On Point: the United States Army in Operation Iraqi ... - Boekje Pienter

Chapter 8TransitionPeace enforcement is wearing everybody out…. This is much harder [thancombat].Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Ingram, TF 2-70 ARIt is not uncommon to conclude this kind of effort with an epilogue, a postscript thatattempts to bring closure to the threads that did not fit in the main work or to take note ofdevelopments between the conclusion of the work and its publication. An epilogue is neitherpossible nor appropriate to On Point since the story is not over. The chief of staff of the Armyestablished the study group to examine combat operations as soon after their conclusion aspossible and to publish the results quickly. The president of the United States declared majorcombat operations over on 1 May 2003, thus this study is limited to those operations occurringon or before 1 May 2003. On 15 August, when the first draft of this manuscript was completed,the Army was planning the next phase of study of OIF and how lessons might be gleaned fromthe effort to transition from combat operations to those activities that FM 3-0, Operations,attributes to conflict termination. Accordingly, this postscript to On Point is properly titledTransition.In his short remarks on swearing in as the 35th chief of staff of the Army, General PeterSchoomaker homed in on the single most important feature of the Army that enabled superbperformance in OIF—soldiers. Schoomaker’s remarks left no doubt about his view for the wayahead must assure the Army’s essence—soldiers—remain on point for the nation. The chiefmade it clear that he will examine the Army’s methods in training and leader development,how it organizes to include the mix between the Active and Reserve components, how theforce is manned, and what the Army must do to remain flexible and adaptable. As he put it,“The American soldier remains indispensable. Our soldiers are paramount and will remain thecenterpiece of our thinking, our systems and our combat formations.” 1There were a number of reasons why combat operations in OIF succeeded with a minimumof loss of life on both sides and damage to Iraq’s aging and fragile infrastructure. First-rate,innovative, adaptive soldiers lead that list. Schoomaker has announced his intention to focuson the heart of the Army—people. Effective leaders and sound training and leader developmentare the next two major reasons for success. The two are directly related and require jointinvolvement. Developing leaders who are able to function comfortably in the “three-blockwar,” under the stress and ambiguity of close combat, is essential to the success of the Armyand the joint team. Selecting the right soldiers and developing them as leaders requires intenseeffort in joint environments. On Point suggests the operational environment in OIF is more, notless, complex than that in which the services have traditionally assumed they would operate.Although all of the services accept that the operational environment is more complex,none of them—and certainly not the Army—has entirely embraced the implications of thosechanges. Nor have they altered their systems and training to accommodate, and even anticipate,the dynamic conditions in which the services will continue to operate. Development of a joint427