An Army of One: Refined budget, fewer deployments, more training coming
FORT STEWART, Ga. — Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III spent Thursday and Friday at Fort Stewart, observing training and talking to Soldiers about the future of the Army.
Changes are coming to the Army by way of a refined budget, fewer deployments and an overall reset and evaluation of our Soldier assets. These were some of the topics discussed during Chandler’s visit to the home of the 3rd Infantry Division.
“The first thing Soldiers need to recognize is we’ll be transitioning from an Army of execution, deployments into combat zones, to an Army of preparation where we’ll be doing a lot more training at posts, camps and stations and our training centers in order to meet the needs of the nation,” Chandler said.
What this boils down to is a smaller, more fit and capable force working with a smaller budget to maintain the nation’s security goals, he said.
The plan to accomplish these goals is ultimately through quality leaders training and retaining the best Soldiers the nation has to offer. To meet that goal, physical standards are being developed at Fort Stewart and elsewhere to set the bar for Soldiers. Gone are the days of “good enough.”