk to our 

national security and our force itself 

continues to increase with rising 

instability and uncertainty across 

Europe, the Middle East, Africa and 

the Pacific, along with a growing 

threat to the homeland. Any force 

reductions below 980,000 Soldiers 

will render our Army unable to meet 

all elements of the DSG, and we will 

not be able to meet the multiple 

challenges to U.S. national interests 

without incurring an imprudent 

level of risk to our Nation’s security. 

2 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
The accelerating insecurity and instability 

across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the 

Pacific, coupled with the continued threat to 

the homeland and our ongoing operations 

in Afghanistan, remain a significant concern 

to the Army. The Islamic State in Iraq and 

the Levant’s (ISIL) unforeseen expansion 

and the rapid disintegration of order in 

Iraq and Syria have dramatically escalated 

conflict in the region. Order within Yemen 

is splintering; the al Qaeda insurgency and 

Houthi expansion continues there; and the 

country is quickly approaching a civil war. In 

North and West Africa, anarchy, extremism 

and terrorism continue to threaten the 

interests of the United States, as well as 

our allies and partners. In Europe, Russia’s 

intervention in Ukraine challenges the 

resolve of the European Union. Across the 

Asia-Pacific, China’s lack of transparency 

regarding its military modernization efforts 

raise concerns with the United States and 

our allies, and the continuing development 

of North Korea’s nuclear and missile 

programs contributes to instability. The 

rate of humanitarian and disaster relief 

missions, such as the recent threat of Ebola, 

heightens the level of uncertainty we face 

around the world, along with constantly 

evolving threats to the homeland. With the 

velocity of instability increasing around the 

world, continuing unrest in the Middle East, 

and the threat of terrorism growing rather 

than receding—witness the recent tragedies 

in Paris and Nigeria—now is not the time to 

drastically reduce capability and capacity.

The Army, as part of the Joint Force, operates 

globally in environments characterized by 

INCREASING 

VELOCITY OF GLOBAL 

INSTABILITY

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 3
growing urbanization, the potential 

for the proliferation of weapons of 

mass destruction, malicious cyber and 

information operations, humanitarian 

crises and the deleterious effects of climate 

change. Sectarian violence exploited by 

state and non-state actors, irredentism and 

terrorist activities are driving conflict around 

the world. The corrosive effects of drug 

and human trafficking by transnational 

criminal organizations undermine state 

authority and trigger a destabilizing level 

of violence in places such as Central and 

South America. These combined factors 

lead to vulnerable populations and threats 

that appear across multiple domains, the 

sum of which will continue to challenge 

global security and cooperation in ways that 

are difficult to anticipate. 

No single strategic challenger is likely to 

gain overall superiority over U.S. military 

capabilities in the near future. Even so, 

competitors of the U.S. seek to negate 

our strengths, exploit our vulnerabilities 

and gain temporary or local superiority in 

one or more capability areas. It is unlikely 

any of these challengers will choose 

traditional force-on-force confrontation 

with American forces. Instead, potential 

adversaries are likely to pursue and 

emphasize indirect and asymmetric 

techniques. Their strategies may include 

employing anti-access/area denial 

capabilities, using surrogates, subverting 

our allies, using cyber and information 

operations, staying under our threshold for 

combat or simply prolonging conflict to 

test our resolve.

One of the most important global security 

bulwarks is the U.S. network of security 

alliances and partners. This valuable asset 

to U.S. national security and global stability 

is entering a period of transition. Traditional 

allies in Europe face significant economic 

and demographic burdens that exert 

downward pressure on defense budgets. 

As a consequence, allies and partners who 

have joined us in past coalition operations 

may be less apt to do so in the future. 

Building the security capacity necessary 

for regional stability requires sustained and 

focused engagement. Active engagement 

with allies, friends and partners is 

resource-intensive, but will be essential 

to sustaining global multilateral security. 

This combination of threats and conditions 

creates an increasingly dangerous and 

unpredictable operational environment 

and underscores the need for a U.S. Army 

that is agile, responsive and regionally 

engaged. 

4 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
FORWARD STATIONED

143,540 SOLDIERS IN OVER 150 LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE

SOLDIERS DEPLOYED &

United States 

Northern Command 

(USNORTHCOM)

United States 

Southern Command 

(USSOUTHCOM)

United States 

European Command 

(USEUCOM)

United States 

Africa Command 

(USAFRICOM)

United States 

Central Command 

(USCENTCOM)

United States 

Pacific Command 

(USPACOM)

As of 26 February 2015

CONUS SUPPORT

19,080

GUANTANAMO

1,540

OTHER

WORLDWIDE

OPERATIONS

10,760

CENTRAL AMERICA

430

USAEUR

27,270

BALKANS

710

BALTICS

960

WEST AFRICA

1,010

HORN OF AFRICA

900

AFGHANISTAN

9,030

IRAQ

2,020

QATAR

1,650

KUWAIT

10,500

JORDAN

890

SINAI

690

JAPAN

2,360

SOUTH KOREA

19,790

ALASKA

11,860

HAWAII

21,980

PHILIPPINES

120

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 5
It is imperative we maintain strategic and 

operational flexibility to deter and operate 

in multiple regions simultaneously – in all 

phases of military operations – to prevent 

conflicts, shape the security environment 

and, when necessary, win in support of 

U.S. policy objectives. The Army is and will 

continue to be the backbone of the Joint 

Force, providing fundamental capabilities 

to each of the Combatant Commanders 

such as command and control, logistics, 

intelligence and communications support 

to set the theater, as well as providing 

ground combat forces, Special Operations 

Forces and Joint Task Force headquarters. 

Demand for Army capabilities and presence 

continues to increase across Combatant 

Commands in response to emerging 

contingencies. The Army has sent rotational 

forces to Europe, Kuwait and the Republic 

of Korea, and established JTF Headquarters 

in Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, the Horn 

of Africa and Jordan. In multiple Areas 

of Responsibility, the Army is meeting 

simultaneous requirements based on 

our ten primary DSG missions. As part of 

the Joint Force, we support Combatant 

Commanders and work with interagency 

partners and our allies to enhance security 

cooperation, provide foreign humanitarian 

assistance, build partner capacity and 

participate in multi-lateral exercises. 

DEMAND FOR 

A GLOBALLY 

RESPONSIVE

AND REGIONALLY 

ENGAGED ARMY

6 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
We are making the Army more agile, 

adaptable and expeditionary than ever 

before. For example, there is an infantry 

battalion forward-deployed in Djibouti, 

and units in Kuwait positioned to quickly 

respond anywhere in the Middle East. Even 

as we reduce our presence in Afghanistan, 

the global demand for Brigade Combat 

Teams (BCTs), the Army’s basic warfighting 

units, is projected to decrease by only one 

before 2016. Combatant Commanders’ 

demand for Patriot missile battalions 

and Terminal High Altitude Air Defense 

(THAAD) batteries exceeds our capacity, 

significantly limiting options in emerging 

crises, and exceeding the Army’s ability 

to meet Department of Defense (DoD) 

deployment-to-dwell rotation goals for 

these units. In FY16, we expect Combatant 

Command and Interagency demand for 

Army forces will increase further in areas 

such as logistics, intelligence, cyber, space, 

air and missile defense, signal, aviation, 

Special Operations Forces and mission 

command.

