The US Army's chief of staff told lawmakers Thursday that the service would need another 220,000 soldiers before it could confidently handle major operations with emerging military foes around the world.

Gen. Mark Milley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Army is operating at "high military risk" if it continues to operate at the proposed total Army troop strength of 980,000 soldiers.

By fiscal 2018, the Army's active force is slated to have 450,000 soldiers in its ranks. TheNational Guard will have 335,000 and the Army Reserve will have 195,000 soldiers.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, has been one of several lawmakers who's been very vocal about his concern that the Army is too small.

"Everything that I have heard from your generals is there is no way we can meet the imminent threats that we have around the world with 980,000 soldiers," Manchin said.

"It's high risk," Milley said.

Manchin asked Milley, "What would it take for us not to be at high risk?"

Milley said he has a series of studies that are looking at this issue.

"If we operate under our current national security strategy, the current defense planning guidance, in order to reduce significant risk or moderate risk, it would take roughly speaking about a 1.2 million-person Army," Milley said.

That would mean adding about 50,000 soldiers to the active force alone, Milley said.

"And at $1 billion for every 10,000 soldiers, the money is not there, so we are going to make the most efficient and effective use of the Army that we have," Milley said.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, said he wanted to see the Army's active force grow larger than the scheduled 450,000, but asked Milley to talk about the consequences of such a mandate with no additional funding.

Milley said the Army would have to make drastic moves to offset the costs, such as making more cuts to modernization and closing installations.

"At the end of the day, we would risk literally having a hollow Army," Milley said. "We don't have a hollow Army today, but many on this committee can remember the days when we did -- when people didn't train and units weren't filled up at appropriate levels of manning strength and there were no spare parts -- all of those things would start happening if we increased the size of the force without the appropriate amount of money to maintain its readiness."

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, called it a "remarkable statement" when a service chief talks about high military risk.

Sullivan asked Milley if he has looked at how much larger the active force would need to be to reduce some of that risk.

"We do we have it broken down for active, Guard and Reserve," Milley said. "The active piece comes out to just a little bit more than 500K or so.

"But it's not just numbers; it's the readiness of that force, it's the technological capability of that force, it's how that force plays into the joint force. ... It's the sum total of all those things. We tend to laser focus on size. I think that is critical -- capacity, size. I think that is fundamental to the whole piece, but there are other factors to calculate beyond just the numbers of troops."

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NOW WATCH: ARMY RANGER: This is how we're different from the Navy SEALs

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The US military is unquestionably the dominant force on the planet. 

From the greatest advances in technology to a massive network of military alliances, the US military retains a substantial lead over the militaries of every other country on the planet. And the backbone of this military greatness comes in large part from the economic prosperity of the US and the incredible funding that the Pentagon receives. 

In 2015, the US will have a declared military and defense budget of $601 billion, which is more than the next 7 highest spending countries combined. The following graphics show how the US will make use of its billions. 

The vast majority of the $601 billion will be funneled towards the military's base budget, which includes funding for the procurement of military equipment and the daily operations costs of US bases. 

Of the $496 billion base budget, the vast majority of funding goes towards the cost of operating and maintaining the military and the cost of paying and caring for military personnel. A further $90.4 billion is set aside for the procurement of new weapons systems during the 2015 fiscal year.  

In terms of investments, the US has dedicated a substantial chunk of funding into aircraft and related systems. This is due to the procurement of the F-35 fifth-generation fighter, which is entering into service with the Marine Corps this year. The 2015 budget also has started to allocate funds for the next-generation long-range strike bomber for the Air Force.

In terms of major acquisitions, the F-35 has been the dominant cost with the procurement of 34 aircraft. The new Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine, which is intended to help modernize the US submarine fleet, is the second main acquisition cost for 2015. The $6.3 billion price tag is for two subs.  

By department, the US Navy will receive the most funding in 2015. However, the Department of the Navy's funding also includes the 2015 budget for the US Marine Corps. 

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NOW WATCH: The 6 coolest phrases only people in the military use

Over more than 20 years in the US Army as a Ranger and then a Delta Force operator, Dalton Fury learned that the best leaders not only manage their subordinates, but also manage their superiors.

