Victory Starts Here! Changing TRADOC to Meet the Needs of the Army

Change: To make different in some particular way, but short of conversion into something else; to give a different position, status, course, or direction. -Webster's Third New International Dictionary IN ORDER TO ADAPT to meet new and evolving challenges, change is an essential and necessary aspect of our personal lives, our Nation, our and our operating environment. On 11 September 2001, a new kind of enemy declared war on our Nation, our and on each one of us as individual Americans. Today, we find ourselves having been at war with that enemy longer than the span between the attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor and Victory over Japan Day. In response, the modification to our Nation's culture as a whole has been relatively modest: Domestically, most changes have amounted to little more than inconveniences. In contrast, however, our Army has found it necessary to undergo change of a magnitude not seen since World War II. Comparisons of the Army of today with that of even just a decade ago reflect great differences. Many factors have necessitated this change, including the changing nature of the threat, a retooled national military strategy, and the collective experiences of our deployed formations engaged against an elusive enemy in a protracted war of global scale. Each catalyst shapes the lens through which we view the Army's mission, but one overriding thought remains: We must increasingly and consistently adapt to how we handle the challenges of fullspectrum operations in a protracted conflict. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), as part of the generating force, is in the midst of transformation in today's state of continuous operations. A symbiotic relationship is forming between generating and operating forces, and the traditional line between responsibilities is beginning to blur. TRADOC must establish better linkages to the operating forces it supports while simultaneously receiving constant feedback on adaptive solutions for current and future Army modular forces (figure 1). TRADOC's center of gravity is our ability to continue to learn and, as the Architect of the Army, to adjust how we support the Army's operating force. ' The strength of our formation remains our people-both Soldiers and civilians-whose intellectual energy drives change necessary for the Nation's security. This article highlights ongoing changes in TRADOC and seeks to generate the intellectual discourse necessary to lead those changes. The Threat Many describe today's threat as asymmetrical. I would submit that this has become an overused term that creates an intellectual box concerning how we wish we could fight versus how we must apply ourselves in a full-spectrum environment where offense, defense, stability, and civil support operations occur simultaneously. Our young leaders and Soldiers understand both the political and military implications of their tactical missions on today's battlefields. They understand that cultural awareness is a combat multiplier for this fight. They also understand that our current enemy and future adversaries recognize our dependence on coalitions and realize the excellence of our tactical formations. The enemy of today and tomorrow will continue to look for seams where he can achieve limited tactical success reinforced by a highly effective strategic communications effort to magnify his effect. We must train and educate our young leaders and Soldiers to fight and win in this environment, write the concepts and doctrine that guide our decisions, and thoughtfully develop the Future Combat Force for a world more dangerous and complex than that of today. The Army Army efforts to change from a division to a brigade combat team-(BCT) based force continue. Lessons learned from redeployed and engaged forces continue to inform TRADOC on the modular force design. We know it is not perfect, and we will continue to refine the doctrine, organizations, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) requirements with the Department of the Army (DA). …