decades. port the needs of the rest of the staff: ■ In 2000, the deputy chief of staff of
manning for the G-1, the latest in in-
the Army for Resourcing and Programs, or G-8,
telligence capability for the G-2, and
was created, bringing together the areas crucial
the crucial network for the G-6 are
examples. We are working together
to overseeing this massive modernization. But the
to get the best, most advanced capa-
bility down to every soldier at every
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks soon followed, and the Army
check point.
found itself in Afghanistan and then Iraq. The
This weekend’s trip to Baghdad is
a good example. [The Army’s deputy
20-year plan was obsolete: Change needed to be
chief of staff for Operations Lt. Gen.
James L.] Lovelace and I went over
immediate. ■ Today, Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes
because we wanted to better under-
heads up the modernization of the U.S. Army.
stand the theater’s requirement for
MRAP [mine-resistant, ambush-pro-
Speakes graduated from the U.S. Military Acad-
tected] — the new vehicle to take on
the IED threat. We want to make sure
emy, West Point, N.Y., in 1974. He spent his early we know where it’s going to be em-
years as an armor offi cer and has held numerous
ployed, how it’s going to be employed,
and what we’re going to do with it. We
operational commands, working with the equip-
want to understand the need, under-
stand the threat, and understand the
ment he is charged with modernizing. He went commander’s needs. This information
and working together will shape how
to Iraq with the 4th Infantry Division and then
we will develop, resource, and get the
to Kuwait. It was from that job he was tapped to
MRAP to theater as fast as we can.
come to Washington, D.C., as chief of Force Devel-
Were you able to see the fruits
of your labor?
opment within the G-8. He took over as the G-8 in
We had the opportunity to visit a task
early 2007.
force, which is a futuristic kind of
■ When I met with Speakes in his Pen-
unit primarily reliant on UAVs [un-
tagon offi ce — though optimistic and upbeat — he
manned aerial vehicles] and which
links with other Army assets, taking
was clearly realistic about the task before him.
on some very specifi c threats and sav-
ing soldiers’ lives. Their battle space is
You oversee what is essentially the
over again. At the same time, we look quite large — the size of Pennsylvania.
modernization of the entire U.S.
to the future. We are very interested These soldiers are no older than 25
Army. Can you please explain the
in the present and the current force, — all young and brilliant. My point
role of the G-8?
but we must look to the future. here is we saw that our equipment
Basically, the G-8 makes the transi- The G-8 does a lot, but we don’t modernization, Future Combat Sys-
tion from current to future. We are do it alone. We do it in concert with tems [FCS], is working. We can now
transitioning the Army of today the other “G” sections and the Army extend the battlefi eld in every direc-
to the Army of tomorrow. We are as a whole. First, we are an intensely tion. What we are trying to do through
responsible for the total fi nancial collaborative staff. I think we share modernization is working today in
strategy that provides our ability to a sense of the importance of what Iraq, and we are doing the right things.
recruit, train, house, equip, and sup- we’re doing for our soldiers and
port soldiers. We work to keep all to support our soldiers, and it has Could you explain what FCS means
this balanced. Currently, we send our forged an intense bond between us. in terms of Army modernization?
soldiers off to war, support them in I may be the conveyance for our fi s- Twenty years ago, when we’d talk
war, bring them back, refurbish and cal strategy — getting us to where about modernizing, we’d talk in plat-
update the equipment, and start all we need to be — but I work to sup- form-centric terms — what we were
54 MILITARY OFFICER DECEMBER 2007
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