Defense Writers Group
Project for Media and National Security
George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs
27 February 2024
Moderator: Good morning and welcome to this very special Defense Writers Group. We have as our guests today the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Christine Wormuth; and the Army Chief of Staff General Randy A. George. I’m sure you know the ground rules, but let’s go over them quickly. This is on the record. You may record it for accuracy of quotes, but there’s no rebroadcast of audio or video. I’ll ask the first question as always, and then a whole bunch of you emailed to get questions in advance. I’ll go through as many as we can. If there’s time after that we’ll go around the table. The final minutes will be reserved for closing comments from our guests. Madame Secretary, General, thank you so much. We are honored to have you. The first question is a pretty obvious one. The war in Ukraine has entered its third heart-breaking year. The Army is great at harvesting lessons learned but also incorporating them. So what are you both of you seeing? Madame Secretary, you were just in Munich. General, I know you travel to the AOR and talk to counterparts. What are you learning and seeing from the war in Ukraine that will help drive Army transformation across the board. Personnel, capabilities, networking, UAS, counter-UAS. Madame Secretary?
Secretary Wormuth: Thanks, Thom, and thanks everybody for being here. I don’t know how special this will be, but we’ll try to make it special. I did just come back from Germany where I was seeing what our Security Assistance Group to Ukraine is doing as well as the training we’re doing with the Ukrainians. There was a battalion there that was finishing up their training. So I had the
opportunity to really see first-hand some of what we’re doing, and frankly, some of what we’re getting back from the Ukrainians.
