WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army needs to boost its training of junior officers and combat commanders, a retired general told Congress this week.
Maj. Gen. Robert Scales' comments came as bipartisan pressure is building on Capitol Hill to overhaul and strengthen the ground combat capabilities of the U.S. Army and Marines following their experience in Iraq.
"The image of very junior soldiers, isolated in some distant outpost, performing peacekeeping missions one moment and engaging the enemy the next reaffirms the truth that tomorrow's soldiers must acquire the skills and wisdom to lead indirectly -- skills formerly reserved for officers of a much higher grade and maturity," Scales told the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Senate Tuesday.
"They must be able to act alone in ambiguous and uncertain circumstances, fight with soldiers they cannot touch, and think so as to anticipate rather than react to the enemy's action. We can make such soldiers. But it takes time," the general said.
"In the past the only sure venue for exposing the naturals was battle. Soldier's lives had to be expended to find commanders with the intuitive 'right stuff.' Human science offers the opportunity to find the naturals without bloodshed," Scales said. "We must exploit this opportunity by conducting research in cognition, problem solving, and rapid decision making in uncertain, stressful environments such as combat," he added.
"Leaders must be exposed during peacetime to realistic simulations that replicate the conditions of uncertainty, fear and ambiguity that he will experience on the battlefield," he said.
The guerrilla nature of the Iraq war has led U.S. top generals and analysts pay increased attention to basic combat leadership skills, especially for small units.