Demand for Army division headquarters 

is already high and we expect this trend 

to continue. Combatant Commanders 

rely upon the proven mission-command 

capabilities of our division headquarters 

and the essential shaping effects of Army 

enabler units including Intelligence, 

Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) 

platforms. In the last year, we deployed 

the 1st Infantry Division headquarters to 

U.S. Central Command in support of the 

multinational effort to defeat ISIL, and 

we delivered the 101st Airborne Division 

(Air Assault) headquarters to synchronize 

national and international efforts to counter 

the Ebola virus in West Africa. Additionally, 

1st Armored Division Headquarters 

conducts operations in Jordan; 2nd 

Infantry Division protects the Republic of 

Korea; 3rd Infantry Division advises and 

assists in Afghanistan; and 4th Infantry 

Division assures our allies in Europe. All 

told, elements of nine out of ten Regular 

Army division headquarters and two Army 

National Guard division headquarters, 

including the Global Response Force, 

are currently deployed or prepared to 

deploy around the globe supporting 

commitments to the Pacific Theater and 

the Republic of Korea; Afghanistan, Jordan, 

Iraq and Kuwait; Africa; Eastern Europe; 

and the homeland. 

Consequently, we must size and shape 

the Army for the world in which we live. 

First, through the Army, and the presence 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 7
it provides, we will fulfill our collective 

security obligations, defend our citizens 

and protect our national interests when 

the Nation calls upon us. Second, a robust 

Army provides Combatant Commanders 

with essential capacity to more fully engage 

allies and shape the security environment 

across their areas of responsibility. Finally, 

appropriate Army force levels reduce the 

risk of being “too wrong” in our assumptions 

about the future. 

Unlike previous eras and conflicts, today’s 

fast-paced world simply does not allow us 

the time to regenerate capabilities after a 

crisis erupts. Faced with a national crisis, 

we will fight with the Army we have, but 

there will be consequences. Generating 

the Army is a complex endeavor that 

requires policy decisions, dollars, Soldiers, 

infrastructure and, most importantly, 

time. It takes approximately 30 months 

to generate a fully manned and trained 

Regular Army BCT once the Army decides 

to expand the force. Senior command and 

control headquarters, such as divisions and 

corps, take even longer to generate and 

train to be effective given the skill sets and 

training required of Soldiers manning these 

formations. Overall, we must acknowledge 

that today’s highly-technological, AllVolunteer Force is much different than the 

industrial age armies of the past. 

Finally, with flexibility to balance structure, 

modernization and readiness within 

budgetary authority, we can best mitigate 

the risk imposed by budget reductions 

and end strength reductions to adapt to a 

rapidly-changing operating environment. 

Achieving this balance will enhance 

our ability to redesign the force for the 

future, experiment with new, innovative 

operational concepts and rebuild critical 

collective skills, all while taking care of our 

Soldiers and their Families in a manner 

consistent with their service and sacrifice. 

8 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
ARMY 

OPERATING CONCEPT: 

WIN IN A COMPLEX WORLD

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 9
Even as the Army confronts the many 

challenges wrought by sequestration, 

we continue to seek efficiencies while 

adapting to the complexities of an evolving 

and unstable security environment. It 

is imperative that our Army adapts to 

the future joint operating environment, 

one that consists of diverse enemies that 

employ traditional, irregular and hybrid 

strategies which threaten U.S. security 

and vital interests. In October of last year, 

we introduced the new Army Operating 

Concept, “Win in a Complex World.” The 

foundation of this concept is our ability to 

conduct joint combined arms maneuver. 

It endeavors to build a force operating 

alongside multiple partners able to create 

multiple dilemmas for our adversaries, 

while giving commanders multiple options 

and synchronizing and integrating effects 

from multiple domains onto and from 

land. Recognizing the changing world 

around us, the Army Operating Concept 

envisions an Army that is expeditionary, 

tailorable, scalable and prepared to meet 

the challenges of the global environment. 

The Army Operating Concept reinforces 

our five strategic priorities:

1

Develop adaptive Army leaders 

for a complex world; 

2

Build a globally responsive 

and regionally engaged Army; 

3

Provide a ready and modern Army;

4

Strengthen our commitment 

to our Army profession; and

5

Sustain the premier All-Volunteer Army.

The Army Operating Concept also 

describes the Army’s contribution to 

globally integrated operations. Army 

forces provide foundational capabilities 

required by the Combat Commanders to 

synchronize and integrate effects across 

land and from land into the air, maritime, 

space and cyberspace domains. The Army 

Operating Concept ensures that we are 

prepared to lead Joint, interorganizational 

and multinational teams in complex 

security environments. 

Through a dedicated “Campaign of Learning” 

under Force 2025 Maneuvers, we will assess 

new capabilities, design and doctrine. 

This enables future innovation of our 

expeditionary capabilities and enhanced 

agility. We are assessing key capabilities 

such as manned-unmanned teaming, 

operational energy and expeditionary 

command posts. We are focusing our 

innovation efforts in this Campaign of 

Learning to ensure we address the 20 

Army Warfighting Challenges. The Army 

Warfighting Challenges are the enduring 

first-order problems, and solving them 

will improve combat effectiveness. These 

challenges range from shaping the Security 

Environment, to countering Weapons of 

Mass Destruction, to conducting Space 

and Cyber Operations, to Integrating 

and Delivering Fires to Exercising Mission 

Command. The Army Operating Concept 

represents a long-term, cost-effective 

way to enhance readiness, improve 

interoperability and modernize the force. 

It is also a cost-effective way to assess 

and demonstrate Joint and multinational 

interoperability and readiness. We must 

continue to learn and apply what we learn 

as we rethink how the Army operates to 

“Win in a Complex World.” 

10 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
This year, the President’s 

Budget requests $126.5B for the 

Army base budget. This budget 

request is about $5.4B above 

what the Congress enacted in 

FY15. The President’s Budget 

requests $6B more than an 

expected sequester-level 

budget. This additional $6B 

will be invested in readiness 

and procurement: 

• $3.4B for training, sustainment 

and installation programs 

directly supporting combat 

readiness; and, 

• $2.6B for Research 

and Development, and 

Acquisition accounts in 

order to equip Soldiers 

across the Regular, Guard 

and Reserve forces, 

sustain critical parts of the 

industrial base and invest in 

innovation supporting the 

Army Operating Concept. 

PRESIDENT’S

BUDGET 

REQUEST

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 11
These increases are critical to achieving 

sustainable readiness needed to meet the 

demands of today’s complex environment, 

while preserving manpower needed to 

prevent hollowness in our formations. 

As Congress reviews our budget for this 

year, we ask that you compare our funding 

levels to what we asked for and executed 

in FY13 and FY14, rather than to the nearsequestration level funding enacted in FY15. 

With the support of Congress, the Army 

executed $125B in FY14 to begin rebuilding 

readiness lost in FY13 due to sequestration. 

The FY15-enacted level of $121B is 

challenging commanders across the Army 

to sustain readiness while reorganizing 

formations to operate as smaller forces. 

In FY15, we are significantly reducing key 

installation and family services, individual 

training events and modernization to 

such an extent as to jeopardize future 

readiness and quality of life. The Army’s 

budget request for FY16 continues to focus 

on building near term readiness through 

predictability and continuity in funding 

levels. 

One critical assumption in the President’s 

Budget request is that Congress will 

enact necessary compensation and force 

restructuring. We fully support modest 

reforms to pay raises, health care and other 

benefits that have been proposed. Without 

these reforms, savings assumptions we 

have included in our planning will not 

be realized, placing increasing pressure 

on further end strength reductions and 

reducing funding needed to sustain 

readiness. The President is proposing over 

$25B in compensation reforms including 

slowing the growth of Basic Allowance 

for Housing, changing TRICARE, reducing 

the commissary subsidy and slowing the 

growth in basic pay. Should Congress 

fail to enact these reforms, the effects 

of budget shortfalls in programs and 

services throughout the force will wreak 

havoc on our formations. We will have to 

make decisions at every Army installation 

that will impact the quality of life, morale 

and readiness of our Soldiers. Without 

appropriate compensation reform, the 

Army would need an additional $10.4B 

across the program years to meet our basic 

requirements. To the extent Congress 

does not approve the extra topline or the 

reforms, we would have to find another $2-

3B per year in reductions, thereby further 

diminishing the size and capability of our 

fighting force. None of these reforms are 

easy, but all are necessary.

