US Army’s Competencies, Resources, Capabilities

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Introduction

The United States Army was founded on June 14, 1775 as a Continental Army and was responsible for the liberation of the country from the colonial rulers during the American Revolution War of 1775 (Casey, 2011). Since then, it has undergone significant changes and modernization to become one of the finest and most powerful armies in the world. During the First World War, it played a significant role that helped in giving the Allied Power victory over the Central Powers. In the Second World War, it again played a major role that made the United States one of the world’s superpowers. Since then, the United States Army has undergone major developmental changes to help it achieve its mandate in the best way possible.

The army has been keen on improving its capabilities through modernization of its operations, through research, and recruitment of highly talented officers. In the 21^st century, the United States Army is considered the finest in the world in terms of capabilities and second largest after that of China in terms of active military officers serving in it. Its operations in the recent past have generally been considered successful although it has also faced fair amount of challenges along the way. In this paper, the researcher will look at the key internal factors that have implications for successful implementation of the United States Army’s strategies and goals.

Key Internal Factors Affecting Implementation of US Army’s Strategies and Goals

The primary goal of the United States Army is to protect the country from external aggression and to defend the country’s sovereignty at all cost. In its mission statement, the purpose of this army is defined as follows:-

To preserve peace and security, and offer defense for the United States, the Commonwealths, and areas occupied by the United States (Grey, 2010).
To support policies of the United States.
To implement national objectives as may be relevant.
To overcome any nation or power responsible for acts of aggression towards the United States that may imperil peace and security of the nation (Hanson, 2010).

Achieving the above goals and objectives require unique capabilities that this army must have in order to ensure that it is successful. The leadership of the army must be prepared at all times because it cannot precisely predict when an attack against the country might occur. It must map out the potential threats and come up with a plan and resources needed to neutralize such threats. In this analysis, it is necessary to look at its core competencies that make it special when compared with other armies around the world.

US Army’s core competencies

According to Bacon and Staudenmeier (2003), the United States Army has been ranked the finest in the world over the past six decades not only because of its massive expenditure but also the strategies and capabilities in terms of combat and meeting the objectives stated above. War is slowly changing from one that relied heavily on field battles to one that is controlled by computers through the use of highly sophisticated tools and techniques. This army has been at the forefront of this transformation and that is why it has been able to retain the top spot for a long time despite the emergence of new major powers such as China.

In the art of war, Emerson (2004) says that the ability to deter aggression is just as important as the ability to fight it. Being able to demonstrate to the enemies that that the country is not just ready but also very capable of fighting off and defeating any form of threat deter enemies from contemplating an attack against the country. It is important to look at these core competencies that have made the United States Army capable of achieving its mandate without any major failures over the recent past. These competencies will be looked at in three different segments as shown below.

Rare core competencies

One of the rare core competencies of the United States Army is its ability to gather military intelligence, especially from the countries considered to be hostile to its enemies. According to Hanson (2010), the United States Army has the rarest intelligence and counterintelligence strategies in the world that even Russia and China’s militaries are yet to emulate. The army has its agents working in different countries with the primary aim of gathering intelligence and engaging in counterintelligence activities for the purpose of ensuring that the country is safe. Any threat to the nation is often identified at the planning stage before implementation and necessary measures taken to thwart them effectively. Whenever a foreign country tries to gather intelligence about the operations of this organization and its capabilities, the leaders have come up with effective measures to counter such intelligence operations of these nations. Staying always informed, according to Hall and Yip (2016), is critical for a military organization that has the mandate of protecting the nation from any form of aggression.

According to Emerson (2004), the United States Army has one of the rarest communication strategies in the world. Every nation is keen on protecting its territory and the best way of doing that is to collect information from the foreign sources and identify any form of threat from the collected information. The recent events in Syria and the strained relationship between the United States and Russia have led to the emergence of new arms’ race. As world powers continue to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, they all know that time is of essence in winning battles in the modern society.

Emerson (2004) says that the modern-day war between the superpowers may not last long, and the survival of a country may solely depend on their ability to act in a timely manner. As such, it is important to have an effective communication system within the military to ensure that command can be issued without the enemy being aware of it. The United States Army has come up with very unique communication system that allows its officers to communicate irrespective of their location on earth without any third parties having access to the instructions and information.

Costly core competencies

The United States military has the biggest military budget in the world that is about three times that of China and almost ten times that of Russia. The army takes a significant amount of this budget to support some its activities. One of the costly core competences of this army that may not be easily emulated by other foreign powers is research. According to Bacon and Staudenmeier (2003), the United States Army has invested heavily in research to help it come up with unique combat capabilities based on the modern warfare.

Casey (2011) says that research strategies used by this army are unique. It has its own college, the United States Army War College (USAWC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where senior officers are trained and extensive military research is conducted (Grey, 2010). The army also coordinates with other military academies within the United States and other NATO countries to help it achieve greater capabilities in a combat situation. Its capacity to deploy the officers in various parts of the world is also very costly. There are United States Army officers strategically stationed in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and other parts of the world to help the United States and its allies in maintaining peace and stability.

