Well, we are still basking in the glow of the fact that both the Defense Authorization and the Defense Appropriations bills were passed before the end of 2014.While logic would say that completing both bills three months late would not be a cause for celebration, given the work of past congresses that on occasion have produced bills more than six months overdue, three months overdue is a signal of accomplishment.The bills provide over $490 billion for the Defense Department, a $3.3 billion increase over the 2014 budget request.There is $64 billion for the overseas contingency account that is...
Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno has outlined priorities for the incoming sergeant major of the Army.The first priority, Odierno said, is to work on eliminating sexual assault in the Army, continuing the effort of Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III."Everybody needs to be involved with that," Odierno said.Adding, "NCOs can have a bigger difference in that than anything else we do, so I need the sergeant major of the Army to continue to help me lead in helping us to eradicate sexual assaults."Odierno made the comments in a Google town hall together with Chandler, who is...
Army recruiting is facing "significant challenges" in the current economic climate in its mission to find young Americans qualified for service.Increasing obesity rates and declining academic qualifications among young people are driving down the number of Americans eligible for service, according to Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet, commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky.Batschelet spoke to reporters during a recent conference call."We’ve been trying to get the word out here that the all-volunteer force and the great service it has provided the country over the last...
With the mission of performing underwater reconnaissance, demolition and salvage operations across the Pacific theater, it only makes sense for the Army’s 7th Engineer Dive Detachment to conduct its change-of-command ceremony in a location its troops consider home – underwater.The unique unit, that falls under the 8th Theater Sustainment Command’s 130th Engineer Brigade, changed leadership during a ceremony at the bottom of Richardson Pool at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.After leading the detachment through two years of missions in Hawaiian waters and across the region, from Alaska to Cambodia...
The Army helped ring in the New Year with a much-anticipated event – a National Hockey League game that honored the nation’s military during pre- and in-game festivities.As the crowd cheered, soldiers, airmen, coast guardsmen, marines and sailors took to the field for a pre-game military salute, during the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park, Jan. 1, in Washington, D.C.The service members stood at attention as the Army Chorus, from The United States Army Band, "Pershing’s Own," and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), performed the...
As the players step from the tunnel into the glaring light, they squint, briefly allowing their eyes to adjust.Once they are able, they slowly look around, taking in the sights; the screaming fans, the jumping, yelling cheerleaders, and the jumbled mass of steel overhead that is the stadium’s dome.This is the 2015 Army All-American Bowl.The Army All-American Bowl is an annual event that brings the nation’s top high school football players and band members together to showcase their skills.Upon arrival, the football players are split into two teams – East and West – though the band members come...
As more soldiers prepare to transition out of the Army, private-sector businesses continue to make the pledge to put those experienced service members to work.For instance, the American Trucking Association recently announced its commitment to hire some 100,000 military veterans as part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s "Hiring our Heroes" program."There’s no higher calling for an American than to serve in our armed forces, and I’d like to think that driving a truck – delivering America’s most essential goods safely and efficiently – is also a high calling," said American Trucking Association...
The trust you build here is important because in times of crisis you can’t surge trust," said Lt. Gen. Stephen R. Lanza, referring to Yama Sakura 67, the joint, bi-lateral exercise with Japan that began and ended in early December.Lanza, who is the commander of I Corps, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., spoke by telephone, from Camp Asaka, near Tokyo, where he and some 2,000 U.S. service members are training with more than 4,000 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, or JGSDF, troops.The training, which has taken place every year since the early 1980s, is a simulation-driven, joint...
Most soldiers received a 1 percent increase in basic pay in January along with a 2.9 percent increase in their basic allowance for subsistence.The new rates for basic pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for subsistence, and the cost of living allowance rates for the contiguous United States were announced Dec. 22 by DoD, and took effect on New Year’s Day.Basic pay for service members increased 1 percent, except for general and flag officers who will not see an increase in 2015.For example, a specialist or corporal with three years of service saw an increase in basic pay of $22.20...
As each day passes we watch the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan as the United States nears the end of the longest war in our nation’s history.Our soldiers and their families have sacrificed much over these past 13 years of war in both Afghanistan and Iraq.But the greatest sacrifices of the men and women in uniform are those who made the ultimate sacrifice – the loss of life in the service of our country – and the impact of that loss on their families who now live with this for the rest of their lives.It is because of this sacrifice that we remember, respect and honor those who...
After months of construction, Task Force Sabre conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 24 for a school built by coalition forces for Afghan children.The school, built in the village of Dolana, east of the provincial capital of Charikar, is the direct result of a close-working relationship among coalition forces, the Afghan government and local leaders in the area.Lt. Col. Mike James, commander, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment "Task Force Sabre," and the chief of staff, Col. John Thompson, 3rd Infantry Division, represented coalition forces at the ceremony.Before the ribbon cutting...
Soldiers from the 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives), were part of Time Magazine’s selection of the 2014 Person of the Year.Time Magazine selected "Ebola fighters" as its 2014 Person of the Year, and soldiers from the 20th CBRNE Command’s 1st Area Medical Laboratory, or AML, in West Africa are a part of the U.S. effort to contain the most deadly Ebola outbreak in history.The 1st AML deployed from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., to Liberia in late October for Operation United Assistance."The 1st AML brings unique capabilities to our nation’s efforts in...
Association of the U.S. Army officials have announced that a new poll shows 73 percent of Americans believe sequestration should be lifted."We have been beating this drum as hard as we can, warning sequestration puts our national security at risk and makes defense planning in an already difficult world even harder," Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., AUSA president and CEO said.Adding, "The American people understand sequestration is a terrible idea. We just need the Congress and the White House to do something about it."Sullivan noted, "Congress went home for the year in December, without...
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel each issued statements Dec. 28 marking the end of the combat mission in Afghanistan.After 13 years of combat operations, Operation Enduring Freedom drew to a close in a ceremony at the International Security and Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan."Today’s ceremony in Kabul marks a milestone for our country," Obama said.Adding, "For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us*- on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan. Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and...
January 1, 2016, is the deadline for the military services to integrate women into the Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery and Special Forces combat units. It is contended that this will offer an equal opportunity for advancement up the promotion chain to the highest levels of command for both men and women.Many tests, surveys and polls have been conducted during the past year, most of which have determined that physical strength and stamina will have to be gender-normed in order for the requirements to be fair and equally achieved; if they are gender-neutral, the standards will have to be much...