nastyleg
12-03-2011, 07:09 PM
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Dec 3, 2011 15:31:18 EST
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The Army’s top enlisted soldier said the entire nation has a responsibility to help the tens of thousands of young combat veterans who will be entering the civilian workforce in the coming years.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler visited Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday to hear concerns of soldiers and their families about the coming changes for the Army, including the challenge of reducing the Army by 50,000 soldiers over the next five years and uncertainty about the effects of budget cuts.
Chandler told reporters at the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line that the Army is preparing soldiers to leave the service but noted the American public has an important role in helping those veterans.
“Even the president has said we have to do more for our veterans,” he said. “If as a nation, we have said this is important, then all of us have a part to do, even those of us that are in the Army.”
With unemployment rates higher for recent veterans than the national average, Chandler said the Army can’t find jobs for all veterans, but can help set the conditions for them to seek employment.
That means encouraging reluctant employers to hire veterans and helping veterans translate their military experience into jobs skills that employers are looking for, he said.
“We’ve asked soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen to do something that 99 percent of the rest of the American public won’t or are unable to do,” he said. “We as a nation owe our veterans as much as we can in being grateful for their service.”
The number of young veterans looking for work is likely to increase as the Army plans to cut troops with the Iraq war coming to an end. Chandler said the down economy has helped the Army retain soldiers in recent years, but now it must find places to cut without weakening its units.
“When you think about a hollow force, you think about a brigade that is manned at 70 percent,” he said. “We don’t want that. We want fully manned brigades with people who want to be there.
“We do not want to retain those who are not the best qualified, even if they have served admirably in combat,” he said.
Chandler said the Army is still waiting to see what the final budget will be, but already it means that soldiers will have more responsibilities at the installations across the country, Chandler said.
“You’re probably going to see less civilians and contractors doing things that Army soldiers have done in the past,” he said. For example, he said more soldiers could be on the security gates, serving food in the dining facilities or cutting their own lawns again.
Earlier this year, the Army shortened the time an enlisted soldier can serve without being promoted, called retention control points, for sergeants and staff sergeants. Chandler said those were the two ranks where soldiers could serve the longest before they must move up to the next rank or else leave the service.
“We will lose about 1,800 sergeants and staff sergeants because the retention control point was drawn down,” he said.
The young sergeants who will remain are the people Chandler wants the Army to focus on developing good leaders. He says that will help prepare the Army’s smallest units, the squads and platoons, for the type of future threats that will likely face the country’s military.
“Look at how we have fought over the last 10 years,” he said. “It’s been large operations but with a very small focus on specific places on the battlefield,” he said. “No enemy is amassing to fight against one of our brigades. They will attack where they perceive weakness, which may be the squads.”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/12/ap-armys-sergeant-major-says-us-should-support-vets-120311/
Posted : Saturday Dec 3, 2011 15:31:18 EST
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The Army’s top enlisted soldier said the entire nation has a responsibility to help the tens of thousands of young combat veterans who will be entering the civilian workforce in the coming years.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler visited Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday to hear concerns of soldiers and their families about the coming changes for the Army, including the challenge of reducing the Army by 50,000 soldiers over the next five years and uncertainty about the effects of budget cuts.
Chandler told reporters at the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line that the Army is preparing soldiers to leave the service but noted the American public has an important role in helping those veterans.
“Even the president has said we have to do more for our veterans,” he said. “If as a nation, we have said this is important, then all of us have a part to do, even those of us that are in the Army.”
With unemployment rates higher for recent veterans than the national average, Chandler said the Army can’t find jobs for all veterans, but can help set the conditions for them to seek employment.
That means encouraging reluctant employers to hire veterans and helping veterans translate their military experience into jobs skills that employers are looking for, he said.
“We’ve asked soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen to do something that 99 percent of the rest of the American public won’t or are unable to do,” he said. “We as a nation owe our veterans as much as we can in being grateful for their service.”
The number of young veterans looking for work is likely to increase as the Army plans to cut troops with the Iraq war coming to an end. Chandler said the down economy has helped the Army retain soldiers in recent years, but now it must find places to cut without weakening its units.
“When you think about a hollow force, you think about a brigade that is manned at 70 percent,” he said. “We don’t want that. We want fully manned brigades with people who want to be there.
“We do not want to retain those who are not the best qualified, even if they have served admirably in combat,” he said.
Chandler said the Army is still waiting to see what the final budget will be, but already it means that soldiers will have more responsibilities at the installations across the country, Chandler said.
“You’re probably going to see less civilians and contractors doing things that Army soldiers have done in the past,” he said. For example, he said more soldiers could be on the security gates, serving food in the dining facilities or cutting their own lawns again.
Earlier this year, the Army shortened the time an enlisted soldier can serve without being promoted, called retention control points, for sergeants and staff sergeants. Chandler said those were the two ranks where soldiers could serve the longest before they must move up to the next rank or else leave the service.
“We will lose about 1,800 sergeants and staff sergeants because the retention control point was drawn down,” he said.
The young sergeants who will remain are the people Chandler wants the Army to focus on developing good leaders. He says that will help prepare the Army’s smallest units, the squads and platoons, for the type of future threats that will likely face the country’s military.
“Look at how we have fought over the last 10 years,” he said. “It’s been large operations but with a very small focus on specific places on the battlefield,” he said. “No enemy is amassing to fight against one of our brigades. They will attack where they perceive weakness, which may be the squads.”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/12/ap-armys-sergeant-major-says-us-should-support-vets-120311/