A local delegation from Junction City and Manhattan attended the AUSA convention in Washington D.C.  While there they heard a presentation from the Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army, Gen. Mark Milley.

John Seitz, Military Affairs Council Director in Junction City, said Milley was straight forward for what he expected in his goals for the Army. “It’s readiness for combat. He says that’s the number one priority, and there are no other number one priorities, and the fact that we have a wide range of contingencies we have to prepare for with the increasing threats from Russia, North Korea and China.”

Seitz stated that Milley informed the audience that some popular myths have to be overcome. “The first one that war will be short because we’ve seen evidence that never happens, and then war can be won from a great distance. And we’ve learned you can’t bomb people to death or shoot them with ships. You’ve got to be on the ground to influence what’s going to happen.” Seitz noted a misconception that special operations forces could handle everything, but “they can’t do it all and are not a substitute for putting troops on the ground.”

Another myth addressed was that it’s easy to regenerate an Army. “It is not at all true because we’ve learned every time we’ve had a war that the creating of a new army afterwards, after we’ve drawn down for the peace benefits was a painful process and very difficult to accomplish.”

The AUSA convention wrapped up Wednesday in Washington D.C.