 We're also evaluated on individual merit to determine the Army soldier and NCO of the year the 2023 United States Army NCO and soldier of the year our NCO Sergeant Jacob Phillips from the United States Army Special Operations Command and Soldier of the Year Sergeant Chancellor McGuire from United States Army Special Operations Command Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a round of applause for all of our outstanding non-commissioned officers and soldiers Today, we're honored to have with us the 41st Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Randy George is a native of Alden, Iowa and Commissioned from the United States Military Academy in 1988 as an infantry officer He's commanded at all levels from company to core and is deployed in support of operations and during freedom Iraqi freedom and Desert Shield Desert Storm He's also served in a multitude of key staff assignments in both joint and Army organizations and Served as a fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations as well He assumed duties as a 38th Vice Chief of Staff of the Army in August of 2022 And he was confirmed as Chief of Staff on September 23rd 2023 We are very fortunate to have the right leader at the right time leading our Army through this critical Transformation it gives me great pleasure to present General Randy George Chief of Staff of the United States Army Okay, hello everybody real honor to be be here today first. I wanted to just start by Saying a big thanks to the AUSA team and in general Brown this amazing week. It's great to have everybody here It's been a great venue great opportunity to meet a whole bunch of Army Chiefs that are here We appreciate you all of our allies and partners being here. I also want to Recognize my great teammate secretary Warmoots who's over there Sarge major the Army the under I remember sitting here last year as the vice I've been to a lot of these speeches and was eaten the under's desert So in the slightly different position this year so like I said, I've sat in a lot of speeches and What I wanted to hear and what I wanted to be told was What the Army was doing in very plain terms, so I'm going to be very straightforward with you all today We're doing a lot of things really well And we've got some work to do and my goal is for all of you to understand your part first I Am proud of our Army Recently I visited several of our Army formations in Germany. I saw a second Calvary Regiment who clearly Clearly focused on building their warfighting skills and innovating to stay ahead of the threat Instead of a fixed tactical operation center the second Calv Regiment commander commands and controls his formations from five strikers That are physically dispersed yet digitally connected across the battlefield That commander understands the challenges of large-scale combat operations And is adapting in real-time to be more mobile low signature and lethal and more recently in Alaska I Met soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division their second brigade soldiers were out in the cold rain Working hard to earn their expert infantry and soldier badges I've been up to Alaska in the dead of winter and I know this unit can train and fight in the most extreme environments Wherever I go, I consistently see soldiers of every generation willing to innovate Train and endure hardship for the team and the mission for my part When Americans see our army, I want them to see what I see I want them to feel the pride that I feel Because their army is the best ground fighting force in the world When our army hits the dirt our nation means business Our allies and partners don't want to fight without us and our adversaries are wise to fear us Because when Americans see their army, they see exceptional teams Tough disciplined soldiers who are proudly serve in their country Because in the army, they see leaders who demand excellence and hold each other accountable They see soldiers who are fit and masters of their craft and they see strong families Behind those soldiers who are part who are a valued part of our team and Finally and particularly important given our interconnected world today They see an army that knows how to innovate adapt and thrive in new conditions Hang on a second. This is critically important Because the character of war is changing It's changing rapidly because disruptive technology is fundamentally altering how humans interact Just look at Ukraine on the battlefield today Everything is a sensor. I Recall when satellite technology brought news from the battlefield to Americans living rooms That in and of itself gave a new dynamic to warfighting Today every one of us has better cameras in our pockets that are connected to the cloud No one can hide and no formation is safe where we can see we can hit and We can see everywhere Along the same lines Electromagnetic signature management is vital. We all leak detectable digital exhaust emails phone calls even when sending a text Now warfighters must find ways to blend in with the noise all around Logistics are more complex because the logistics tales that we have grown accustomed to are conspicuous They can be hit sabotaged and cyber attacked and Autonomous systems are changing the game for not that much money I'm not just talking about unmanned aerial systems, but ground systems as well But challenges are nothing new to the United States Army in fact They offer us opportunity to assess and get better We just have to stay grounded I've been reflecting on the our army's motto This will defend which was first used as a battle cry by the Continental