Military Readiness In The Army

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Readiness is the mantra of the United States Army. Readiness is multi-faceted and comes in many forms but ultimately requires that all soldiers can deploy at any given time. A soldier’s job is to fight and win the nation’s wars. The reality the military faces is that it has near-peer adversaries around the globe that possess like or near capabilities, and that the world is increasingly complex and unstable (D. Dailey, personal communication, March 21, 2018). Regardless of a soldier’s military occupational specialty, the first and last soldier will be behind a rifle in the defense of this nation. Soldiers must be mentally and physically able to fulfill their duties to properly accomplish the National Defense Strategy, which at its core…show more content…
The DoD memorandum outlines that separation from the military will occur for service members that have been non-deployable for more than 12 consecutive months for any reason (Wilkie, 2018). This policy does not go into effect until October 1st, 2018. The SecDef has given the DA and SMA Dailey decision space within that timeframe to interpret the guidance and create a policy in line with the Army’s goals of readiness. SMA Dailey said the Army’s policy will be within the scope of the DoDs overarching principles (personal communication, March 21, 2018). Additionally, the SMA indicated that he would add to the policy that soldiers would be administratively separated if they are non-deployable for 12 months in any 18 month period. The exception to the rule, he said, will be wartime wounded soldiers because they have long-term recoveries, and pregnant soldiers (personal communication, March 21,…show more content…
With brand new policy initiatives in motion that focus on the core message that a soldier’s job is to be ready first; the fact is that the Army needs people that can deploy world-wide to accomplish the NDS and win. While there can be many reasons a soldier becomes non-deployable, the way ahead to address readiness can be as simple as an individual taking personal responsibility to fulfill their medical appointments, while other’s can be harder such as administratively separating non-deployable soldiers. Leaders and soldiers must change the current culture and remove the emotional aspect of retention and separation. Soldiers who cannot fight place the burden on the back of those that do which is unfair and unsustainable. If a soldier does not have the ability to conduct their duties in a reasonable timeframe they will be separated. The new policy will benefit the Army by promoting readiness of a healthy force and strategically incentivize the retention of deployable soldiers. Fundamentally, the Army’s job is to win, and it takes mentally and physically capable people to

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