Fury is the pseudonym he uses for both his nonfiction and fiction writing, since his time in the highly secretive Delta Force has required him to conceal his true identity.

In an emailed list of leadership lessons sent to Business Insider, Fury explained that his time as a Delta Force commander taught him whether he was in a situation that fit nicely into the mission plan or one that fell far outside of it, "managing the boss on target is equally important."

If his superior lost confidence in him in the middle of a mission, then the ensuing hasty decisions could result in not only a botched mission, but the deaths of Fury and his men as well.

The key then, whether it's in a highly confidential military operation in the Middle East or a conference-room meeting between a company and its client, is the existence of trust between yourself and your boss. It's a trust that isn't only built by previously demonstrating your competence, but by working through how to tackle possible snafus with your superior before a weighty task.

Fury notes that in the 2011 Navy SEAL mission that eliminated Osama bin Laden, the plan almost immediately went off course when one of the team's helicopters crashed while attempting to land. The reason the mission ended successfully, Fury argues, is that the SEAL team had assured their superiors they knew how to handle any aspect of their plan going badly by working through contingencies, like the response to the possibility of a botched helicopter landing.

He says the same concept applies in the office.

"Develop and work through your contingencies well ahead of time," Fury writes. "When they are needed, before someone hastily calls to abort or retreat, remind your boss that you have already anticipated the problem and are prepared for it. If he wants to remain on the [helicopter] during the assault, or in the employee lounge, that's fine. But on target, or on task, you're driving until you need something from your boss."

SEE ALSO: Former Delta Force officer reveals 12 leadership lessons he learned in one of the US military's most elite forces

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NOW WATCH: ARMY RANGER: This is how we're different from the Navy SEALs

The U.S. Army on Friday said 22 women will be commissioned as infantry and armor officers in its first step under historic new rules that let women serve in combat jobs, USA Today reported.

The 22 women are near completion of their officer training and will be commissioned as second lieutenants in coming weeks, the newspaper said.

(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Chris Reese)

SEE ALSO: Here's why the Navy didn't shoot down the Russian fighter jets that buzzed by a US destroyer

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Children who grow up with one or both parents in the military and spend time on or around bases — otherwise known as military brats — get used to things that seem weird to everyone else.

Since I was born at William Beaumont Army Hospital on Fort Bliss, Texas, with years spent there and subsequent deployments to Kaiserslautern, Germany and Osan, South Korea, I've become very familiar with this lifestyle.

In honor of the DoD's Month of the Military Child, here's 13 tell-tale signs you grew up in the military:

1. You learned the phonetic alphabet along with your ABCs

The phonetic alphabet is a list of specified words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by phone or radio.

For example, the word "Army" would be "Alpha Romeo Mike Yankee" when spelled using the phonetic alphabet.

Just like the military, you also refer to countless things with acronyms. Military slang and acronyms are tossed around in conversations with ease and as a child you learn to pick them up quickly.

For instance, no one ever explained the meaning of "Hooah" (pronounced WhoAh) to you but you knew that it was short for "Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged."

2. Your pantry was always stocked with rations.

The self-contained, individual ration called Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a typical military family household commodity.

MREs contain a main course, side dish, bread, dessert, and a flameless ration heater.

These instant dishes, like "beef ravioli in meat sauce" and "pork chop formed in Jamaican style sauce with noodles," are designed to give service members in the field well-balanced meals.

Sometimes a packed lunch was an MRE shoved into your backpack.

3. Along with a school ID, you had a military ID.

Military ID cards are golden tickets and misplacing one meant perpetually waiting with a sponsor in a small ID card office.

The khaki-colored "identification and privilege card" is the key to a military base and all of its goodies — gym, commissary (grocery store), swimming pool, etc. 

4. People ask you where you grew up and it takes you five minutes to answer.

Not having one permanent home for more than five years can make for a lengthy response to the question, "Where are you from?" Living in different states and sometimes foreign countries makes, "I'm from all over" the simplest answer. 

That is because military families don't have much of a say as to where they go. 

