TRADOC’s senior leaders ended the morning with a long and active discussion on the Army’s force generation system. Why did this seemingly dry subject stimulate an active response?

The TRADOC leaders in the room are responsible for running a wide variety of commands, schools, and operations. The wars downrange are creating highly variable demands on TRADOC’s commands and schools, which are responsible for ensuring that the forces that eventually deploy are ready to do so. The leaders in the room were eager to discuss how attempts to implement the Army’s force generation plans under shifting conditions were affecting the day-to-day operations for which they are responsible.

The Army is restructuring itself under the assumption that it will be fighting abroad indefinitely. Within two years it hopes that the “boots-on-the ground:dwell-time ratio” will be 1:2. TRADOC needs to adjust its training command and school schedules to support this assumption. The day-to-day management implications of this generated an animated discussion this morning.

-Robert Haddick