One of our most important reforms is the 

Aviation Restructuring Initiative (ARI), 

which we continued in FY15. Our current 

aviation structure is unaffordable, so the 

Army’s plan avoids $12B in costs and saves 

an additional $1B annually if we fully 

implement ARI. We simply cannot afford 

to maintain our current aviation structure 

and sustain modernization while providing 

trained and ready aviation units across all 

12 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
three components. Our comprehensive 

approach through ARI will ultimately allow 

us to eliminate obsolete airframes, sustain a 

modernized fleet, and reduce sustainment 

costs.

Through ARI, we will eliminate nearly 

700 aircraft and three Combat Aviation 

Brigades from the Active Component, 

while only reducing 111 airframes from the 

Reserve Component. ARI eliminates and 

reorganizes structure, while increasing 

capabilities in order to minimize risk to 

meeting operational requirements within 

the capacity of remaining aviation units 

across all components. If the Army does 

not execute ARI, we will incur additional 

costs associated with buying additional 

aircraft and structure at the expense of 

modernizing current and future aviation 

systems in the total force.

Although we disagree with the need 

for a Commission on the Future of the 

Army, as directed in the National Defense 

Authorization Act, we will fully support the 

Commission as it examines and assesses 

the force structure and force mix decisions 

the Army has proposed for Active and 

Reserve Components.

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 13
In support of the President’s FY15 budget 

request, which reflected the outcomes of 

the Secretary of Defense’s 2013 Strategic 

Choices and Management Review (SCMR) 

and the 2014 QDR, we emphasized that 

the updated defense strategy, combined 

with reduced Army force levels, had 

increased the risk level to “significant,” and 

would become manageable only after 

the Army achieved balance between end 

strength, readiness and modernization. At 

force levels driven by affordability under 

full sequestration, the Army cannot fully 

implement its role in the defense strategy. 

Sequestration would require the Army to 

further reduce our Total Army end strength 

to at least 920,000, or 60,000 below 

the 980,000 currently reflected in the 

President’s Budget request. 

Global demands for the Army are 

increasing, but end strength, readiness 

and modernization cuts greatly reduce 

our ability to respond at a time when the 

instability is accelerating worldwide. As a 

result, we are faced with an ends and means 

disparity between what is required of us 

and what we are resourced to accomplish. 

This has real impacts for our national 

security. Long-term fiscal predictability 

will allow the Army to balance force 

structure, end strength, modernization 

and readiness, while providing the Nation 

a trained and ready force prepared to win 

in a complex world. Without this investment, 

we will see immediate degradations in 

recruiting, manning, training, equipping and 

sustaining Army readiness during a time of 

great uncertainty and growing worldwide 

instability.

Although we are already expecting a 

decline in the overall readiness of our 

forces in FY15, it pales in comparison to 

IMPACTS OF

SEQUESTRATION

14 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
the decrease of readiness under expected 

sequester levels in FY16. Sequestration 

measures will not only dissipate the 

modest gains we achieved, but will leave 

the Army in a hollow and precarious state. 

The impact of sequestration on the Army’s 

FY16 funding levels would cause an abrupt 

and immediate degradation of training, 

readiness and modernization. Relief from 

full sequester-levels in FY14 provided 

some predictability and allowed for partial 

recovery from FY13’s low readiness levels. 

However, the Army demonstrated a need 

for funding above the enacted $121B topline 

in FY15, as savings from drawing down 

end strength are manifesting as rapidly 

as possible. Current funding levels afforded 

just over a third of our BCTs the training 

necessary to conduct decisive action. 

This year, we face significant challenges to 

sustain even that level of readiness in our 

dynamic operating environment. 

If sequestration remains unchanged, 

the consequences for our Army will be 

dramatic. Another round of cuts will render 

our force unable to meet all elements of 

the DSG without creating additional risk 

to our soldiers. Reductions in end strength 

brought on by sequestration will limit 

our ability to provide strategic options 

to the President and pose unacceptable 

risk by placing into question our capacity 

to execute even one prolonged, multiphased major contingency operation. We 

will experience significant degradations in 

readiness and modernization, which will 

extend adverse impacts well into the next 

decade, exacerbating the time the Army 

requires to regain full readiness. The Nation 

cannot afford the impacts of sequestration. 

Our national security is at stake.

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 15
By the end of FY15, we will have reduced 

the Regular Army by over 80,000 Soldiers, 

8,000 in the Army National Guard and 

7,000 in the Army Reserve. Commensurate 

with these reductions, the Army will 

achieve an end strength by the end of FY15 

of 490,000 Regular Army, 350,000 Army 

National Guard and 202,000 Army Reserve. 

Consistent with available budget resources, 

the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review and 

the DSG, the Army will continue to reduce 

its end strength in FY16 as follows: the 

Regular Army will shrink by 15,000 (3.1%) 

to 475,000; the Army National Guard will 

shrink by 8,000 (2.3%) to 342,000; and the 

Army Reserve will shrink by 4,000 (2%) to 

198,000. 

To achieve required end strength 

reductions, we will need to separate 

Soldiers who have served their nation 

honorably. Cumulatively, we will have 

reduced our Regular Army end strength 

from a wartime high of 570,000 to 475,000 

by the end of 2016 (17% reduction), while 

our Army National Guard will have reduced 

its end strength from a wartime high of 

358,000 to 342,000 (4.5% reduction) and 

the Army Reserve will have reduced its end 

strength from a wartime high of 205,000 to 

198,000 (3.4% reduction). These reductions 

put the Army on a glide path to meet the 

targeted force of 980,000 in FY18. For all 

components of the Army, this end strength 

is smaller than the pre-2001 force structure. 

Although we are making reductions in the 

overall end strength of the Army National 

Guard and U.S. Army Reserve, we have 

continued to invest in higher Full Time 

Support levels, including Active Guard and 

Reserve, Military Technicians and Civilians. 

This budget supports 82,720 Full Time 

Support positions in FY16 as compared 

ACHIEVING END 

STRENGTH REDUCTIONS

16 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
training, depot and range maintenance, 

installation emergency services, physical 

security and select intelligence functions. 

In all of the reductions across the Total 

Army, we are taking prudent measures 

to ensure we balance requirements and 

capacity.

To achieve planned end strength 

reductions, the Army expects to use various 

types of separation authorities across all 

elements of the Total Force. The FY12 and 

FY13 National Defense Authorization Acts 

provided several authorities to help the 

Army shape the force over the drawdown 

period, along with the flexibility to apply 

them to meet specific grade and skill 

requirements. Under normal loss rates, 

we would not be able to reach our end 

strength goal during the FY15-FY17 period. 

There is no single force-shaping method 

among the choices of accession, retention 

and separation that allows the Army to 

achieve its end strength goals; inevitably, 

we will have to involuntarily separate quality 

Soldiers. Closely managing accession levels, 

selectively promoting and following more 

stringent retention standards will help 

shape the force over time. 

Although the Army expects to lose 

combat-seasoned Soldiers and leaders, 

throughout this process, our focus will be 

on retaining individuals with the greatest 

potential for future service in the right 

grades and skills. As Soldiers depart the 

Regular Army, we are committed to 

assisting them and their Families as they 

reintegrate into civilian communities. Leaders 

across the Army are engaged in “Soldier for 

Life,” a continuum of service concept that 

facilitates transition to civilian employment, 

educational opportunities and service in the 

Reserve Components.

to 68,000 in FY01. This level of Full Time 

Support constitutes a 20% increase since 

2001.

