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What follows is one more voice to be added to a growing chorus of professional soldiers concerned about the post-9/11 Army. MSG Charles Elliott, U.S. Army retired, makes a convincing argument that we liave lost some of our traditional soldier skills that are a vital component of who we are and what we do as an Army, aka the basics.
When this nation sent its Army to war in the aftermath of 9/11, it also provided the resources to ensure that we had the tools (technology) needed to get the job done - the tools we have always wanted but lacked the funds to acquire. MSG Elliott suggests that the post-9/11 Army is becoming too dependent on this new technology and, as a result, is losing sight of the fundamentals.
- CSM Jimmie W. Spencer, USA Ret., Director, NCO and Soldier Programs, AUSA
Years ago our forces needed to be more flexible and adaptable. After decades of training during a cold war that never went hot, most leaders had no inclination to train or fight differently. They were satisfied with keeping things the same, shying away from technology and unconventional ways of doing things. Most of these leaders refused to entertain creative ideas, and many rejected ideas and recommendations from subordinates.
This was the case during the first couple of years after 9/11. In Iraq and Afghanistan, our military was inundated with new equipment and technologies, vehicles, weapons, signals intelligence (SIGPNT) technologies and so on. All this technology forced our leaders to finally start thinking differently (outside the box) to create ways to use this new equipment and technology to assist them in accomplishing their mission, and they did. Our military has become more adaptive and technologically proficient, but at what cost?
Technology has helped us tremendously, and our leaders have become out-of-the-box - more adaptive - thinkers. There is a cost, however, to thinking outside of the box without fully understanding that the "things in the box" should not become irrelevant just because we have additional tools available to...