Armchair Dragoons Forums
The Reference Desk => Organizations, Vehicles, Equipment => Topic started by: bayonetbrant on September 03, 2018, 08:15:37 AM
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There's a task force working on overhauling the US Army infantry (now that the Marines already made their announcement)
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/11/this-mattis-directed-task-force-wants-to-overhaul-the-infantry-heres-how-it-might-do-that/ (https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/11/this-mattis-directed-task-force-wants-to-overhaul-the-infantry-heres-how-it-might-do-that/)
Robert Wilkie, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales on Wednesday unveiled some of the early work being done on a task force that was years in the making but only under Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has received the heft of funding and resolve to get moving.
Wilkie and Scales spoke Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
The Close Combat Lethality Task Force is a cross-service group that formed earlier this year to focus on increasing the lethality of infantry and certain close combat troops with the goal of overmatch in the close, tactical fight.
Using findings from a Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, or CAPE, study last year, the task force, at Mattis’ direction, has already put $2.5 billion toward materiel and equipment improvements for the infantry, such as the Next Generation Combat Weapon being developed by the Army.
Scales serves as the chair of the task force. His 2016 book, “Scales on War: The Future of America’s Military at Risk,” serves as a kind of blueprint or potential road map for changes he sees necessary to the survivability and success of infantry and special operations forces in the Army, Marines and Special Operations Command.
Of interest: Scales' background isn't infantry, it's artillery. He was the commander at Ft Sill in the late-80s and early-90s.
He's also one to speak with some authority on women in combat arms, as his daughter was an ADA officer for a number of years.