#160: Is The US Army Ready? 15th Sergeant Major Of The Army Dan Dailey

Readiness is the ability to close with and destroy any enemy, anywhere, anytime. The role of the Sergeant Major of the Army is to ensure readiness. Command Sergeant Major Dan Dailey was the 15th Sergeant Major of the Army and the youngest Soldier to ever hold the position. Today, he is the Vice President of Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier Programs at the Association of the United States Army.

SMA Dailey joined Creator and Host Fran Racioppi to define what it really means for the United States Army to be “ready” to fight and win our nation’s wars. To do so, they went deep on each of the components of readiness, including: 

• Manning and the impacts of the recruiting crisis the Army has endured over the past several years. 
• Training and the importance of the Combat Training Centers and our combined exercises across the components and with our allies.
• Equipping for the next fight and why the current procurement processes must change if America expects to remain ahead in the innovation race.
• Leader Development including why softening the messaging of warfighting hurts mission focus and how the Army is closing the experience gap as the Global War on Terror generation of Soldiers retire. 

They also cover the important mission of the Association of the United States Army and how as the largest organization supporting our Soldiers their work only continues to grow. Watch, listen or read our conversation from the AUSA headquarters and don’t miss the rest of our AUSA series.

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QUOTES

• “Individual readiness is when a soldier themself feels capable to accomplish their mission.”
• “If you had one hour before your soldiers went to combat what would you train on.” 
• “The high percentage of people who serve today come from families who have served in the past….that funnel is getting smaller and smaller.” 
• “We have lost the value of service to our nation…is it actually a way to achieve the American dream?”
• "If we send everybody to college, who’s going to do those jobs?” 
• “I think there’s a lot of young Americans out there who are fully capable to fight and win, they’re just not inspired.” 
• “If you create a standard that nobody in America can achieve, it’s not a standard.” 
• “This nation’s going to have an Army. America, not the Army, is going to decide how we do that.”  
• “The only more expensive thing than fighting a war is losing one.”
• “Our first mission as the United States Military is to deter. Then to defeat.” 
• “Most people look at war as armed conflict between two entities. War is a conflict of wills.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• 0:00 Introduction
• 4:44 Becoming SMA
• 5:57 Readiness Defined
• 9:55 How does the Army train at each echelon?
• 11:49 Why become a Soldier?
• 13:21 Can the Army bring the American Dream?
• 19:53 Everyone can’t go to college
• 22:11 Is recruiting college athletes the answer?
• 25:14 Is there a reduction in standards?
• 30:22 Changing the Army’s message
• 34:13 Are we close to a draft?
• 36:05 Technology & Force Modernization
• 42:22 Is China ahead of America?
• 48:17 Training for every threat
• 52:48 Interoperability with Allies
• 55:17 Loss of combat experience
• 1:01:32 Next Generation Is Ready
• 1:05:20 Leading AUSA
• 1:11:01 Daily Habits

The opinions presented on the The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are the opinions of guests and host Fran Racioppi. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Beret Foundation and the Green Beret Foundation assumes no liability for their accuracy,