Military Leadership Challenges

Soldiers will be pulled out of the military because of this cut. They plan to shrink the military down to levels it has not seen in seventy-four years (Hicks 1). The soldiers being cut though are the active duty soldiers. These are the people who are serving right now and they are being forced out of the military and all they get is their last pay check and go back to civilian life. They plan to cut the army from 570,000 soldiers to 490,000-420,000 soldiers by 2019 (V, EnBrook, and Locker 1). This is not a suitable amount of soldiers to protect the United States. There is a high chance of war because of what is happening in Ukraine at the moment and the government is deciding to cut the military’s budget. Army leaders said the service could not adequately protect the country and fight abroad at the 420,000 soldier level (V, EnBrook, and Locker 1). “The army can barely live with 450,000 soldiers,” said Maren Leed (V, EnBrook, and Locker 2). History has showed the United States has been in substantial conflicts every twenty years (V, EnBrook, and Locker 2). Some soldiers have a hard enough time as it is the pay checks for the military are not big unless you are in a Sargent position or in a general’s position. The soldiers being cut will have an even harder time with all the jobs being taken up. Generals are also being cut not all of

Being a leader is always a challenge, and assuming a new command is challenging. There are a lot of expectations to me as a leader. The organization has selected me to a new position, and they believe I fulfill their standards for their leaders. The organization trust and expect me to lead, develop and achieve. My superiors and subordinates have a lot of expectations. They expect me to lead them in the best way to solve our assigned missions. In my new assignment as commander of 4th Armor Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), the main critical leadership problems are the lack of cohesive teams, ethical and work standards and the level of stress. I will through analyze explain and defend my selection of critical leadership problems and apply a model for solving them, including implementing and measuring my vision as the new brigade commander.

In 2012, General Dempsey states “Mission Command is fundamentally a learned behavior to be imprinted into the DNA of a profession of arms.” The way Mission Command has evolved through the past years is indicative to the US Military adjusting to a new threat. The concept of Mission Command is not new, what is important is how General Dempsey states “Education in the fundamental principles of mission command must begin at the start of service and be progressively more challenging..” The General emphasizes the need for education at the start of the individual’s service. Additionally, this highlights the United States Army’s doctrinal adjustment to the new threat. During the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US faced an enemy whose creativity and adaptability are two of its greatest assets. The fast-paced situation changes in both of those AOs required tactical level leadership maintain the autonomy to “exercise disciplined initiative.” This type of initiative historically leads to mission success, specifically in fast-paced situations where a key to success is forcing the enemy to react.

The most critical issue that we face when it comes to downsizing the army is the readiness and security of our nation. Politicians say that downsizing the military brings back the nation’s financial stability. Army leaders do not see it that way, but weakens our nation 's defense capability and our commitment to the rest of the world. General Odierno, the Army Chief of Staff (2013), states that “In his professional military judgment, that the projected end strength and force structure levels would not enable the Army to fully execute 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance requirements to defeat an adversary in one major combat operation while simultaneously denying the objectives of an adversary in a second theater. Additionally, it is unlikely that the Army would be able to defeat an adversary quickly and decisively should they be called upon to engage in a single, sustained major combat operation” (Chief, Congress and DoD hammer out Army 's future manning levels, par.18). The military is not just weakened by the numbers, but by experience and

The department’s leadership is responsible for providing appropriate manpower and resources to each mission using an increasingly tight budget, while also following strict laws for high priority missions, such as nuclear defense, which mandate both high levels of training and manpower (Air Education Training Command, 2015). Additionally, warfare technology has become incredibly advanced. Due to this complication, the educational and technical requirements for military service members and employees are steadily increasing.

The Department of Defense (DOD) must decide how to rebalance the armed forces general force structure to meet future challenges and opportunities in an austere fiscal environment. The general force structure and capabilities of Joint Force 2020 necessary to adjust the force based on current strategic direction and fiscal constraints is a smaller, efficient, adaptable and integrated joint force. The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) emphasizes US military forces will evolve and remain modern, capable, and ready while accepting some increased risk through force reductions. Rebalancing will require innovative approaches and solutions to protect the homeland, build global security, project power, and win decisively with a leaner force.

