Limiting Regret: Building the Army We Will Need

I would like to share with you an analysis on closing the gap between the defense commitments the Unites States has made and the ground forces that the Department of Defense DoD has planned to provide to fulfill America s commitments and limit future regret. The Army describes its capability to support the nation s security commitments in terms of three factors 1 the number of soldiers in it what it refers to as its end-strength 2 how well prepared its units are to operate what the Army refers to as its readiness and 3 how modern its equipment is. What I would like to talk about today is how big and ready the nation needs its Army to be from a Joint perspective to fulfill America s commitments and limit future regret about the decisions made. I have three main messages today 1 the world has changed since the decisions in the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review QDR were made 2 emerging and growing threats make it more likely that U.S. commitments in key regions will be challenged and 3 the current trend in force planning will leave us with an Army too small to credibly sustain U.S. commitments and interests under the shadow of those threats.