DTIC ADA507479: Press On! Selected Works of General Donn A. Starry. Volume 2

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press on!
Selected Works of
General Donn A. Starry
Volume II
Selected, Edited, Annotated, and
with an Introductory Essay by
Lewis Sorley
Combat Studies Institute Press
US Army Combined Arms Center
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
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Press On! Selected Works of General Donn A. Starry Volume II
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Starry, Donn A. (Donn Albert), 1925-
Selected works of General Donn A. Starry / selected, edited, annotated, and with an
introductory essay by Lewis Sorley.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Military art and science--United States--History--20th century. 2. Military
doctrine--United States. 3. United States--Military policy. I. Sorley, Lewis, 1934- II.
Title.
UA23.S675 2009
355.00973--dc22
2009017784
First printing, September 2009.

CSI Press publications cover a variety of military history
topics. The views expressed in this CSI Press publication
are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the
Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. A
full list of CSI Press publications, many of them available
for downloading, can be found at http://usacac.army.mil/
CAC2/CSI/
The seal of the Combat Studies Institute authenticates
this document as an official publication of the CSI. It is prohibited to use CSI’s
official seal on any republication of this material without the written permission
of the Director of CSI.
Cover photo: Colonel Donn A. Starry while commanding the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Republic
of Vietnam, 1970. Starry Family Collection
Contents
Page
Volume II
Articles, Speeches, and Correspondence
17. Soldiers ....................................................................................................................701
18. Strategy ....................................................................................................................729
19. Training ....................................................................................................................767
20. Uniforms ..................................................................................................................853
21. Values .......................................................................................................................871
22. Varied Topics ...........................................................................................................905
23. Vietnam War ............................................................................................................947
Oral History Interviews
1. Life and Career of General Donn A. Starry .............................................................980
2. Reminiscences of General Creighton Abrams ........................................................1171
3. Experiences as a Commander .................................................................................1196
4. Soldiers Magazine Interview “This Is a Tough Business . . .” ...............................1218
5. Desert Storm Lessons Learned ..............................................................................1223
6. Development of Doctrine .......................................................................................1256
7. Air Force: AirLand Battle ......................................................................................1274
Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations ..........................................................................1293
Index ....................................................................................................................................1311
About the Editor ..................................................................................................................1341
Accompanying Disk, Key Starry Speeches
iii

17. Soldiers
Page
Showcasing the Real Army ....................................................................................................702
The Soldier (9 August 1978) ..................................................................................................703
Recruiting and the Soldier .....................................................................................................705
The All-Volunteer Force.........................................................................................................709
The Soldier (14 August 1980) ................................................................................................713
The Soldier and Training .......................................................................................................714
Redress Provided ...................................................................................................................718
Soldier Quality .......................................................................................................................719
Soldiers ..................................................................................................................................720
Warriors ..................................................................................................................................722
Blackhorse ..............................................................................................................................724
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Press On!
Showcasing the Real Army
Message to Lieutenant General E. C. Meyer
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
24 April 1978
1. The visit by the [Executive Seminar] went extremely well. I’m happy to report that we
gave them the full treatment and maximum exposure to soldiers and equipment.
2. Under ideal conditions (40 degrees rain/snow/mud) the group participated energetically in
all planned activities, which included firing the TOW and Dragon simulator/trainer, the caliber
.45 pistol and submachine gun (one minor casualty resulted), the laser trainer while tracking
targets, all weapons on the M60A1 MBT to include the main gun. Additionally, they observed
a howitzer battery demonstrating many of its firing capabilities. Each drove an M60A1 and an
M113A1 APC over less than ideal terrain and under damp conditions, and was shown how the
Armor Center trains the armor crewman for today’s Army.
3. All meals were taken with soldiers in the 194th Brigade and 1st Training Brigade except
for the official dinner. Breakfast on 21 April was with the 54th Infantry at 0615 hours.
4. The Louisville Chamber of Commerce hosted a short bus tour of the city’s waterfront area,
capping the tour with Bloody Marys in the Galt House prior to departure. A little Kentucky
hospitality closed out the trip.
