{"id":28282,"date":"2019-06-27T16:52:12","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T16:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/27\/army-leadership-shakeup-shouldnt-impact-troops-and-priorities\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:40:54","slug":"army-leadership-shakeup-shouldnt-impact-troops-and-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/06\/27\/army-leadership-shakeup-shouldnt-impact-troops-and-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Army leadership shakeup shouldn\u2019t impact troops and priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are no major incoming changes to the force expected despite the leadership shift that the Army is undergoing, according to the service\u2019s new top official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of the Army Mark Esper <\/a>was tapped by the president last week to replace Patrick Shanahan as the acting secretary of defense. Additionally, the Army chief of staff and the sergeant major of the Army<\/a> are being replaced this summer in scheduled changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the leadership shakeup won\u2019t change the trajectory of the service, according to Acting Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy<\/a>, who replaced Esper. President Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate Esper and McCarthy to permanent positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a family, we have really circled the wagons and buckled down,\u201d McCarthy told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday. \u201cNo policies or priorities are changing. We\u2019re going to continue our head down and continue to march the same azimuth we\u2019ve been on while we work through this transition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big ticket item on McCarthy\u2019s agenda in his new role is wading through the defense budget process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur interactions with Congress will be very important between now and the August recess, and then we all kind of go on a tactical pause in August here in Washington,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cPeople go on vacation, but then we come back into the next fiscal year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget will be key to keeping up with the Army\u2019s expensive modernization initiatives<\/a>, which include building out long-range fires<\/a> and getting soldiers new combat gear<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while past budgets under the Trump administration have \u201cstopped the bleeding<\/a>,” Army leaders have said they\u2019ll need solid funding to continue modernizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to make sure we get through this process with the best mark that we can get from the Congress so we can continue to build on the gains that have been made,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to keep our foot on the gas with modernization [to] bring more innovative capabilities into the formations so we can have the stand-off with long-range fires,\u201d he added. “So, longer \u2018legs\u2019 on our aviation platforms with sophisticated avionics, packages with electronic warfare and cyber capabilities, coupled with advancements for soldier lethality like our Integrated Visual Augmentation System<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t