Shoffner Talks Army Modernization With Industry Leaders
Fires Bulletin|March - April 2018

Maj. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill commanding general, addressed more than 180 defense contractors on the challenges the Fires force face in preparing for future multi-domain battle. Shoffner spoke at an Industrial Breakfast at Cameron University Jan. 31.

Monica Wood
Shoffner Talks Army Modernization With Industry Leaders

According to Shoffner, there are two key issues to preparing the Army for a nearpeer battle. The first issue is identifying and acquiring the right weapons to put in the hands of the Fires force and its allies in a timely manner. The second is mitigating identified Fires gaps to conduct large-scale combat operations against a near-peer competitor. FCoE leaders are looking to the industry as a think tank to assist in addressing these capabilities gaps.

"It is so important for us to work with you, for us to learn lessons and have a dialogue about how we need to operate and survive in the current operational conditions," Shoffner said to industry vendors. "We talk about outreach a lot and working with industry, but the reality is that over the last 15 or 16 years the Army's focus has been on the current fight and resources follow the current fight."

In an effort to modernize, the Army must adapt to the battlefield of the future. Shoffner said greater lethality is about capabilities, not platforms.

"The Army must innovate and adapt concepts, equipment and training to be ready for the next war. We face multiple challenges in defining force structure, doctrine and implementing training. Army leadership is establishing strategic partnerships with industry to cultivate innovative technologies to accelerate delivery of 10 times capabilities to the force," Shoffner said.

The Army has six modernization priorities with the first being long-range precision missiles and the fifth air and missile defense. Army senior leadership initiated two directives to prioritize resources and efforts to accomplish these priorities: cross-functional teams (CFTs) and refocused talent management.

This story is from the March - April 2018 edition of Fires Bulletin.

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This story is from the March - April 2018 edition of Fires Bulletin.

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