U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll encouraged soldiers and families to help the Army get “human stupidity” out of the way to improve life on installations.
“We and you and soldiers and families can fix almost everything,” Driscoll said Tuesday during a forum on military families at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army.
“We just have to get human stupidity out of the way. You will be the ones to help us do that. You will be the ones on your bases and your communities pushing every single day to improve the foxhole. And we will try to do that, too.”
In a session that lasted over an hour, Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer said they were working to improve quality-of-life measures for soldiers and their families. The improvements could help soldiers and military families focus on their physical and mental wellbeing, as well as help soldiers rest and recover from their primary mission of training to fight, they said.
Driscoll said the Army has let down families, whom he described as “the absolute backbone” of the Army.
“The civilian leadership for a very, very long time has not put the soldier first. They have not put the family first,” he said. “They have done all sorts of sinful acts that have harmed you.”
One example is cost, Driscoll said.
“We spend a lot of money on you and your families and the things we give you, but it just doesn’t go far enough,” he said. “We have incredibly passionate, wonderful people who are civilians and soldiers trying to work and care for you, but the system has for far too long just gotten in their way.”
The cost of building on Army bases is 68.5% more expensive than construction outside the fence line, Driscoll said. And the Army “pays double what everybody else does” for many items bought for bases.
He, George and Weimer “talk about this regularly. It enrages us and we’re doing everything we possibly can to break down this corrupt system,” Driscoll added.
The leaders said the Army is focusing on ways to reduce unnecessary regulations and increase efficiency to improve programs that help soldiers and families.
Changes to child care, dining
Driscoll said he’s optimistic that within 90 to 120 days, the Army will set up a structure where spouses who want to work at child development centers can get approved one time, and then receive a “fast pass” to work at another CDC at their next duty station without having to start the process over. The change would help address the issue of worker shortages in CDCs, and it’s good for spouses and children, he said.
George said they’re rolling out a campus-style dining concept at Army dining facilities to five locations first, adding, “We want to go fast.” But federal legislation and regulations are hampering efforts to expand that concept to improve the Army dining halls, Driscoll said, and he hopes to get a waiver soon.
Most locations “should start to see hybrid versions or something that’s significantly better within the next 24 to 36 months,” he said.
When Driscoll and his family moved to Joint Base Myer — Henderson Hall, Virginia, earlier this year, he was excited about taking his children to the dining facility at Fort Myer for breakfast.
“It was awful,” he said. “It was not healthy, it was all processed.”
The conversation needs to be reversed about the quality-of-life amenities on installations, Weimer said.
“In this day and age, if we can’t train the way we’re going to be required to fight at home station — which includes barracks, because you ought to be able to take care of yourself and rest and recovery — then our home station is failing us,” he said.
“Our posts and installations exist so we can fight to win,” Weimer added. “They don’t exist so that we have a great place to live, awesome [child development centers] and discounted food at commissaries. We need all that stuff so that we can train and be really good at our jobs.”
However, he said, “I think for a long time, we had the conversations reversed.
“When you get the conversation right, now all of a sudden, the barracks make sense. The campus style dining and why we’d want to pay a little extra for quality makes sense.”
How technology can help
The leaders said the Army is looking at ways to use technology to reduce burdens on both soldiers and installations.
For example, Army leaders are considering how to use technology in some areas in order for bases to focus on things that humans must be responsible for, such as welcoming and onboarding people, Weimer said.
He acknowledged there is resistance to change at some locations. For example, he said, while there may be a QR code on permanent change of station (PCS) orders, some installations are still asking for 10 printed copies of those orders.
While Army leaders are working to address many of these issues, Driscoll told the audience, “where we’re still failing you, please let us know.”
“The system isn’t a biblical or divine or ordained system. It can be changed and molded and bent to the will of you and your families,” he said. “Please feel inspired, feel passionate, but just know the system is going to require your energy and effort to help us change it.”
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
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