Under Schoomaker, combat training centers (CTCs) emphasized the contemporary operating environment (such as an urban, ethnically-sensitive city in Iraq) and stress units according to the unit mission and the commanders' assessments, collaborating often to support holistic collective training programs, rather than by exception as was formerly the case. Schoomaker's plan was to resource units based on the mission they are expected to accomplish (major combat versus SASO, or stability and support operations), regardless of component (active or reserve). Instead of using snapshot readiness reports, the Army now rates units based on the mission they are expected to perform given their position across the three force pools ('reset', 'train/ready', and 'available'). By 2019, two-thirds of the Active Army's brigades and half of the BCTs of the Total Army (both Active and Reserve components) are now at the highest level of readiness. The FY2021 budget request allows two-thirds of the Total Army (1,012,200 Soldiers by 2022) to reach the highest level of readiness by FY2022 —Maj. Gen. Paul Chamberlain. 39th Chief of Staff Mark Milley's readiness objective is that all operational units be at 90 percent of the authorized strength in 2018, at 100 percent by 2021, and at 105 percent by 2023. The observer coach/trainers at the combat training centers, recruiters, and drill sergeants are to be filled to 100 percent strength by the end of 2018. In November 2018, written deployability standards (Army Directive 2018–22) were set by the Secretary and the Chief of Staff of the Army; failure to meet the standard means a soldier has six months to remedy this, or face separation from the Army. The directive does not apply to about 60,000 of the 1,016,000 Soldiers of the Army; 70–80 percent of the 60,000 are non-deployable for medical reasons. Non-deployables have declined from 121,000 in 2017. at the minimum, the 3-Repetition Maximum Deadlift, the Sprint-Drag-Carry and an aerobic event will be required of all soldiers, including those with profiles (meaning there is an annotation in their record
See: PULHES Factor); the assessment of the alternative aerobic test will be completed by 19 October 2019.
Soldier and Family Readiness Groups By 2022 surveys of military servicemen, veterans, and spouses and family were indicating that financial and other difficulties were raising questions about the viability of an all-volunteer force. Soldiers and Army spouses belong to Soldier and Family Readiness Groups (SFRGs), renamed from (FRGs) which mirror the command structure of an Army unit—the spouse of the 40th
Chief of Staff of the United States Army has served on the FRG at every echelon of the Army. The name change to SFRG is to be more inclusive of single soldiers, single parents, and also those with nontraditional families. or to aid spouses find jobs. As a soldier transfers in and out of an installation, the soldier's entire family will typically undergo a permanent change of station (PCS) to the next post. PCS to Europe and Japan is now uniformly for 36 months, regardless of family status (formerly 36 months for families). Transfers typically follow the cycle of the school year to minimize disruption in an Army family. By policy, DoD families stationed in Europe and Japan who have school-aged children are served by American school systems— the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Noncombatant evacuation operations are a contingency which an FRG could publicize and plan for, should the need arise. When a family emergency occurs, the informal support of that unit's S/FRG is available to the soldier. (But the
Army Emergency Relief fund is available to any soldier with a phone call to their local garrison. Seventy-five
Fisher Houses maintain home-away-from-home suites for families undergoing medical treatment of a loved one. The Army, Navy, and Air Force Medical Treatment Facilities (MTFs) are scheduled to complete their transfer to the
Defense Health Agency (DHA) no later than 21 October 2021. This has been a ten-year process. The directors of each home installation's Medical treatment facility (MTF) continue to report to the commanders of their respective installations. This change transfers all civilian employees of each Medical treatment facility (MTF) to the Defense Health Agency (DHA).) The name change links Soldier Readiness with Family Readiness. By 2020, AMC's commander and the Residential community initiative (RCI) groups had formulated a 50-year plan. The Army's RCI groups, "seven private housing companies, which have 50-year lease agreements" on 98% of Army housing at 44 installations, will work with the Army for long-term housing improvements, and remediation. In 2020 Secretary McCarthy determined that the
Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP) program has failed to meet its mandate, particularly for young unmarried Soldiers at
Fort Hood and
Camp Casey, South Korea. Missing soldiers were previously classified as
