Answer

F102 Discussion Topic

This paper aims to justify why shaping and influencing security environments, engaging key actors, and consolidating gains to accomplish sustainable security outcomes constitutes the highest primacy for the Army to triumph in an intricate world. The employment of this capability in army operations is essential in ensuring that the army meets the needs of the future strategic setting in 2025 and beyond.

Army forces often engage in the execution of operations across extensive regions to ensure liberty of action and movement, and deny the adversary the potential to disrupt operations[1]. The Army forces join with the law enforcement, partner military, civil capabilities, and law enforcement to develop and sustain security. Besides, Army forces safeguard wide areas to prevent the enemy from using terrains, defend populations, and allow the Joint Force to engage in the projection of supremacy from land into the maritime, air, cyberspace, and space domains. As such, the ability of the Army to establish authority on land hinders the adversary from disturbing operations and activities, which are essential for consolidating gains to execute successful military operations. Engaging key actors is also a fundamental component of successful Army operations. Army forces engage with other stakeholder across the region to ensure interoperability, enhance situational awareness, establish associations based on shared interests, deter enemies, and assure partners[2]. Since the threats commencing at low levels always acquire strength and transform into more dangerous elements over time, regional engagement of Army forces is essential for the defense policy objectives of preventing conflicts and shaping security settings. Army special operations troops along with the regionally aligned conventional troops always engage in a range of theater security collaboration activities with the inclusion of security force aid. These activities are conventional force-centric, special operations forces-centric, or special operations forces-specific depending on the mission nature. Consolidating gains is considered integral component of armed conflict, which is essential for the maintenance of the initiative over dedicated adversaries. Adversary organizations function on physical battlefields and in other disputed spaces like political subversion, criminality, and perception. Army forces often consolidate by playing a supporting function by integrating and reinforcing the efforts of various partners[3]. For instance, Army units offer military assistance to rule of law, law enforcement, and governance. Expanded soldier and leader competencies enable Army forces to consolidate gains within complex settings. Examples are support to financial activities for intelligence experts and law enforcement, investigative competencies for military police, improved situational awareness for warfare arms, and reconstruction competencies for engineers among others.

Leaders in Army forces should focus on engaging key actors by exerting influence on key organizations, institutions, and individuals via persuasive and cooperative mechanisms. For instance, when mission accomplishment calls for the reinforcement of partner institutions, Army forces should focus on exerting influence to persuade partners that embracing necessary reforms and reinforcing critical institutions serve their interests[4]. Army forces should also cooperate with key players across the region to assure partners, deter enemies, enhance situational awareness, interoperability, and establish relationships based on shared interests. Besides, Army troops should focus on shaping and influencing security settings by partnering with the partner military, the law enforcement, law enforcement and civil capabilities in order to establish and sustain security. Embracing this capability will ensure that the army accomplishes the needs of the future strategic setting in the year 2025 and even beyond.

F103 Discussion Topic

This paper champions the thesis that phase 3, which involves developing organizational models, is the most affected force development phase among the phases associated with the process of force development. Several activities, players, and personnel are involved in the process of developing organizational models, and the impact of global financial crisis on these entities is tremendous, as evident in various dimensions including alignment of headquarters and forces, force generation, and force structure modernization, as discussed in the subsequent paragraph.

Addressing the tight financial situation calls for a cautious balancing of three essential elements including modernization, readiness, and end-strength, which are critical to the establishment of organizational frameworks[5]. Some of the strategic guidance elements that impact organizational model are mechanisms of defeating and deterring aggression, execution of irregular warfare, defense of the Homeland, and provision of support to civil agencies. The newly established strategic guidance possess a range of key missions targeting the Joint Force, which clearly needs a robust, adaptable, expeditionary military to meet the nation’s security demands. The Army’s immediate preference is to meet the present commitments in Afghanistan and any other place by having a force, which is highly trained, well-equipped, and well-manned. As such, the Special and Conventional Operations Forces continue warfare operations as component of Operation Enduring Freedom, while concurrently establishing the Afghan security troops[6]. Sustaining the long-term association between Special and Conventional Operations Forces is of great significance. The two forces cannot function without assistance of the army. The two forces need to accomplish several missions, which will call for the support of the Army. As such, having an organizational model that support joint operations is critical to the success of the two forces. The Army’s Corps of Engineers engages in the preservation and re-establishment of critical services and infrastructure, while the Army forces continues to provide essential executive agent and institutional assistance across the world that contributes significantly to the success of the Joint Force. It is also significant to note that the inter-agencies depend on the Army to offer support to other institutions. Currently, the U.S’s Army is engaged globally in 150 nations on six continents. Army has over 15,000 combatants, who are deployed in support of military activities, and an extra forward stationed 96,000 militaries[7].

Currently, the nation needs an Army that is innovative and adaptive, agile and flexible, synchronized and integrated, discriminate and lethal. It is vital to note that in the current uncertain and complex world, the Army acts as the decisive Joint Force arm in a range of missions. Traditionally, the Army has been focusing on specific category of requirements, but these requirements and the mechanisms by which they are resourced have witnessed a significant transformation. Thus, there should be fundamental change in the manner in which the Army executes business. For instance, the Army will be compelled to alter the mechanism of organizing, manning, equipping, and training soldiers to enhance their level of responsiveness to the Combatant Commanders. Such an undertaking is essential for enabling the 2020 Joint of Force. Accomplishing this goals calls for the review of several areas and adapt them with the aim of remaining the world’s most capable, most dominant, and most lethal land force. For instance, by the culmination of FY17, there will be a decrease of the Army’s end might to 490,000 from 570,000 within the Active Army,  to 353,500 from 358,000  within the National Guard, and to 205,000 from 206,000 within the Army Reserve. In relation to the Army’s force structure, the Army Special Operations Militaries will be advanced to 35,000 of the attainment of the Army’s end-strength.

In conclusion, phase 3, which focuses on the development of organizational models, happens to be the most impacted phase. The primary affected dimensions of this phase are force structure, alignment of headquarters and forces, modernization, and force generation.

[1] TRADOC Pamphlet 525-3-1  The US Army Operating Concept extracts

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Feb. 24, 2012 - Gen. Odierno AUSA Winter Symposium

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid