Gen. Westmoreland on the Army of the Future
Westmoreland, Gen. W. C.
I always welcome the opportunity to address those who support this Association ... I know I am among friends who are vitally concerned about our Army. Our Army today is a dynamic...
...We are a proud Army...
...Now let me briefly examine the past and relate t to the future The Napoleonic Wars are well documented in history texts...
...In this role, we have traditionally recognized five functions...
...Top-level courses are given in a ten-month academic course to senior military officers and to civilian career officers (e.g., foreign service officers...
...In the past, we have devoted sizeable portions of our forces to this requirement...
...A little over two decades later we had the airmobile division...
...He has held his present post in the National War College since 1966...
...Whenever we engaged the enemy, we won the battle...
...I see a continuing need for highly mobile combat forces to assist in fixing and destroying the enemy...
...Second, we must destroy the enemy...
...We are confident thatfrom our early solutions to the problem of finding the enemy, in Vietnam the evidence is present to visualize this battlefield of the future . . . a battlefield that will dictate organizations and techniques radically different from those we have now...
...These are the hallmarks of the professional soldier in his finest tradition...
...But the American people also must understand that their Army does not exist to fight without something to fight for...
...And certainly this spirit is sparked by public trust, support...
...I am confident the American people expect this country to take full advantage of its technology-to welcome and applaud the developments that will replace wherever possible the man with the machine...
...Technical means were reinforced and Improved...
...Still, the absence of a refined intelligence capability permitted only small economics of force...
...Maneu- ver on the battlefield was almost nonexistent...
...In mid 1968, our field experiments be- gan...
...Placing the functions n proper perspective, I visualize the Army's job in land combat as: First, we must find the enemy...
...But the future offers even more possibilities for economy...
...Analysis of the les- sons from this revolution will influence the future direction of our Army both in funda- mental concepts of organization and devel- opment of equipment...
...We learned to op- erate skillfully at night...
...Printing Office, Washington, D.C...
...The courses are arranged so that, near the end of the ten-month period, one engages in "intensive studies of areas of the world and study of specific problems incident to the conduct of national security affairs...
...In order to succeed in this effort, we need the scientific and engineering support of both the military and the industrial communities...
...We mastered the enemy's ambush techniques...
...To meet the test, he must stand on his principles...
...These are the principles that resolve the crucial . .. these determine he worth of a man's life...
...The Task of Development, AID, July 1968, 30 pp...
...More specifically, if one knows continually the location of his enemy and has the capability to mass fires instantly, he need not necessarily fix the enemy in one location with forces on the ground...
...Some would have these incidents reflect on the Army as a whole...
...Some will say that the current experience in Vietnam, in which the infantry continues to bear the brunt of combat, does not support this visualization of the future...
...We have done this because of problem complexity...
...To achieve this concept of our future Army, we have established, at the Department of Army Staff level, a Systems Manager, Brigadier General Bill Fulton, to coordinate all Army activities in this field...
...For this reason, I will focus now on purely military matters . , . on developments that are of special interest to this audience...
...As a result, our ability to find the enemy has mproved materially...
...I i-16NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE Many U.S...
...In 1965, LTE October 16, 1969 1966, 1967, and early 1968 we increased the number of both air and ground cavalry units...
...We added a second airmobile divi- sion...
...It can rain destruction anywhere on the battlefield within minutes . . . whether friendly troops are present or not...
...I see the elimination of many intermediate support echelons and the use of inventoryIn-motion techniques...
...Our Army today is a dynamic organization undergoing change to stay abreast of a rapidly changing technology and society...
...On the battlefield of the future, enemy forces will be located, tracked, and targeted almost instantaneously through the use of data links, computer assisted intelligence evaluation, and automated fire control...
...I see battlefields or combat areas that are under 24 hour real or near real time surveillance of all types...
...In our adult lifetime many of us have witnessed change unequalled in history-the jet airplane, nuclear power, television, and the o/mputer-to name a few...
...World War II saw the tank mature, and armies organized to capitalize on this capa- bility...
...For a moment, let us consider the basic combat role of the Army...
...Army has served its country proudly...
...While the Navy was developing sonar and air elements proceeded with ntercept radars, Army target acquisition systems remained essentially at the World War I level...
...Certainly the Army cannot and will not condone 'NGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENA improper conduct or criminal acts-and I personally assure you that I will not...