Some families luck out and get amazing placements to installations like the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, with sailing and surfing classes at the on-base marina and ample views of paradise.

5. At "colors" you drop everything and look for an American flag.

The flag is raised briskly and lowered slowly on American military bases every morning and evening while a patriotic song is played through a loudspeaker, usually "To the Color" or the National Anthem, depending on the base. 

This time is referred to as "Colors." Military personnel are required to stop, face the direction of the base flagpole, stand at attention, and render a salute until the music stops.

Moreover, you're used to singing the national anthem everywhere, even in movie theaters after the previews finish.

6. Your church had an American flag inside it.

No different from an American flag hanging inside of a school classroom, America's Stars and Stripes are also recognized inside military installation chapels. 

These chapels are designed to be convertible in order to accommodate various religious beliefs of service members.

For example, the chapel may offer a Catholic Mass at 8 a.m. and then a Protestant service at 11 a.m. 

Service ended with singing "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful."

Also, the priest was referred to as chaplain.

7. Calling everyone by last names seems normal.

It is almost as if this behavior is innate, because remarkably, military brats quickly begin to refer to anyone by their last name.

That is because troops refer to each other by their last name, a practice originating from their training in boot camp. 

Calling an adult "ma'am" or "sir" is another natural mannerism.

8. Your doctor wears combat boots.

Service members and their families largely use the hospitals and clinics on base as their primary care providers, and those clinics are staffed with military doctors and medics.

A far cry though from the white lab coat with the cold stethoscope, many of these health care providers have seen the worst of the worst. 

9. Your chores were mandatory.

Mom never had to come in and make your bed because every morning before school it was your responsibility. 

Failing a parent-conducted room inspection resulted in more chores or pushups.

So you learned how to do things the "right way" quickly.

10. If you aren't 15 minutes early, you're late.

Being "tardy" doesn't exist in the military world. You were early to school, doctor's appointments, ceremonies, and parties — no exceptions.  

11. You are a bit of a perfectionist, especially in your appearance.

Appearance represents a form of self-discipline, and in the armed forces, it is a requirement that a soldier is neat and well-groomed when in uniform.

Leaders ensure that personnel under their command present a conservative military image.

Similarly, this practice was echoed into your childhood and that meant you didn't get to sport a trendy haircut, loud fingernail polish, and especially an unsightly untucked shirt.  

12. You had holiday dinners in a chow hall.

Instead of heading over to grandma's house, military families often go to a dining facility for a cafeteria-style Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. 

This is either because travel is too difficult or expensive, or because the family lives on an installation in a foreign country. 

13. You have immediate respect for anyone in uniform.

Respect for individuals serving in the armed forces is strongly encouraged in military family upbringings.

Possibly because you catch a glimpse of your personal experiences as a military brat, and that kind of relation isn't possible with civilians.

I always look twice when a young troop is in an airport terminal — not because of the enormous rucksack, but to figure out if they're heading home, to an overseas deployment, or to a combat zone.

SEE ALSO: 31 phrases that only people in the military will understand

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US Army Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters performed their final US training flight.

On April 15, a formation made by 30 OH-58 Kiowa Warriors from 1-17 CAV, part of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, took to the skies of Fort Bragg and Fayetteville, North Carolina, for a farewell flight over the base and the local community for the years of support.

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The unique formation marked the final US training flight for the armed reconnaissance helicopters as the last Kiowa squadron in mainland America prepares to deploy to South Korea to join the only remaining OH-58 unit outside the US.

After the nine-month rotation in South Korea, the squadron will return stateside and adopt other aircraft, both manned and unmanned.

The Kiowa Warrior, is the armed version of the Kiowa, employed by the US Army since 1969.

The Defense Department announced the US Army will send 200 additional troops to Iraq to support the Iraqi army's effort to retake the city of Mosul, which is currently occupied by ISIS.

In addition to the troops, the Army will dispatch Apache attack helicopters, which have yet to be used in the fight against the Islamic State.

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Over more than 20 years in the US Army as a Ranger and then a Delta Force operator, Dalton Fury learned that you need to "play well with others, but remain the alpha," if you want to be an effective leader.