Army Today it reminds us that our army's purpose is timeless and clear To fight and win the nation's wars That is our mandate from the American people and it requires action in four Focus areas warfighting delivering ready combat formations continuous transformation and strengthening our profession First I'm gonna focus on warfighting Warfighting is the reason our army exists We are not a Europe army or a Pacific army. We're not a brigade centric or division centric We are a global force that fights when called upon At the scale required We have always done that In my four decades of service I've seen our army answer the call in Desert Storm Bosnia Kosovo Afghanistan and Iraq and We rapidly deployed to NATO's Eastern flank to stand with our allies and deter Russian aggression tens of thousands of troops plus tanks Bradley's Strikers and helicopters Our army answers whatever and wherever the mission in Such a complex strategic environment. We must stay focused on our core purpose So how do we get after this? First we have to ruthlessly prioritize how we use time and resources Our days dollars and decisions must be spent on building lethality and cohesive teams Commanders and leaders out there We trust you to figure out what you should not be doing Communicate that up so that the leaders above you can under right risk Second we must reduce complexity and how we fight how we equip and how we build teams Soldiers need to shoot Move and communicate and they need to bond together by tough training and overcoming adversity side-by-side Technology should facilitate those fundamentals Not encumber them Right now we've got places where tech is not helping. It's complicated Requires too much train up and too much specialized maintenance This is where we need industry's help to make things simpler and more user-friendly for our warfighters The enemy and the environment make battle hard enough Third we have to properly leverage Simulations to reduce overhead costs of training our divisions and cores and theater level staffs What we do isn't a game But the game in the industry can help make us better With Sims we can replete we can replicate realistic scenarios during our exercises for divisions and cores So we don't waste the time as subordinate units who typically act as props The second focus area is delivering ready combat formations Just days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine the US Army had paratroopers in the Baltics and an armor brigade in Poland We must always be ready to answer the call To get our formations to the fight and to sustain them there. I'll explain four ways We're going to get after this First we will set priorities and empower leaders Installations are our power projection platforms and we have the best and brightest commanders and command sergeant majors at our divisions and cores We will empower those men and women with the appropriate authorities to build readiness Fort Rain White is different than Fort Bliss, which is different than Fort Liberty Local leaders know best how to enact local solutions When needed we can scale up ideas to optimize resources But we shouldn't be implementing one size fits all solutions from the Pentagon At the heart of readiness is soldiers and families our army fights with people So leaders will have the technology to deliver timely accurate formation that is specific to the formations needs We are working on an app right now to help with that It's going to be good something that soldiers and families actually want to download from the app store Second our leaders spend too much time laying out equipment and checking serial numbers We are getting rid of excess equipment Starting now. I talked to a company commander in Europe who had a hundred and eighteen page property book That makes no sense We put a former division commander on this project and he's going to show us how to get this done in two divisions by the end of this year We will take that off the commander's plates and off soldiers plates They shouldn't be spending time caring for equipment. They don't need Third I love the motor pool, but I don't like wasting time So we are reducing complexity when it comes to maintenance Maintenance is critical and something we must get right, but we will make it more efficient We will stop doing unnecessary maintenance by making even modest changes to maintenance intervals for our fleet We will reallocate 632 man years of time annually across the army 632 that translates to more training time and more time spent with your family Additionally Contested logistics cross-functional team will help us get after a more predictive maintenance model Incorporate more tele maintenance and find ways to leverage advance Manufacturing we have learned so much from Ukraine's experience and our experience supporting them And we are going to adapt and change Fourth and finally The war in Ukraine is illuminated that we need deeper reserve stocks I've seen firsthand the monumental effort at Iowa army and ammunition plant Radford water vally Patriotic Americans working hard to produce rounds and equipment and we will continue to invest in that effort Okay, our third focus area is continuous transformation as I've said before the world and warfare are changing rapidly and We will stay ahead of our adversaries and so continuous transformation means iteratively adapting and evolving How we fight how we organize how we train and how we equip as you heard the secretary say yesterday We've got to summon our ingenuity We have made great progress in our six modernization portfolios when we looked at gaps for large-scale