BG Beeler Discusses Path Forward at AUSA Sunshine Chapter Meeting

By Christa Yates, Staff Writer

 

Army Brig. Gen. Christine Beeler, senior leader for U.S. Army Program Executive Office Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) spoke at the Association of the United States Army’s Sunshine Chapter meeting, Oct. 30.

 

She discussed the evolving threat that advancing technology poses to national security, and how the future of national security lies in the hands of young people today. Beeler also outlined what military service provides to enlistees and her own journey from ROTC to PEO STRI, as well as the path forward.

 

She explained that, while scholarships and college programs are readily available in many food service and retail positions, soldiers are not enlisting for education alone.

 

“I think one of the things we don’t highlight is really what the military brings to the individual in terms of support, in terms of finding that mission, and in terms of having a higher calling,” Beeler said. She went on to say that the Army will equip them with the skills to succeed and the support to achieve. She added, “Serving the Nation is truly a meaningful thing to do.”

 

Sharing her own experience, Beeler said that joining ROTC and enlisting in the Army was not solely a matter of education.

 

“What brought me into the service were the people and the interpersonal aspect of it,” Beeler said. “I had other scholarship money [so] I didn’t need the Army ROTC, but then I got into it, and I was actually kind of good at it. Suddenly the three-year commitment turned into 33 years of commitment, mostly because I really enjoy what I do.”

 

Shifting to the Army’s current state, Beeler explained that soldiers on the battlefield are not solely powered by purpose, but also by training.

 

“[PEO STRI is] a vital organization in the way the Army supports its soldiers and its leaders by getting those reps and sets in, so that when they hit the battlefield, it’s not the first time they practiced,” Beeler said.

 

Beeler underscored that PEO STRI aims to strengthen the military profession and the skills of soldiers within the continental U.S., as well as those deployed worldwide. However, training is accompanied by cybersecurity concerns nowadays, Beeler noted, and all of the tools necessary to effectively train warfighters – from cyber ranges to equipment – rely on safe and proactive cybersecurity initiatives, which is another significant component of PEO STRI’s work.

 

“The Army’s ability to be ready and relevant for what’s coming – the warfighting – is possible because of the devices, the computer programs, the simulations, and all the other activities that PEO STRI delivers to the Army,” Beeler said.

 

She went on to emphasize the importance of the U.S. and its allies developing training solutions for American warfighters, although the focus would not be solely on training those warfighters, but in developing tactics, techniques and procedures they would study when training to fight and win in contested environments.

 

“The Army is very focused on transforming a set of units to be able to act quickly in those environments so that we can ensure the rest of the Army can get out the door,” Beeler said. “The biggest bang for your buck in terms of training capabilities is a combination of all four of our National Training Centers alongside the mission command training program. All of them have different capabilities and focuses, and all of them have technology challenges that we’re working to overcome, but they’re all going to help us ensure that our formations and our leaders in those formations understand the battle space and take advantage of those training opportunities.”

 

Beeler is set to attend I/ITSEC 2024 where she stated that her priorities during this year’s conference involve instrumenting maritime, land and air training collectively, and aligning those areas with electronic warfare capabilities.