Last updated 30 October 2003
Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1993
10
Conclusion
During fiscal year 1993 the Army continued the struggle to reinvent itself in the wake of the end of the Cold War. As operational deployments grew dramatically from the previous fiscal year and force structure and budgets continued to decline, the Army faced sobering challenges of trying to maintain readiness while making the transition from a forward-deployed force to a power-projection force.
On an average day during the fiscal year, the Army had 20,000 soldiers deployed to approximately seventy-five nations and performing more than a thousand operations other than war missions. Army soldiers helped stem the flow of illegal drugs, helped maintain the peace and provide medical support in new Balkan republics, and helped alleviate the suffering of thousands in Somalia.
The Army conducted these operations with a shrinking force and resources diverted from training and readiness. Army end strength went from 610,000 to approximately 572,000 during the fiscal year, the lowest it had been since FY 1948. As the size of the Army declined, pressing shortages in critical MOSs arose. For example, there was a 29 percent shortage in Multiple Launch Rocket System repairers during the fiscal year. Other personnel problems, such as a shortage of approximately 1,900 branch-qualified captains, further hampered training and readiness.
While the Army's smaller force was doing more in serving the nation, the service remained committed to supporting important modernization programs such as the Comanche RAH-66 armed reconnaissance helicopter, the Advanced Field Artillery System, and the Javelin missile system.
Although these programs received increased funding in FY 1993, procurement expenditures continued to decline, dropping 27 percent from FY 1991 levels. For example, the Javelin antitank missile system received funding only for low-rate initial production.
One measure the Army undertook to increase readiness during FY 1993 was eradicating unnecessary obstacles to service for women. In response to a change in Department of Defense policy that expanded the role of women in the military, the Army opened more specialties and assignment opportunities to women. The Army opened more than 9,000
133
new positions in combat aviation assignments to women in FY 1993 and studied opening additional positions after a new risk rule is developed.
During the fiscal year the Army continued taking steps to reorganize and improve its training and readiness support structure. The adoption of the Combined Arms Training Strategy, which helps provide training strategies for the total force and ensures that those plans interface with new combat developments, was a significant initiative to improve training efficiency. In addition, the expansion of the BOLD SHIFT initiatives, in which active Army units develop associations with Contingency Force Pool units and assist with reserve component training, helped develop a more cohesive total force.
In FY 1993 the Army continued to realign and close installations as the service underwent a transition from a forward-deployed force to a CONUS-based, power-projection force. For example, in Europe USAREUR returned a number of bases to Germany after decades of American use. After the dramatic force reductions of the past few years created a surplus of materiel in European stockpiles, USAREUR also continued the task of shipping excess equipment back to the United States for use by other active and reserve component units. During the fiscal year USAREUR identified 55,000 excess vehicles for redistribution or disposal and shipped 137,000 tons of excess ammunition to CONUS.
The Army 1993 posture statement outlined goals to maintain a "strategic force capable of decisive victory." These goals were achieved partly through organizational improvements and efficiencies during the fiscal year. An example of a notable reorganization was the creation of the provisional Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management to bring tighter control over Army facilities and help improve soldiers' quality of life and soldier retention rates. An example of a significant efficiency was the development of the Installation Status Report, which gave the Army Chief of Staff a valuable tool to monitor the fitness of the Army's infrastructure.
Other initiatives that contributed to the Army's achieving its goals included release of the revised FM 100-5, Operations. The revised manual included significant post-Cold War changes to conform with the Army's role as a power-projection force as well as its expanded role in conducting operations other than war missions. Among significant Army automation initiatives was the Army Tactical Command and Control System, a comprehensive approach to automating Army command and control systems with improved communications. Another important initiative, the ongoing Louisiana Maneuvers, helped enable Army leaders to seek new approaches to solving complex Army-wide problems such as battlefield digitization. The Army expects to use digital information technologies to increase the breadth and depth of command and control through near-real-time situational awareness.
134
The Army's medical research programs and Corps of Engineers Civil Works programs continued to offer positive benefits to the nation during the fiscal year. Army medical research programs developed antibiotics and made advances with blood plasma proteins that may one day assist civilians injured in accidents or violent crime. Medical personnel also investigated diseases that threatened public health and found a new means to combat malaria. The Corps of Engineers Civil Works construction programs protected lives and property during the 1993 floods. The Corps of Engineers also embarked on new projects to provide additional benefits in the future.
By the end of the fiscal year the Army was making progress in its transition from a forward-deployed force to a power-projection force. Reduced budgets, continued downsizing, and the demands of conducting increasing numbers of operations other than war missions hampered the transition. Training, readiness, and modernization were adversely affected as Army leaders made difficult choices in serving the nation. Looking toward the future, the promise of finding additional efficiencies and innovative solutions to problems enabled Army leaders to remain focused on accomplishing the difficult transition.
135
136
|
Go to: |
|
|
|
|
|
Last updated 30 October 2003
|