HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — After 18 years, retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan will step down this summer as the president of the Association of the United States Army.
Sullivan, a former Army chief of staff who will be succeeded by retired Gen. Carter Ham, took time out Wednesday from the AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exposition to talk to Army Times about his decision to leave the association, his concerns about the state of the Army, and his plans for the future.
Q. Why did you decide to retire?
A. It seems right for me at this time for a number of reasons. I'm in pretty good health, and I think I can continue to make a contribution as the chairman of the board of the Army Historical Foundation and work on the [Army] museum. We also were fortunate to be able to hire Gen. Carter as my replacement. The timing was right.
Q. What does Gen. Ham bring to AUSA?
A. He's very familiar with the Army. He served in the Pentagon, he commanded one of our divisions, he was the US Army Europe Commander, then [Africa Command]. He did a couple of studies that were very important for the Department of Defense and the Army – the federal commission that was just done, then he worked with the general counsel of the Department of Defense on the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy.
He really fits the bill. He's exactly what we need.
Q. In your opinion, what are some of the biggest issues facing the Army today?
A. There are some unknowns. Does sequestration kick back in? The Army's on its way to 450,000 [active-duty end-strength]. I think it should be closer to 500,000 than 450,000.
Many people say sequestration won't continue when the new administration comes in. I don't know if that's true. You can't predict it. The Army could wind up dropping even more.
Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, safeguard a simulated casualty at Rodriguez Live Fire Range, South Korea.
Photo Credit: Sgt. Johnathan Hoover/Army
Q. How could that impact the Army?
A. Deployments for the Army are up. I think they're up over 20 percent from last year. The Army's once again moving fast, getting committed.
Look at the Sinai, Kosovo, the Balkans. We still have people there. And now we have commitments up in the Baltics, and Africa seems to be getting a little bit complicated, as well as the Middle East and Korea.
I worry about that.
Q. What else keeps you awake at night?
A. My big worry is the all-volunteer force and the impact on the all-volunteer force.
[Army leaders are] dealing with readiness, and readiness ultimately involves the training and development of soldiers, active, Guard and Reserve.
I worry that [the Army chief of staff] will find himself in one of these things like I did, where he has a declining pot of money and a declining manpower base, and he's trying to keep it pulled together so they can go out the door today.
This is not like [the Army Force Generation model]. This is not making people ready 18 months from now. This is putting them out the door today. That's challenging, and it's the environment we're living in.
We need to live in the world we're in rather than the world as we'd like it to be.
This is a very demanding environment for people who call themselves soldiers, people who are on the ground.
Q. What do you think lies ahead for the Army?
A. I think it's more of the same for the Army. Troops on the ground advising, assuring others that we're present for duty and that we are capable of doing what we say we are going to do.
To be credible, you have to do exercises, no-notice deployment exercises, and have presence in places like South Korea and Europe with significant forces.
If we're not willing to do that, then people are not going to believe the US is in the game.
Styrker-armored vehicles, from 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, arrive at Smardan Training Area, Romania, March 24, 2015.
Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Opal Vaughn/Army
Q. What do you think needs to happen next?
A. There's an element of uncertainty, which bothers me. I think we need stability, and we need balance. Balance in readiness, and it needs to be funded. If we become any smaller, and I hate to say it, but I think we're too small to begin with, there's got to be a bottom [number].
If it were up to me, I would try to find the money to keep the active Army at 500,000 and the Guard and Reserve at 500,000. An Army of 1 million men and women in uniform is probably adequate for the tasks at hand.
I think any less than that, we're kidding ourselves. But the bow waves that exist on some of the very strategic systems that we're building are so huge that I fear we're going to sacrifice land forces for other needs, and I don't think that's a good strategy.
Q. Do you have any thoughts to share as you prepare to leave AUSA?
A. I haven't reflected very much. I came on in 1998 … [and] it's been a great journey.
For me, it's been a labor of great enjoyment. For better or worse, I am an American soldier, and I have been one for almost six decades now. What I'll do next is try to finish off the [Army] museum and then fade away like most old soldiers.
I would say that after years of doing this in one form or another, that is soldiering, the people I owe the greatest debt to are those with whom I have worked, those who worked for me, and those who, frankly, in many cases made me look better than I probably really am because they're dedicated and smart and selfless, and I appreciate it. I also appreciate greatly the sacrifices of my own family so that I could do what I did. The older I get, the more I appreciate their sacrifices.
Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.
