Region presidents and AUSA leaders met recently at the Association’s national headquarters. They are, left to right: Lt. Gen. Guy Swan, AUSA vice president, education; Lt. Gen. Jerry Sinn, AUSA vice president, finance and administration; Rance Farrell, 7th Region; Mary Trier, 3rd Region; Eric Lien, European Dept.; Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, AUSA President; Sandy McLeod, 2nd Region; Charley Smith, 6th Region; Larry Bethel, Pacific Region; Hank Zolla, 1st Region; Paul Wagner, 5th Region; Brad Freeman, 4th Region; and Lt. Gen Roger Thompson, AUSA vice president for membership and meetings.
Following an extensive national search, Dr. Rob Havers has been selected president of the George C. Marshall Foundation.Havers is the current executive director of The National Churchill Museum and vice president for the Churchill Institute at Westminster College, located in Fulton, Mo.Havers is expected to begin his new assignment at the foundation located at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), in Lexington, Va., in mid-May."We are extremely fortunate to have attracted Doctor Havers, whose impressive record as an executive director of a museum and library and his significant career as a...
The most important thing author Bryan Bender learned while writing his recently released book, "You Are Not Forgotten: The Story of a Lost World War II Pilot and a Twenty-First Century Soldier’s Mission to Bring Him Home," is that all Americans not only have a moral responsibility take care of its military and veterans but also a civic responsibility to know who they are – to know their lives, their stories.Bender, a national security affairs reporter for the Boston Globe, expounded on this lesson and more during his presentation for the Institute of Land Warfare’s Lemnitzer Lecture series at...
The 32nd Army chief of staff, Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., currently the president and chief executive officer of the Association of the United States Army, spent a day with the staff, faculty, students and family members of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA), Fort Bliss, Texas, talking about leadership, commitment and service to the nation, and thanking them for their sacrifices.The day began with Sullivan addressing the members of Sergeants Major Course Class 64 about all aspects of leadership, and his day ended as guest speaker at the USASMA Spring Ball held at the...
As a member-based professional association, AUSA annually solicits proposed resolutions from its membership.Throughout the spring and summer months individual members and chapters are invited to submit proposed resolutions aimed at enhancing the Army – its equipment, capabilities, and the quality of life of its soldiers and their families.Standing AUSA advisory committees are asked for input as well.The Council of Trustees appoints the national Resolutions Committee at its spring quarterly meeting.The committee is appointed from nominations received from throughout the Association.Every effort...
The mental health of our nation’s heroes is troubling, to say the least. It is manifested in the dire statistics we hear on a daily basis:Unemployment among post-9/11 veterans is habitually higher than the national average.Veterans experience higher rates of marital dissolution and are more likely to be divorced than comparable civilians.Up to 20 percent of our post-9/11 military members may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress (PTS); however, only 1/3 of those have actually received mental health treatment.As many as 1.2 million military children lack access to mental health or social programs.A...
The AUSA Council of Trustees approved the 2014 Resolutions Committee membership at its spring meeting.Lt. Col. Marc Jacobson, USAR, Ret., Redstone-Huntsville Chapter, was selected as the committee chairman.The committee will review and compile resolutions which form the Association’s legislative agenda for the year 2015. The Resolutions Committee represents a cross section of the Association.Returning members are: Col. Mike Neer, USA, Ret., Greater Kansas City Chapter; Sgt. Maj. Geri Wacker, USA, Ret., Last Frontier Chapter; Col. Robert Mentell, USA, Ret., Gen. Creighton W. Abrams Chapter...
Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, U.S. Army Pacific commander, talked to multinational Asia-Pacific allies and partners about the utilization of land forces to maintain stability and security in the region during the second annual Association of the United States Army LANPAC Symposium and Exposition held in Honolulu, Hawaii, in April.Brooks stressed using service members on the ground to help nations in the region maintain stability."U.S. Pacific Command has been a part of a framework of underwriting security that has allowed the emergence of prosperity and changes in forms of governance for over sixty...
AUSA chapters and members are encouraged to submit proposed resolutions to the 2014 AUSA Resolutions Committee for consideration.Prior to the Association’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Oct. 13-15, 2014, committee members will review the resolutions that will become the Association’s objectives for the year 2015.Proposed resolutions may be submitted online at www.ausa.org – "Legislative Agenda – Submit a Resolution."We encourage you to use this format.A guide to resolutions submission may also be obtained from AUSA chapters.Submissions not in compliance with the guide will be returned to the...
Possible changes to military retirement benefits ranks as the number-one concern of Soldiers, the Army’s top enlisted member told senators.Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Personnel Subcommittee April 9 along with his counterparts from the other military services.Chandler listed soldiers’ "Top Five" concerns that included readiness, fiscal uncertainty, indiscipline in the ranks, and regulatory changes such as uniform and personal appearance standards."The number-one concern of our soldiers relates to the work of Department of Defense...
Secretary of the Army John McHugh swore in Brad R. Carson as the 31st Under Secretary of the Army, and Chief Management Officer of the Army, during an informal ceremony with family, friends and colleagues March 27 at the Pentagon."Brad Carson has a long and very proud history of serving this nation and knows what it’s like to wear the uniform of this country," McHugh said prior to administering the oath of office.Prior to being sworn in as the Army’s second-highest civilian leader, Carson served as the Army’s 20th General Counsel, a position held since 2012.In that capacity, he served as the...
The Association of the U.S. Army sponsored the second annual "Land Power in the Pacific" (LANPAC) Symposium and Exposition at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel in Honolulu, April 8–10.The LANPAC symposium is a forum that brings together several key leaders, commands, and other national and local organizations focusing on the landpower capabilities throughout the Pacific region.The AUSA president, Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., opened the symposium with remarks on why landpower forces have been and remain important in the Pacific."The U.S. military has been in the Pacific region for well over 100...
The Association of the United States Army’s Council of Trustees re-elected five members to serve on the Association’s council – AUSA’s governing body.The council met April 28 at the Association’s national headquarters in Arlington, Va.Elected to serve as trustees for additional three-year terms were: Nicholas D. Chabraja; Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, USA, Ret.; Sgt. Maj of the Army Robert E. Hall, USA, Ret.; Lt. Gen. Larry R. Jordan, USA, Ret.; and Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, USA, Ret.Thomas W. Rabaut was re-elected to serve as deputy chairman for another two-year term, and Chabraja was re-elected to...
The Army is restructuring from 510,000 active duty soldiers to 490,000 in a number of ways. Natural attrition through "end term of service" dates is one, but there are also programs to make sure quality soldiers stay in the Army."We may have soldiers who are qualified to re-enlist, they meet that basic eligibility that we look for, but now we have to go a little deeper. And, even though they may be qualified, are they the ‘best’ qualified for continuous service?" said Sgt. Maj. Russell Paradis, Fort Sill, Okla., command career counselor.QMPThe Qualitative Management Program (QMP) "has been out...
For the second time since a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, five years ago, President Barack Obama returned to the Army post April 9 to again pay tribute to soldiers cut down by one of their own.He offered condolences to the families of those killed by an Army specialist April 2 and acknowledged that "part of what makes this so painful is that we’ve been here before."Once more, soldiers who survived foreign war zones were struck down here at home, where they are supposed to be safe," Obama told mourning families and members of the Fort Hood community."This tragedy tears a wound still raw...