Q & A GEN. GEORGE W. CASEY JR., USA
As the U.S. winds down its com-
mitment in Iraq and bulks up forces
in Afghanistan, the Army still needs
forces ready to “give the country
the strategic fl exibility it needs” for
future challenges. That isn’t pos-
sible with an Army so stretched
that, for the past fi ve years, combat
soldiers have spent only about a
year at home for every year they’ve
been deployed.
The pace is stunning and, over
time, unsustainable for an army of
volunteers, Casey says.
“I’m frankly amazed what the
men and women [of ] all our armed
forces have accomplished over al-
After their convoy was hit with an IED, soldiers search for insurgents
most eight years of war,” he says,
in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, in August 2009.
particularly with so many soldiers
“operating at one-year out, one-year-
plus-or-minus back” since 2004. from Cold War-era occupational Soldiers fire a mortar during a
specialty skills to skills more rel- mission in Afghanistan.
On a mission evant to insurgency operations.
Before this infantry offi cer became “We’re also about halfway done
the Army’s 36th chief of staff, Casey [with] the largest rebasing of the
commanded Multi-National Force Army … since World War II,” Casey
— Iraq, a coalition of more than says. This huge shift of 280,000 sol-
30 countries, from July 2004 until diers is tied to three initiatives: base
February 2007. Back in Washington, realignments and closures, overall
D.C., he immediately adopted a plan Army growth, and a sharp draw-
to get the Army “back in balance” to down of Army units from Europe
handle all its missions by 2011. He and Korea.
set four imperatives: sustain soldiers “All of that together is a lot of
and their families; continue to pre- organizational change,” Casey says.
pare soldiers for success in current “And we’ve done it while we’ve de-
confl icts; reset returning units effec- ployed 150,000 soldiers over and tors who increasingly will use violence
tively; and continue to transform the back to a war zone. … I don’t think to accomplish their political and ideo-
Army for an uncertain future. any other organization in the world logical objectives,” Casey says. That
The plan is on track, Casey says. could have done what the Army has, means U.S. forces will be “deployed
Through July, the Army was 85-per- both in our reorganization and the in combat for engagement around the
cent fi nished converting its 300 successes we’re having in combat in world at a pretty good tempo.”
brigades to modular units, which Iraq and Afghanistan.”
are more versatile and “tailor-able” Casey says the Army now intends A new threat
for current and future contingen- to “cement” these reforms in place Yet the character of confl ict will be
cies. Modularity, an Army goal since so there’s no slippage from the different than in the last century,
2004, organizes a brigade by task for transformation that was needed in Casey says, citing not only insurgen-
a full spectrum of combat. “I believe response to the security environ-
it’s an 85- to 90-percent solution to ment of the 21st century.
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
the challenges we expect to face,” “The next decade or so will be [pe-
a73 Click here to read what Army
Casey says. riods] of what I call persistent confl ict
Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey
The Army also is two-thirds fi n- — protracted confrontation among
Jr., said about the conflict in Afghan-
ished converting 225,000 soldiers states, non-states, and individual ac-
istan, TRICARE, and the budget.
PHOTOS: ABOVE, DIMA GAVRYSH/AP; TOP, DAVID GOLDMAN/AP D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R 5 5
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