TRADOC Losing Its Edge?

[Rob Thornton]

Over the past 5 years or so TRADOC and the rest of the generating force have been significant bill payers for a service that has also been a huge bill payer for a department that has been the primary bill payer to meet operational requirments in multiple theaters.

One can argue that this is good as it gets folks back into operational positions and as such should bring that experience back into the generating force. While that may be true, a hole is hole. If you think of the generating force as a mechanical generator that provides a power supply to operating force, how many kilo watts are required to provide power? How much is required to provide minimal power (meet current requirments) and maximum power (meet current and future requirements)? How many kilo watts do we have on hand relative to the requirment(s)? I don't know the answer to that question, and I don't think many others do as well.

I do think TRADOC has managed to do its part in ensuring that the wheels don't fall off as we increase the demands on the Army - demands that will likely increase with additional mission creep. This is a feat in itself, and I think a testimony to stewardship of an important and limited resource - our Army. Some may argue it could be done more efficiently or more effectively, I'd only ask them to prove it. I'd add that there are lots of folks in and outside the Army who are in fact trying to do that, its proven to be harder than some have thought.

I think we've done OK, and could perhaps do better, but I'm not totally sure how - or if in fact its within a given leader's, organization's, command's, service's, or department's authority to make it so. While that is frustrating, I do beleive that there are a lot of folks trying hard to get things more right, and that the leadership has set a mostly conducive and tolerant atmoshpere. That they don't jump to every proposed solution may seem recalcitrant or obstinant, however I'd offer it may in fact be the knowledge and experience that recognizes that while an organization as big as the Army can recover from not getting it quite right, its very hard to recover from getting it completely wrong.

Best, Rob