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Secretary of the Army: M&S is Absolutely Critical
Posted by Randy | March 08, 2011

Last week during a hearing in the House Armed Services Committee, I asked Secretary of the Army John McHugh how important modeling and simulation is to the Army and what kind of future he sees for this technology.

Secretary McHugh responded by saying that modeling and simulation is absolutely essential. He went on to say that modeling and simulation offers some of the best ways we can ensure our soldiers are acclimated and prepared for what they see in theater, and he said the technology is becoming increasingly important to our military.

You can watch our exchange in this video:


Secretary McHugh's comments are critical. Modeling and simulation technology is so important to our United States military as we face both the realities of significant budget constraints and twenty-first century warfare.

As the founder and chairman of the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus, I have championed the use of this technology in our military. I’ve also joined with other Members of Congress to look at ways to take modeling and simulation beyond the battlefield by increasing collaboration around this technology as a tool to better respond to national catastrophes, both natural and man-made.

You can read more about modeling and simulation here.

Comments
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  • wayne partin commented on 3/10/2011
    At approximately 1:40:45 General Casey states, "We are at war." I believe the general may be in error. I have on my bookshelves a 1970's Air Force JAG manual which has an extended discussion on its first pages about "war," and "armed conflict." The authors assert that since WWII countries, including the US, have been loath to declare war because of treaty obligations under the UN Charter. The authors further described the uses of military force that the US, and others, have used since assuming those UN obligations, can be defined as "armed conflict." So, no, General Casey, we are not at "war (the empty seats of the Congressional panel attest to the lack of seriousness on the part of Congress if the general's characterization is correct);" we are legally in an "armed conflict." I noticed that you did not challenge the general's use of the legal term "war" when he uttered it. Why not? Perhaps the reason can be found in the general spirit of dissimulation which typifies all governmental utterances, local, state and federal; the obvious intent of these utterances is not the illumination of a subject. No. It appears that the goal is to secure the submission of the populace to difficult tasks and to contradictory characterizations. The Congress [and the executive and the judiciary] wishes, it seems to me, to exploit the seriousness attached to the word "war" all the while it exploits the weariness of the public associated with the legal flexibility of the more preferred characterization of our current conflicts, "armed conflict." You yourself, at a VFW meeting in Colonial Heights, VA in October of 2001 told your assembled hearers that "No, we cannot declare war. We have no 'state actors' and there are certain privileges which would apply to the enemy that we don't want to see come into play." In all fairness this is a mere paraphrase of your statement but the content of my paraphrase is reliable. It seems that "armed conflict" is a much more mischievous status, for we and our future, than would be an honest, virile declaration of "war."
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