What's in Store

With Gen. Martin Dempsey slated to leave the Army chief of staff post for bigger things, there's suddenly a new context for his overarching vision document that was slated for publication in mid-June. As Inside the Army reports in this week's edition, a draft version of the document hits many of the themes Dempsey has propagated since he became Army chief of staff in April and from his preceding tenure at Training and Doctrine Command.

Yes, the document is but a draft. And yes, Dempsey's nominated successor, Gen. Raymond Odierno, may choose to tweak the plan (like, say, the section on "mission command") or even scrap it altogether.

But the draft document nevertheless provides an important snapshot of what the sitting chief of staff has deemed important at a juncture in time that happens to involve senior leadership transitions.

One change made "in the last couple of days" involves the document's title, an Army spokeswoman tells us. Instead of the chief's "intent" for the Army, it is now dubbed the CSA's "Thoughts on the future of the Army."