An Army in Transition: Maintaining the Competitive Edge

Abstract

The United States Army still remains the most powerful land force in the world, but it faces a number of significant changes and complex challenges after a decade at war. The Army is in a period of transition because of the U.S. Military drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan. If the Army reverts to the same home station practices seen prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, junior leaders will no longer have the same autonomy to innovate, as they have done over the past 10 years of conflict. The experiences and immense responsibilities that junior officers had while deployed created agile and extremely creative leaders. These skills however will quickly atrophy if changes to how the Army operates within a garrison environment are not made. This large talent pool of junior leaders will shape the Army of the 21st Century -- given the chance

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 15, 2012
Accession Number
ADA562824

Entities

People

  • Curtis A. Johnson

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Army Training
  • Autonomy
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • Second World War
  • Students
  • Training
  • Transitions
  • United States
  • War
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Economics
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.