In the Army Civilian workforce, we have 

reduced Department of the Army Civilians 

from the wartime high levels of 285,000 

and will continue to reduce appropriately 

over the coming years. While necessary, 

these reductions in the Civilian workforce 

have and will continue to adversely impact 

capabilities such as medical treatment, 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 17
During this period of drawdown, the 

Army is reorganizing, realigning and 

restructuring forces. The Brigade Combat 

Team reorganization enhances brigade 

combat power by adding a third maneuver 

battalion to 38 BCTs by the end of FY15 and 

reducing the total number of BCTs to 60 

(32 Regular Army and 28 Army National 

Guard) in the Total Force. 

Since May 2014, we have been developing a 

sustainable force generation and readiness 

model to account for the new, volatile, 

strategic operating environment; the 

need to remain regionally-engaged and 

ENSURING A

READY ARMY

budgetary and force sizing realities. The 

Sustainable Readiness Model will provide 

force generation policies and processes 

that optimize the readiness of the force 

and balance the Army’s steady state 

missions, contingency response capability 

and available resources. We cannot predict 

the specific events that will cause the 

next demand for Army forces, but history 

suggests it will come sooner than we 

expect. All components of the Army must 

remain sized and postured as essential 

members of the Joint Force to protect the 

Nation and its interests. 

18 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
Even with funding relief from sequestration 

in FY14, in FY15 we returned to nearsequestration level funding, resulting in 

just a third of our BCTs trained in their 

core mission capabilities in decisive 

action. The President’s Budget request 

increases readiness funding above FY15 

levels, which is critical to sustaining and 

improving readiness of the force. In 

FY14, the Army completed 19 rotations 

at the Combat Training Centers (CTCs), 

including six rotations for deploying BCTs 

and 13 decisive action training rotations 

(12 Regular Army and one Army National 

Guard). FY15 funding levels challenge 

Army commanders to sustain continuity 

in readiness across the force; however, we 

remain committed to CTC rotations to 

build leader and unit readiness. FY15 plans 

fund 19 CTC rotations, with 15 Regular Army 

and two Army National Guard decisive 

action rotations, with FY16 continuing this 

level of CTC exercises. We are improving 

Training Support Systems to enable 

more realistic home station training, 

increase collective training proficiency 

and enhance operational readiness for 

contingencies across the globe; however, 

funding constraints in FY15 impede our 

ability to maximize home station training 

goals. The President’s Budget request for 

FY16 allows the Army to increase training 

readiness to battalion-level across the 

Active Component force and to platoonlevel in the Reserves. Lower funding levels 

will not allow us to achieve this balanced 

readiness. 

Although the Army attempts to mitigate 

the impacts on training readiness, we must 

continue to implement the Contingency 

Force model of FY15 in order to maintain 

readiness for the 24 of 60 BCTs that will 

receive sufficient funding to conduct 

training at CTCs and home station. 

Funding shortages will limit the remaining 

36 BCTs to minimum Individual/Crew/

Squad resourcing levels through sufficient 

Training Support Systems (TSS). In short, 

sequestration forces the Army to ration 

readiness. Regardless of funding levels, we 

are committed to keeping CTCs a priority. 

Our aim is to provide tough, realistic multiechelon home station training using a mix 

of live, virtual and constructive methods 

that efficiently and effectively build Soldier, 

leader and unit competency over time, 

contributing to the effectiveness of the 

current and future forces. Training will 

integrate the unique capabilities of the 

Light, Medium and Heavy forces, as well 

as the capabilities of Conventional and 

Special Operations Forces. Furthermore, 

we are optimizing the use of existing 

training capacity and leveraging other 

opportunities such as CTCs, exercises and 

operational deployments to maximize the 

training benefits of fixed overhead and 

operational costs. Training centers such as 

Joint Multinational Readiness Center will 

increase our interoperability with Allies. 

Our goal is to increase readiness from 33% 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 19
to 70% of our Regular Army BCTs, allowing 

the Army to balance Combatant Command 

force requirements while maintaining 

surge capability – but we need consistent 

resources to get there. We are also 

increasing funding for our individual and 

institutional training. Funding increases 

focus on leader development, entry-level 

training and flight training. This allows the 

Army to develop its future leaders, prepare 

its Soldiers to operate in today’s dynamic 

combat environment and provide trained 

and ready Soldiers to meet Combatant 

Commanders’ requirements. 

The Army continues to make progress in 

integrating the unique capabilities of each 

of its components to support the needs 

of the Combatant Commanders. As part 

of the Army’s Total Force Policy, the U.S. 

Army Forces Command is leading the way 

by partnering every Guard and Reserve 

division and brigade with a Regular Army 

peer unit. The Army is also piloting a 

program to assign Guard and Reserve 

personnel directly to each Regular Army 

corps and division headquarters. For 

example, the Reserve Component rapidly 

provided support capabilities in support 

of Operation United Assistance in Liberia 

to augment and replace elements of the 

initial Active Component response. 

As we transition from combat operations 

in Afghanistan, our Army is focused on 

our ability to rapidly deploy forces around 

the world in order to meet the needs of 

our Combatant Commanders. To do this, 

20 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
we enhanced prepositioned equipment 

sets and created activity sets to support 

operations in Europe, the Pacific and 

around the world. Activity sets are 

prepositioned sets of equipment that 

enable U.S. regionally-aligned forces and 

multinational partners in Europe to train 

and operate. We have also reinvigorated 

our Emergency Deployment Readiness 

Exercise program and enhanced the 

en route mission command capability 

of our Global Response Force. The 

President’s Budget request provides 

sufficient capability to respond in each 

Geographical Combatant Command’s area 

of responsibility.

The Army continues to be a good 

steward of the resources appropriated for 

replacement, recapitalization and repair 

of materiel returning from operations 

conducted in Afghanistan. In 2014, the 

Army efficiently synchronized equipment 

retrograde out of theater. Redeployment 

and retrograde operations remain on 

schedule; however, the Army continues 

to forecast a need for reset funding for 

three years after redeployment of the 

last piece of equipment from theater. 

A steady, responsible drawdown of 

personnel and equipment demonstrates 

good stewardship of resources while 

facilitating transition to the post-2014 

Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. 

In addition, we identified almost $2B 

of potential requirement reductions in 

Contractor Logistics and Training Support, 

and took advantage of our wartime reset 

program to reduce Depot Maintenance by 

over $1.3B over five years. These changes 

allowed the Army to increase the capability 

of its prepositioned stocks program without 

an increase in the associated costs.

The proliferation of information and 

communications technologies increases 

the momentum of human interaction, 

creating a constantly shifting geopolitical 

landscape. An Army that is globally 

engaged and regionally aligned requires 

access at the point of need, robust network 

capacity and capability that is tailorable 

and scalable. The Army’s strategy is 

to effectively leverage joint networks, 

transition to cloud-based solutions and 

services, reduce the culture of controlling 

network resources and divest legacy 

systems to make way for resources to build 

network modernization. Over time, this will 

significantly boost information technology 

operational efficiency, improve mission 

effectiveness and posture the Army to 

more quickly adapt and innovate. 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 21
The Army continually seeks incremental 

improvements to its institutional 

organizations, processes and business 

systems in order to provide ready forces in 

the most fiscally responsible way for the 

Nation. The Army is expanding its efforts 

to control the cost of business operations 

by reducing the size of headquarters 

units, which we view as a fiscal imperative. 

Progressive fielding of Enterprise 

Resource Planning systems is enhancing 

accountability, changing business 

processes and enabling the retirement of 

legacy systems that will ultimately reduce 

our overall costs. Our workforce is adapting 

to new systems and processes inherent in 

increased internal controls and enterprise 

connectivity across business domains. 

Army leaders are actively engaged in 

change management and committed 

to meeting audit readiness goals and 

the September 2017 audit assertion of 

our financial statements. We continue to 

challenge the status quo, enabling the 

institutional Army to perform its activities 

smarter, faster and at reduced cost to 

provide more resources for readiness.

