Lawmakers want fewer contractors doing training - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Lawmakers want fewer contractors doing training

The Army’s increasing reliance on contractors to train its soldiers has raised red flags around the Army and in Congress.

Legislative interest in the health of the Army’s training community was sparked by a memo from early this year, in which the service’s senior training officer, Gen. Martin Dempsey, told Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey of a chronic shortage of soldiers for training duty, and an increased reliance on contractors to perform key training functions.

In that Feb. 16 memo, titled “Erosion of Training and Doctrine Command’s Core Competencies,” Dempsey, the commander of Training and Doctrine Command, said less than one-third of the instructors in Army schools are military.

Army Secretary John McHugh said Thursday that Dempsey’s memo had brought to light the Army’s diminishing ability to train quality officers.

The shortages, caused by operational commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan, have hindered TRADOC’s ability to develop new doctrine and integrate lessons learned into training programs, according to Dempsey.

Concerned about the ability of the Army to train its forces while supporting overseas commitments, the House version of the 2011 defense authorization bill requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the availability of full-time trainers, and report its findings to the military committees of Congress.

Issues to be evaluated include:

• The ratio of full-time trainers to trainees.

• Changes in manning authorization for trainers over time.

• The extent to which the Army has experienced challenges in filling training positions.

• Any measures the Army has taken to address these challenges, including the use of civilian and contract trainers.

• How the use of civilian trainers has affected the quantity and quality of training provided to soldiers.

The pending legislation, written by the House Armed Services Committee, also requires GAO to evaluate the ability of Army and Marine Corps units to complete annual training requirements and predeployment training during home station reset periods.

“In light of decreased dwell times, the committee is concerned that forces may not be completing required annual training before going to training centers for pre-deployment training and therefore, are spending some of their time training on tasks that should have been completed at home station,” according to a report accompanying the legislation.

Specific issues to be evaluated are:

• The nature of training requirements to be completed at home station by combat and combat support forces.

• The extent to which units are completing required training at home station before going to a training center for pre-deployment training.

• Any factors affecting the ability of units to complete required training at home station, such as the availability of personnel and equipment.