...As a result, In the early days of the American commitment we found ourselves with an abundance of firepower and mobility...
...In meeting this challenge, the Army has undergone In Vietnam a quiet revolution in ground warfare-tactics, techniques, and technology...
...We will always regard the rights of the ndividual and acknowledge due process of law...
...Our Army can only be as effective as the spirit of its soldiers...
...Our problem now is to further our knowledge-exploit our technology, and equally important--to incorporate all these devices into an Integrated land combat system...
...Even before the ar- rival of American combat troops, the effec- tive use of the helicopter had been demon- strated n the support of the Vietnamese...
...The ene- my we face n Vietnam s naturally elusive and cunning In his use of the dense jungle for concealment...
...The United States Army will again lead the way...
...Government Agencies Involved in International Educational and Cultural Activities, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, State Dept., September 1968...
...Based on our total battlefield experience and our proven technological capability, I foresee a new battlefield array...
...Instead, units are responsible for an operational area...
...North American Congress on Latin America Second Class Postage Paid Box 57 Cathedral Station at New York, New York New York, New York 10025...
...For a periodic listing of contractors with AID see: Current Technical Service Contracts, Contract Services Division, AID, Washington,D.C...
...Goodpaster was also the day-to-day adviser to President Eisenhower on national security affairs, a job which included operating as a liaison with the Defense and State Departments as well as the CIA...
...Only a few visionaries saw real utility in the tank...
...As our troops arrived, we progressively organized special reconnaissance elements of all kinds, including long-range patrol companies and special forces teams...
...ambassadors have attended the National War College at some point in their career...
...Our young officers and NCO's will accept the challenge...
...Firepower can be concentrated without massing large numbers of troops...
...But the Army as an institution should never be put on trial as we deal with the few...
...In summary, I see an Army built into and around an Integrated area control system that exploits the advanced technology of communications, sensors, fire direction, and the required automatic data processing-a system that is sensitive to the dynamics of the ever-changing battlefield---a system that materially assists the tactical commander in making sound and timely decisions...
...History has reinforced my conviction that major advances in the art of warfare have grown from the Fullers and Guderlans-men who detected, In the slow, clumsy, underarmed, largely Ineffective tanks of World War I, the seeds of the future...
...Cavalry, scouts and pickets provided Intelligence...
...Our Armed Forces on the international scene are as necessary for the security of our country as our domestic police forces are necessary for law and order at home...
...More recently, Generals Howze and Wheeler and the late Lieutenant General Bill Bunker conceived air mobility long before the machinery existed to fulfill the concept...
...just as we have accepted and met all our challenges in the past...
...In Vietnam where artillery and tactical air forces inflict over two-thirds of the enemy casualties, firepower s responsive as never before...
...The advent of the machine gun and massed artillery introduced sizable increases in the firepower capabilities available to ground forces...
...What more could a country ask of its soldiers...
...This team provides the Armed Forces with the best equipment science and technology can produce...
...In this function large areas can be covered continuously by aerial surveillance systems, unattended ground sensors, radars and other perfected means of finding the enemy...
...Although the future portends a more automated battlefield, we do visualize a continuing need for highly mobile forces to surround, canalize, block or otherwise maneuver an enemy into the most lucrative target...
...Today we witness both the alrmobile concept and the airmobile division proved in Vietnam...
...Firepower was limited...
...Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1967...
...Too often those battles were at enemy initiative and not our own...
...When the enemy broke down into small units, we did likewise...
...The present Deputy Commandant for Foreign Affairs is Edwin Lightner, Jr., who joined the Foreign Service in 1930...
...The U.S...
...A Guide to U.S...
...The density of troops in the front line, reduced from that of Waterloo, still re- mained high as soldiers crowded shoulder to shoulder in their network of trenches...
...Inherent in the function of destroying the enemy is fixing the enemy...
...Mobility began to gain on firepower...
...Westmoreland as chief of United States forces in Vietnam...
...I see the forward end of the logistics system with mobility equal to the supported force...
...The problems that we must address exist within our own ranks . . . we share them with the entire Nation, With our troubled society questioning the role of the Army more than ever before, each soldier in a position of leadership is on trial . . . both his character and his integrity are being tested...
...Government Organization Manual, 1968-69, Gov't...
...When the first American units were com- mitted in Vietnam, they were to a large ex- tent a reflection of the organization, tactics, techniques, and technology of World War II, with one noteworthy exception...
