The Army must let go of the past and prepare as thoroughly as possible for the next call to arms, the commander of the service’s main planning agency told an assembly of colleagues in a recent speech. "We can’t afford to get modernization wrong," Lt. Gen. Robert P. Lennox, the deputy chief of staff, G-8, said, in a speech he delivered to the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare Breakfast March 27. Lenox cited past planning errors as examples of what not to do: preparing for nuclear war, only to engage in a prolonged guerrilla conflict in Vietnam; preparing for conventional wars and getting Desert Storm and counterinsurgency instead. Still, Lennox said, preparation is necessary and will continue – focusing on ground combat, aviation, and the Army Network. He cited the shift to the Stryker double-V hull combat vehicle and away from the Bradley fighting vehicle, to more use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and building a network that focuses "on standards, leveraging these evaluations to learn," and "making a difference in a rapid way." He also said that while some past preparations were wrong, they still proved to be useful in some areas anyway. Still, Lennox said, the Army is setting a high goal. "We can’t afford to get modernization wrong," said Lennox. "We are committed to getting this right."
