{"id":61984,"date":"2020-02-07T01:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T01:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/07\/army-task-force-takeover-could-spell-doom-for-infantry-reform\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:37:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:37:43","slug":"army-task-force-takeover-could-spell-doom-for-infantry-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/02\/07\/army-task-force-takeover-could-spell-doom-for-infantry-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Army task force takeover could spell doom for infantry reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A co-founder of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/06\/05\/tactics-tech-and-work-of-close-combat-experts-is-turning-warfare-upside-down\/\" target=\"_blank\">task force<\/a> focused on radically improving close combat across military services said the initiative may be headed toward irrelevance outside of a small sector of the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told an audience at Johns Hopkins University today that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/10\/18\/close-combat-lethality-task-force-is-changing-how-the-army-builds-lethal-soldiers-and-squads\/\" target=\"_blank\">Close Combat Lethality Task Force<\/a>, launched in 2018 under his predecessor Secretary of Defense James Mattis, would likely move to the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we\u2019re probably going to do is transition that to the Army because something like that needs a strong foundation, a backbone on which its ideas can then filter out,\u201d Esper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/01\/29\/a-look-inside-the-work-future-of-jim-mattis-task-force-focused-on-infantry-close-combat\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Marine-platoon-attack.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">A look inside the work, future of Jim Mattis&#8217; task force focused on infantry, close combat<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The outgoing defense secretary put in place an order to continue the task force for at least another year.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper is a former Army infantry officer and with the 101st Airborne Division during the Persian Gulf War and later commanded a rifle company. He also previously served as Army secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales told Army Times Monday that the move was a \u201cbad idea\u201d that could spell the end of the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s just so shortsighted, and it reflects a lack of understanding about what the task force was formed to do by Secretary Mattis,\u201d Scales said. \u201cI am deeply, deeply saddened by this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Public affairs representatives for Esper did not immediately respond for a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Army is conducting additional analysis before any further decisions are made,\u201d Army Lt. Col. Driece M. Harris, a spokeswoman for Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, said in an email to Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Close Combat Lethality Task Force Chief of Staff Kimberly Bender told Army Times that prior to any official decision regarding realignment, the task force had nothing to add to the secretary\u2019s comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper did not share details of how the move would occur or when. The remarks were a response to an audience question about the status of the task force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He did signal his personal support for the initiative, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a task force that\u2019s near at heart as a former infantryman,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something I want to preserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his brief comments, he partially supported the decision, saying that the Army provides the largest share of infantry and special operators to the joint force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said having the Army lead the effort would allow it to more quickly get task force \u201cideas and innovations\u201d onto the field. And that would mean continued investment and advancements in tactics, technology and protective equipment but also in the individuals recruited and trained for those jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the Close Combat Lethality Task Force was announced publicly in early 2018, advocates saw it as a long-overdue step to pull together Army and Marine infantry, scouts, engineers and special operations forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As numerous leaders have echoed when discussing the task force, the close combat force historically accounts for 90 percent of the nation\u2019s casualties in war. Mattis\u2019 backing helped to prioritize money to provide the best weapons, protective gear and niche solutions that the close combat force needed to do its job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while it gained some quick, early wins in hardware, the biggest challenges were just being tackled: changing the culture of the services in how they build, grow and retain lethal squads and teams of Marines, soldiers and special operators, Scales said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That work dove into the force structure and manpower of the forces. Early data showed that major changes might be needed, which include looking for older squad leaders and making infantry a second-enlistment only option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keeping squad leaders with squads and eliminating non-combat related tasks such as gate guard, lifeguard or gym duties often used to fulfill base commanders needs, clearing away more time for training and proficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Scales scoffed at the idea that a joint service task force answering directly to the defense secretary would be as effective when shuttled to \u201can obscure brigadier general at Fort Benning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Soldier Lethality CFT is headed by a one-star but has mostly focused on gear development such as the Next Generation Squad Weapon program, Integrated Visual Augmentation System and new night vision goggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The retired two-star doubted that an Army-led effort could have any impact on manning and training overhauls for close combat forces in other services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scales worked with Mattis to create the task force after the two had collaborated more than a decade ago on a similar effort that failed to endure when Mattis changed commands and later retired from the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the idea of carving out exceptions for the close combat force gained new life when Mattis was appointed to lead the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until October, the task force was headed by retired Marine infantry officer Joseph L \u2019Etoile but he returned to a private industry post at that time. The former deputy director, Army Col. John Cochran, has served as acting director since November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cochran has an aviation and acquisitions background with the Army.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SecDef says this move will help field innovations more quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,92,93,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3366],"class_list":["post-61984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MKU5ROONM5DUPEZRUFHBWN5DO4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2020\/02\/07\/army-task-force-takeover-could-spell-doom-for-infantry-reform\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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