What does the US Army secretary want to see more of? Soldiers out in the field, “out in the world figuring out what we need to do as an Army,” not making PowerPoints, he told Business Insider.
US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, a former armor officer and Iraq war veteran who became the service’s top civilian official two months ago, visited the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska this week.
The visit sent a message about Driscoll’s priorities.
In Alaska, where even now, in spring, temperatures are down in the 30s (in the winter, they can be 30 below), US soldiers are tirelessly readying to meet the challenges of Arctic warfare, a necessity as the US attempts to shift its focus to the Indo-Pacific.
On a call with BI, Driscoll and Maj. Gen. Joseph Hillbert, the commander of US Army Alaska and the 11th Airborne Division, spoke about how the unit’s soldiers and their work in Alaska align with the goals of US military leadership under President Donald Trump, which are all about lethality, a popular Pentagon buzzword that basically boils down to warfighter readiness.
“Everything that I saw up here, that the 11th Airborne was doing, was focused on” several key questions, Driscoll said. “If we get into conflict,” how will the tools the Army has help “keep us alive and help us kill the enemy?”
Soldiers in Alaska, which BI previously observed in action, are out testing how equipment, weapons, aircraft, gear, and more are impacted by really low temperatures, harsh conditions, and regular exposure to the unforgiving elements.
“They were not focused on things like PowerPoint slides and how they could deliver better work products to the Pentagon,” Driscoll said of the 11th Airborne Division, telling BI that “they were out there kind of suffering in the cold on behalf of their nation.”
Trial and error out in the field and programs like soldier touch points for immersive testing and feedback have long been considered important to innovation and iterative development.
PowerPoint presentations, on the other hand, while a useful tool, are often seen as the hallmarks of uninspiring, morale-lowering military briefings and trainings that can oversimplify or unnecessarily complicate ideas and concepts.
Such criticisms have been around for over a decade now. James Mattis, years before he became Trump’s first defense secretary, back when he was still a general with the Marine Corps, said that “PowerPoint makes us stupid.”
At that same 2010 speaking event, H.R. McMaster, an Army general who years later became Trump’s national advisor, said PowerPoint is “dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control.” He said that “some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.”
Driscoll and other Army leaders want to signal that field activities are important. They not only promote warfighter readiness, but they also allow decision-makers to get feedback for next steps and procurement plans.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, along with other US military officials, have made readiness and lethality top priorities. These have also been goals for previous administrations, and this nebulous expression is used to evaluate defense programs.
That focus within the Department of Defense has come with cuts to programs deemed unnecessary, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, efforts to revive the industrial base, and budget changes at the Pentagon.
During Hegseth’s nomination, he called for reviving the warrior ethos in the military and has since pushed that.
“We are American warriors. We will defend our country. Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear. The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose,” Hegseth said following his confirmation. He has since advocated for tossing things like DEI and climate change initiatives.
In Alaska, soldiers have been honing skills needed for Arctic warfare. The Army has increasingly recognized the region’s strategic significance, especially as rivals Russia and China become increasingly active. The Army released its Arctic strategy in 2021 and has been working to refine those capabilities.
During their Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center training last year, the 11th Airborne and troops from over a dozen international allies and partners ran wargames, adapting to freezing temperatures and unpredictable conditions.
The harsh environment prompts adjustments to systems — everything from gear to guns and vehicles and helicopters have to be modified and monitored.
Driscoll highlighted some of those adaptations during the conversation with BI, noting that many things — rubber, fuel, touch screens on devices — are affected by the cold weather.
“What the units up here are doing throughout the entire winter is taking out different pieces of equipment and testing how they’ll operate,” he said. That’s a critical learning process for the force as soldiers revive their winter warfare skills after decades of fighting wars in the Middle East.
During his visit to Alaska, Driscoll observed and participated in an air assault and received a capabilities briefing on Alaska’s strategic importance. He also witnessed other 11th Airborne Division capabilities, such as its specialized cold-weather vehicles.
More than assets, operating in the Arctic also requires a specific mindset from personnel to innovate in real time, soldiers told BI at last year’s warfighting exercise. It’s a very tough operating environment.
Maintaining a ready fighting force in Alaska is part of the US military’s focus on the Indo-Pacific, as well as the Arctic. Both areas have been identified by leadership as strategically important for the Army and the larger US military as a whole.
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