22 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
ENSURING 

A MODERN 

ARMY

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 23
Decreases to the Army budget over the 

past several years have had significant 

impacts on Army modernization and 

threaten our ability to retain overmatch 

through the next decade. Since 2011, the 

Army has ended 20 programs, delayed 

125 and restructured 124. Between 2011 

and 2015, Research and Development and 

Acquisition accounts plunged 35% from 

$31B to $20B. Procurement alone dropped 

from $21.3B to $13.9B. We estimate 

sequestration will affect over 80 Army 

programs. Major impacts include delays in 

equipping to support expeditionary forces, 

delays in combat vehicle and aviation 

modernization, increases in sustainment 

costs to fix older equipment and increases 

in capability gaps.

Our intent is to modernize and equip 

Soldiers with effective, affordable and 

sustainable equipment that is ready and 

tailorable to support the full range of 

Combatant Command requirements. The 

President’s Budget request would provide 

over $2B to address the growing gaps in 

our modernization accounts. Even with 

this additional funding, modernization 

remains more than $3B short of the 

historical average as a percentage of the 

Army’s budget.

The Army will continue to protect Science 

and Technology (S&T) investments critical to 

identifying, developing and demonstrating 

technology options that inform and enable 

affordable capabilities for the Soldier. S&T 

efforts will foster innovation, maturation 

and demonstration of technology-enabled 

capabilities, maximizing the potential of 

emergent game-changing landpower 

technologies. Key investments include 

Joint Multi-Role Helicopter, the foundation 

for the Army’s Future Vertical Lift capability; 

combat vehicle prototyping; assured 

Position, Navigation and Timing and 

enhancing cyber operations and network 

protections. We continue to explore the 

possibilities of cyber, high-energy laser, 

materials, human performance and 

quantum science technologies for a variety 

of applications.

The centerpiece of the Army’s Modernization 

Strategy continues to be the Soldier and 

the squad. The Army’s objective is to rapidly 

integrate technologies and applications 

that empower, protect and unburden the 

Soldier and our formations, thus providing 

the Soldier with the right equipment, at 

the right time, to accomplish the assigned 

mission. The Army will support this priority 

by investing in technologies that provide 

the Soldier and squad with advanced war 

fighting capabilities such as enhanced 

weapon effects, next generation optics and 

night vision devices, advanced body armor 

and individual protective equipment, 

unmanned aerial systems, ground based 

robots and Soldier power systems.

Improvements to mission command will 

facilitate the decision-making of leaders 

and Soldiers across all tactical echelons 

for Unified Land Operations in support of 

the Joint Force and allies. The Army will 

develop and field a robust, integrated 

tactical mission command network linking 

command posts, and extending out to the 

tactical edge and across platforms. We 

will build enhanced mission command 

capabilities and platform integration 

by fielding software applications for 

the Common Operating Environment, 

MODERNIZATION

24 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
while working to converge operations 

and intelligence networks. Based on the 

current and projected demands for ISR, the 

Army adjusted the Gray Eagle unmanned 

aerial system program’s fielding schedule 

to make more assets available to strategic 

and operational commanders this year. The 

Army also expanded the Aerial Intelligence 

Brigade with an additional 18 Gray Eagles 

for a total of 36 aircraft, and an increase 

from 48 to 165 soldiers per company. 

With respect to combat platforms, and 

those desired to enable greater protected 

mobility, the Army’s objective is to consider 

the most stressing contingency operations 

and make its fleets more capable. In 

addition to the Apache AH-64E and 

Blackhawk UH-60M investments, which 

support the Army’s Aviation Restructure 

Initiative, the Army will continue 

development of the Armored Multi-Purpose 

Vehicle to replace the obsolete M113 family 

of vehicles and begin to produce the Joint 

Light Tactical family of vehicles. The Army 

will also continue to make improvements 

to the survivability, lethality, mobility and 

protection of the Abrams tank, Bradley 

Infantry Fighting Vehicle and Paladin selfpropelled howitzer fleets. While resource 

constraints will force the Army to delay 

new system development and investment 

in the next generation of capabilities, 

we will execute incremental upgrades 

to increase capabilities and modernize 

existing systems. 

Few choices remain if modernization 

accounts continue to bear the brunt of 

sequestration. Most programs are already 

at minimum economic sustaining levels, 

and further reductions will rapidly increase 

the number of cancellations. Those 

programs remaining will have higher unit 

costs and extended acquisition schedules. 

Sequestration will create severe reductions 

in buying power and further delays filling 

capability gaps, forcing the Army to tier 

modernization – creating a situation of 

“haves and have nots” in the force. Rapid 

regeneration to fill modernization gaps 

and the ability to ensure interoperable, 

networked formations will come at a 

premium in cost and time. Most complex 

systems in production now take 24-

36 months to deliver once Congress 

appropriates funding, while new starts 

or re-starts take even longer. To address 

the steep reductions in modernization 

accounts, the Army emphasizes early 

affordability reviews, establishing cost caps 

(funding and procurement objectives), 

synchronizing multiple processes and 

divesting older equipment quickly. 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 25
ORGANIC & 

COMMERCIAL 

INDUSTRIAL BASE

The Army’s Industrial Base consists 

of Government-owned (organic) and 

commercial industrial capability and 

capacity that must be readily available to 

manufacture and repair items during both 

peacetime and national emergencies. We 

are concerned that we will not be able to 

retain an Army Industrial Base that provides 

unique capabilities, sustains the capacity for 

reversibility and meets the manufacturing 

and repair materiel demands of the Joint 

Force. In the Commercial Industrial Base, 

prime suppliers have increased their role as 

integrators, and delegated key innovation 

and development roles to a vast and 

complex network of sub-tier suppliers. 

Sub-tier suppliers have responded with 

their own complex network of suppliers, 

some of which are small, highly skilled 

and defense dependent firms – these 

small and specialized firms serve as the 

warning indicator that gauges the health 

of the overall industrial base. In FY14, the 

Army identified those commercial sector 

industrial capabilities vital to our national 

defense and sustainment of a credible and 

capable smaller force. We must continue 

to protect these capabilities.

26 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
Network dominance and defense is an 

integral part of our national security, 

and the Army is focused on proactively 

providing increased capability to the Joint 

Force. With the evolving cyber environment, 

the Army has been proactively adapting 

to cyber threats and vulnerabilities by 

transforming processes, organizations 

and operating practices. As the Army 

restructures LandWarNet to support 

operations worldwide, it is imperative we 

rapidly innovate and fund network and 

cyber infrastructure, services, security and 

capabilities.

A number of institutional transformations 

are in place or ongoing to build and 

sustain the Army’s future cyberspace 

force requirements. To be more agile 

and responsive, while improving unity 

of command and synchronization 

of cyberspace operations, we have 

consolidated Army Cyber Command 

(ARCYBER), 2nd Army and the Joint 

Force Headquarters-Cyber under one 

commander. The Army has established the 

Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, 

GA, and will serve as our focal point to drive 

change across the Army. The proponent 

lead for cyberspace operations shifted 

from ARCYBER to the Cyber Center of 

Excellence under the U.S. Army’s Training 

and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). 

Additionally, we established an Army Cyber 

Institute at West Point to collaborate with 

government partners, industry and other 

higher education institutions to develop 

cyber solutions. The creation of a cyber 

network defender enlisted specialty and 

the Cyber Branch within the officer corps 

was an effort to help focus and manage 

the Army’s cyber talent.

CYBER

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 27
In terms of new and emerging initiatives, 

ARCYBER and the acquisition community 

are pursuing ways to bring capabilities, 

including big data analytics, to Army 

operations in order to improve our cyber 

defense capability. We play a vital role in 

cyber operations across the DoD and the 

Joint Force by providing Cyber Protection 

Teams and Cyber Support Teams. Recent 

DoD decisions have resulted in the pursuit 

of a defense-wide global implementation 

of network modernization, including the 

Joint Regional Security Stacks, to enhance 

the security of our networks. We continually 

conduct assessments to better understand 

cyber vulnerabilities in our combat 

platforms and communications systems. 