...Currently, we have hundreds of surveillance, target acquisition, night observation and information processing systems either in being, in development or in engineering...
...This year, I take special satisfaction in addressing this audience-for I know you are dedicated to the maintenance of a strong, modern Army through military-industrial- labor-academic-scientific cooperation...
...The second function-destroying the enemy-is the role of our combat forcesartillery, air, armor, and nfantry, together with the helicopters needed to move the combat troops...
...We will pioneer this new dimension in ground warfare and develop an integrated battlefield system...
...We do have confi- dence in our officers, noncommissioned offi- cers, and soldiers who continue to provide the Army and the Nation with the selfless devoted service that has always been our cherished tradition...
...General Andrew Goodpaster was Commandant of the National War College until he was assigned to the Paris Peace Talks where he has been the number three man under Averill Harriman...
...To me, the other two-intelligence and support-have not been sufficiently stressed...
...Too often battles were not fought be- cause the enemy could not be found or be- cause, after initial contact, he had slipped elusively into the jungle or across borders politically beyond our reach . . . or had lit- erally gone underground...
...The Country Team, State Dept., Gov't...
...U.S...
...This system not only would permit commanders to be continually aware of the entire battlefield panorama down to squad and platoon level, but would permit logistics systems to rely more heavily on air lines of communications...
...Today, machines and technology are permitting economy of manpower on the battlefield, as indeed they are in the factory...
...Hundreds of years were required to achieve the mobility of the armored division...
...This facility will be headed by Major General Jack Norton who will report to the Project Director, Lieutenant General Bev Powell, III Corps Commaider and Commanding General, Fort Hood...
...But we were still confined to the ground with our airlift capability remaining minimal...
...Each year of the war wit- nessed substantial improvement...
...And third, we must support the forces that perform the other two functions...
...his personal and *'ofessional code of ethics, his dedication, hs leadership...
...We are dealing with systems that are fundamental to the Army-its doctrine, its organization, and its equipment...
...In both the combat and support forces of the future, I see a continuing need for our traditionally highly skilled, well-motivated individual soldier . . . the soldier who has always responded in time of crisis-and the soldier who will accept and meet the challenges of the future...
...We were not quite a giant without eyes, but that allusion had some validity...
...The experience and technology at the time of the British Mark IV tank at Cambrai n 1917 and the H-34 helicopter in the fifties provided the evidence to define the future of these systems...
...But the Vietnam War has seen a revolu- tion n ground force mobility...
...And the social change that should have come within the last century has been our legacy to accomplish in our generation-now...
...Survey of the Alliance for Progress, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 1969, 865 pp...
...Large parts of the nfantry, ground and air cavalry, and aviation are used in what I will now call STANO"-surveillance...
...We found ourselves more and more using the infantry for the purpose of finding the ene- my...
...It continues to respond to legally constituted executive authority...
...This chapter of military history is replete with numerous examples of battles that might have been . . had the opposing forces known of each other's presence...
...Comparing the past few years of progress with a forecast of the future produces one conclusion: we are on the threshold of an entirely new battlefield concept...
...Some will say that this is an unrealistic expectation...
...As the Nation's land force, our mission is to defeat enemy forces in land combat and to gain control of the land and its people...
...They are, however, the actions-of a pitiful few...
...By studying operations in Vietnam, one can better understand these functions...
...The third function includes an improved communication system...
...Support services were provided by contact or foraging...
...After proving these de- vices workable in test, we developed plans in 1967 to use them throughout the battle- field...
...Lightner has had extensive service in Latin America, including posts in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile...
...I see battlefields on which we can destroy anything we locate through instant communications and the almost Instantaneous application of highly lethal firepower...
...I am confident that the vitality of air mobility is recognized and understood by this in- formed audience...
...But we were limited in our ability to locate the enemy...
...The wheeled vehicle improved our support effort...
...During this period, the Director of De- fense Research and Engineering urged the scientific community to develop a new fam- ily of sensors and associated communica- tions equipment to help locate enemy forces on infiltration routes...
...This revolution is not fully understood by many...
...Recently, a few individuals involved in serious incidents have been highlighted in the news...
...Intel- ligence organizations were expanded and re- fined...
