FORT HOOD, Texas — U.S. Army senior leaders from across armored and mechanized formations gathered at the Mission Training Complex here Jan. 21 to participate in a two-day Armor Transformation and Standardization Initiative Summit (ATSI).
At the start of ATSII III Armored Corps delegated specific priorities to each division to synchronize training standards and improve combat readiness across the corps. Throughout the 18-month period IIIAC conducted monthly recurring touchpoints to address specific challenges and ongoing progress.
During the summit, senior leaders discussed insights and newly established ways to improve maintenance stewardship, gunnery standards, force transformation and future platforms.
Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, III Armored Corps and Fort Hood commanding general, kicked off the summit providing insight into some of the challenges facing mechanized armored formations and homed in on the imperative the corps must be ready to provide lethal formations.
“We must do a better job at conveying the efficacy of mechanized armored formations … Yes, our technologies are expensive, but they provide war-ending capabilities,” said Admiral.
Admiral went further, emphasizing the importance of continuing Army innovation strategies and that those were not just material solutions, but also included training, leadership development and live-fire exercises.
Maintenance stewardship was a recurring theme among the summit’s participants. To mitigate costly repairs, leaders prioritized training programs that certify operators and maintainers. Leaders stated the deliberate training effort had already shown signs of success by driving down operator-induced faults, allowing for more efficient resource management and improved fleet readiness.
“This summit provided a vital touchpoint for brigade commanders to dialogue on immediate readiness while simultaneously looking toward the ‘tomorrow and beyond’ horizons of our armored formations,” said Lt. Col. Nicholas Drake, armored brigade combat team (ABCT) transformation lead, III Armored Corps.
Drake explained there are a multitude of touchpoints carved out for the corps commander to identify readiness levels, guidance and friction points with his subordinate divisions, but how it is invaluable to have a conference where senior leaders can come together and strategize with their fellow peers in the armored community.
He is certain the corps will continue to produce the lethal war-winning force the Army needs and the nation demands.
“Junior leaders need to speak up, share ideas widely, write and get published into professional journals because those ideas are going to shape what becomes the future of our armored force,” Drake advised when asked about what message he would send to junior leaders at the conclusion of the summit.
Also in attendance was career infantry officer Maj. Gen. Monté L. Rone, commanding general, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.
When asked to expand on the importance for commanders to have autonomy in planning training for their formations and the need to reduce the strain of excess rules and regulations Rone said, “We train by intent, not checklists. Clear guidance is provided, and commanders at every echelon are empowered to determine how best to prepare their formations for the rigors of combat operation, building individual, crew leader, and collective task proficiency to succeed in large-scale combat operations.”
Rone ended his statement by applauding ATSI's work to strike the right balance between standardization that improves core proficiency and the flexibility required to enable mission command.
The two-day forum also included replicas and demonstrations of emerging technologies and next-generation armored platforms, including the M1E3 and XM30.
Another central topic discussed was lessons learned from persistent rotations at the National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, California. These rotations allow brigade-sized units to validate their force-on-force maneuvers.
“NTC 26-02 validated the division’s ability to mass effects, maintain tempo and impose multiple dilemmas on the enemy, enabling the ABCT to maneuver on a transparent battlefield,” stated Col. Jose A. Reyes, commander, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team (2nd ABCT), 1st Cavalry Division.
2nd ABCT is designated as a Transformation in Contact (TiC) 2.0 unit, tasked to test, document next-generation capabilities and transform at a faster rate.
Reyes emphasized testing, training and providing feedback on new organizational structures, equipment, tactics and technology can advance the way the Army fights and wins on future battlefields. One of the feedback assessments identified during Rone’s NTC rotation was every echelon — from division to company — must possess the organic capability to detect, suppress, finish and maneuver.
Brig. Gen Kevin D. Bradley, deputy commanding general (support), 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, also attended ATSI to discuss his command’s experience implementing TiC 2.0 during NTC and last year’s multinational exercise Combined Resolve 25-2. The “Ready Brigade” was the first TiC 2.0 unit to execute a rotation at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany https://www.vcorps.army.mil/Newsroom/Transforming-in-Contact/.
Bradley said over the next year 3rd Inf. Div. plans to integrate lessons from each event to determine the right mix of available technology and organizational changes from the platoon to the brigade headquarters design to win on a modern, highly contested battlefield.
“Through a series of simulations, a warfighter and two National Training Center rotations we are designing armored formations that achieve overmatch in the close fight against multiple pacing-threat brigades in an environment dominated by drones, pervasive sensing and increased lethality,” he concluded.