The Army and the Department of Homeland Security have intersecting missions "and need to be more aligned" in the future, the secretary of homeland security told attendees at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.Jeh Johnson, who served as the Defense Department’s chief counsel and has been Homeland Security secretary for a year, added, "The public sees the threat from ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), Ebola, and at our borders."Adding, "The public is anxious right now. We owe the public responsible dialogue … the facts, not speculation and rumor."...
U.S. soldiers in Western Africa are constructing facilities to treat Ebola patients and providing logistics, engineering and medical skills to help contain the epidemic.Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams and Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffery Stitzel, U.S. Army Africa, talked to reporters as they Skyped from Monrovia, Liberia, to the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition at the Washington Convention Center."We think we’re making a difference," said Williams, U.S. Army Africa commander and the officer in charge of the U.S. Joint Operations Center in Liberia.He emphasized that the U.S...
Under Secretary of the Army Brad R. Carson – the service’s chief management officer – said Oct. 15 that Department of the Army civilian employees play a critical role in helping the Army accomplish its mission.Speaking at the Department of the Army Civilians Luncheon during the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, Carson said "the more than 225,000 civilians employed by the Army are indispensable to our success."Adding, "The civilian workforce has a long and rich tradition of service, intertwined with the Army at its core. These men and women...
Today’s shrinking Army and competitive defense market mean that it might not be easy being green – or, rather, camouflage – as a business.However, for small businesses, the defense market and the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition itself can be especially challenging to break into.For this reason, we sat down with representatives from a handful of companies in AUSA 2014’s Small Business Pavilion to get their takes on diving head-first into AUSA and to gauge the shrinking Army’s impact on their livelihoods.BeaverFitBeaverFit co-founder Mike Taylor said the...
Working through the consequences of a natural disaster on the scale of a 19th century earthquake that caused the Mississippi River to flow backward, or Super Storm Sandy’s devastation of the mid-Atlantic coast several years ago has caused local and state officials to work more closely with federal entities to mitigate the cascading effects of widespread devastation.Speaking by Skype to attendees at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Gen. Charles Jacoby, commander of Northern Command, said, "The distance between the home game and the away game is...
This year the Army Ten-Miler celebrated its 30th anniversary with over 35,000 registered runners – the largest running field in the race’s history – and over 700 teams.The first Army Ten-Miler on Oct. 13, 1985, had 1,379 finishers and 105 teams.The 2014 run commemorating 30 years – 300 miles – 30,000 runners, took place Oct. 12 at the Pentagon, the day before the 2014 Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition.The first male runner to cross the finish line, Solonei Da Silva, completed the run in 48:28.The first female finisher, Kerri Gallagher, established a new...
The Army’s top leaders expressed growing concern on Monday, Oct. 13, that continuation of the budget cuts under sequestration will bring such serious erosion in readiness that soldiers could be sent to a conflict unprepared for battle.Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has vowed to never send soldiers to a fight who were unprepared for combat, such as the ill-fated Task Force Smith in the early days of the Korean War."I’ll probably get away with that," Odierno said, because he will leave his office by early next year. "But I worry about the next chief."Taking questions from...
The Army’s top general in the Pacific, who oversees the service operating in an area that is 52 percent of the earth’s surface – mostly water, but with about half of the world’s population – believes in the Army’s "power to bring people together."Speaking Sunday, Oct. 12, before the formal opening of the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Gen. Vincent Brooks said from high-end warfare to complex disaster relief, "we can do all of that."Adding, "We can make a difference" in all those situations and "in how we respond" to crises and developments from Bollywood...
Greetings from the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), our Army’s and our soldiers’ professional organization.This year at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition we recognized our 2014 drill sergeants, the advanced individual training platoon sergeant and the recruiters of the year.The 2014 Drill Sergeant of the Year is Staff Sgt. Jonathan Miller, 787th Military Police Battalion, 14th Military Police Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.The 2014 Army Reserve Drill Sergeant of the Year is Staff Sgt. Christopher Croslin, 95th Training Division, U.S. Army Reserve, Norman, Okla.The 2014...
The Army must maintain a force capable of fighting across the full spectrum of war even as defense outlays shrink.Further, the service must maintain readiness even if the Army must become smaller.That was the message Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stressed at the Association of the United States Army’s 2014 Annual Meeting and Exposition on Wednesday. Oct. 15. The world is more volatile and there are more and varied threats around the globe, and training is the key."People are not in the Army, they are the Army," Hagel said.Even though the Army is coming out of the longest war in American...
In the mind of Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, vice chief of staff of the Army, the winners of the 2014 Best Warrior Competition reflect the characteristics needed for noncommissioned officers and soldiers who will lead the Army in the new, expeditionary force of the future.Allyn and Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler III recognized the winners of the Best Warrior Competition during the Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year Recognition Luncheon at the 2014 Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington.A total of 28 warriors competed in the competition, which...
Whether it be along the DMZ in Korea, the mountains of Afghanistan, the deserts of Iraq, the plains of Eastern Europe, the savannahs of Central and West Africa, there stand our nation’s trusted professionals," said the Army chief of staff, Gen. Ray Odierno.Odierno delivered the keynote address at the Association of the United States Army’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Luncheon held during the AUSA Annual Meeting.During this event, he explained to attendees what it means to be a "trusted professional."This summer at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Odierno hosted Solarium 2014, a gathering of some 100 captains...
"We are the greatest land power the world has ever seen. We are the indispensable Army of the indispensable nation," said Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh, referring to remarks President Obama made of the United States being the world’s go-to nation when trouble arises.He added that the Army has a capability and capacity that no one else can replicate.McHugh was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation’s capital.Soldiers are now in some 150...
When you’re honored by the best, it is the best," the winningest basketball coach in NCAA history said in concluding his acceptance address during the George Catlett Marshall Memorial Dinner at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition Wednesday, Oct. 15.After being presented AUSA’s highest award, Mike Krzyzewski, the longtime coach at Duke University and a 1969 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, said, "I can’t believe this is happening. No one ... could be more honored than I am."He compared himself to a "walk-on" player who is trying...
Talking about the dangers of sequestration and military cuts does not seem to address the real problem or what I believe is the best and only way to seriously reduce military costs. We have, it appears, become our own worst enemy.One would think we are in the business of empire-building. If you require confirmation, just look at the size of the Army, with its many top-heavy agencies filled with general officers, NCOs and high-ranking civilians. It has become a laughing matter, one that needs attention, but we also need to avoid doing the wrong thing.
Here are three things we shouldn’t do. First...