Acting SecArmy: Army drives the success of the joint force

WASHINGTON - The Army's top civilian leader said the service remains central to the success of the joint force during the opening ceremony of the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting and exposition on Oct. 12.

Under the theme, "America's Army: The Foundation of the Joint Force," Acting Secretary of the Army Adam R. Telle said the service must return to its original purpose: controlling and securing land, which he said is fundamental to human fulfillment. Telle's insight comes less than a week after the Army published new operational warfighting guidance.

The acting secretary also announced that the Army will host its first "Manufacturing Rodeo" in early 2027, including a competition among industrial base partners. He added that the Army will test and evaluate manufacturing processes for weaknesses.

"We're going to stress test the supply chain, the manufacturing processes, and see where it breaks," Telle said. "We're going to learn by doing, not by sitting around postulating at the Pentagon; we're going to find the weak links. We're going to make them stronger, and we're going to keep iterating."

To reiterate the importance of the American Soldier's role in U.S. conflicts, Telle was joined on stage by Soldiers in uniforms from different eras, including World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terror - highlighting the accelerating pace of military innovation over time.

To ensure our Soldiers have every competitive advantage on the battlefield, Telle said the Army must leverage "America's greatest strategic advantages."

The first advantage is the "radical notion, embedded in the American DNA, that human greatness and fulfillment are proportional to human freedom." The second is America's unparalleled spirit of innovation, "forged into the hearts of our people as they conquered the punishing dirt of the American frontier." The third advantage is the nation's deep and efficient capital markets, where resources naturally rush to fund the next big idea.

Telle said the service needs to build adaptable and symbiotic relationships with both industry and service partners to maintain a strategic advantage over the nation's adversaries.

The Army is moving to implement autonomy and robotic capabilities to enhance Soldier lethality.

Early this month, Telle announced the establishment of a new command, U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, to accelerate delivery of autonomous technology to Soldiers in six formation areas: armor, fires, sustainment, aviation, combat engineer and training.

The new command builds on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's mandate to implement more autonomous technology into the War Department's formations.

The Army also published new operational warfighting guidance on Oct. 7, titled "How the Army Fights." The framework outlines how the Army will organize and equip its forces, with greater emphasis on the forward positioning of deployed Soldiers. The guidance was developed by Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve.

"The pace of change is accelerating faster than humans can comprehend, both for our Soldiers and for those who wish to do them harm," Telle said. "[Gen. LaNeve] is building the framework to ensure the most modern capabilities are integrated at scale. Our job in this room is to ensure that Soldiers have the most lethal, dominant stack of technology behind, above, around and ahead of them."

The framework organizes Army land power through four interdependent operational elements.

First, through convergence, the Army will create advantages by synchronizing effects across multiple domains. Then, with a focus on strike, the service will use lethal and nonlethal fires to degrade and destroy enemy systems. In close battle, the Army will prioritize defeating enemies by taking land and securing advancements. Finally, an emphasis on endurance will establish and protect the Army's combat power over time, distance and arduous conditions.

The guidance covers integrating super intelligence, precision fires and networks, as well as Soldier leadership and discipline.