Greetings from the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), our Army’s and our soldiers’ professional organization.I recently had the honor to attend the Army Women’s Foundation (AWF) Seventh Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Summit, March 17 – 18, here in the District of Columbia."The mission of the Army Women’s Foundation is to celebrate and preserve the achievements of women who serve in the Army and help them prepare for ongoing success whether they continue their careers as soldiers or return to civilian life," said Maj. Gen. Dee Ann McWilliams, USA, Ret., president of the...
SASC Leadership: Sequestration ‘devastating.’ An AUSA salute goes to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and the ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., for recognizing the devastating effect sequestration is having on the Defense Department.In a letter to the Senate Budget Committee leadership, McCain and Reed wrote: "It is difficult to overstate the destructive impact on our military that has been wrought by the BCA [Budget Control Act] with sequestration, which requires nearly $1 trillion of defense spending cuts over ten years."While the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013...
The Army’s top logistician warned March 19 that budget woes are hurting readiness – and things could get worse."We are doing everything we can to create and maintain readiness, despite simultaneous operations around the world … shrinking budgets, and the potential of sequestration," said Lt. Gen. Gustave F. Perna, deputy chief of staff, G-4, speaking at an AUSA Institute of Land Warfare breakfast in Arlington, Va."We are designed to bring capability to bad places, defeat our enemy, and protect our well-being here in the United States," Perna said.That mission could be at risk. With...
The senior enlisted advisers from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force were on Capitol Hill to testify on quality-of-life concerns in their services.The possible return of sequestration in fiscal year 2016 influenced much of the discussion.Uncertainty over possible deterioration of health care benefits, compensation and family programs as well as job security were concerns among the four top enlisted leaders speaking before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey said caring...
Today, just 33 percent of our brigades are ready, when our sustained readiness rate should be closer to 70 percent," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told lawmakers regarding the lingering effects sequestration has already had on the Army.Army Secretary John M. McHugh and Odierno appeared before the Senate Committee on Appropriations to testify about the fiscal year 2016 Army budget.McHugh said another round of sequestration will be even more devastating.Congress has thus far not stopped sequestration, which will return Oct. 1, unless legislation is passed which stops it."We need to stop...
Total Force Army 2025 must plan for the new challenges of the future technologically savvy "Generation Z" recruits, said Anthony J. Stamilio, Army deputy assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs (civilian personnel/quality of life).Stamilio led a panel discussion, March 10, on "Soldier and Family Services –Building Resiliency and Self-Reliance," before an audience of military, government and industry leaders during the Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic forum on installation management.Other panelists included Brig. Gen. Dennis Doyle, deputy chief of staff for operations, Army...
Additional metrics were recently added to installation status reports to better assess what is needed for unforeseen contingencies.Maj. Gen. Duane Gamble, assistant deputy chief of staff, G-4, spoke about improving deployments from power projection platforms, March 10, during the Association of the U.S. Army Institute of Land Warfare’s Hot Topic forum on installation management.Gamble was part of a panel discussion titled "The Installation – A Power Projection Platform and Training Enabler in Support of Army Force 2025 and Beyond."A unit in Alaska has already benefited from the streamlined...
Exercise Tobruk Legacy, scheduled for this summer in the Czech Republic, will focus on integrating the disparate air defense systems of five NATO nations.Integrating allied air and missile defense, or AMD, systems is increasingly important during a time when the United States can no longer afford to do it all alone, said AMD leaders addressing an Association of the United States Army Hot Topic forum."We don’t have the capacity to meet all the challenges," said Col. Gregory J. Brady, commander of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, which has units stretched across Europe.Brady and...
Partnerships between the Presidio of Monterey, Calif., and surrounding communities have saved the Army money and improved installation municipal services, said Col. Paul W. Fellinger Jr., garrison commander.The Monterey Model is one of the oldest public-public partnerships in the nation, dating back to 1998, Fellinger said.Fellinger and other Army and Monterey leaders spoke March 10, during the Association of the United States Army Institute of Land Warfare Hot Topic panel, "Partnerships – Opportunities for Cost Savings/Avoidance and Increased Efficiencies."The partnerships Fellinger referred...
The Army is now operating on multiple continents simultaneously in ways that were unforeseen a year ago," said Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army (installations, energy and environment), March 10 in Arlington, Va.Even as demand for Army forces grows, she said, budget cuts continue to increase.Speaking to a standing-room-only audience at the Association of the United States Army’s Installation Management Hot Topic forum, Hammack said, "The fiscal challenges General Sullivan [AUSA President] has talked about, brought on by the Budget Control Act, or sequestration, strain our...
Solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable-energy projects are springing up throughout the Army, but there is no affordable way yet to store power for when it is needed, experts said.Power storage is the most significant challenge facing the Army today in the area of energy security, said Richard G. Kidd IV, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability.Kidd chaired a panel on energy sustainability during the Association of the U.S. Army Institute of Land Warfare’s Hot Topic forum on installation management, March 10, in Arlington, Va."We’re 98-percent dependent on the...
Across the globe, a variety of air and missile defense threats are evolving and proliferating. At the same time, adversaries are exploiting weaknesses in America’s air and missile defense system, said Brig. Gen. Christopher L. Spillman, commandant of the Army Air Defense Artillery School.Spillman and other missile defense experts met during an Association of the United States Army Hot Topic forum to discuss how the United Stated could better attain networked mission command.Adversaries are employing their own ballistic missile capabilities and coordinating them with cruise missile and unmanned...
Increased interoperability and improved data sharing with international partners are key goals of U.S. Air and Missile Defense, or ADM, especially in the Pacific and U.S. Central Command theaters, said ADM force leaders."Today we have air and missile defense forces in nine countries, four combatant command areas of responsibilities," said Col. Clement Coward, deputy commander of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, speaking at an Association of the United States Army Hot Topic forum in Arlington, Va.U.S. Army Patriot missile units have been deployed or forward stationed for 22 of the...
During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, an early version of the Patriot missile intercepted a number of Iraqi Scud missiles.That’s when not much else was in the skies to worry about and the nascent technology existing at the time did a pretty impressive job in protecting ground forces, said Maj. Gen. John G. Rossi, speaking at an Association of the United States Army Hot Topic panel titled "Transform the AMD Force."Today, technology has advanced to the point where a missile in outer space can be hit with another missile and taken out, he said, the point being that industry has been and will...
Directed-energy weapons, rail guns and other futuristic weapons could play a role in the Army’s future fights, but for the next fight, incremental improvements on current systems is probably going to be the norm, according to experts.Those air and missile defense experts spoke during an Association of the United States Army Hot Topic panel.Maj. Gen. Glenn A. Bramhall, commander of the 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense, or AMD, Command, said so-called legacy systems are still fairly effective.In protecting the National Capital Region (NCR), Bramhall said the Avenger Air Defense System, along...