Transcript: The Path Forward: Modernizing the U.S. Army with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville Washington Post Live MR. IGNATIUS: Welcome to Washington Post Live. I’m David Ignatius, a columnist for The Post. Today our guest is General James McConville, the U.S. Army chief of staff. Before that he was vice chief, and he’s served in a number of distinguished commands for the Army, including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re going to be talking today with General McConville about the future for the Army, the path forward as it thinks about modernization. But General McConville, I want to begin with some issues that are immediate on everybody’s minds and will broaden our discussion to thinking about the future. And let me ask you about the decision that’s the most immediate to the Army and our country, and that’s the war in Afghanistan. We have a deadline of May 1 that was set by the previous administration for withdrawal of U.S. troops. We’re getting awfully close to that. What kind of guidance are you giving to your forces, to your staff about what’s ahead? And how quickly, once a decision is made to withdraw our forces, can we do that in practical terms?