Chatting with the Chief: A Conversation with General James C. McConville

General James C. McConville is the 40th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, filling a critical position for our nation once occupied by individuals such as General John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, and Omar Bradley. A West Point graduate, soldier, leader, and aviator, General McConville has commanded the famous 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and led in combat including in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, as Army Chief of Staff, his job is to ensure our soldiers have the training and equipment they need to accomplish their missions and return home safely. In this position, he’s also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, helping to advise some of our nation’s senior civilian leaders on vital national security decisions.

General McConville sat down with Bradley Bowman — senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), filling in for host Cliff May — just days after the one-year anniversary of Putin’s unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine and amidst reports of Beijing considering the provision of lethal aid to Moscow for use against Ukrainians.

Bradley and General McConville discuss the war in Ukraine and what's at stake for Americans, how to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base, the nature of the threat from China, and what the Army is doing to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Bradley also asks him for an update on the Army’s ongoing modernization efforts — the most significant the service has conducted in four decades and one that will determine whether Americans can prevail on future battlefields.