Retired LTG Guy Swan spent more than 35 years in the Army, commanding at every level. Now, as a Vice President of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), he stays attuned to the concerns of today’s new veterans. Swan tells The Cipher Brief that those returning from the battlefield worry that Americans will forget them and are apprehensive about the daunting task of transitioning from the military to civilian life.
The Cipher Brief: What does Veterans Day mean to you, and what does Veterans Day mean to the Army?
Lieutenant General Guy Swan: Veterans Day is a time to honor those who have served in our Armed Forces. It’s the one day out of the year when we take a few minutes to think about those who have served—whether it’s a loved one or others who have served in our Armed Forces. While we should be mindful of our veterans every day, it’s appropriate to have this special day set aside as a day of appreciation for those who have meant so much to our nation and who have given us the freedoms that we often take for granted.
As for those of us who have been soldiers and for those who are still serving, Veterans Day is a way to connect with our legacy and to men and women who came before us.
The two questions are clearly related, but certainly for the Army and for soldiers, it’s an opportunity to look inward and to recognize those who have preceded us.
TCB: How has the last 15 years of war shaped or changed the U.S. Army, and what impact has this had on veterans’ care?
GS: The last 15 years—and even going back to the Balkans conflict of the mid-to-late 1990s—have been a unique period where, for the first time in our history, the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) has had to fight in a sustained manner for a long period of time. I’m not sure that was envisioned when the AVF was organized in the mid-1970s. This has been the first major test for a generation of volunteer soldiers, and they have performed very well.
The “warrior spirit” has been reenergized in our Army. Moreover, in previous conflicts, there was a defined safe zone—a rear area, so to speak. That is no longer the case. There are no rear areas on today’s battlefields.
The role of women in our Armed Forces, and especially in the Army, has also changed dramatically over the last 15 years. Women are now an integral part of the Army.
We have a better understanding of the role of the military and military power in general, as the United States engages an increasingly dangerous world. The last 15 years have raised a cultural awareness in the Army. Our troops and our commanders are far more aware of the cultural, religious, ethnic, geographic, and security environment they must fight in and win in. All of that has changed dramatically in the last 15 years.
Many of the conflicts we’ve been in have been dominated by small unit operations. Yes, there may have been large numbers of troops on the ground across Iraq or Afghanistan, but most combat operations have been executed at the small unit leader level.
The changing nature of war has impacted veterans’ care in some significant and even surprising ways. For example, the role of families has changed in our Army over the last 15 to 20 years. Families are very much a part of the U.S. Army today, and family members are often first-line caregivers to injured soldiers.
Breakthroughs in medical care have dramatically improved the lives of our soldiers on and off the battlefield, so much so that our troops have higher combat survival rates today than at any time in history. The flip side of that, of course, is that we’re sometimes bringing home soldiers who are grievously wounded or injured, and who will require long-term care and commitment from our nation.
TCB: What are the top concerns of returning veterans today, and how does AUSA address these concerns?
GS: I think the biggest concern for veterans today is that the American people not forget about them. As these conflicts ebb and flow, there are some who are even unaware that we still have troops in harm’s way in Afghanistan, or that we are still caring for wounded warriors. Public awareness is important, not accolades or pats on the back. A collective acknowledgement for what they have done for the nation is vitally important to our returning veterans. Another concern for many will be their transition to civilian life. The transition from being a professional soldier to a civilian can be a daunting journey for many. They think, “What will I do when I take off the uniform?”
As the Army’s professional association, AUSA spends much of its time and energy educating the public about the Army and men and women who serve in it. We do this through the 120 chapters we operate worldwide, from Korea to Germany to Kuwait and all across the United States. Local community education in and around our bases is a big part of what we do. Capitol Hill engagement is also important. We spend time with members of Congress and their staffs making sure that they are aware of what our veterans and our troops have contributed. We do public outreach through social media and use these tools to make sure the public is aware of issues like transition to civilian life, medical care, and so forth. We also work with The Military Coalition, a consortium of 30 associations similar to AUSA that work together to educate congressional leaders and others on issues such as pay, benefit, healthcare, and education for our soldiers. These are just some of the ways we get our message out.
TCB: How can we effectively reintegrate the men and women transitioning to civilian life back into the work force?
GS: That is part of what we try to do at AUSA, along with many other organizations. One particular challenge is how to take a career in the military and “civilian-ize” it. How do you build a resume that resonates with a civilian employer? It’s a very difficult task to take military skills and put them in a form that a potential employer would value. Educating the employer on what a military professional has done is part of what we do, and I think that’s vital during the transition process.
TCB: Given the complicated security space, how does the changing nature of war impact tomorrow’s war fighters?
GS: We think about that all the time. I have a son who is a senior at West Point and looking ahead to graduating next summer and heading out into the Army as a junior officer. He will find an Army where some things never change—things like trust, the importance of competent leadership, camaraderie, and the winning spirit—things that were as important in 1775 as they are in 2015. These will not change, regardless of where our army and our soldiers are operating.
The environment that the Army operates in and the conditions it fights in, however, have changed and will continue to change dramatically going forward. Soldiers will have to operate across a spectrum—from humanitarian operations and disaster relief here in the homeland, right up to high intensity combat in a distant theater of war. Tomorrow’s warfighters will have to be agile; mentally, physically, and organizationally. They have to be resilient and able to move across that spectrum, sometimes in the same day, providing humanitarian relief in the morning and then engaging in close combat that afternoon. That may not be uncommon in the future. Creativity and innovation are things the public doesn’t always equate with soldiers, and yet they will be absolutely essential on tomorrow’s battlefields. How they go about their business is going to be highly valued in the future. They must be aware that tomorrow is not going to look like today, which will require them to maintain readiness for whatever comes their way.
For anyone who is a student of the Armed Forces, the Army is the “foundational force.” We know what the Marine Corp does. We have very strict expectations of the Marines—we want them to be the best expeditionary fighting force in the world. We know what our Air Force is supposed to do. We know what the Navy does for us, but everything else—and I mean everything—is done by the United States Army. The Army is the “go to” force that fights and wins while doing a host of other missions that the other services do not do. This means our soldiers have to be prepared to take on any mission in the future. More than ever before, agility, innovation, creativity, and resilience are going to be the keys to winning in the future.
