Chief of Armor’s Hatch
Ready Today/Preparing for Tomorrow
by BG Michael J. Simmering, Chief of Armor/Commandant, U.S. Army Armor School
Article published on: Fall 2023 in the Armor Fall 2023 Edition
Read Time: < 6 mins
In November, the Armor School published our Armor 2030 strategy and program of instruction (POI) guidance to the
Armor School and Maneuver Center of Excellence stakeholders to drive the efforts of the branch as we re-balance
the force to account for the incorporation of the 19C military occupational specialty as well as possible future
force structure changes. These foundational documents will guide the transformation of the branch during not
only the next year, but it will also create a framework to adjust and guide the branch to ensure we remain
always ready today while preparing for tomorrow.
One of the Armor School’s foundational tasks is the training of Armor and Cavalry Soldiers and leaders. From the
transition of civilians to tankers and scouts to the refinement of our professional Noncommissioned Officers,
Armor School POIs shape the force of today and tomorrow. This fall we collectively worked through a
comprehensive POI review to ensure all courses are integrating lessons of the modern battlefield and are
resourced to produce Armor and Cavalry Soldiers who are proficient on the tactical employment of their close
combat platforms and all the associated readiness tasks required to bring these lethal machines to bear against
an enemy. We will ensure we integrate dispersion, camouflage, react to air attack, management of electronic
warfare signatures, counter-unmanned aircraft system tactics, techniques, and procedures (both passive and
active) and related actions into lesson plans by the end of fiscal year 2024. We will ensure our Soldiers and
leaders understand maintenance procedures, from the basics of preventative maintenance services and checks
through troubleshooting minor faults. We are committed to providing trained Soldiers to the operational armor
force who are ready to operate on the modern multi-domain battlefield today through 2030 and beyond.
This approach to training and leader development is critical as we look at the more lethal, unpredictable
operational environment combined with our Army’s focus on warfighting against peer threats. Armor 2030 captures
the non-negotiable requirement to maximize the branch’s ability to field ready forces … not simply a few units
at a time. Our formations must be capable of immediately responding to crises and sustaining our efforts over
time. Armor and Cavalry formations must continue to operate with the lethality, speed, audacity, and tempo that
maximizes the cost imposition potential on our enemies through the rapid application of combined arms
approaches. Therefore, our collective challenge in a phrase is - Ready Today/Preparing for Tomorrow. The
imperatives of maximizing immediate warfighting readiness and the sustained delivery of ready combat power over
time describe our present challenge. While we must remain ready for combat at any given moment, we must also
transform our formations to set the conditions for future operations and to integrate emerging technologies at a
more rapid pace. These imperatives – ready today/preparing for tomorrow – create the balance that our efforts as
the Armor branch must achieve to ensure our consistent warfighting readiness.
At the 2023 Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., GEN Randy
George, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, expressed we could be over-servicing our equipment, placing a load on
formations that have very little time.1 On
Nov. 8 and 9, the Armor School hosted a services review for the M1 Abrams and M2 Bradley fleets, to ensure the
continued readiness and lethality of these platforms and formations. The Armor School partnered with
representatives from Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems (PEO-GCS), the Abrams and Bradley Product
Managers (PdM), U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command, and senior subject matter experts from across
the Army’s armored brigade combat teams (ABCTs) to critically review our fleets’ maintenance requirements. The
major recommendation out of this group of experts was to align service intervals to the Army’s Force Generation
Model by shifting current Abrams semi-annual service tasks to eight months, current annual tasks to 16 months,
keep current bi-annual tasks at 24 months and merge the M2 Bradley’s current semi-annual and 12-month annual
service tasks. These changes will provide commanders and units greater flexibility and time to balance services
with unscheduled maintenance requirements without appreciably increasing risk to Soldiers or the platforms. As a
proof of principle, the Armor School will test this concept starting in January 2024 to start providing feedback
to Army senior leaders without incurring additional risk to our high demand U.S. Army Forces Command ABCTs. We
expect all to go well and anticipate laying the groundwork for a widespread opportunity for the operational
force to become masters of maintenance.
There are 16 manned ABCTs equipment sets in the active component and the Army National Guard. Based on the Armor
School’s current picture of M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams fielding and production projections, we will continue to have M1A2
SEPv2 in service well beyond 2030. This fact, paired with the fact that the Abrams was anticipated to have
depot-level maintenance every 10 years led us to partner with PEO-GCS and the Abrams PdM to develop a course of
action to restore and extend the life of our M1A2 SEPv2s to ensure the readiness and lethality of these
formations throughout the platform’s lifecycle.
Efforts to start the restoration of the M1 Abrams fleets and critically examining services are just a couple of
the ways we are changing how we think about transformation. As part of the Armor Branch’s efforts to increase
lethality and expertise in ABCTs, the Office of the Chief of Armor is submitting a proposal for Master Gunner
(MG) Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP). This request is for qualified Abrams and Bradley master gunners serving
as a master gunner or operating within the scope of a master gunner in modified table of organization and
equipment/ table of distribution and allowances assignments. We believe approval of MG SDAP is an investment in
talent and will provide one of the crucial incentives to sustain expertise and lethality as the branch continues
to transform for 2030 and beyond.
As we look at 2030 and beyond, one of the major conceptual challenges is thinking about the impact robotic,
unmanned, and artificial intelligence assisted systems will have on the future battlefield. At the Armor School,
we agree that while the tools of the battlefield may change, the purpose of the Armor force will remain its
ability to crew and employ mobile protected firepower. The focus of the Armor School will remain first on
ensuring the Armor force is manned with the most proficient Armor and Cavalry Soldiers in the world. With this
purpose in mind, we are working diligently in partnership with the Maneuver Capabilities Development and
Integration Directorate to design formations that excel at fighting as all-weather close combat, combined arms
forces that defeat enemy forces. And as technology matures, we will create formations that will allow commanders
to make first contact with an unmanned robotic platform or sensor. In October, the Armor School participated in
the second Human Machine Integration Summit. With this summit and moving forward, the Armor School will
participate in the design and persistence experimentation of formations that execute machine-enabled maneuver
and operate and excel at multi-domain operations.
As I continue to engage with the Soldiers and leaders from our Armor and Cavalry formations throughout the Army,
I remain amazed by the work you continue to do in support of our nation. There is nothing more transformative
than the strong, cohesive teams our Armor and Cavalry Soldiers and leaders are building every day in the
operational force. At the Armor School, we will continue to do all we can to provide the trained Soldiers and
leaders who will ensure you can be ready today, while preparing for tomorrow.
Forge the Thunderbolt!
Acronym Quick-Scan
ABCT – armored brigade combat team
MG – master gunner
PEO-GCS – Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems
PdM – Product Manager
POI – program of instruction
SDAP – Special Duty Assignment Pay
Endnotes
1 GEN Randy A. George, The Association of the U.S. Army
Annual Meeting and Exposition 2023: Army Senior Leader Press Conference, Washington D.C., Oct. 10, 2023.