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Army Times: What’s Ahead for Soldiers in 2010

Army Times
"What’s ahead for soldiers in 2010"
Staff report
Posted : Friday Jan 1, 2010 11:37:12 EST

The surge in Afghanistan, evolving missions and tighter budgets will shape the year ahead for the Army. For soldiers, 2010 may mean tougher chances at promotion, a new camouflage pattern for uniforms and better gear and training.

Check out ArmyTimes.com each day this holiday weekend where we’ll be running five new things to look out for this year.

More medevac

Medical evacuation crews working in the war zone are about to get some assistance.

Beginning this year, the Army will expand the size of its medevac companies from 12 to 15 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. This will help boost the capacity of medevac crews headed to Afghanistan, where more casualties are expected as the troop presence grows.

“From this point on, every medevac company introduced to theater will have 15 ships,” said Lt. Col. Ricky Ortiz of Army G-3 aviation.

The Army is also considering options to grow more combat aviation brigades, but in the meantime its current 28 medevac companies will in crease to 37 in the active and Reserve components.

Medical evacuation in Afghanistan is done by the A model Black Hawk helicopters, which underwent engine upgrades to make them as powerful as the new M models, said Col. Stephen Burns, director of current operations for Army G-3.

“It requires more power for an aircraft to operate at higher altitude, and some of the peaks and operating bases [in Afghanistan] are well above 6,000 or 8,000 feet,” he said.

Pay raises

For 11 straight years, service members have received a Jan. 1 increase in basic pay that is slightly larger than average private-sector raises. But that could end when Congress takes up the 2011 budget.

Bigger raises have been part of a congressional effort, largely opposed by the Pentagon, to close a perceived gap in pay that grew in the 1980s when military raises were capped. After the 3.4 percent Jan. 1, 2010, increase, the pay gap, which peaked at 13.5 percent in 1999, will be reduced to 2.4 percent.

Whether there will be a 12th consecutive year of raises will depend on the economy and whether election-year politics make lawmakers more interested in cutting federal spending.

Military advocates are urging Congress to keep chipping at the pay gap by providing raises through 2013 that are 0.5 percentage points greater than private-sector raises.

But a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office says the pay gap doesn’t actually exist.

The nonpartisan CBO notes that calculations of the gap have been based on average yearly increases in military basic pay and private-sector wages. CBO said a more realistic measure of military compensation would also include tax-free food and housing allowances, which make up a considerable portion of troops’ income.

The CBO report is sure to add further fuel to the debate over the adequacy of military pay in 2010.

Troop levels

Deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq forced military leaders to reverse plans for significant personnel cuts and to temporarily expand the active-duty ranks.

A combination of the Afghanistan “surge” and completion of the Quadrennial Defense Review will lead to some careful thinking about whether the services, especially the Army and Marine Corps, are big enough to handle national security threats.

While having more people will spread the burden and cut stress, it also means a bigger payroll. That could pose a risk of its own to the military, because money spent on pay, benefits and support is money not available to buy weapons and continue modernizing the force, which is certain to be a significant aspect of the QDR.

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’

President Barack Obama’s promise to repeal the law barring open service by homosexuals was moved to the back burner in 2009, due to economic concerns and the war in Afghanistan.

That will change in 2010. Congress in the coming months will face a long-delayed review of the law and policy that bans homosexuals from openly serving.

Extensive hearings are planned in the House and Senate, with testimony from current and former troops, and military leaders.

In June, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he and Obama had discussed the issue, with a focus on whether “there’s at least a more humane way to apply the law until the law gets changed,” as Gates put it.

Most Americans — 69 percent — favor allowing gays to serve openly, while 32 percent are opposed, according to a May Gallup poll.

According to the latest figures available — through 2008 — 10,507 troops had been discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” since the Pentagon began tracking such discharges in 1997, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.

The fight will come to a head when lawmakers try to pass the 2011 defense authorization bill, which likely will happen in early spring in the House of Representatives.

Those who want to repeal the ban will try, and probably succeed, in getting an amendment attached to the bill that would allow gays to openly serve. It appears they will have enough votes to get the measure approved by the full House, especially if Obama gets involved in selling reluctant members on the idea.

But House passage may be as far as the effort goes because advocates for repeal have not come up with a strategy to produce the 60-vote majority that would be needed for approval in the Senate if opponents in that chamber try to filibuster the issue.

Battle training

After eight years of war in which battle training was ramped up for every soldier, the pendulum is about to swing back to the basics for the Army’s newest soldiers.

The changes will begin during the first half of 2010, said Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commanding general of Training and Doctrine Command for Initial Military Training.

Tops on his list is the physical fitness of new recruits. He also plans to cut down the list of 32 warrior tasks and 12 battle drills that were identified in 2003 as the core things every soldier must know.

Hertling said the list is too long, the number of hours to teach them too short, and that commanders have a responsibility to continue soldiers’ training once they arrive at their first unit.

Teaching ethics and values is another challenge Hertling planned to address.

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