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Defense Department Report, January 25: Army Not Broken

25 January 2006

U.S. military capable of meeting global tasks, Rumsfeld says

Recent news reports that the U.S. Army is at the breaking point and overextended because of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq simply are not true, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says.

At a Pentagon briefing January 25, Rumsfeld said "the force is not broken" and it is capable of meeting its global taskings despite continuing military operations.

Two recently cited reports of the Army's readiness and strength levels have suggested the nation's largest military force is stretched so thin that it is approaching the breaking point while trying to carry on worldwide operations and provide sizeable fighting forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.  And adding to that strain is the large number of first-time soldiers who are opting to accept discharges rather than re-enlistments, according to news reports.

One report was done for the Pentagon while the other was compiled for congressional Democrats.

"This armed force is enormously capable.  In addition, it's battle hardened.  It's not a peacetime force that has been in barracks or garrisons," he said while responding to a barrage of questions from the Pentagon press corps.

Rumsfeld said that since 2001 when the Bush administration entered office, the Pentagon continually has been evaluating U.S. defense policies, "questioning old assumptions, reorganizing, with the goal of providing military commanders with greater flexibility."

Today, the Army is transforming from 33 combat brigades to 42 brigade combat teams of approximately 4,000 soldiers each, he said.  It is the first time since World War II that the Army has reconfigured its combat systems and broken away from the large-size division model, he said.

"This innovation has given commanders considerably greater flexibility," he said.  "Because of the reforms now under way, some 75 percent of the Army's brigade structure should always be ready, in the event of a crisis, and more capacity in modules that are more flexible and more applicable to the new century."

The changes occurring in defense policy, he said, are based to some extent on lessons that have been learned in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For additional information, see International Security.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)