Much like the Army of 20 years ago, today’s Army is operating in an environment characterized by dwindling resources. In this environment, Soldier proficiency will suffer and readiness will fall. To mitigate this, the 2014 Army Strategic Planning Guidance has outlined five priorities to guide the development of the Army in the future. Of these priorities, “A ready and modern Army” (U.S. Department of the Army, 2014, p. 3) is the most important to focus on. “Readiness is the vital element of the Army mission…” (U.S. Department of the Army, 2014, p. 16). This metric alone signifies the ability of Army units, personnel and equipment to fight and win wars. One way the Army can quickly move toward a ready and modern force is though
