In a town hall meeting with Army spouses, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Ray Odierno reiterated the Army’s commitment financially to do everything possible to find the right programs to help families deal with the complexities of soldier life."We’re still going to invest a lot of money in our family programs – it’s a high priority – that’s not going to change, but we need to do better and be more efficient in the dollars that we have," he said to the predominantly female audience at an AUSA Family Forum convened at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition Oct...
Preparing soldiers for the Army of 2020 means restructuring a critical link in the Noncommissioned Officer Education System.
The Army civilian workforce grew by about 50,000 since the terrorist attacks of 2001, and like their uniformed colleagues, the workforce faces cuts.Speaking Oct. 24, Jay Aronowitz, director of civilian personnel in the Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel,G-1, said the active component is being cut by 14 percent over the next eight years, and there will be cuts in the Army’s 300,000 member civilian workforce – but likely not that much.He told attendees at a special civilian seminar at the Association of the United States Annual Meeting and Exposition that the Army will...
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III said he believes the Army has drifted away from educating soldiers about energy conservation.Chandler spoke Oct. 23 at the "Enhancing Mission Effectiveness Through Power and Energy Advancements" Contemporary Military Forum at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.Chandler said he believes conservation is of strategic importance to the nation, and one person can make a difference that can change the country."That’s our challenge," he said. "That’s my challenge as sergeant major of the Army, is to make our soldiers...
The hard-won experience the Army gained over the past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan will help the service adapt to the new security environment of the upcoming decades, Ashton Carter, deputy secretary of defense, said.Carter noted that the Army has played a key role in United States wars over the past decade, and today, of the roughly 68,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, about 60,000 are soldiers, Carter said, speaking at the Sustaining Member Luncheon Oct. 24 at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition."Now, those lessons learned, that new capability built...
Twenty-four of the Army’s finest warriors converged at Fort Lee, Va., to engage in a fast-paced and intense battle against themselves and each other as participants of the premier soldier skills competition.The event, officially called the Department of the Army Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year Best Warrior Competition (BWC), known as Best Warrior, brings together 12 noncommissioned officers and 12 junior soldiers from the Army’s major commands to demonstrate their proficiencies in skills critical to the success of every soldier.Best Warrior events include a physical training...
The Army must continue to address challenges abroad and internally, according to the Army vice chief of staff, Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III.Speaking Oct. 22 during the Sergeant Major of the Army Awards Luncheon at the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Austin emphasized the importance of properly completing and supporting our remaining missions abroad."Today our top priority continues to be the fight ongoing in Afghanistan," Austin said.Adding, the Army will "make sure [soldiers] will receive our full support" in the mission until our last soldier leaves the...
AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare has recently released two new publications.The first, "Capability Set Production and Fielding: Enhancing the U.S. Army’s Combat Effectiveness" (Torchbearer Issue Paper, October 2012), explores the iterative process that allows the Army to incrementally modernize over time and successfully incorporate new technologies as they mature.The Capability Set Management construct allows the Army to modernize its information systems far more rapidly and at far better total value than ever before.In October 2012, the Army began to equip deploying brigade combat teams...
By the time you read this, American citizens will have elected a president to serve for the next four years and a new Congress.Regardless of who wins, AUSA will work with the new administration and the new Congress to educate them about the needs of the Army and the Association’s legislative agenda.Before that happens, however, I have great news to report on congressional attendance at the just completed Annual Meeting and Exposition held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in late October.On Sunday before the meeting began, more than 65 congressional staffers ran the Army Ten-Miler...
The Association of the United States Army, in conjunction with the National Guard Association of the United States and the Reserve Officers Association, presented the annual Walter T. Kerwin Jr. Award to units from the Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve.The presentations were made by Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Luncheon held during the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center Oct. 23.The Kerwin Award for readiness and training for the outstanding Army...
The Army’s top leaders stressed the need to maintain a balance between the active and reserve components during a time of declining budgets, while emphasizing their commitment to the Total Army.Army Secretary John McHugh and Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, also discussed their actions to prepare the Army for the future and to care for soldiers and their families, regardless of the level of funding.The two leaders handled those and other issues on the opening day of the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center...
Reacting to criticism of some expensive government conferences that has resulted in limited participation at this year’s Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, the Army’s two top leaders on Monday, Oct. 22, strongly supported the value of this professional development forum.In his keynote address at the meeting’s the opening session, Army Secretary John McHugh said the AUSA conference "provides a critical forum to exchange ideas, to discuss the critical issues facing the nation ... to learn from each other."Although the "Army footprint is much smaller than usual...
In accepting the Association of the United States Army’s highest award, the George Catlett Marshall Medal for service to the nation, former Secretary of State James Baker said, "The number one threat [facing the United States] is our economic and political dysfunction."Speaking Wednesday, Oct. 24, to 3,000 attendees at a dinner concluding AUSA’s three-day Annual Meeting and Exposition, he said, "If we can’t cure these, the consequences will not be good" over a broad range of national issues, including security.Baker said an important lesson to be drawn from Marshall’s life as Army chief of...
As the U.S. Army continues to face challenges as it draws down and changes its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan – following the longest conflict the United States has fought with an all-volunteer force – America’s Army remains in the forefront of not only military operations, but also stabilization, humanitarian, peacekeeping, and nation-building efforts during very uncertain times – and with serious budget constraints.In the introduction to his "Marching Orders – 38th Chief of Staff, U.S. Army," Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said that as America’s Force of Decisive Action and "as part of the Joint...
Like an athletic team in the clutch, there’s something about the fourth quarter that elevated Saint Thomas Academy from a great academic team to a super one.Whatever "it" is – adrenaline, fear of losing or easier questions – "it" helped the Minnesota program cruise to the Army title in the annual Junior ROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl (JLAB) and wallop the Air Force and Navy for the coveted tri-services crown."That’s when we’re ready to go," Walker Lee, a soon-to-be junior, said.After nearly 45 minutes of questions covering everything from calculus to physics to current events, Saint Thomas...