The president’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget was released two months late and landed with a thud on the desk of those on the Hill and those of us at the Association.In fact, unlike past years, we found very little to celebrate and a lot that we intend to fight.The budget request provides $526.6 billion in discretionary funding for the DoD base budget, $3.9 billion below the 2012 enacted level.However, it exceeds spending caps by approximately $52 billion.If the administration and congressional leaders fail to agree on a plan to reduce the deficit, then either $52 billion will have to be cut from...
Frazier was one of 14 soldiers who faced the challenges and burdens of the fourth CASCOM Ultimate Warrior Competition.
More than 60 Army medics faced a range of obstacles meant to test their best.In teams of two from Army units across the globe, soldiers from medical fields stood against the clock and each other at the U.S. Army Best Medic Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas.After 72 hours of sometimes grueling competition, Staff Sgt. Andrew Balha, Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, Colo., and Staff Sgt. Alexander Folsom, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., surfaced as the winners.Among the 32 teams were soldiers assigned to all manner of units – from major Army medical centers...
As a member-based organization, 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 advisory committees within AUSA 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 is...
The 82nd Airborne Division’s Trooper of the Year is Spc. Lawrence Anderson, and the division’s NCO of the year is Staff Sgt. Cory Schmidt.
The Warrior Transition Command in Alexandria, Va., has announced the Army Team for the 2013 Warrior Games.Wounded, ill and injured soldiers and veterans trained and competed for months to be one of 50 athletes representing the Army team.Army athletes will compete against Marines Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and United Kingdom teams at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.The Paralympic-style competition for wounded, ill and injured service members allows athletes to compete for gold medals in shooting, swimming...
A team from Fort Benning, Ga. won the 2013 David E. Granger Best Ranger Competition held at Fort Benning.
The administration’s budget was two months late, but given what was in it for AUSA constituents, it would have been better to not have it at all.Let’s start with the 1 percent pay raise – the smallest since 1958 and the first time since 1999 that the increase has not at least matched average private sector wage growth.It seems the Department of Defense (DoD) cannot learn from history.In the 80s and 90s capping pay increases below private sector growth led to enormous retention problems.AUSA will continue to fight for pay parity.Pay of course is not the only issue. Healthcare is again in the...
It was a Friday.I remember because it was exactly one week after my military retirement ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C.I was "in processing" here at AUSA national headquarters, and although it seems like it was only yesterday – it was in fact 20 years ago.I was being briefed on my duties and responsibilities as the new AUSA Director of NCO and Soldier Programs.The then-vice president of the Association’s Institute of Land Warfare was telling me that one of the many things I was required to do was to write a monthly column for AUSA NEWS.He paused briefly and opined that the two easiest articles I...
Command Sgt. Maj. Jimmie W. Spencer, USA, Ret., has announced he will retire from the Association of the United States Army on May 15 after serving 20 years as the Association’s director of noncommissioned officer and soldier programs.Spencer joined the AUSA staff on Aug, 23, 1993, after retiring from the Army as the command sergeant major of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.AUSA officials announced that Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston, USA, Ret., the 13th Sergeant Major of the Army, will succeed Spencer in this position on May 1."Command Sergeant Major Jimmie...
The Army learned the art of adaptation throughout the last 12 years of war, but is now moving into a period of innovation that will require critical investments for the force of the future."Adaptation is driven by some emergency and arguably what we’ve done for the last dozen years at war," Lt. Gen. Keith C. Walker, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and deputy commander for Army Futures, said.Adding, "Our Army, as part of its lifecycle, was going through a period of adaptation."Fresh from the 2013 "Campaign of Learning" senior leader discussions in Washington, D.C., Walker...
The competition is known for the grueling endurance test it provides, and this year was no different.
During testimony on Capitol Hill April 23, Gen. Ray Odierno, Army chief of staff, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that "difficult decisions" with regard to the Army budget have eliminated the possibility that soldiers who are in Afghanistan now might need to stay longer due to the training-related delays of follow-on forces.Chief among those difficult decisions are the 14 days of civilian furloughs the Army will implement later this year to help reduce costs.The savings there will help the Army train, Odierno said."That’s allowing us to have enough money to invest in the...
More than 60 Army medics faced a range of obstacles meant to test their best.In teams of two from Army units across the globe, soldiers from medical fields stood against the clock and each other at the U.S. Army Best Medic Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas.After 72 hours of sometimes grueling competition, Staff Sgt. Andrew Balha, Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, Colo., and Staff Sgt. Alexander Folsom, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., surfaced as the winners.Among the 32 teams were soldiers assigned to all manner of units – from major Army medical centers...
Paratroopers who were declared by their brigades to be the best of the 82nd Airborne Division sat outside the All American Conference Room at Fort Bragg, N.C., quietly concentrating their calloused, exhausted minds on hundreds of Army regulations, soldier tasks and their respective units’ histories.The outward appearance of calm patience obscured their inner rehearsals of possible answers to any unknown number of questions that they may be presented with once finally seated face-to-face with the division’s command sergeant major.These airborne soldiers are vying for the coveted title – 82nd...