Hawaii’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, is building a joint capability in cooperation with the Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific and Destroyer Squadron 31.Over the past year, a team of Army CH-47F Chinooks, UH-60M Black Hawks, HH-60M Medevac Black Hawks and OH-58D Kiowa Warriors has collaborated alongside U.S. Navy cruisers, destroyers and amphibious ships in Hawaiian waters. The combined effort honed the skills required for aviators and crews to conduct maritime operations overwater to include performing deck landing qualifications (DLQs), embarking Kiowa Warriors on...
Hawaii’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, is building a joint capability in cooperation with the Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific and Destroyer Squadron 31.Over the past year, a team of Army CH-47F Chinooks, UH-60M Black Hawks, HH-60M Medevac Black Hawks and OH-58D Kiowa Warriors has collaborated alongside U.S. Navy cruisers, destroyers and amphibious ships in Hawaiian waters. The combined effort honed the skills required for aviators and crews to conduct maritime operations overwater to include performing deck landing qualifications (DLQs), embarking Kiowa Warriors on...
Military and federal employees from the National Capital Region provided volunteer support during Military Day at the annual Special Olympic summer games hosted by Special Olympics D.C., at the Catholic University in Washington.A 4 x 100 meter relay race featuring teams pairing two military and two Special Olympics sprinters kicked off the day’s events."All of the athletes really brought their A games today," said Command Sgt. Maj. David O. Turnbull, Joint Force Headquarters – National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington command sergeant major, and Army relay teammate...
Senior Army leaders held a ceremony June 8 commemorating the Army’s 239th birthday, June 14.Under Secretary of the Army Brad R. Carson was the guest speaker at the event held in the Roosevelt Hall Rotunda, at the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, in Washington, D.C.Carson commented how soldiers today continue their service to our nation at the same level of selfless dedication once provided by soldiers from the "Greatest Generation" during World War II."Our beginnings [on June 14,] 1775 may have been humble, but even then and certainly ever since, our Army has influenced the nation...
Honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans, retirees, wounded warriors and families by preserving the highest possible quality of life, on our installations and wherever soldiers serve and live. Once a soldier, always a soldier.- General Raymond T. Odierno USA’s Institute of Land Warfare has recently released a new publication."Soldier for Life" (Torchbearer Issue Paper, June 2014) describes the quality of the American Army, an all-volunteer force whose premier status is due to the sacrifice of the soldiers – the centerpiece of the Army.Given the scope of their sacrifice, soldiers have a...
The United States Army and the people of New York City commemorated the Army’s 239th birthday, which was June 14, and celebrated this year’s theme – "America’s Army: Our Profession."Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno delivered the keynote address during the event held June 13 in Bryant Park, Manhattan.Odierno thanked the people of New York City for opening their arms to the Army as it celebrates its 239th year.During the event, approximately 20 future soldiers were sworn into the Army by Odierno.Alongside Odierno, Col. Thomas Palmatier, a 37-year veteran and native of Ballston Spa, N...
One of many tactical lessons reinforced by recent combat operations is the need to accurately deliver long-range artillery fires against a broad spectrum of target types and to do so from mobile, survivable and maintainable platforms.
The current Army system used for these mission sets is the Paladin, a combination of the M109A6 155 mm self-propelled howitzer and its associated M992A2 ammunition supply vehicle. The supply vehicle is sometimes called “The Cat” because it is part of the Carrier, Ammunition,
Tracked category of Army vehicles.
As the A6 howitzer designator indicates, the Paladin...
The primary metric in war is attaining one’s strategic aims. In the post-9/11 war against al Qaeda and its affiliates, who is winning? Both the U.S. and al Qaeda have done a lot of killing, but attrition alone is not decisive. The U.S. is now on its third strategy in this war. This strategy seems as unlikely to attain America’s strategic aims as the previous two.Al Qaeda attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001, but it was not their first attack against us. The December 1992 bombing of two hotels in Yemen that had housed U.S. troops in transit to Somalia was the first. In February 1993, an al...
Relations between the “big” Army and the National Guard are badly frayed. It hasn’t been this bad since the post-Quadrennial Defense Review civil war of the late 1990s. It goes beyond the dustup between Army brass and the adjutant generals over the Aviation brigade restructuring plan. Neither team seems to have a clue about how to forge a workable partnership that will deliver a better land force for the future, one that is not only sustainable but also more appropriate for delivering the kinds of capabilities needed to protect vital national interests in the decades ahead.The solution starts...
The ink has dried on the Army’s new tattoo policy, and results could be on the books for a long time—destined to be part of America’s military historical record if things remain unchanged.Modifications to the uniform and appearance regulation covering tattoos went into effect on the last day of March, and active duty soldiers had another 30 days to get their existing tattoos—not all, but those affected by the changes—inspected and documented to be considered grandfathered under previous regulations.
Commanders were required to validate existing tattoos or brands through standardized photographs...
There is a small bit of good news for defense contractors in the Army budget: The worst may be over. A smart company can prevail as the dust settles over a messy budget process.If budgets are a true reflection of priorities, then the Army’s priority for the future is procurement. The outlook is nothing like the golden years of the 1980s, but the budget course over the next five years may provide some much-needed stability and a chance at real growth for weapons procurement. The numbers show Army procurement will increase from $14.3 billion in fiscal year 2015 to $20.2 billion by 2019...
Recent events in Crimea and Ukraine remind us of our inability to predict the future and of that singular characteristic present in more than 25 centuries of documented warfare and conflict—uncertainty. From a historical standpoint, author and professor Colin S. Gray says that the challenge for defense planners “is to cope with uncertainty, not try to diminish it.” He also cites three “golden rules” of defense planning: “Try to make small mistakes rather than big ones”; “be adaptable and flexible so that you cope with the troubles your mistakes will certainly give you”; and “aim to have only...
Recent events in Crimea and Ukraine remind us of our inability to predict the future and of that singular characteristic present in more than 25 centuries of documented warfare and conflict—uncertainty. From a historical standpoint, author and professor Colin S. Gray says that the challenge for defense planners “is to cope with uncertainty, not try to diminish it.” He also cites three “golden rules” of defense planning: “Try to make small mistakes rather than big ones”; “be adaptable and flexible so that you cope with the troubles your mistakes will certainly give you”; and “aim to have only...
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 Sullivan Cup Competition at Fort Benning, Ga.Named in honor of Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., our 32nd Army chief of staff and AUSA president, the competition tested 17 world-class tank crews during the week of May 11-15.This year marked the second year of this competition that began in 2012, and is held every two years.The purpose of the Sullivan Cup Competition is to promote "Excellence in Armor" throughout all our armored forces...
Former Army Sgt. Kyle Jerome White received the Medal of Honor during a May 13 ceremony at the White House.The 27-year-old Seattle, Wash., native is the sixth living Army recipient of the nation’s highest military decoration for conspicuous gallantry and valor during actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.White will receive the Medal of Honor for his disregard of his own life while trying to save the lives of a marine and two fellow soldiers after his team of 14 U.S. soldiers and squad of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were set up and ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force...