Core competencies which are not easily imitated

Many countries around the world have tried to use the United States Army as a benchmark for their militaries. They have tried to imitate the strategies this army uses and its equipment, but there are some core competencies that are almost impossible for these foreign militaries to imitate. The United States Army has a fleet of 10 aircraft carriers. India, which is ranked second in this area, is planning to build its third aircraft carrier, which means that it only has two which are operational. The cutting-edge technology that is used by this military in planning and executing attacks is also not easy to be imitated by the foreign nations.

US Army’s strength and competitive capabilities

Analysis of the core competencies of the United States Army conducted above clearly outlines its strengths and competitive capabilities. One of the main strengths of this army is its strong financial capabilities compared to that of the foreign powers. The army also has a high number of highly trained officers who can respond to cases of emergency or when it is appropriate to undertake various military duties. The army also has one of the most advanced technologies that help in improving its operational activities. According to Bacon and Staudenmeier (2003), the capabilities of this firm when it comes to intelligence gathering and counterintelligence strategies give it an edge over its major rivals. The army has also been coordinating very closely with armies of other major world powers within NATO. Through regular research and education for its officers, the army keeps abreast of the modern warfare strategies making it capable of swiftly responding to any form of threat to this nation.

US Army’s weaknesses

It is important to appreciate that although the United States Army is the finest in the world, it has some weaknesses that are worth noting. One of the greatest weaknesses of this army is its overreliance on civilians to make critical decisions. As would be expected, these civilians have little militaristic knowledge and sometimes may not understand when to take what action. Given that they have the ultimate power to decide what to do, sometimes their decision may not be the best, and this may negatively affect the operations of the army. The political classes who have the ultimate power over the military continue changing the foreign policies every time there is a regime change. Such changes may also have negative impacts on the army. Grey (2010) says that it is also not good that some of the weapons, especially the warheads, are aging which means that there might be a possibility of malfunction.

Table 1: Summary of strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Huge financial capacity
Highly trained personnel
Technologically advanced equipment
High skills in intelligence gathering
Close cooperation with other major world powers
Regular research and education for its officers

Weaknesses

Overreliance on civilians who know very little about war
Political impacts through foreign policies
Reliance on some aging weapons

Supporting rationale

The analysis of United States Army’s core competencies is based on reliable sources published in the recent past. The sensitivity of the information in this document made it necessary to confirm the validity of the sources. Sources used include the United States Army official website, journal articles, and books. They focus on the analysis to determine the army’s core competencies that make it special compared with other armies around the world.

Analysis of US Army’s assets using RBV

The analysis above clearly demonstrates that the United States Army has huge resources in terms of assets and finances that it receives from the federal government. Its success can be attributed to its capacity to use these resources to achieve a competitive edge over its market rivals. Using resource based view model, it is possible to understand how the resources can be transformed into core competencies for an organization such as the United States Army.

Figure 1: Resource based view model.

As shown in the model above, tangible and intangible resources which may be heterogeneous or immobile and have VRIO (value, rarity, immutability, and organization) attributes can help provide a competitive advantage for an organization (Grey, 2010). By exploiting the resources, this army has developed unique capabilities that enable it to achieve its goals and objectives with ease.

Factors that make US Army’s resources and capabilities difficult to imitate

Foreign armies often admire the capabilities and resources of the United States Army as Emerson (2004) suggests, but it has been difficult for them to imitate these capabilities and resources. Using value chain analysis model shown in the figure below, it is possible to understand why it has been very difficult for these attributes to be imitated.

Source (Hall & Yip, 2016)

As shown in the model above, value- which in this case is the core competencies of the United States Army- is derived from the primary and supportive activities. Primary activities such as critical logistics, operations, outbound logistics, public relations (marketing), and services are areas that any army must engage in, but they do not bring about any uniqueness because they are basic. It is the supportive activities that are unique, making the value derived by United States Army difficult to imitate. Superior procurement strategies, advanced technological development, highly effective human resource management, and the advanced infrastructure make the value for US Army difficult to imitate because they are highly advanced.

Conclusion

The United States Army is one of the finest armies in the world and recent rankings by credible institutions place it at the top of the rest in the world. The army has unique core competencies and that enable it to achieve its goal of protecting the United States from the external aggressors with ease. The United States has remained very peaceful and safe since the end of the Second World War partly because of its capable army. The rich resources that the army has enable it to undertake its duties without straining which has led to the level of success it has registered since the country gained independence.

References

Bacon, L., & Staudenmeier, J. (2003). A historical overview of combat stress control units of the U.S. Army. Military Medicine, 168(9), 689-93.

Casey, W. (2011).Comprehensive soldier fitness: A vision for psychological resilience in the U.S. Army. American Psychologist, 66(1), 1-3. Web.

Emerson, W. K. (2004). Marksmanship in the U.S. Army: A history of medals, shooting programs, and training. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

Grey, W. L. (2010). U.S. Army sea tales: Have you ever seen a tugboat pull into a 7-Eleven? And other true stories by U.S. Army mariners. New York, NY: Cengage.

Hall, D., & Yip, J. (2016). Discerning career cultures at work. Organizational Dynamics, 45(3), 174–184. Web.

Hanson, T. E. (2010). Combat ready: The eighth U.S. army on the eve of the Korean War. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.

Muth, J. (2011). Command culture: Officer education in the U.S. Army and the German Armed Forces, 1901-1940, and the consequences for World War II. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press.

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