We must make prudent investments in 

our cyber infrastructure, including facilities, 

networks and equipment to ensure a 

capable force. The Army is currently 

reviewing cyber training range capabilities 

and capacities to better assess future 

requirements. All these efforts will generate 

resourcing requirements, which will have 

to compete against other equally urgent 

priorities within the Army.

28 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
Since 2012, as the Army implemented 

several rounds of budget reductions, 

our installation programs have seen 

dramatically reduced services and 

sustainment. Although we have survived for 

two years at these reduced funding levels 

by deferring critical facility maintenance 

and cutting back on services, should the 

increases proposed by the President not 

materialize, we will seriously impair our 

facilities and have to permanently reduce 

important programs and services. Even 

with these increased funds, facilities 

maintenance is funded at only 79% in FY16, 

which translates to higher future repair 

and renovation costs. 

As stated in previous testimony, we need 

another round of Base Realignment and 

Closures (BRAC). We simply have too 

much surplus infrastructure and will have 

even more as we downsize. We are already 

in the process of separating nearly 152,000 

Soldiers, and sequestration would force 

us to separate another 60,000 – for a total 

reduction of 212,000. In addition, we have 

reduced over 50,000 Civilians from these 

same installations. Without a BRAC and the 

realized cost savings, the only alternative 

is to make additional cuts in training, 

manpower and modernization to make up 

for shortages in installation funding. These 

are not cuts we can afford to make. To date, 

we have been able to mitigate the adverse 

impact by focusing reductions on Europe 

and eliminating facilities not associated 

with U.S. installations. Through analysis 

and evaluation, we continue to examine 

other ways to reduce infrastructure within 

our authorities around the world. We are 

now reducing personnel at U.S. installations 

and we expect excess facility capacity will 

be about 18% Army-wide when we reach 

the end strength ramp of 490,000 for the 

Regular Army in FY15.

To improve the resilience and efficiency 

of our remaining infrastructure today and 

in future years, the Army will continue its 

efforts to increase energy efficiency, expand 

the use of on-site renewable energy, reduce 

water consumption and reduce waste 

generation. This year, we will issue an Energy 

and Sustainability Strategy that focuses 

on building resiliency. Implementation 

of this strategy will facilitate continuity of 

operations and improve the Army’s energy, 

water and sustainability posture. These 

actions will also enhance the Army’s ability 

to mitigate and adapt to the deleterious 

effects of climate change.

INSTALLATIONS,

WATER AND ENERGY 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 29
We must never forget our Soldiers will bear 

the burden of our decisions with their lives 

and health. As Army professionals, we 

must do everything possible to maintain 

the trust of our Soldiers, Civilians and 

Families who selflessly sacrifice so much. 

Today, they trust that we properly prepare 

them with the right tools and resources 

necessary to accomplish the missions that 

take them into harm’s way. To ensure the 

Army maintains the trust of the American 

people we serve, the Army is evaluating 

ways to further develop our military and 

civilian professionals, and ensure an 

uncompromising culture of accountability 

exists at every level of command. As the 

Army prepares for the environment that 

lies ahead, we must anticipate the unique 

ethical and moral challenges the future 

may present, and remain committed 

to developing Army Professionals of 

Competence, Commitment and Character. 

The Army Ethic defines the moral 

principles that guide us in the conduct 

of our missions, performance of duty and 

all aspects of life. Our ethic is reflected in 

law, Army Values, creeds, oaths, ethos and 

shared beliefs embedded within Army 

culture. It inspires and motivates all of us 

to make right decisions and to take right 

actions at all times. The Army Ethic is the 

heart of our shared professional identity, 

our sense of who we are, our purpose in life 

and why and how we serve the American 

people. To violate the Army Ethic is to 

break our sacred bond of trust with each 

other and with those whom we serve. Army 

Professionals must fulfill distinctive roles as 

honorable servants, military experts and 

stewards of our profession.

SOLDIERS & CIVILIANS 

COMMITTED TO OUR 

ARMY & PROFESSION

30 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
ADAPTIVE 

ARMY LEADERS 

FOR A COMPLEX 

WORLD

The Army Operating Concept will require 

evolutionary change as we deal with the 

growing complexity of the operational 

environment, and this change begins 

by changing mindsets. The Army’s 

competitive advantage, today and into 

the future, will always be our Soldiers and 

Civilians. Our top priority is to develop 

agile and adaptive leaders at the tactical, 

operational and strategic levels. Today and 

into the future, the Army must provide wellled and highly trained Soldiers organized 

into tailorable and scalable organizations 

that provide our Nation’s leaders an array 

of options, both lethal and nonlethal, 

across the entire range of missions. The 

Army Leader Development Strategy calls 

for the development of leaders through a 

career-long synthesis of training, education 

and experiences acquired through 

opportunities in institutional, operational, 

broadening and self-development 

learning formats, supported by peer and 

developmental relationships. Leader 

development and optimized Soldier 

performance are directly linked to the 

Army’s ability to operate in the future. 

We must d evelop multidimensional, 

adaptive and innovative leaders who 

thrive in decentralized, dynamic and 

interconnected environments. 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 31
Leader development is the deliberate, 

continuous and progressive process – built 

on a foundation of trust and founded in 

Army values – that grows Soldiers and 

Civilians into competent, committed 

professional leaders of character. As an 

institution transitioning from extended 

combat rotations, we must regain 

our expertise as trainers and improve 

the support and delivery of realistic 

training. Home station and centralized 

training must leverage both current and 

emergent technologies and integrate the 

latest capabilities, such as cyber; hybrid 

threats and Joint, interorganizational and 

multinational organizations. 

Today’s combat environment requires 

dynamic leaders and Soldiers. To ensure 

all Soldiers are adequately prepared, entrylevel Soldier training focuses on fostering 

individual resiliency, battlefield skills, Army 

values and developing the credentials to 

succeed in the Army and excel afterward. 

The NCO development model is a deliberate, 

analytical and data-driven process that 

constantly evaluates and adjusts to ensure 

all leaders have the right tools to lead and 

mentor others in today’s and tomorrow’s 

dynamic worlds. This model is collectively 

known as NCO 2020, which looks at 

training from the operational, institutional 

and self-development domains to ensure a 

career of lifelong learning and of harnessing 

experience and proficiency at all levels. 

This includes a revamping of the NCO 

education system and a renewed emphasis 

on individual and collective task training to 

help mitigate the effects of a reduction in 

Combat Training Center rotations. 

Today, the Army is expanding broadening 

opportunities for its NCOs, Warrant Officers 

and Officers with programs like Training 

with Industry, Strategic Broadening 

Seminars and the Congressional Fellowship 

Program. Broadening and educational 

experiences for senior field grade through 

general officers is also an area that must 

not be overlooked. Developing wellrounded senior leaders who are capable of 

effectively communicating the needs and 

capabilities of the profession to Civilian 

leaders within the larger context of national 

concerns is critical to the Nation. 

It is imperative that our leaders and 

organizations are capable of thriving in 

Joint interorganizational and multinational 

teams, and that they seamlessly integrate 

multi-domain effects from air, sea, space, 

cyber or land. This places a premium on 

innovation—on leveraging current and 

emerging concepts and technologies both 

today and going forward. Encouraging 

innovation and empowering all leaders 

with the skills required to win in a complex 

world, manage complex institutional 

processes and influence strategic decision 

making within a broader operating 

environment is paramount to the Army’s 

future.

