Transforming the Army: Tradoc's First Thirty Years - 1973-2003

Publisher Marketing: One of the U. S. Army's greatest traditions is seen in the framework of the lineage and honors which link soldiers and their units. Organizations such as U. S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) usually do not acquire much in the way of history or heritage. But in an era of seemingly endless reorganization, TRADOC has proven to be an anomaly. It has maintained its original mission, almost completely intact, and kept the same name for 30 years. I am pleased to introduce this survey of TRADOC's first three decades. Credit for the solid character of the command and its continued relevance to The Army goes first and foremost to TRADOC's founder, General William DePuy. His vision of an organization dedicated to providing training excellence, guidance on how to fight the country's wars, and insights on the organization and materiel necessary to support the soldier and execute doctrine proved exactly right. From the outset, General DePuy put the soldier at the center of the command's work, avoiding the temptation to allow technology to dictate the present or the future of warfare. No single decision could have been more important for the success of America's Army on battlefields since TRADOC's founding in 1973. TRADOC still "lives" General DePuy's vision in its mission to train the Army's soldiers and develop its leaders, support training in units, develop doctrine, establish standards, recruit the force, and build the future Army. TRADOC is still built around training the individual soldier-training is our primary mission, our baseplate. We should remain mindful of this as we look back over the past 30 years and as we accomplish our current work of establishing the standards and requirements for training and developments for The Army, and of developing competent and adaptive leaders while ensuring currency in our doctrine. TRADOC remains an adaptable organization, open-minded to new ideas, innovation, and collaboration. We embrace jointness in our component command-like relationship with Joint Forces Command, helping define the contribution of land forces to the joint and coalition battle and serving as The Army's component for joint developments in training, doctrine, concept development, and experimentation. Looking from the vantage point of the past, we build The Army of the future. We recruit young Americans as soldiers who serve as the centerpiece of The Army's formation and readiness. We take these new recruits, try to ensure a smooth transition into our ranks, imbue Army values, the warrior ethos, and discipline into them, and provide them the necessary skills needed to immediately contribute to their first unit of assignment. Then we train them through-out their careers, as quality forces must have quality training as well as quality equipment. Just as TRADOC has "touched" every member of today's Transforming Army, TRADOC itself must transform. Transforming the Army, and achieving irreversible momentum toward that end, is imperative. By TRADOC's Transformation, we strive to place the best capabilities and equipment into the hands of the quality force we have recruited. There, the circle of TRADOC's mission becomes complete. Through Transformation, TRADOC remains committed to soldiers, civilians, and families. May future soldiers and civilians of TRADOC learn from the successes captured in these pages.