2. Every year the Department of Defense (DoD) sets up a budget for the military. The budget can be lower than what the military needs to be able to do their mission. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget of the DoD was made to maintain a mission ready force focused on institutional reforms that control costs and support a highly trained workforce while taking care of service members and their families.1 The DoD seeks to progress toward achieving full spectrum combat readiness.2 However, the sharp defense cuts are harming the ability of our Armed Forces to execute their assigned missions.3 The strategy

The primary issue facing the United States Army in 2025 and beyond is its ability to operate in a fiscally constrained environment. According to the Army Capabilities Integration Center’s (ARCIC) primary initiative, Force 2025 and beyond, it “Is the Army 's strategy to ensure the future joint force can win in a complex world.” Furthermore, ARCIC’s initiatives will “consists of activities along three primary lines of effort: force employment; science and technology and human performance optimization; and force design.” Proponents of a lighter and more rapidly deployable force continue to argue for a dramatic downsizing of mechanized and armored forces.

The course of action eliminates any potential setbacks that may have occurred due to budget cuts. This COA also follows President Trumps wish to continue with growing our military and increase defense spending considering it is a $2.4 billion increase from last fiscal year.

On Monday, 24 February 2014, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced massive cuts to the size of the armed services, slashing the army to its pre-World War II size. (breithbart.com) Hagel’s plan called for a 25% reduction in manpower by 2019. Historically, these cuts equate to a perceived failure of will power of the American government by its global enemies. Such cuts are sure to decrease the readiness posture of fighting units across the military. First order effects from cuts to funding equate to poorly maintained equipment, reduced personnel readiness, as well as fewer opportunities for professional military educational type schools. Second order effects include gaps in the NCO and officer corps due to lack of funds to send

The Budget control Act of 2011 has forced the DOD to reduce spending significantly to meet the $487 Billion ten-year cut. This also requires a sequestration mechanism of $50 billion annually. While it is imperative to be fiscally responsible, the DOD needs to protect the security interest of the US and prioritize spending on combat power. Additionally the DOD is reducing major headquarters budgets by 20%. There have been cutbacks in civilian and contractor positions and seeks to lower military health care expenditures.

The implications and risks of sequestration creates a challenge because our mission requirements and or areas of interests have not decreased. The challenge for the combatant commanders would be having to do more with less means to apply to defending our national security. The opportunity in sequestration is the close collaboration that must be done to execute our mission i.e. end state and the prioritization of missions that will be required, because of the lack of resources. This is significant to the combatant commanders because this will determine how to distribute the force among the

There are over 3.2 million people employed by the government and all of which are led by the Secretary of Defense (SecDef). According to Mr. Chuck Hagel, former SecDef, the uncertainty of the budget is the biggest challenge facing the military. Particularly, in order to continue funding for military weapons systems to be built (which usually takes years) there has to be a constant flow of income to complete the process. The newly appointed SecDef, Mr. Ashton Carter, vowed to ensure a better strategy on budgeting. Government employees endured sequestration and furloughs in 2014, Carter has pushed to ensure sequester doesn’t happen again in 2015. He believes s sequester puts a big risk on national defense. Sequestration is a mandate that trillions of dollars will be cut from federal agencies over the next decade. Five-hundred million of those dollars will be deducted from the military alone. There are many budgetary stresses as anyone who handles a budget would understand, and sustained economic growth is necessary to ensure not to neglect the military programs and

1. The focus of this paper is the total force initiative and the positive impact that it should have on the Air Force. This concept will allow the cost of reequipping the Air Force to be split between three different allotments of funds. The opponents to this policy claim that the active duty budget will decrease causing a reduction in the number of professional airmen. This argument is countered by the integration of Active Duty (ADAF) personnel with Air National Guard (ANG) and Reserve (AFR) units

There will be significant challenges facing the United States in the next 10 years regarding strategic threats and global security. The three overlapping types of conflicts which will dictate future wars, challenge government agencies, and force all branches of the Armed Forces to restructure their formations are “Wars of Silicon, Iron, and Shadow.” The four U.S. Services will need to rebalance, be adaptive, implement strategic agility, and reprioritize their programs to meet specific security issues posed by these conflicts. “Diverse adversaries will employ traditional, unconventional, and hybrid strategies to threaten U.S. National Security.” Joint Forces by 2025 will need to be leaner, technologically superior, and expeditionary to support Combatant Commanders so; they can win in full spectrum operations and defend U.S. national interests at home and overseas. “These new and adaptive Defense strategies will require making profound choices due to budget constraints and Sequestration.” There are significant risks associated with these choices, which will require implementing stringent control measure to mitigate those risks.