5. The insight the group gained by the short visit to the Armor Center was immeasurable and
beneficial to all concerned.
6. Mission accomplished.
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Soldiers
The Soldier
Association of the United States Army Executive Council
Fort Rucker, Alabama
9 August 1978
Today, I’d like to briefly share with you some observations on the soldier in the US Army.
Many recent media presentations, both written and visual, have portrayed the soldier in the
Army as a lackadaisical, slow-witted, poorly trained, and poorly motivated individual. Usually
this portrayal is accompanied by a raft of statistics that are skewed this way or that to prove
whatever point is being made. Many in the Army, in attempting to refute the allegations made,
have answered in kind with still another avalanche of statistics.
Now, statistics are wonderful things. My job, and I’m sure the jobs of most of you here, in some
way or another depend upon, use, or even thrive on statistics. But even an ornery statistician
will tell you that statistics can be made to relate or justify anything. Statistics are good for
relating trends, but judging anything else by them is dangerous. But they are impressive.
The point I want to make today is that, behind all the statistics and analysis and gratuitous
comments that one hears today from experts and instant field marshals, are some real live
human beings.
They don’t spring out from a briefing chart or appear between the lines of scripts or articles.
But they are there. They are alive; they are the youth of America; they are thinking; they are
the defense of this country; they are soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Their genealogy
is legion; their outlook is cosmopolitan; their strength is youth. They are young; they are still
learning; they are eager.
Their ability is not really measurable; their motivation is mixed; their values reflect what we,
their parents, have taught them. But they are young persons and oh-so-important to all of us,
for the gift they give, now and to the future, is freedom.
Now, all that may sound like motherhood and apple pie, but it’s true and you can verify it—not
by statistics or TV or newspapers, but the way I do by talking to soldiers, those here at Fort
Rucker in a maintenance shop repairing turbine engines or at Fort Knox driving a tank or at
Fort Sill firing a cannon.
They might not have a college education or a vast vocabulary of fancy words, but ask them
about their jobs. In plain, simple, and sometimes earthy terms, you’ll find out they know what
they’re doing. But, even more important, they’re doing it day in and day out, rain or shine,
often for long hours. It may be repetitious, boring, and hard, but they keep at it, and as long as
they do, we enjoy the freedom they guarantee.
To say they are bad or hopheads or lazy is just not reality. They’re doing the job and doing it
well. The Army they serve in is so much more complicated and sophisticated than the “old”
Army there is almost no basis for comparison. Yet they have a common bond of courage and
enthusiasm with the old soldiers of yesteryear. It’s foolhardy to sell them short or dismiss
them as dummies. In their military world, lasers, radars, computers, calculators, thermal sights,
turbines, and sophisticated televisions are commonplace items. Listen to them talk; you’ll hear
them toss around terms that, even today, are strange to the tongue of older generations.
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Press On!
Yet their courage is the same kind that carried Utah Beach, the Pusan Perimeter, and Kaesong.
There is no change and there is, in my mind, no doubt. Their enthusiasm still makes up for the
mistakes of their elders. They are intense, much more so than years ago. They are challenging
and alert. They expect help to learn, but are quick to point out when their time is being wasted.
They have put all of us on notice that they resent being talked down to. They expect respect
and will return it in kind. They resent being categorized or described in generalities or treated
as numbers or statistics. They want to be dealt with as individuals and human beings.
Recently, at a nearby fort, two young men, new trainee soldiers, died from what has been
alleged as abuse. Now, if that’s true, it’s not the old Army or the new Army or the training
Army. It’s not trainee abuse or child abuse or any fancy term; it’s human abuse and has no place
in any Army, new or old. That kind of conduct is not challenging or productive, and today’s
young soldier knows it and so do we all. Those who can’t recognize that simple fact don’t
belong in this Army or any other one.