Absent without leave until enough time has elapsed to be denoted
deserters, rather than victims of a crime; the Army has established a new classification for missing Soldiers, to merit police investigation. In response to the report of the
Fort Hood Independent Review Committee, the Army has established the People first task force (PFTF), an Army-wide task force that is headed by 3 chairs: 1) Lt. Gen. Gary M. Brito, 2) Diane M. Randon, and 3) Sgt. Maj. Julie A.M. Guerra, who are: 1) the deputy chief of staff G-1, 2) the assistant deputy chief of staff G-2, and 3) the assistant deputy chief of staff G-2 Sgt. Maj. respectively. Cohesion assessment teams (CATs), part of the People first task force, work with brigade commanders on their brigade's command climate. The Cohesion assessment team interviews members of that brigade or battalion, to identify any problems. The CAT then works with the unit commanders to address the root causes of those problems. On 13 May 2022 Fort Hood's
People First Center opened its doors; the center is to offer immersive experiences for participants over several days, centered on "family advocacy, sexual harassment and assault prevention, equal opportunity, resiliency, substance abuse, suicide [prevention] (The Senate Armed Services Committee is requesting that the military track suicides by MOS.), and spiritual readiness ... all housed at the center with training focused on immersion", collocated with subject matter experts.
USAR mobilization :
See: Soldier Readiness Processing Plans are being formulated for mobilization of the Army Reserve (42,000 to 45,000 soldiers) very quickly. For example, 'Ready Force X' (RFX) teams have fielded Deployment Assistance Team Command and Control Cells to expedite the associated equipment to the various ports and vessels which is required for the specific Reserve personnel who have been notified that they are deploying.
FORSCOM's mobilization and force generation installations (MFGIs) have fluctuated from two primary installations (2018) to an envisioned eleven primary and fourteen contingency MFGIs, in preparation for future actions against near-peers. This plan increases the number of divisions in the Total Army from 10 to 18, and increases the readiness of the National Guard divisions, by aligning their training plans with large-scale combat operations.
"Associated units" training program The Army announced a pilot program, 'associated units', in which a National Guard or Reserve unit would now train with a specific active Army formation. These units would wear the patch of the specific Army division before their deployment to a theater;
36th Infantry Division headquarters deployed to Afghanistan in May 2016 for a train, advise, assist mission. The Army Reserve, whose headquarters are co-located with FORSCOM, and the National Guard, are testing the associated units program in a three-year pilot program with the active Army. The program will use the First Army training roles at the Army Combat Training Centers at Fort Irwin, Fort Polk, and regional and overseas training facilities. The pilot program complements FORSCOM's total force partnerships with the National Guard, begun in 2014. Summer 2016 will see the first of these units. • Associated units • 3rd Infantry BCT, 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, associated with the 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard • 48th Infantry BCT, Georgia ARNG, associated with the 3rd Infantry Division, Stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia • 86th Infantry BCT, Vermont ARNG, associated with the 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Drum, New York • 81st Armored BCT, Washington ARNG, associated with the 7th Infantry Division, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington • Task Force 1-28th Infantry Battalion., 3rd Infantry Division, stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, associated with the 48th Infantry BCT, Georgia Army National Guard • 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment, USAR, associated with the 3rd Infantry BCT, 25th Infantry Division, stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii • 1st Battalion (Airborne), 143rd Infantry Regiment Texas ARNG, associated with the 173rd Airborne BCT, stationed in Vicenza, Italy • 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, Indiana ARNG, associated with the 2nd Infantry BCT, 25th Infantry Division, stationed at Schofield Barracks • 5th Engineer Battalion, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, associated with the 35th Engineer Brigade, Missouri ARNG • 840th Engineer Company, Texas ARNG, associated with the 36th Engineer Brigade, stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas • 824th Quartermaster Company, USAR, associated with the 82nd Airborne Division's Sustainment Brigade, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina • 249th Transportation Company, Texas ARNG, associated with the 1st Cavalry Division's Sustainment Brigade., stationed in Fort Cavazos • 1245th Transportation Company, Oklahoma ARNG, associated with the 1st Cavalry Division's Sustainment Brigade., stationed in Fort Cavazos • 1176th Transportation Company, Tennessee ARNG, associated with the 101st Airborne Division's Sustainment Brigade, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky • 2123rd Transportation Company, Kentucky ARNG, associated with the 101st Airborne Division's Sustainment Brigade, stationed at Fort Campbell