...And with the mobility of the helicopter, units like the 1st Cavalry and the 101st Air- borne Divisions cover hundreds of square miles with their airmobile blankets.-i5October 16, 1969 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE The revolution I envision for the future comes not from the helicopter alone, but from systems that heretofore have been unknown...
...The Age of Imperialism, Harry Magdoff, Monthly Review Press, New York,1969, chapter on aid...
...With first round kill probabilities approaching certainty, and with surveillance devices that can continually track the enemy, the need for large forces to fix the opposition physically will be less important...
...We cannot this time wait for a call to action...
...But when forces made con- tact, they massed to do battle...
...The Army is as dedicated now as it has been for nearly two centuries . . . dedicated to the preservation of our way of life...
...This is a fair and demanding challenge which we accept...
...Since 1965 a principal thrust of our ex- perimentation, adaptation and development in tactics, techniques, and technology has been toward improvement of our capability to find the enemy...
...That excep- tion, of course, was best demonstrated by the Ist Air Cavalry Division For the first time, an Army unit of division size had been orga- nized and equipped to free itself from the constrictions of terrain through the use of battlefield air mobility...
...This cooperative effort is an element of national power that must never be eroded...
...He was then designated deputy commander to Creighton Abrams, who replaced Gen...
...Since then, we have integrated these new devices with the more conventional sur- veillance equipment and other ntelligence collection means...
...In the future, however, fixing the enemy will become a problem primarily in time rather than space...
...Between the two World Wars, they foresaw with clarity the blltzkrelg of armored and panzer forces that Introduced a new dimension to ground warfare...
...I will proceed on the assumption that neither the Congress nor the Nation wants us to lay down our shield of armed readiness...
...But we have emphasized only three: mobility, firepower, and command and control-in other words-move, shoot, and communicate...
...and confidence...
...Mo- bility was limited essentially to the foot soldier...
...In guarding this trust, we have never failed...
...We are on the threshold for the first time n achieving maximum utilization of both our firepower and our mobility...
...At Waterloo, for example, over 140,000 troops crowded into less than three miles of front line con- tact...
...target acquisition and night observation, or function number one-finding the enemy...
...Today once again the fundamental principles of our profession-the pillars of discipline on which an Army is built-the trust and confidence that have traditionally motivated the soldier are being questioned...
...On the contrary, our citizens continue to demand from us the best military forces possible within the resources made available to us...
...We in the Army accept the challenge...
...We learned that Vietnam posed a problem even more difficult than mobility...
...These systems can permit us to deploy our fires and forces more effectively n the most likely and most productive areas...
...As an integral part of our changing society, the Army has also been challenged to meet those demands...
...20523...
...Primitive aerial observation brought only marginal Improvements In ntelligence gathering...
...With cooperative effort, no more than 10 years should separate us from the automated battlefield...
...The changed battlefield will dictate that the supporting logistics system also undergo change...
...The ncreased mobility, however, did per- mit combat elements to disperse over a wider front, and the density of troops along the battle lines became smaller...
...The concept and re- sultant organization were logical outgrowths of the development of sturdy, reliable heli- copters for troops carriers, weapons plat- forms, command and control, aerial ambu- lances, and reconnaissance vehicles and larger helicopters for carrying artillery, am- munition, and supplies...
...I see some Army forces supported by airin some instances directly from bases here in the continental United States...
...I believe our future path has been clearly blazed...
...With- out mobility and information about the enemy, the newly acquired firepower served little purpose...
...A little over a century later, World War brought trench warfare...
...To complement the systems management, we are establishing at Fort Hood a test facility through which new equipment, new organizations, and new techniques can be subjected to experimentation, adaptation, evaluation, and ntegration...
...More importantly, he was Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul of the Korean Embassy from 1951-53...
...Located in Washington, D.C., the College is operated under the supervision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a Commandant for Academic Affairs and another for Foreign Affairs...
...Today our Army is weathering a period not too unlike others in our proud history...
...Mobility and sup- port efforts experienced little change...
...These range from field computers to advanced airborne sensors and new night vision devices...
...History tells another story...
...Sources and Further Readings on the Country Team The United States Information Agency, 31st Review of Operations, July-December 1968, USIA The Information Machine: The USIA and American Foreign Policy, Robert E. Elder,University of Syracuse Press, 1968...
...We no longer assign units a sector of frontage...
...To date it has received only limited attention...
Vol. 3 • November 1969 • No. 7