Abuse, “make work,” busy work, irrational orders, or poor leadership can no longer be tolerated
or hidden. If you could see the soldiers at Fort Bliss, Texas, in 110-degree days testing our
new XM-1 tank, you’d know what I mean. Those crews are technically and professionally
sharp. They are real tankers. You’d be proud to watch them teach the Chrysler engineers easier
techniques to maintain the tank. There are soldiers like that all over the Army, and I’m glad
they’re here.
It would be less than honest to deny there are any problems. The world of today, civilian or
military, is full of them. Drugs, morality, crime—they press in on the soldiers too. They’re not
immune; remember they’re human. They’re part of our culture, and they make bad judgments
just as easily as anyone else. But they’re not lost, nor are they losers. They have the backbone
of their forefathers and their strength and courage. They haven’t yet gotten all the wisdom that
comes from experience, but they’re learning.
To sum up, I’d have to say that we as leaders, parents, peers, and companions must remember
to judge and treat them as human individuals, not as some kind of machine that can be
summarized in statistical output. They reject it, and we do too when we’re treated that way.
The American soldier today is the most important weapon system we have, much too precious
and valuable to squander with indifference or impersonality. They are truly the hope for the
future—yours, mine, and theirs, and our children’s children. I urge you to look beyond the
statistics, charts, and graphs for the man or woman—for they are there, brave and constant. You
won’t be disappointed. I assure you, I’m not.
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Soldiers
Recruiting and the Soldier
Association of the United States Army
Huntsville, Alabama
2 October 1979
My credentials are that I have been in the US Army—in the United States and abroad, in what
passes for both peace and war—for over 32 years. Soldiers are and have been my life study and
companionship.
So tonight let me briefly share with you some observations on the US Army, force modernization,
and soldiers. The Army is in the throes of modernization. It is perhaps the most dramatic such
an undertaking since early World War II. Today’s modernization is made more significant and
urgent than previous efforts because of the nearly 10 years in which resources and other energies
normally applied to force modernization were parceled out to support the war in Vietnam.
In the next six years, Army divisions are programmed to add more than 40 new equipment
systems to their motor parks, command posts, and training grounds. Some of these systems
are new and vastly improved versions of systems already in the division—new tanks, for
example. Some are systems that have no counterpart today and, because of that, provide not
only new operational capabilities but new and demanding tactical, organizational, and training
challenges. Among the most striking examples are the infantry fighting vehicle and the general
support rocket system. Still other new systems reflect advances in technology that make possible
important improvements in our ability to command and control the various functional aspects
of battle. Tomorrow’s division, with nearly a thousand computers, is typical. Ten years ago,
divisions owned but a few such devices.
All this modernization, however, must proceed apace with the required training for our soldiers.
Today, that training takes place in an atmosphere where it is only one of many priorities and,
often, the lowest. Out where the soldier is in the unit, sound training gives way to other programs,
and training is done only after the other tasks are accomplished. We call this the hostile training
environment. It is in the context of that environment I want to talk about modernization.
In considering all dimensions of modernization, it is quite clear that the human factor is the
most challenging problem the Army faces, and the most pressing issue has to do with numbers.
It is no secret that the available pool of 17- to 21-year-old males will decrease by more than 15
percent over the next 10 years. Considering physical and mental qualifications, prior service,
and educational and military commitments, only one out of four of today’s young men between
17 to 21 years of age is qualified and eligible for active military duty. The Army must enlist 1
out of every 16 of these young men. This year, the Army will apparently be unable to recruit
sufficient numbers. In succeeding years, this situation will likely worsen.
How can we attract young people to want to serve? Virtually since the onset of the volunteer
force, we have treated recruitment as a marketing exercise and the Army as another marketable
commodity—a job. Bonuses, promises of job transferability, and “normal” hours have been but
marginally successful in filling the ranks of support forces; they have failed to recruit enough
fighters for the combat arms—the hardened edge of the Army. Even well-intentioned promises
lead to trouble, as postenlistment depression develops when soldiers learn the Army is not the
“job” they had been led to expect. The result is a leadership problem that aggravates the hostile
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