New Top General Tells Legislators U.S. Will Probably Need a Larger Army By THOM SHANKER New York Times
WASHINGTON, July 29 — The former Special Operations commander called from retirement to be Army chief of staff said today that the Army is likely to need more troops to meet its worldwide commitments. Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, appearing at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, said that he has not yet formally reached conclusions on a number of critical questions facing the Army, among them required numbers of personnel and the fate of some weapons systems. "But I'm going to take a little risk here and I'm going to tell you that, you know, intuitively I think we need more people," General Schoomaker said with far more candor than usually is on display at confirmation hearings. "I mean, it's that simple." But he said that if he is confirmed by the full Senate as the Army's senior general, he will first review how soldiers and assignments are divided between the active-duty force and the reserves before making any recommendations about increasing the size of the nation's largest armed service. General Schoomaker, who retired from the Army in 2000, was asked several times about reports that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had a tense working relationship with Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the previous Army chief. Indeed, the two clashed over Mr. Rumsfeld's decision to cancel a new artillery piece, called Crusader, and over General Shinseki's estimate of the number of ground troops that might be required to stabilize Iraq. "Since the Secretary of Defense is the one that asked me to do this, that was one of the first things we discussed," General Schoomaker said. "And I'm convinced, through our discussions and our subsequent dealings, that we have an open and candid dialogue and that we have come to an arrangement where we can agree to disagree and at the same time understand what the chain of command is." General Schoomaker's use of the phrase, "chain of command," was a reference to Constitutional provisions for civilian control of the military. Mr. Rumsfeld has repeatedly stated that he wants the entire military, and especially the Army, to be speedier and deadlier, the hallmark of the Special Operations forces. It was General Schoomaker's credentials in that area, especially his time as chief of the United States Special Operations Command from 1997 to 2000, that brought him to Mr. Rumsfeld's attention. General Schoomaker gained insight into the terrorist threat long before the Sept. 11 attacks, serving on the team that investigated the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut. He also has served with conventional forces, including infantry and armored cavalry units, before moving to Special Operations. As Army chief of staff, General Schoomaker said, his job would be "to think worst-case" about the length of deployments to Iraq. "I have to think about how we plan and think through sustaining a long-term commitment there," he added, even if allies contribute troops to diminish the American commitment. Currently, 16 of the Army's 33 active duty combat brigades are committed to Iraq. The general also said he plans to look at how the Army organizes its combat forces to see if greater efficiencies can be found in moving from command by large division headquarters to planning based around smaller military units. Also appearing for his confirmation hearing today was Lt. Gen. Bryan D. Brown of the Army, nominated to be the next chief of the Special Operations Command, which has been ordered by Mr. Rumsfeld to take a more active role against terrorism. General Brown, who currently serves as deputy at the command, said that those forces are to grow by 5,100 people by 2009, above the current 47,000-strong Special Operations force drawn from the Air Force, Army and Navy. Special Operations can manage its current load, he said, noting that civil affairs troops and Army Special Forces are stretched the most.
