Army's senior logistician to warrant officers: you are critical to readiness

Photo By Kimberly Hanson | Gen. Gus Perna (Center) with Chief Warrant Officers at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Symposium, Oct. 10. 2017. Gen. Gus Perna, Army Materiel Command commander, stressed the importance of illuminating Warrant Officers to exercise their control to achieve Army readiness.  

UNITED STATES

10.10.2017

Story by Kimberly Hanson 

U.S. Army Materiel Command   

The Army's senior logistician told a cohort of Warrant Officers at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Symposium, Oct. 10, to take back ownership and control as the Army's technical experts.

Gen. Gus Perna, Army Materiel Command commander, stressed the importance of illuminating Warrant Officers to exercise their control to achieve Army readiness.

"When the Chief of Staff of the Army talks readiness, he means being ready to fight tonight - and all the movement and processes that go with that," Perna said. "I believe it's the Warrant Officers - whether supply, maintenance or transportation - who will hold it together."

Fifteen-plus years of war where the Army has had to react quickly to battlefield requirements have atrophied the skills of the Warrant Officer Corps, at no fault of their own, Perna said. But he warned the next fight will not have the level of contractor support, and the Army must be ready to sustain itself. To do that, Warrant Officers must focus on the basics, like conducting maintenance and inventories in the motorpools.

"Warrant Officers have to coach, train and mentor everybody - below and above them - on what the technical aspects of right looks like. I need you to self-police, be responsible, and hold us accountable to end states," Perna said.

The corps also plays an important role in modernization, the general said, a hot topic with senior Army leadership throughout AUSA.

"We need you to help us see requirements for new equipment and ensure we consider sustainment," said Perna. "You will be a part of the solution if you invest the time to get this right."

Acknowledging comments from Warrant Officers in the room that not only have the skills of the current corps atrophied, but so have those of the young officers commanding units and those of the non-commissioned officers aspiring to be the next generation of warrants, Perna said the system will take time to catch up.

"Even though we're short, pick the right people to build the Warrant Officer Corps," he said. "Use the right metric. Don't grow for the sake of growing."

While he said he's focused on realigning warrants within AMC to ensure the right people are in the right units, he also challenged the corps to step up and find ways to solve the problems - both people and skill sets.

"I need you to go figure it out - today," he said. "The enormity of change in our equipment in the past decade is significant. Read as much as possible; be vocal and be part of the solution."

Having senior leaders as advocates will go far in helping the Warrant Officers Cohort, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jeremy Addleman, chief of Warrant Officer recruiting.

“Because we are only about two percent of the total Army end strength, and a lot of times, the Warrant Officers work in the background, we don’t get a lot of face time,” Addleman said. “The fact that senior leaders like Gen. Perna recognize that we are the technical experts first and foremost is going to help us reconstitute our ability to regain that ground from the contractors, and more importantly, in the minds of our commanders.”

Perna left the warrants with words of encouragement, that he has the utmost respect and confidence in the corps to adapt and adjust.

"I want you to be what I remember you to be; I am here today because of the Warrant Officers who selected you and trained me," he said. "I know maintenance and I know supply because of my warrants."

When it comes to readiness, the Warrant Officers Corps is critical.

"The difference between being ready and reacting is accounted for in Soldiers' lives,” Perna said. “I believe that in order to be successful, the Warrant Officer Corps must be prominent and powerful."

• Date Taken: 10.10.2017
• Date Posted: 10.12.2017 13:08
• Story ID: 251427
• Location: US