Tuesday, April 26, 2016

A 'fight-tonight-mindset'


via Army.mil
"Having a 'fight-tonight-mindset' is at the heart of what Army readiness is about," a Fort Bragg general told more than 500 military communicators, information-technology professionals and Soldiers during an April 19-21 symposium in Fayetteville, N.C. "Our whole warfighting concept across the U.S. Army is about rapid deployment, expeditionary operations in a very austere environment."
"All sorts of Army units are involved in developing this fight-tonight mentality," said Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, N.C., which includes rapid-deployment forces such as the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y.; the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.; and Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division. The general's keynote speech was part of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association North Carolina Chapter's "TechNet Fort Bragg Symposium and Exposition 2016."
The general cited other Army units with this warfighter, expeditionary-operations mindset -- including Army forces assigned to the Korean Peninsula, Army chemical and logistics units.

Over the past 15 years, "we've gotten used to a certain way of doing business," Townsend said. "That way of doing business typically revolves around well-developed bases, forward operating bases, buildings, Prime Power and fiber optics. We've got to get back to the ability to go anywhere on no-notice and do the same kind of business that we would from that Forward Operating Base, or close to it."
Consider this another exhibit in my warning that the Army is trying to  drink the Marine Corps milkshake.

The reality is stark for them.  They are not expeditionary.  They are not agile (to arrive in theater).  They have difficulty operating in austere environments (before their fabulous supporting structures arrive).

We have them everyday and twice on Sunday.  We need to maintain that lead.  Its time to push forward with the Enhanced MEU Concept! 

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