Fury is the pseudonym he uses for both his nonfiction and fiction writing, since his time in the highly secretive Delta Force has required him to conceal his true identity.

In an emailed list of leadership lessons sent to Business Insider, Fury explained that his time as a Delta Force commander taught him that, "arrogance, in measured amounts and used prudently, actually benefits an organization."

Fury isn't suggesting that leaders should behave recklessly to appease their own egos — that's how people die on the battlefield and how companies go under. He's saying that, whether you're in an elite military group or a startup, leaders shoulder the burden of having to constantly inspire confidence in their subordinates, and that sometimes requires a little flash.

"You are a commando, the guy that everyone in the room is looking to go against the grain, to challenge the conventional wisdom, to say something with passion, something based on empirical evidence and that follows logical thought that even the stuffiest senior leader in the room can't argue with," he said.

By "arrogance," then, Fury is saying that leaders establish the alpha presence he described by occasionally exerting an aggressive level of confidence that a subordinate would be reprimanded for.

The caveat, he said, is that for this posturing to work, it needs to be backed by results that prove that the self-assuredness is warranted.

"Most leadership books and theorists tell you that to get ahead you have to play well with others. Don't go against the grain. Be a team player," Fury said. "This is sound advice — unless you happen to be the guy or organization that everyone aspires to be."

SEE ALSO: Former Delta Force officer reveals 12 leadership lessons he learned in one of the US military's most elite forces

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Russia should be warned that its dangerous flybys of US ships and planes could be met by force, President Barack Obama's nominee as the next NATO and US European Command commander said Thursday.

"Sir, I believe that should be known -- yes,"Army Gen. Curtis M. "Mike" Scaparrotti said when asked by Sen. John McCain whether Russia should be told that the US would take action if American lives were endangered.

Pursuing the same line of questioning, Sen. Joe Donnelly, an Indiana Democrat, asked Scaparrotti whether the Russians should be told that "next time it doesn't end well for you."

The general responded that "we should engage them and make clear what's acceptable. Once we make that known, we have to enforce it.

"I think they're pushing the envelope in terms of our resolve," Scaparrotti added. "It's absolutely reckless, it's unjustified and it's dangerous." As NATO commander, he said one of his first actions would be to review the rules of engagement for US and allied forces in the region.

On Monday, two Russian Su-24 fighters made numerous, close-range and low-altitude passes while the US guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook was conducting landing drills with helicopters in the Baltic Sea.

On Tuesday, a Russian helicopter circled around the Cook seven times at a low altitude. About 40 minutes later, two Su-24s made 11 close-range and low-altitude passes.

Secretary of State John Kerry later said that the sailors of the Cook would have been justified in shooting down the Russian fighters.

"It's unprofessional, and under the rules of engagement that could have been a shoot down, so people need to understand that this is serious business, and the United States is not going to be intimidated on the high seas," Kerry said in an interview on CNN Espanol.

Scaparrotti, now commander of US Forces Korea, was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee at what could be called a historic confirmation hearing.

Seated next to him at the witness table was Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, currently commander of Pacific Air Forces, who has been nominated as the next commander of US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). If confirmed, Robinson would become the first woman to command a combatant command.

Both Robinson and Scaparrotti appeared headed to easy confirmation. "I look forward to moving your nominations through the US Senate," said McCain, an Arizona Republican and the SASC chairman.

SEE ALSO: An RAF officer just opened up about one of the biggest problems with NATO

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NOW WATCH: Watch Russian warplanes fly dangerously close by a US Navy ship

Former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb knew the real "American Sniper," Chris Kyle, and helped design the training course that Kyle took. When he watched Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper's movie he had a lot to say about it.

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There's about to be a, "Yes, ma'am," in an Army infantry unit.

After earning the coveted black-and-gold Ranger tab in August 2015, US Army Capt. Kristen Griest, 26, will once again make history by becoming the first female infantry officer, the Army said.

Griest will become the first woman to lead an infantry unit into combat.

"I think it's awesome," US Marine Corps Cpl. Harlee Bradford told Business Insider. Bradford was one of the first women to train in the first gender-integrated, notoriously grueling Marine Corps' Infantry Training Battalion in 2013.

