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Big Army For Big Wars? Yes! GCV? Probably Not.
Breaking Defense (USA) - November 13, 2013
Author/Byline: Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army wont be able to replace its 80s-vintage M2 Bradleys, like the one shown here in Iraq, for years to come.
PENTAGON: Do we still need a big Army that can wage big wars? Hell yes, the Army generals say. Will the Army get a new Ground Combat Vehicle to replace the 1981-vintage Bradley Fighting Vehicle that currently carries foot troops into battle? Probably not for a long, long time.
Thats my assessment based on an exclusive interview with two two-star generals and a senior Army civilian: the director of the Army office supporting the Quadrennial Defense Review, Maj. Gen. John Rossi; the G-s director of force development, Maj. Gen. Robert Dyess; and the director of the Armys QDR office, Timothy Muchmore.
Theres still a requirement out there to defeat a large ground army, Maj. Gen. Rossi said. Its a deterrent. The ground force is going to be the singular force capable of what we term regime change.
Wait, regime change? I asked. Isnt that the phrase the now-reviled Don Rumsfeld used to describe the US invasion of Iraq?
I dont know if you can find another term for it, Rossi replied.
(snip)
We have a long-term view that well get through this period, said Maj. Gen. Rossi. The Army will still be here.
It would be easy to sit back and say, woe is us, Rossi went on. But were not sitting on our hands, saying lets just get through it . I dont see it as a hurricanes coming, so get in the shelter and well stick our heads out in five years.
The Army will still modernize its equipment, still deploy regionally aligned forces to build up allies abroad, and, for that matter, still fight in Afghanistan through at least the end of 2014. Its just that, for the foreseeable future, the only dramatic change the Army will make is to get smaller.
Thanks Maggief!