Keane Says Army Must Be Ready to Do More Than Conduct Major Theater Wars; It Must Be Strategically Responsive
WASHINGTON --- The Army's vice chief of staff said the Army must be ready to do more than conduct major theater wars in the Persian Gulf and Korea. "One of our challenges the Army faces that when you come to a crisis that you are trying to prevent from going to a conflict'' is the service's ability to respond rapidly, Gen. John M. Keane told 150 senior Army National Guard and Army Reserve leaders here Saturday.
Speaking at the first event of the Association of the United States Army's Annual Meeting, he said, "Rapid response comes in two forms. We have prepositioned stocks (tanks, artillery, fighting vehicles, ammunition and food) around the world. ... The other response is we can pick up an airborne force, seize an airfield and bring in follow-on forces. We have to have an airfield to do it, and you also have to bring follow-on forces which will take time.''
Adding, "we find ourselves at the end of the 1990s not being as responsive to events around the world that we think we need to be responsive to.''
Keane said the time political leaders have to act to prevent a crisis from escalating into conflict and a conflict into war has shrunk in the last 10 years. "They have less time to solve that problem, and the military instrument is one of those instruments they will use to solve it. ... We've got to get the Army more strategically responsive. ... Much of what the chief (Gen. Eric Shinseki) will talk about Tuesday is about that ... and laying it out for you how he looks at the Army.''
He said what Shinseki will discuss for the Army's future at the Dwight D. Eisenhower luncheon will be significant. "What we do to the AC (active component) we will do to the RC (reserve components) because it makes sense to us. We are the Army. We can't separate it out, nor should we attempt to.
"What I'm saying is that if we're going to change the structure of the active component of the Army because it makes sense, we're going to change the structure of the reserve component. If we're going to change the kinds of equipment they have in the active component Army because this world out there demands that kind of equipment, then we should make that kind of change in the reserve components. If we are going to change the doctrine on how we fight in the Army in the active component because it makes sense, we should do the same thing in the reserve components. If we are going to recapitalize the legacy systems that are in the active component because we need to extend them for another 20 years then we should recapitalize those same legacy systems in the reserve components. If we're going to eliminate some legacy systems in the active component because we can't afford them anymore, then we should eliminate those legacy systems in the reserve components. That makes compelling sense to us.''
Keane said, "I am convinced the stars are aligned figuratively and literally to make this kind of change and they haven't been in the past.'' The association expects more than 25,000 attendees at the event being held in both the Marriott Wardman Park and Omni Shoreham.
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Keane Says Army Must Be Ready to Do More Than Conduct Major Theater Wars; It Must Be Strategically Responsive