"Are we supposed to be surprised that a woman can do what a man can do? I'm happy for her. My only advice would be — don't let someone else tell you what the hell you're capable of," Bradford added.

In December 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that the Pentagon would open all combat jobs to women.

"I totally support women in combat, women being eligible to compete for any position in the military," former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Business Insider in an interview earlier this year.

"But I would agree with military leaders there can be no lowering of the standards of the requirements to perform specific jobs, lowering standards will put lives at risk," Gates added.

'Rangers Lead the Way'

The motto of the US Army's elite regiment could not be more fitting: "Rangers lead the way."

In April 2015, West Point graduates Griest and First Lt. Shaye Haver entered into the first gender-integrated Ranger School, alongside 380 men and 18 other female candidates.

Ranger candidates arrive for the 62-day training in the best shape of their lives and survive on a meal a day and just a few hours of sleep — all the while completing some of the toughest military training in the world.

"Ranger School is a gut check," Jack Murphy, a Special Operations 75th Ranger Regiment veteran and the managing editor of the military-focused publication SOFREP, told Business Insider.

"... When you see another soldier wearing a Ranger tab on his or her uniform you know that you have both slogged it out through some extremely challenging training, which automatically builds a certain amount of trust in each other," Murphy added.

Each year, approximately 4,000 students attend Ranger School.

Sixty percent of those candidates wash out of the course.

Griest, a military police officer from Connecticut and Haver, an Apache helicopter pilot from Texas, completed the full Ranger course in four months and graduated in August 2015 with 94 of their male counterparts.

Welcome to Ranger School

The US Army divides the grueling course into three phases: "Benning,""mountain," and "Florida."

During the Benning phase of Ranger School, which takes place in Georgia, a soldier's physical stamina, mental toughness, and tactical skills are evaluated and fine-tuned.

On the last day of the Benning phase, Ranger candidates conduct an arduous 12-mile march while carrying a 35-pound ruck sack — and without the luxury of drinking water. About 50% of students will pass this phase of the course, according to the Ranger School website.

During the appropriately named mountain phase, Ranger students are sent to the northern Georgia mountains to continue to learn how to sustain themselves in adverse conditions.

"The rugged terrain, severe weather, hunger, mental and physical fatigue, and the emotional stress that the student encounters afford him the opportunity to gauge his own capabilities and limitations as well as that of his peers,"according to the US Army.

The last phase consists of fast-paced field-training exercises in which candidates are evaluated based on their execution of high-stress raids, ambushes, and close-combat attacks.

All students must pass an intense physical fitness test that includes 49 push-ups, 59 sit-ups, a 5-mile run with a 40 minute time limit, six chin-ups, a timed swim test, a land-navigation test, several obstacle courses, three parachute jumps, four air assaults on helicopters, and 27 days of mock combat patrols.

SEE ALSO: A look inside Ranger School, where the Army's toughest soldiers are made

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NOW WATCH: The 6 coolest phrases only people in the military use

Former Navy SEAL sniper Brandon Webb completed one of the military's hardest training programs in order to become a SEAL. Many of us have heard of 'Hell Week' and how brutal the experience can be, but Webb describes a different phase of his training that proved to be even more challenging. 

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In the 1950s Avro Canada developed the VZ-9AV Avrocar. It was an attempt to create a craft that could take off and land vertically. The project was eventually taken over by the US military.

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This post by Michael Martel appeared originally on Quora as an answer to the question "What was the best advice you ever received on being productive?"

Don't worry about being productive ...

Focus on your goals

Everyone wants to do more in their life. They want a better business, to make more money. They want to be able to manage their time more effectively. They want to get things done well and move on to the next task, project quickly and effectively.

Many people can never seem to get their time management under control.

But productivity and time management isn’t the real problem. The truth is the real problem is lack — lack of reasons you have to.

There is no real connection between what you want in life and the steps necessary to get there.

The Mission

I am often asked why the Special Forces are known for getting things done. We improvised, adapted, overcame what ever necessary to get the mission accomplished.

We trained for and executed missions where people's lives depended on the success of the mission — our own lives included. I know it sounds trite, but failure was not an option.