More than 250,000 people working in 

nearly 500 unique job series – about 20% of 

the Total Army Force – comprise the Army 

Civilian corps. Given the size, complexity, 

impact and importance of the Civilian 

cohort to the Army, we established the Army 

Civilian Workforce Transformation (CWT). 

CWT is the Army’s strategic campaign to 

transform the Army’s Civilian cohort for 

the future and develop a more adaptable, 

capable and technically proficient Army 

Civilian who is well grounded as a leader.

32 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
In 2012, the Army initiated a deliberate 

Service-wide effort—Soldier 2020—to 

ensure our units are filled with the best 

qualified Soldiers. This effort includes 

opening previously closed positions and 

occupational specialties to women, while 

maintaining our combat effectiveness. 

The Soldier 2020 initiative seeks to remove 

as many barriers as possible and allow 

talented people—regardless of gender—

to serve in any position in which they are 

capable of performing to standard. 

Over the past 27 months, we have opened 

six previously closed Military Occupational 

Specialties and over 55,000 positions across 

all Army components to women. This 

includes opening 1,562 positions in United 

States Army Special Operations Command, 

including the 160th Special Operations 

Aviation Regiment. The Army is validating 

gender-neutral physical standards and 

completing a gender integration study, 

work that will inform decisions on opening 

the 14 remaining Military Occupational 

SOLDIER 2020 

AND INCREASED 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR 

WOMEN

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 33
Specialties currently closed to women. 

Once the study is completed, we will make 

a recommendation to the Secretary of 

Defense on opening as many as 166,000 

positions across the Active and Reserve 

Components to our women in uniform. As 

part of the Soldier 2020 initiative, the Army 

Ranger School assessment program will 

begin this spring to assess female Soldiers 

and Officers into Army Ranger School. 

The Army continues to proceed in an 

incremental and scientific-based approach 

to integrating women into previously 

closed units, positions and occupations 

while preserving unit readiness, cohesion, 

discipline and morale. The Army will 

complete all actions to meet Office of the 

Secretary of Defense requirements prior to 

January 1, 2016. 

34 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
From the Secretary and Chief of Staff of 

the Army down to our newest Soldiers, we 

continue to attack the complex challenges 

of Sexual Assault. While we have made 

progress, much work remains. Sexual 

assault is a crime that violates the core 

values on which the Army functions, and 

sexual harassment shatters good order and 

discipline. Sexual harassment and sexual 

assault must be stamped out, and doing so 

remains a top priority throughout the Army. 

Commanders, the Chain of Command, 

and the Uniform Code of Military Justice 

provide the vital tools needed to prosecute 

offenders and hold all Soldiers and leaders 

appropriately responsible. 

Across the Army, we are committed to 

maintaining momentum in Army SHARP 

and making further advances along our five 

lines of efforts: Prevention, Investigation, 

Accountability, Advocacy and Assessment. 

In the last year, our efforts along the 

Prevention Line of Effort resulted in actions 

such as consolidating SHARP training 

under TRADOC and Initial Entry Training 

and Professional Military Education to 

increase the quality and accessibility of our 

prevention tools. Our Investigation Line of 

Effort showed advances in Special Victim 

capabilities and Trial Counsel Assistance 

Programs. The Accountability Line of Effort 

had successes through our Special Victim 

Investigation and Prosecution capability 

and through tools such as Command 

Climate Surveys and Commander 360 

degree assessments. Our Advocacy Line 

of Effort resulted in initial indicators of 

progress in establishing SHARP resource 

centers in over 12 installations. We 

continue to see interim progress along 

our Assessment Line of Effort as noted in 

the President’s report and we continue to 

closely monitor the established metrics to 

measure compliance.

In sum, we have seen some progress as 

evident in the recent statistics outlined in 

the 2014 “Department of Defense Report 

to the President of the United States on 

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response” 

that indicate a decrease in unwanted 

sexual contact in FY14 compared to FY12. 

Within the Army, survey-estimated rates 

of unwanted sexual contact for the past 

year decreased significantly for active duty 

women (4.6%), compared to FY12 (7.1%). 

In addition, reporting data demonstrates 

more victims are coming forward to report 

sexual harassment and sexual assault. In 

FY14, sexual assault reporting in the Army 

increased by 12% over the previous year. 

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 35
We view this as a vote of confidence and 

a sign of increased trust in our leaders, in 

our response services and in changing 

Army culture. The decline in prevalence of 

unwanted sexual contact, combined with 

the increase in reports received, suggests 

the Army’s efforts to prevent sexual 

assault and build victim confidence in 

our response system are making progress. 

Nevertheless, we must continue to work 

on fostering a climate where individuals 

are not afraid of retaliation or stigma for 

reporting a crime by ensuring individuals, 

units, organizations and specifically 

commanders and leaders understand 

their responsibilities. Retaliation takes 

many forms and originates from many 

sources – leaders, family, friends and, most 

pervasively, peer to peer. Retaliation in its 

simplest form is bullying. It is intimidation 

that deters people from acting. It enables 

offenders, threatens survivors, pushes 

bystanders to shy from action, and breeds 

a culture of complacence. Retaliation has 

no place in the Army and we must stamp 

it out.

Sexual Assault Response Coordinators and 

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response 

Victim Advocates are now credentialed 

through the DoD Sexual Assault Advocate 

Certification Program, and the Army’s 

SHARP Academy is expanding their 

knowledge, skills and abilities. Based on 

national experts’ guidance, the Army’s 

Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiner’s 

course now surpasses Department of 

Justice requirements and establishes a 

best practice for all DoD to follow. 

The chain of command is at the center 

of any solution to combat sexual assault 

and harassment, and we must ensure 

it remains fully engaged, involved and 

vigilant. Toward this end, we enhanced the 

Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Reporting 

Systems to assess how officers and NCOs 

are meeting their commitments – holding 

them accountable through mandatory 

comments on how those leaders are 

acting to foster a climate of dignity and 

respect and their adherence to our SHARP 

program. With commanders at the 

center of our efforts, we will continue to 

decrease the prevalence of sexual assault 

through prevention and encourage greater 

reporting of the crime. We expect to see 

reporting numbers to continue to rise. As 

our efforts to enforce discipline, prosecute 

offenders and eliminate criminal behavior 

mature, we expect the number of sexual 

assaults occurring within the Army to 

eventually decrease. There is no place for 

sexual harassment or sexual assault in our 

Army or our society.

The problems of sexual assault and sexual 

harassment will only be solved when 

every Soldier, Civilian and Family Member 

stands up and unequivocally acts to stamp 

it out. Together, we have an obligation 

to do all we can to safeguard America’s 

sons and daughters, as well as maintain 

trust between Soldiers, Civilians, Families 

and the Nation. Army leaders, at every 

level of the chain of command, are doing 

this through prevention, investigation, 

accountability, advocacy and assessments. 

36 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
As we shape the force of the future, we 

must enhance force readiness, while taking 

care of the men and women who serve. 

This means, while providing Combatant 

Commanders with versatile and trained 

forces, we also have an obligation to 

support our Soldiers, Families and Civilians 

while they serve in the Army, and as they 

transition back to civilian life. Those who 

make up the Total Army – Soldiers, Families 

and Civilians; Regular Army, Army National 

Guard and Army Reserve – represent its 

strength. “Total Army Strong” expresses our 

enduring commitment to Soldiers, Families 

and Civilians, and to sustain a system of 

programs and services to mitigate the 

unique demands of military life, foster life 

skills, strengthen resilience and promote 

a strong and ready Army. “Total Army 

Strong” provides commanders flexibility to 

prioritize and adjust programs and services, 

regardless of geographic location. 

We recognize that attracting and retaining 

highly-qualified individuals in all three 

components is critical to readiness. 

