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Casey: Conventional warfare training a must

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Army units spending 18 months or more at home are being asked to spend at least of a portion of that time honing conventional warfare tactics.

Gen. George Casey said Monday the directive was designed to keep the force in balance and not become too focused on counterinsurgency, typified by the fights in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past seven years.

“We can’t sustain this forever, but we are at a point now where I am comfortable, if we had to change gears pretty quickly, we’d be able to,” Casey said.

The Army’s top general said there are those who think the force has lost its conventional skills and worry events in the world could catch it flatfooted. However, he said older officers who trained for fights with the former Soviet Union understand the need to be proficient in counterinsurgency and stability operations. It’s the younger officers, Casey said, who worry that they haven’t fired their tanks enough, for example.

A new operations manual elevated stability, or nation building, operations as a key Army function. Next month, a stability manual will provide more details, though soldiers have been doing those missions to get Iraq and Afghanistan functioning. Humanitarian efforts by the National Guard along the Gulf Coast after storms fall into this category, as well.

“We are all learning as we go here,” Casey said.

Casey said the Army was making progress toward restoring balance among the force, including increasing the time that soldiers spend at home stations between deployments. That additional time will help them rest and reconnect with their families, as well as practice all of their skills, such as large exercises at the brigade or division level on wide expanses of terrain.

He said recent exercises at Fort Riley and other posts have demonstrated that units are proficient in tank, artillery or large infantry movements. As one officer commented to Casey, “We’re not as rusty as I thought we were.”

Casey was in Leavenworth to sign an Army community covenant with local officials on Monday afternoon. Fort Leavenworth was founded in 1827, with the city coming along in 1854. The post is home to the Army’s Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks. Lansing, Leavenworth and Platte City, Mo., representatives signed the covenant with Casey and others.

In recent months, top Army officials have been going around the country to sign community covenants, reinforcing efforts to support soldiers and families. A covenant was signed in August at Fort Riley, an event attended by Army Secretary Pete Geren. Leavenworth was the 60th signing the Army had conducted.

Casey said the Army had invested time and resources toward improving the quality of life for soldiers and their families as it grows by an additional 74,000 soldiers by 2011. The Army will go from the current 38 brigades to 48, enough to help achieve the goal of 24 months at home between deployments.

“They are getting good health care once they get past the appointment desk,” Casey said.

He noted all of the changes have come since the 2001 terrorist attacks, but said it will take three more years to complete the rebalance efforts.

“We’re not hollow and we’re not broken, but we are stretched,” Casey said. “We’re stretched because we didn’t have the Army we needed on Sept. 11.”