The steps (tasks, projects) we took were all tied to the success of the mission. That meant we had to get them done. The key is necessity.

Your Goals

How would it be if you established some BAGs (Big A-- Goals) in your life? Then changed your mindset where you knew those things that have to get done are tied to the BAG. How do you think that would affect your productivity and time management?

Take the time to sit down and think about what you want — really want. Is it to take your business to the next level? It might be more time with the family, either at home or on a special vacation. It might be a better house, a new car.  It might be a different lifestyle. These are your mission. Mission comes first, everything else comes last.

Whenever I am asked about being productive, I ask about a person’s goals. With great goals, people tend to get 'er done.

SEE ALSO: A retired Navy SEAL commander breaks down his morning fitness routine that starts before dawn

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NOW WATCH: An Army Ranger reveals how you get a top secret clearance

Capt. Kristen Griest, one of the first women to graduate U.S. Army Ranger School, has been assigned to the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, according to Army officials.

The Army granted Griest’s request to transfer from the military police to the infantry branch April 25.

In mid-April, the Army also approved 21 female West Point and ROTC cadets and one Officer Candidate School student to commission into the infantry and armor branches.

Thirteen of those women will enter into the armor branch and nine will enter into the infantry branch as long as they complete the required branch-specific training for infantry and armor officers, Army officials maintain.

Griest recently completed the Maneuver Captains Career Course at Benning, a requirement for infantry and armor officers to command front-line fighting companies.

For now, Griest will be assigned to the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade until she gets a permanent assignment to an infantry unit, which will likely come sometime next year when the other female armor and infantry officers get their assignments to combat units, according to Army spokesman Col. Patrick Seiber.

It’s currently unclear what her job will be at ARTB while she waits for that assignment.

"She is in an infantry officer assignment at Fort Benning, awaiting follow-on orders to an infantry unit next year," Seiber said.

The 27-year-old West Point graduate made history in 2015 by becoming one of three women to earn the coveted Ranger Tab after completing the grueling, two-month infantry leadership course.

In April 2015, she was among 19 female soldiers approved to attend Ranger School as part of a pilot program to help the Army determine whether it could safely open front-line combat jobs to women.

Griest, alongside 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, an Apache pilot and fellow West Point graduate, made history in August when they became the Army's first women to complete Ranger School. Two months later, a third West Point graduate, Maj. Lisa Jaster, also completed the course.

The Army permanently opened Ranger School to women in September, but no additional female soldiers have graduated, Purtiman said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December ordered all military jobs, including special operations, opened to women. His directive followed a 2013 Pentagon order that the military services open all positions to women by early 2016.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps is getting its first female rifleman and machine gunner later this year, service officials confirmed recently.

The two female enlisted Marines who have made lateral move requests to infantry jobs have been approved, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Philip Kulczewski told Military.com.

The Marine who applied to be an 0311 rifleman was a lance corporal, an official confirmed. The rank of the Marine approved to be an 0331 machine gunner is not clear. Kulczewski said the Corps is in the process of meeting staffing requirements at the units that will receive the Marines.

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NOW WATCH: Female soldiers have created a 30-woman unit to fight ISIS in Iraq

U.S. Army infantry platoons will soon have the 84mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle, a devastating anti-armor system, as a permanently assigned weapon.

Service officials completed a so-called conditional materiel release authorization late last year, making the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System an organic weapon system within each infantry platoon, IHS Jane's 360 recently reported.

The service is also working on an effort to achieve Full Material Release of the M3 later this year.

Army light infantry units began using the M3 in Afghanistan in 2011, but only when commanders submitted operational needs statements for the weapon.

The breech-loading M3, made by Saab North America, can reach out and hit enemy targets up to 1,000 meters away. The M3 offers the units various types of ammunition, ranging from armor penetration and anti-personnel, to ammunition for built-up areas, as well as special features like smoke and illumination.

Special operations forces such as the 75th Ranger Regiment have been using the 84mm weapon system since the early 1990s. The M3 became an official, program of record in the conventional Army in 2014.

