Chief of Staff Guidance 12 October 1999
We will look for future systems which can be strategically deployed by C-17, but also be able to fit a C-130-like
profile for tactical intra-theater lift. We will look for log support reductions by seeking common platform/
common chassis/standard caliber designs by which to reduce our stockpile of repair parts. We will prioritize
solutions which optimize smaller, lighter, more lethal, yet more reliable, fuel efficient, and more survivable
options. We will seek technological solutions to our current dilemmas. We want the best combination of
technologies that will provide survivability through low observable, ballistic protection, long-range acquisition,
deep targeting, early attack, and first round kill at smaller caliber solutions. Can we, in time, go to an
all wheel vehicle fleet where even the follow-on to today's armored vehicles can come in at 50%-70% less tonnage?
I think the answer is yes, and we're going to ask the questions and then go where the answers are.
With the right technological solutions, we intend to transform the Army, all components, into a standard design
with internetted C4ISR packages that allow us to put a combat capable brigade anywhere in the world in 96 hours
once we have received execute liftoff, a division on the ground in 120 hours, and five divisions in 30 days.
Being able to do so gives the National Command Authority a genuine deterrent capability - - when ordered,
we intend to get to trouble spots faster than our adversaries can complicate the crisis. Once there, we intend
to leverage for de-escalation and a return to stability through our formidable presence. But if deterrence fails,
we will be postured to prosecute war with an intensity that wins at least cost to us and our allies and sends
clear messages for all future crises. And when technology permits, we will erase the distinctions, which exist
today, between heavy and light forces and review our requirements for specialty units.