Chandler: Army of future still needs soldiers - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Chandler: Army of future still needs soldiers

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — The Army of the future will be smaller than today’s, but it will still need to take in tens of thousands of volunteers every year, the service’s top enlisted leader said Thursday.

“Every single job the Army requires a private at the very beginning,” Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler said at graduation ceremonies here for 1,181 of the service’s newest soldiers.

The 30-year Army veteran told the latest class of graduates from basic combat training that the service will have to adjust because Pentagon leaders have said there will be a slimmer, but more agile military in coming years.

Last week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said the military’s ranks will have to be cut, given the end of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and due to the nation’s severe budget constraints.

Panetta said the military will be able to handle more than one conflict at a time, but adjust by rotating forces in Europe as it maintains troop strengths in Asia and the Middle East. The force structure cuts come in the wake of projections for spending $487 billion less over a 10-year period, he said.

“The Army is getting smaller,” said Chandler, but that doesn’t mean new soldiers won’t have a career in the military. “There’s always an opportunity, a place for those who think they can be the best.”

In an interview following the ceremony, Chandler said certain jobs in the Army may not need as many soldiers as in the past.

“There’s going to continue to be career opportunities in the Army. We are going to look for the most qualified people,” said Chandler, who began his Army career as a tank crewman.

“We may need less truck drivers, but we will always need infantrymen,” he added.

Chandler serves as the top adviser to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno on soldier training and their quality of life. Since taking his post in March, he has visited Army troops at posts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Italy, Hawaii and Alaska, as well as the East African nations of Djibouti and Ethiopia, aides said.

Army officials have said the service will make changes over a five-year period by taking in fewer soldiers, cutting back on reenlistments and keeping fewer senior soldiers in uniform.

The Army has about 560,000 soldiers now and plans to cut back to around 490,000 over the five-year period.

Chandler said the Army hasn’t been that small in the 10 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Chandler and his wife Jeanne are meeting with soldiers and their families during their two-day visit to the Army’s largest training installation.

In his remarks, Chandler thanked the families of the men and women who came to help celebrate their soldiers’ graduation from basic combat training, saying they had given their greatest treasure to the nation.

Before taking his current job in March, Chandler served as commandant of the Army Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss in Texas.

More than 60, 000 soldiers graduate from basic combat training and other advanced individual training courses at Fort Jackson every year.