By C. Todd Lopez
WASHINGTON (Sept. 12, 2019) -- The Senate Armed Services Committee quizzed Acting Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy on military housing problems, force readiness, sexual assault and modernization during his confirmation hearing for secretary of the Army.
"If confirmed as secretary of the Army, I will continue to champion the Army strategy and vision, with an emphasis on readiness, modernization and reform," McCarthy told senators. "It is only through the care of our people that these priorities will be achieved."
Since the fall of 2018, the Army -- as well as the other military services -- has had problems with military housing. Most military housing is now provided to service members through partnerships with the private sector as part of the Residential Communities Initiative.
McCarthy said getting housing right for service members and their families is a key component of quality of life and retention of soldiers.
But he said the Army has already made progress in addressing the issue. Former Secretary of the Army Dr. Mark T. Esper, who now serves as defense secretary, initiated an inspector general investigation February, McCarthy said. "We just recently released the results to the entire Congress. There were a series of recommendations, about 90% of which we are definitely going to implement."
Documents submitted to the Senate by the Army also reveal that the Army has, among other actions, increased personnel in housing offices to better perform quality assurance and control of base housing; agreed to increase the frequency of Army-funded resident satisfaction surveys to two times a year; and provided commanders with defined roles and responsibilities related to ensuring quality of life in base housing.
The Army also plans to incorporate resident feedback into a tenant "bill of rights" and then incorporate that bill or rights into a universal lease.
McCarthy also said the Army is also investigating quality housing for single service members who live in barracks.
A READY FORCE
"Readiness is a constant state of vigilance, you can't ever take your foot off the gas," McCarthy told lawmakers. "Every day we have to get as many repetitions as we can -- physically, individual training, collective training. One of the greatest deterrents we have in the military is having as many formations at the highest levels of readiness capable to meet national objectives."
McCarthy credited former Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Mark A. Milley with setting the Army on the path for the readiness it will need for the next war, which he said includes adjusting training at home station to deal with near-peer threats [and] scenarios we'd see against near-peer competitors.
A MODERN FORCE
The Army stood up Army Futures Command in August 2017, but before that it had established cross-functional teams to focus on its six modernization efforts. Those priorities include long-range precision fires, a next-generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift platforms, a mobile and expeditionary Army network, air and missile defense capabilities and soldier lethality.
"We believe we have the organizational construct right," McCarthy said. "We stood up the cross-functional teams in the fall of 2017. And we had prototypes delivered in 18 months that we were testing. I fired the next-gen squad weapon at Fort Bragg last July. We are testing Spike [Non Line of Sight], we've tested the extended range cannon ... the prototypes are delivering, and we are starting to yield results. Reducing the span time is everything. We'll go [from] five to seven years, [down to] to 18 months."
A STRONG TEAM
Sexual assault has been a concern across all four military services and has been high on the list for lawmakers for several years.
"I am ... committed to the prevention of sexual assault and harassment in our formation, which tears at the very fabric of our institution," McCarthy said. "Leadership at every level must build a team of teams, protecting our brothers and sisters to our left and right, reinforcing there is no place for suicide and sexual assault and harassment in our Army."
Chief of Staff of the Army James C. McConville and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston, McCarthy said, are credited for changing the direction for how the Army is training to eliminate sexual assault in the ranks. He also named Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the superintendent at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, as a good example of what's possible.
McCarthy said he was encouraged by the feedback from a new kind of sexual assault training Williams implemented for cadets at West Point -- training that moved away from briefings and computers.
"He brought in outside experts," he said. "They did scenario-based training in front of rooms full of people. We are getting away from the compliance on an iPad or Power Point, and making it much more interactive. Clearly, the methods we've been using have not been working."
McCarthy served in the Army from 1997 to 2002 and was involved in combat operations in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 75th Ranger Regiment, U.S. Special Operations Command. He is currently serving as the acting secretary of the Army. If confirmed by the Senate, he will be the 24th secretary of the Army. Ω