The M3 has enjoyed success with units such as the 25th Infantry, 10th Mountain and 82nd Airborne divisions in Afghanistan.

The launcher weighs approximately 22 pounds, with each round of ammunition weighing just under 10 pounds. By comparison, the AT4 weighs about 15 pounds and the Javelin's launcher with missile and reusable command launch unit weigh roughly 50 pounds.

The CMR allowed the system to be quickly fielded to operational units before the more exhaustive full materiel release process is completed, Jack Seymour, marketing director for Saab North America, told IHS Jane's.

The current plan is to equip all brigade combat teams with one M3 launcher per platoon.

SEE ALSO: One of the oldest US tanks is about to get much more lethal

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NOW WATCH: The US military spent $10 million in the '50s trying to develop this bizarre-looking hovercraft

The research arm of the United States Military, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), recently held an event at the Pentagon showing off some of their next-generation technology. While there, Tech Insider had a chance to check out a bunch of DARPA's non-classfied projects. Here are 5 of the most intriguing ones.

Produced by Corey Protin. Reporting by Paul Szoldra. Graphics by Skye Gould.

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More than half a million people in rebel-held suburbs to the east of Damascus are facing imminent starvation, after the Syrian army broke through rebel lines last week, separating people from the agricultural land that was the area's breadbasket.

The people of East Ghouta have survived a three-year siege thanks to produce grown in fields near their homes — and now that they have lost that territory they face a grim fate, similar to other besieged, and starving, parts of Syria.

President Bashar al-Assad's army and its allies capitalized on infighting between rebel groups in East Ghouta to break through their weakened defensive lines, on May 18. Advancing forces captured six villages and hundreds of acres of farmland in the southern sector of East Ghouta that had been the suburbs' lifeline, a local opposition official said.

The land, known for its wheat and barley harvests and fruit-bearing trees, is "East Ghouta's breadbasket" and "was the most important factor in softening the siege" that the Syrian regime has imposed on the suburbs since late 2012, a member of the local council in Marj, adjacent to the farmland, said. 

If rebels prove unable to reverse the Syrian army's advance, "it will turn into a massive humanitarian disaster," added the council member, who requested anonymity for safety reasons and spoke via WhatsApp.

Rural East Ghouta, a picnic destination for Damascenes before the war, became a major center of armed opposition power in 2012. Rebel fighters control territory there uncomfortably close to the Assad government's headquarters, including the neighborhood of Jobar that abuts Damascus proper. 

East Ghouta is down to 600,000 inhabitants from a pre-war population of more than 2 million. Those who remained are already familiar with scarcity, after living through years of encirclement by the regime's troops and allied militias. Soldiers stationed at checkpoints along the suburb's entrances prevent the movement of goods and people.

Regime forces use similar siege-and-starve tactics across the country to lower residents' morale and encourage rebels to surrender. The encircled town of Madaya, also near Damascus, made headlines in December 2015 when photos of emaciated residents—more than three dozen of whom have died of starvation since—circulated widely in the international media.

In East Ghouta's case, smugglers use a network of tunnels to sneak in limited quantities of food, which is then sold at inflated prices. The Syrian regime also occasionally allows UN-sponsored humanitarian convoys to enter the suburbs. 

But the on-again, off-again humanitarian deliveries and limited smuggling activity do little to meet residents' needs. So East Ghoutans have fallen back on the green stretch of suburbs they inhabit, known for its agriculture long before the war, to ward off hunger. 

"Here in East Ghouta, we rely on local agricultural harvests for our daily food," said Mohammed al-Abdullah, a resident of the town of Saqba. "If not for these harvests, people would have died of hunger" under the siege.

Most East Ghoutans eat two meals a day, and the less fortunate eat just one. Whatever is in season is on the table.

"During zucchini season, people eat zucchini for breakfast and lunch," said Douma resident Rawan al-Sheikh, who was speaking over a messaging app like other local people interviewed for this story. 

In many cases, local produce has taken the place of traditional carbohydrates—which are scarce and expensive—as a dietary staple. Residents substituted barley and cabbage for bread when siege conditions became particularly dire in 2014, said al-Sheikh.