However, the stronger economy, including 

lower unemployment, poses challenges 

to recruiting and retention in FY16. Due 

to obesity, medical conditions and other 

reasons, less than one-third of otherwiseeligible Americans would even qualify 

for military service. Though we face 

recruiting challenges in FY16, we will 

man our formations with highly-qualified 

and diverse Soldiers by continuing and 

strengthening those recruitment and 

retention programs that best enhance and 

sustain the All-Volunteer Army.

MAINTAINING 

THE PREMIER 

ALL VOLUNTEER ARMY

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 37
We must support and appropriately 

resource the Army’s Ready and 

Resilient Campaign. This campaign 

provides holistic, evidence-based 

tools, training and resources to our 

commands and leaders who care 

for our Soldiers, Civilians and Family 

members so they can strengthen 

their resilience and achieve and 

sustain personal readiness. The 

Army’s Ready and Resilient 

capabilities improve the physical, 

emotional and psychological 

resilience of the entire force, attack 

the foundation of acts of indiscipline 

and prevent negative behaviors from 

escalating to damaging events such 

as suicide or sexual assault. We must 

ensure the overall readiness and 

resilience of the Total Army Family 

through optimal sleep, activity 

and nutrition – the Performance 

Triad. The Performance Triad 

strengthens individual and unit 

readiness through a comprehensive 

approach that promotes leadership 

and behavior change strategies 

to improve personal and unit 

readiness and resilience, as well as 

physical, emotional, and cognitive 

dominance through optimized 

sleep, physical activity, and nutrition. 

The Performance Triad empowers 

leaders to coach and mentor 

health readiness using technology 

to actuate behaviors that support 

lasting cultural change as a 

mandate of the Army profession. 

READY & RESILIENT 

CAMPAIGN

38 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
Soldier for Life is not just a program; it is a 

change in mindset. One way we encourage 

this frame of mind is through senior leader 

and installation engagements, as well as 

changes in training curriculum. We want 

Soldiers to understand and believe from 

the time they come into the Army and for 

the rest of their lives, that they deserve our 

utmost care and attention throughout the 

Soldier lifecycle – “Once a Soldier, always 

a Soldier...a Soldier for Life!” As Soldiers 

return to civilian life, they will continue to 

influence young people to join the Army 

and, along with retired Soldiers, will connect 

communities across the Nation with its 

Army. 

As we reduce the Army’s end strength, we 

owe it to our Soldiers and their Families 

to facilitate their transition to civilian 

life. The Army supports continuum of 

service initiatives to help in this effort by 

communicating the benefits of continued 

service in the Reserve Components. 

Additionally, the “Soldier for Life” 

Program connects Army, governmental 

and community efforts to facilitate the 

successful reintegration of our Soldiers 

and Families back into communities 

across the Nation through networks in 

employment, education and health. Our 

pre- and post-retirement services ensure 

those who served become and remain 

leaders in their community. For example, 

we have developed strong relationships with 

government, non-government and private 

sector entities to include direct collaboration 

with the Departments of Veterans Affairs, 

Labor, and the Chamber of Commerce to 

bring employment summits to installations 

worldwide.

SOLDIER FOR LIFE

U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015 39
CLOSING

We face a period of critical decisions that 

will impact the Army’s capability and 

capacity for the next decade. It is important 

that we make the right decisions now. 

The operational and fiscal environments 

are straining the Army as we attempt 

to balance end strength, readiness and 

modernization to meet current demands 

while building the foundations of a 

force that can meet future challenges. 

The velocity of instability continues to 

increase worldwide, whether of ISIL and 

terrorism in Iraq, Syria and Yemen; anarchy 

and extremism in North Africa; Russian 

belligerence; provocation by North Korea; 

or complex humanitarian assistance 

requirements and the unpredictable 

nature of disaster relief missions. But 

despite all of this, we continue to reduce 

our military capabilities, degrade readiness 

and erode trust with the specter of 

sequestration. We ask the help of Congress 

to eliminate sequestration and provide our 

Soldiers with greater predictability in these 

uncertain times. We must not reduce the 

Army below 980,000 Soldiers and leave the 

Army unprepared to meet Defense Strategic 

Guidance or respond to some unforeseen 

event.

Our strategic partnership with Congress 

is absolutely critical to the Army’s success. 

Simply put, our Soldiers and Civilians could 

not do what they do each day without your 

support. Our Army needs Congressional 

support now more than ever. The decisions 

we make this year and next on our fiscal 

policy, and related end strength, readiness 

and modernization will directly impact 

the security of the United States and the 

world for decades to come. Today, we have 

the most capable and professional Army 

in the world. Our Soldiers have gained 

invaluable experience and expertise; built 

relationships among interagency partners, 

allies and each other and developed an 

intimate understanding of the world we 

live in. As we reduce the size of our Army, 

each Soldier leaving the ranks takes with 

him or her invaluable experiences and 

a deep understanding that has come at 

great cost and is impossible to replace in 

short order. 

We look forward to working with Congress 

to ensure the Army is capable of fulfilling 

its many missions, while continuing to be 

good stewards of the taxpayers’ money. 

Despite ongoing fiscal uncertainties, we 

are pleased to report professionalism 

and morale within the Army remains 

strong. Whether advising and assisting in 

Afghanistan and Iraq, supporting allies in 

Europe and the Republic of Korea, serving 

in the homeland or engaging our partners 

around the world, the indomitable spirit 

of our greatest assets, our Soldiers – our 

Nation’s Trusted Professionals – stands 

ready: Ready to safeguard our Nation’s 

liberty, deter aggression and protect our 

national interests at home and abroad. 

With your assistance, we will continue to 

resource the best-trained, best-equipped 

and best-led fighting force in the world: 

the U.S. Army.

40 U.S. ARMY POSTURE 2015
 Vietnam Conflict

Medal of Honor Past

2014

CSM Roger Bennie J. Adkins

Presented September 15, 2014

Vietnam Conflict

“Sgt. 1st Class Adkins’ contribution to 

the defense of the camp and subsequent 

recovery of the survivors was far above and 

beyond that called for by duty.”

- Retired COL John D. Blair IV

SPC4 Donald P. Sloat

Presented September 15, 2014

Vietnam Conflict

“I was only five to eight feet behind Don, 

when the grenade went off. His act 

saved my life.”

- Former PFC DeWayne C. Lewis Jr.
First Lieutenant

Alonzo H. Cushing

United States Army

First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing 

distinguished himself by acts of gallantry 

and intrepidity at the risk of his life above 

and beyond the call of duty while serving 

as an Artillery Commander in Battery A, 

4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac at 

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3, 1863 

during the American Civil War. That 

morning, Confederate Forces led by 

General Robert E. Lee began cannonading 

First Lieutenant Cushing’s position on 

Cemetery Ridge. Using field glasses, First 

Lieutenant Cushing directed fire for his 

own artillery battery. He refused to leave 

the battlefield after being struck in the 

shoulder by a shell fragment. As he 

continued to direct fire, he was struck 

again, this time suffering grievous 

damage to his abdomen. Still refusing to 

abandon his command, he boldly stood 

tall in the face of Major General George E. 

Pickett’s charge and continued to direct 

devastating fire into oncoming forces. As 

the Confederate Forces closed in, First 

Lieutenant Cushing was struck in the 

mouth by an enemy bullet and fell dead 

beside his gun. His gallant stand and 

fearless leadership inflicted severe 

casualties upon Confederate Forces and 

opened wide gaps in their lines, directly 

impacting the Union Forces’ ability to 

repel Pickett’s Charge. First Lieutenant 

Cushing’s extraordinary heroism and 

selflessness above and beyond the call of 

duty, at the cost of his own life, are in 

keeping with the highest traditions of 

military service and reflect great credit 

upon himself, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, 

Army of the Potomac, and the United 

States Army.

CIVIL WAR RECIPIENT

Medal of Honor

2014
240

YEARS O F S E L F L E S S 

S E R V I C E T O 

THE NATION