combat operations We made a lot of good decisions over the last several years Now we must look at what's next and accelerate our efforts to prepare for a future that continues to emerge We will have to adapt in some key areas For instance, we must find ways to better access and process data We have to incorporate emerging enabling technologies like machine learning and autonomy And we will advance the integration of human and machines and our tactics and our formations To leverage the might of the industrial base and field capabilities that keep pace with evolving tech We will also adapt our institution and Our practices we will change what doesn't work and be frank about new directions We're appropriate improve our requirements development process and experiment with new buying approaches And our number one priority when it comes to transformation is the network Command and control is foundational to how we fight Frankly a lot of the systems that we have today just don't support effective C2 Antenna farms and endless server stacks are conspicuous and generate too much electromagnetic signature Signature on today's battlefield a commander should not should be able to see to a fight with simple tech a tablet for instance equipment that is agile Mobile and Updatable if we slog around the battlefield with massive operation centers, which are difficult to set up and Often contractors supported We will get pounded the Russians are learning this lesson several times a day, and we will not learn the hard way Bottom line for the folks from industry here today You all provide our army strength power and flexibility You are the weight behind our punch So please us please help us transform continuously and build a agility into our army The lines of communication are open The continuous transformation is not just about equipment. It's also about how we train and organize We will ensure that our four structure gives us gives us flexibility and agility And that means leaner more agile and more scalable formations We will consolidate and cut headquarters structure where we can But also lean out down trace units and maximize reach back for capabilities that can be exercised from the rear and second We will continue to put energy into experiments with the joint and multinational team Because we figure out seams and gaps when we all bring our ideas and systems Into the open test them together fail fast and adapt Our next experimentation event for project conversions will focus on establishing kill webs Across the joint and combined team, and I know that we will learn a great deal Finally our fourth focus area is strengthening the profession and This focus area underpins all the rest To maintain America's truck America's trust. We must serve the nation with competence and character Every time I get out to talk to our formations. I see mission focused leaders and Soldiers, but we must stay self-aware and continually seek improvement first We've got to enforce standards Standards is what ensures discipline within our formations When it comes down to a close fight grit Character and discipline are what makes the difference In reflecting on discipline and standards Medal of Honor recipient John Schofield said it is possible to impart Instruction and give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in a soldier No feeling but an intense desire to obey Hard-earned respect comes from genuine concern for our soldiers Second we must turn lessons observed into lessons learned We need to continually update our professional military education and doctrine based on change on the changing character of war No single entity has a monopoly on good ideas We almost have the courage to speak truth to power and share what we know We've launched a Harding project and I'm happy to see all the great professional articles being written by our nco's officers and warren officers contributing to our profession and Third we will make sure our oath and army values are consistently reinforced in our initial entry training and our professional military education our character Informs our reputation and I'd like to wrap this up by talking about reputation When you're downrange and you hear someone's call sign come over the net a mental picture comes to mind Every soldier plays a part in our army's reputation When the army comes over the net our teammate should know without a doubt that we have their backs That we are a war fighting organization That we mean business and we bring scale. I am proud To be an American soldier. I'm proud of our army. This will defend. Thank you. Thank you very much chief We stand ready to support you the secretary of the army and your team as you lead The army through this incredible transformation Before we conclude let me encourage you to visit the exhibits the presentations and Demonstrations located in the convention center. It's a great chance to exchange ideas and learn something new Please be sure to attend the contemporary military forums. I'll tell you they're terrific best I have seen you don't want to miss it and consult your new a USA 2023 app for the locations and times It's an excellent professional development opportunity. Guess what admission is free So these sessions are for officers civilians NCO soldiers and all other attendees, so please take advantage of your time here by attending these important events Thanks again for coming really appreciate it and we'll see you out and about on the floor Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our presentation Please remain in your seats until our honored guests have cleared the room