The Integrated Division - Leveraged Diversity for the 21st Century.

Component parochialism within Americas Army is counter-productive. This adversarial relationship is creating a lose-lose situation for our Army as a whole. One of the battles being waged is over the National Guard combat divisions. Some believe they are not relevant and should be eliminated from the Army force structure. Others believe they are more relevant today, as American citizens and their elected congressional representatives look for additional peace dividends, than ever before. An initiative offered by the National Guards leadership to integrate regular Army commanders into National Guard units is a step in the right direction. However, this is only a small part of what could be done. Cultures within the regular army and the National Guard are different in many ways. These cultural differences have driven a wedge between the components, a wedge not experienced between other services and their reserve component counterparts. Total Army integration would leverage the diversity found in both components. This diversity could be a force multiplier and contribute to higher combat readiness for Americas Army. Cultural differences should be recognized as a strength. We need to leverage our diversity in order to build the Army for the 21st century that is able to accomplish the full spectrum of missions One Army - One Mission.