ARMY ANNOUNCES HEADQUARTERS TRANSFORMATION PLAN
December 18, 2001
Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White announced today decisions from a review of the organization of the Headquarters, Department of the Army. The purpose of the review was to streamline decision-making, achieve greater unity of effort within the headquarters, remove unnecessary layers in the organization, and gain greater control over resource management. This effort complements the on-going Army transformation, the direction of which has been re-affirmed since the terrible attacks of Sept. 11. The changes will provide a more capable, responsive Army headquarters to address the urgent requirements of the next few years.
As White explained when he initiated the review in late June, “No successful corporate headquarters in the world today is organized the way we are in Headquarters, Department of the Army. We currently have two separate staffs, often performing some of the same or similar functions. The level of individual performance and dedication is very high but we need to ensure those great individual efforts yield the best results. My goal is to reshape the two staffs into a headquarters that maintains civilian oversight and runs much more efficiently.”
The realignment of the Army headquarters is integral to the Army vision articulated in 1999 to transform the entire Army. Addressing the changes announced today, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki said, “This alignment creates a more effective and efficient headquarters and enables us to increase our momentum in achieving the Objective Force this decade.”
A full description of the realignment is in the executive summary on the web at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2001/d20011217realignment.pdf. The guiding philosophy behind this assessment is to enhance effectiveness by clearly defining responsibility and authority within functional areas; realigning fragmented organizations; eliminating duplication of effort; incorporating, where appropriate, better business practices and organizational concepts that have proven successful in major corporations; and optimizing the use of technology.
While performing as a unified staff in executing policy, planning, and resource management responsibilities, the secretariat and Army staff organizations will maintain separate and discrete functions as required by law. However, the organizational changes will facilitate greater collaboration between the secretariat and Army staff by clarifying responsibilities and authorities of each staff and establishing support relationships between elements of the staff. The secretariat staff will retain responsibility for formulating policy and providing strategic direction, as well as overseeing the execution of Army plans and programs. The Army staff will continue to prepare plans, supervise their execution and coordinate activities Army-wide in support of both Title 10 functions and combatant command missions.
The secretary of the Army, under secretary of the Army, chief of staff of the Army and vice chief of staff of the Army will form the Army’s Executive Office, under direction of the secretary. It will provide direction and set the priorities for the Army. Selected senior Army staff principals will advise and assist their counterpart assistant secretaries of the Army to enhance the flow of information and speed decision-making. While working closely with the assistant secretaries, the Army staff principals will continue to support the chief of staff. The realignment more fully integrates the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve into key positions of authority to better accommodate the key issues and concerns of all components within a single integrated staff.
The realignments are also designed to improve the control of resources and thereby provide tangible benefit to Army commands, installations, and ultimately soldiers and their families. Implementation will begin in December and be completed by September 2002. Military positions eliminated in this process will be redistributed to Army field units; therefore, the realignments will not reduce Army end strength. Every reasonable effort will be made to place Department of the Army civilians, whose positions are eliminated, in positions of continued federal service to avoid adverse impacts on individuals. Dollar savings resulting from the elimination of civilian positions will be available to fund priority requirements. The U.S. Army Audit Agency will monitor implementation and maintain an accounting of resource transfers.
Today’s announcement is the result of intensive efforts by the Headquarters, Department of the Army Realignment Task Force that White established on June 25, 2001. The task force, consisting of about 30 senior civilian and military members, looked at all aspects of the headquarters’ functions to include: acquisition, headquarters management, human resources, information management, logistics, installation / facilities management, operations, training, intelligence, requirements development, resource management, external affairs, and civil works.
The next step, which will be accomplished by Spring 2002, is to conduct a similar review of organizations below the Army headquarters level and of those organizations that support the headquarters.
For more information, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 697-7590.