The ARMY will be cut from 540,000 soldiers to about 490,000 by the end of 2015, and is likely to fall further to 420,000 in 2019, according to Defense.com. General Robert Cohen, commander of the US Military Training and Doctrine Command, said the Us Army was working to build a “smaller, more capable, faster deployed, and more responsive force” in peacetime. The extent and manner of the cuts are a surprise.
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On Jan. 15, 2014, at the Army Aviation Forum in Arlington, Va., General Cohen unexpectedly unveiled his vision for the army’s future. Over the next few years, the army will shrink combat brigades from 4,000 to 3,000 personnel, and the tasks of the reduced soldiers will be replaced by robots and unmanned platforms. The Army is currently demonstrating the feasibility of such a plan. “Looking at the future development of the force, I have a clear judgment of what will happen if we replace manpower with machines for military tasks in terms of its mobility,” he said.
Cohen also has a clear plan for how to reduce the size of the current nine-man infantry squad. Using manned platforms to issue instructions to unmanned armored vehicles on the ground can reduce the number of weapons and equipment and unnecessary protection, thereby reducing the size of a combat brigade.
In the past 12 years of war, the U.S. military has paid a high price to maintain the security of its troops, resulting in a considerable reduction in combat effectiveness. Now the AMERICANS need to regain their mobility. Deploy capability and firepower. Cohen and his staff are forming an advisory group to study these issues, including the creation of smaller combat brigades. As technological capabilities grow, a combat brigade may need as little as 3,000 men. The budget is the best barometer of how combat brigades have changed, and the best indicator of fundamental changes. That’s because personnel account for about half of military spending, and if you cut them, you’re going to have to change the budget.
Cohen uses the Navy as an example to explain the military’s next move. When looking at the Navy’s success in reducing the number of people onboard, it is natural to wonder if the Army could also use some automated means (such as robots or manned/unmanned formations) to carry out military missions, thus reducing the use of manpower, which is a major cost for the Army.
Cohen’s ideas echoed those of Lieutenant General Keith Walker in a January 6 interview with Defense News Network. “We need to fundamentally change the nature of the military, but it’s going to require major breakthroughs in science and technology,” Walker said of his “Long Future Plan” for 2030 to 2040.
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Walker, who oversees military modernization and changes to regulations as director of the Military Capabilities Integration Center, did not discuss replacing soldiers with robots. But he did mention that the army needs to adjust its “tooth and tail” ratio, which is the ratio of front-line combatants (teeth) to support personnel (tails). Currently, about two-thirds of U.S. military personnel are directly involved in war operations, and one-third are logistics personnel. As the army shrinks, it may end up losing a third of its teeth and two-thirds of its tail. If the balance is adjusted, the ratio may be one to one, with the same number of combatants and support staff. The point is that the U.S. military needs to keep more teeth — that is, more soldiers who can perform military tasks on the battlefield — while minimizing logistics and redundancies. The Army has already begun making such changes in the structure of its combat brigades. Last year the Army announced the addition of a third mobile battalion to each company, along with a major boost to the corps’ engineering and combat capabilities. While strengthening the combat brigade, the plan is to reduce company strength from 45 to 33 by the end of fiscal 2017, when some of the best soldiers will be reassigned to existing combat brigades.