2011 Army Posture Statement

In the past decade, America's Army has been challenged and prevailed in some of the most daunting tasks in the history of our military. Soldiers from the Active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve demonstrate indelible spirit, sacrifice and sheer determination in protecting our national interests and supporting our friends and allies around the world. In the coming years, our top priorities will be to maintain our combat edge while we reconstitute the force for other missions and build resilience in our people. The Army has made significant progress in restoring balance through the four imperatives we identified in 2007- sustain, prepare, reset, and transform. We are on track to achieve a sustainable deployment tempo for our forces and restore balance to the Army beginning in FY 12. We successfully completed combat operations in Iraq, transitioning from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn while executing one of the largest wartime retrogrades in the Nation's history. Operation New Dawn marks the beginning of a new mission for our Army while demonstrating our ongoing commitment to the government and people of Iraq. Concurrently, we surged Soldiers to Afghanistan in support of a new strategic direction in this vital theater. Even with all we have done, there is still much work to do. The war is not over yet, and we remain in an era of persistent conflict facing an uncertain and increasingly complex strategic environment. Hybrid threats made up of conventional, irregular, criminal and terrorist capabilities will continue to test our forces. These threats will avoid our strengths and attack us asymmetrically. Therefore, we must continue to organize our formations, update our doctrine and prepare our forces for the full spectrum of operations. Additionally we remain aware of the difficult economic conditions at home. These conditions will drive our efforts to transform our generating force into an innovative and adaptive organization. We must adapt our institutions to effectively generate trained and ready forces for Full Spectrum Operations, while seeking ways to improve efficiency and reduce overhead expenditures that demonstrate wise stewardship of our taxpayers' dollars. With the continued support of the American people and Congress, we remain committed to the readiness and well being of our Soldiers, Civilians and Family members. As the Strength of the Nation, the American Soldier is the centerpiece of everything we do.