Rifleman training Soldiers train for weapons handling, and marksmanship first individually, on static firing ranges, and then on simulators such as an
Engagement Skills Trainer (EST). More advanced training on squad level simulators (Squad Advanced Marksmanship-Trainer (SAMT)) place a squad in virtual engagements against avatars of various types, using
M4 carbine,
M249 light machine gun and
M9 Beretta pistol simulated weapon systems. A 2019 marksmanship manual
TC 3-20.40, Training and Qualification-Individual Weapons (the "Dot-40") now mandates the use of the simulators, as if the soldier were in combat. The Dot-40 is to be used by the entire Army, from the Cadets at West Point to the Active Army, the Army Reserve, and Army National Guard; Forty-five infantrymen (four Stryker shells) or thirty-six scouts (six Stryker shells) can rehearse their battle rhythm on a virtual battlefield, record their lessons learned, give their after-action reports, and repeat, as a team. The Stryker gunner's seat comes directly from a Stryker vehicle and has a
Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) and joystick to control a virtual
.50 caliber (12.7 mm) heavy machine gun or a virtual 30 mm autocannon and other CROWS configurations are possible.
Digital air ground integration ranges (DAGIRs) Live-fire digital air ground integration ranges (DAGIRs) were first conceptualized in the 1990s, and established in 2012, with follow-on in 2019. The ranges initially included 23 miles of tank trails, targets, battlefield effects simulators, and digital wiring for aerial scorekeeping.
TRADOC's Mission Command Training Program, as well as
Cyber Command designs tactics for these OPFORs. When a brigade trains at
Fort Irwin,
Fort Polk, Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, or
Joint Multinational Training Center (in
Hohenfels, Germany) the Army tasks
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment,
1st Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment (Abn),
196th Infantry Brigade, and
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, respectively, with the OPFOR role, and provides the OPFOR with modern equipment (such as the
FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile) to test that brigade's readiness for deployment.
Multiple integrated laser engagement systems serve as proxies for actual fired weapons, and soldiers are lost to the commander from "kills" by laser hits.
Training against cyber Deceptive data intended to divide deployed forces are making their way into the news feeds, and are falsely implicating actual soldiers who are deployed at the time of the false social media reports, which are mixing fact and fiction. The Army now has its tenth direct-commissioned cyber officer: a Sergeant First Class with a computer engineering degree, and a masters in system engineering was commissioned a major in the National Guard, 91st Cyber Brigade, on 30 July 2020.
Soldier integration facility PEO Soldier has established a Soldier integration facility (SIF) at
Fort Belvoir which allows prototyping and evaluation of combat capabilities for the Army Soldier.
CCDC Soldier center in Natick Massachusetts, Night Vision Lab at Fort Belvoir Virginia, and Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning, Georgia have prototyped ideas at the SIF. Bluetooth enabled replicas of M4 rifles and M9 and Glock 19 pistols, with compressed air recoil approximate the form, fit and function of the weapons that the Soldiers are using in close combat. For 1st SFAB, scenarios included virtual reality attacks which felt like engagements in a room. The scenarios can involve the entire SFAB Advisor team, and engagements can be repeated over and over again. Advanced marksmanship skills such as firing with the non-dominant hand, and firing on the move can be practiced. and 2nd BCT/ 82nd Airborne close combat training. The concept has been extended to the Live, Virtual, Constructive Integrating Architecture (LVC-IA), to integrate the National Guard, and the Reserves, with Active Army. • "A simulation places leadership teams in a situation akin to a Combat Training Center rotation, an intellectually and emotionally challenging environment that forgives the mistakes of the participants "—Dr. Charles K. Pickar • "It is important for Soldiers to have an open and clear mind during the simulation so that they learn something from the experience." —Tim Glaspie Other training environments include
MANPADS for
SHORAD in the 14P MOS at
Fort Sill. ==Deployment scheme==