Iraqi ranks are filling out, and 3-year cycle is ‘almost there,’ Army secretary says
By Kelly Kennedy
Army Times staff writer
Feb. 20, 2006
Army Secretary Francis Harvey sidestepped questions on the service’s ability to deploy forces to Iran if called upon to do so by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who recently said he would not rule out military action against the Middle East nation with nuclear ambitions.
Harvey said during a Feb. 7 meeting with Army Times reporters and editors that he would not engage in a hypothetical exercise but noted that, in general, the Army has the “ability to and capability to surge” a force to an emerging conflict even while heavily deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
He noted that 17 brigade combat teams, a mix of active and Guard forces, are deployed worldwide, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sinai Peninsula and South Korea.
Harvey said the Army could surge another 14 brigade combat teams but said he could not answer how long the U.S. could sustain another mission without knowing more about that mission.
The Army “force generation model” calls for 42 Regular Army BCTs in a three-year deployment cycle, with 14 deployed for a year, the follow-on 14 BCTs in a high state of readiness and 14 BCTs of troops training and resetting in the first year after returning from deployment.
“So when there’s 14 deployed, you have 14 in an availability stage, so that’s your surge,” he said. “The people who are deployed stay deployed, so you get the surge capability from the availability of the guys in the second year.”
The deployment cycles would be augmented by National Guard and Reserve units. The Army is in the process of increasing the number of active BCTs from 33 to 42; the Guard’s numbers are scheduled to increase from 15 to 28. As the number of BCTs grows, the stress on the force will decrease as soldiers would not have to deploy as often.
“That’s what we’re migrating to,” he said. “We’re not quite there yet, but we’re very close to being there, and that’s basically our Army force generation model.”
In the meantime, any decision about drawing down forces in Iraq belongs to President Bush, Harvey said. He said he could not talk about what advice generals in the field might be giving the president about troop levels.
“Progress is being made,” Harvey said. “I mean, I saw it. When I was there in March of ’05, they had 140,000 in the [Iraqi] army, in the police with, I don’t know, 80-odd battalions, none of which could operate independently.
“Fast-forward six months,” he continued. “Now there’s 220,000. There’s [120] battalions, 40 of which can operate independently.”
However, he said, the Iraqi forces cannot yet sustain themselves in terms of combat support and combat service support, and they also need some help learning leadership skills.
“It takes a heck of a lot of people, because we’re embedded in those brigades teaching them the art and science of command — of leadership,” he said.
“I would say it’s an appropriate role for the Army to provide the security backdrop you need to transition to the rule of law, market economy, stable government institutions, and a capable and effective security force for the country,” he said. “We have a definite objective: to stand up [for] democracy and have democracy in the Middle East and to rid that country of those evil terrorists that murder innocent civilians.”
At home, bringing in more new soldiers is a key part of building the American combat force and Harvey said recruiting results would be one measure of the success of the Army’s new advertising contract. He said he also wants more focus on recruiting minorities, including young blacks, who, in recent years, have not been signing up at previous rates.
And, he said the Army needs to do a “better job internally” of capturing interest from the 5 million hits a year the official Web site receives. Of those, 500,000 express an interest in a career. The Army hired a new advertising company, McCann Erickson of New York, in the fall. The new contract is estimated to be worth $1.35 billion over five years.
“One thing we’re going to do is we’re going to expect the new advertising agency to go kind of, I would say, back up the food chain,” he said. “In other words, not only do TV advertising, but look back up at the beginning of people who show interest in the Army.”
The Army needs to make sure those who initially express an interest talk with a recruiter, Harvey said.
“A lot of people just say, ‘Gee, I think I’m interested,’ and then, you know, it goes down by a factor of five or so — the people who actually show up,” Harvey said.
The Army has a 2006 recruiting goal of 80,000, Harvey said, and it plans to make that goal through incentive programs and other measures.
“We have a whole basket of initiatives — a combination of something old, something new — and we’re always trying new things,” he said.
He also said the Army will take another look at the “Army of one” advertising campaign, though he would not say what he thought about that slogan. He laughed as he said he’s the worst one to ask if “frogs selling beer” is a good idea, referring to a Budweiser ad that did particularly well.
“If I don’t like an advertisement, that’s a true indication that it’s going to work,” he said.