Recognizing agriculture's value in keeping East Ghoutans alive, opposition officials in exile have supported farming projects to provide them some measure of self-sufficiency. The Syrian National Coalition, a collection of opposition groups that claims to represent the revolution on the international stage, backed a 2014 initiative through its Support Coordination Unit that helped farmers grow eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini, pro-opposition newspaper Enab Baladi reported in 2014. 

While the resulting production did not cover residents' nutritional requirements, it did "keep them alive" under siege, an official with the Support Coordination Unit was quoted by Enab Baladi as saying.

Now, East Ghoutans fear a coming famine after the Syrian army and its allies, mainly the Lebanon-based Shia militia Hezbollah, took large parts of the southern sector — an area "rich in summer crops that did a great deal to lighten the siege's intensity," Abdul Haq Hamam, a citizen journalist from Douma, said. 

"If rebels don't retake the area, the encirclement is about to get much more difficult," he added.

Or, in the words of Douma city resident Rawan al-Sheikh, absent a successful rebel counter-attack "there's a humanitarian catastrophe coming, maybe in weeks and maybe months." 

The armed opposition's loss of large swathes of land in southern East Ghouta last week is one of its biggest military defeats in the Damascus suburbs since 2012. And that is largely due to factional infighting that has weakened the rebels. 

East Ghouta's largest opposition group is Jaish al-Islam or JAI, which espouses Salafism, a fundamentalist approach to Islam. The second largest is Feilaq al-Rahman or FAR, affiliated with the more moderate Free Syrian Army.

Together with a third, smaller group, they formed the United Command in 2013 to coordinate military and judicial activities in East Ghouta. But FAR has accused JAI of carrying out a secret assassination campaign targeting their religious and military figures, and of trying to take unilateral control over the administration of East Ghouta; JAI heads the United Command, and other rebels accuse it of eliminating rivals without consulting its nominal allies. 

The rival factions engaged in low-level skirmishes and traded mutual accusations throughout April, until tensions exploded into large-scale armed confrontation on April 28, when FAR and allied Jaish al-Fustat attacked JAI's bases across the suburbs. Dozens of fighters and civilians have been killed since then.

Each side says its rival is trying to "partition" East Ghouta by capturing new land and consolidating areas it controls with trenches, land mines, and other fortifications. 

From the time the infighting began in April until the Syrian army's successful campaign last week, popular protests demanding reconciliation, and high-level mediation efforts by local notables, repeatedly failed. The brigades escalated their violence and rhetoric even as they put forward two short-lived truce initiatives.

The result was that rivals JAI and FAR pulled hundreds of soldiers away from the front lines and sent them instead to fight in their internal squabble, leaving civilians to fend for themselves as Assad's army attacked, an unnamed rebel commander was quoted by pro-opposition Orient News as saying. His account was consistent with what civilians in Ghouta said over messaging apps, and with other media reports. 

"The brigades pulled out before civilians did, who picked up weapons to stop the regime's attacks," said a resident of Deir al-Asafir, south of Ghouta, who gave his name as Abu Ali. 

Routed by Assad's army and faced with popular discontent, the feuding rebels announced a prisoner exchange over the weekend as a good faith de-escalation gesture. Residents took matters into their own hands last Friday and organized protests demanding that local rebels unite and turn their attention towards advancing Syrian army forces, according to Enab Baladi. 

"The brigades are responsible for the loss of the latest areas," said Abu Ali. "I guarantee that if they returned to cooperative military work, they could recapture what they lost."

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Second Lt. Alix Schoelcher Idrache never thought he would be one day standing tall in a commissioned officer's uniform. 

“I am from Haiti and never did I imagine that such honor would be one day bestowed on me,” he explained to USA Today.

As an immigrant from Port-au-Prince in 2009, he had overcome learning English, earned a Congressional appointment, and enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard in order to get to this moment.

On May 21, 2016 Idrache graduated along with 953 cadets from West Point.

"My dad always said, 'education is the only gift I can always give you, because I don't have any anything material to give,"he told the US Army.

Now, as a West Point graduate his next step is attending the Aviation Center for Excellence at Fort Rucker in Alabama.

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