The annual slog to completion of the defense authorization and appropriation legislation has begun. The House passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill last week by a vote of 299-120. The bill authorizes $554 billion for national defense and $88.5 billion for Overseas Contingencies Operations, $4 billion more than the President’s request but less than FY 2012 funding levels.The House-approved provisions:Restate the firmly-held sense of Congress that prior service to our nation is a pre-payment of healthcare benefits in retirement. Specifically, the bill states that "This...
The techniques of retired Staff Sgt. Jesse White and other Army archers helped them earn four silver medals in the 2012 Warrior Games at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo."I literally have a sequence of about 20 things I do every time I settle in for the shot. It’s to make sure my body and mind is relaxed and ready to go," White said.White teamed with Ben Trescott and Justin Steele to earn silver for the Army in the compound bow team competition, while Fred Prince earned an individual silver medal.Curtis Winston, Kinga Kiss-Johnson and Al Louangketh received silver medals for the...
Army Ten-Miler and GEICO officials announced that runners attending the Army Ten-Miler’s Pre-Race GEICO Pasta Dinner are in for a special event and experience.Highlighting the dinner, attendees will meet the senior enlisted leadership of the Army.Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler; Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Burch, command sergeant major of the Army National Guard; and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael D. Schultz, command sergeant major of the U.S. Army Reserve, will speak Oct. 20 at the race’s dinner.The Army Ten-Miler – with over 30,000 runners registered – will be held on Sunday, Oct. 21, the...
Soldiers competing in the Warrior Games at Colorado Springs, Colo., are members of one of the 29 Warrior Transition Units (WTU) spread across the Army.They are wounded, ill and injured soldier-athletes with prosthetics, amputations, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, and "through sport, daily activity and getting a sweat, they get better," Brig. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, assistant surgeon general and commander, Warrior Transition Command, said."That’s the resiliency of our Army," he said.Williams, speaking to reporters via telephone from the Warrior Games in Colorado, said the...
On a clear Colorado day, the best Army wounded warrior athletes gathered for the first of many track and field practices for the Third Annual Warrior Games hosted by the U.S. Olympic Committee and held in late April to early May in Colorado Springs, Colo.Wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans from the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Special Operations Command, competed for the gold in track and field, shooting, swimming, cycling, archery, wheel chair basketball and sitting volleyball.Similar to the Paralympics Games, the event showcases the high level of fitness...
Warrior Games, presented by Deloitte, were created in 2010 as an introduction to Paralympic sports for wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans.The competition is a springboard for many service members and veterans to continue participating in sports programs in their communities.Since the inception of Warrior Games – Medical Treatment Facilities, Warrior Transition Units and Wounded Warrior Battalions East (Camp Lejeune, N.C.) and West (Camp Pendleton, Calif.) have seen a more than a 20-percent increase in sports program participation by wounded warriors.Warrior Games are hosted...
The Army will begin implementing a regionally-aligned force concept next year to better support combatant commanders, the service’s chief of staff announced May 16.Gen. Raymond T. Odierno made the announcement at a Pentagon press conference as he outlined the Army’s vision for the future to meet the tenets of the DoD Strategic Guidance signed by the president in January.He said the Army will be transitioning to a leaner, more agile, adaptive, innovative, versatile and ready component of the joint force.The regional alignments are part of that vision and the concept will begin with a pilot...
"Summertime and the living is easy."This might be so for millions of Americans in the United States, but for military families, finding time to enjoy a vacation together can be challenging.With our troops home from the war in Iraq and the drawdown continuing in Afghanistan, military families are, for the first time in 10 years, finding time to plan vacations that do not revolve around R and R or homecomings.Soldiers are home and not looking at a quick turnaround back downrange.Family routines have been reestablished, relationships have begun to strengthen and the thought of spending quality...
AUSA on the HillAUSA President Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., attended the Senate Army Caucus breakfast on May 17.Among the guests were Caucus co-chairs, Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii and James Inhofe, R-Okla; and Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; Scott Brown, R-Mass.; Kay Hagan, D-N.C.; and John Cornyn, R-Texas.The breakfast gave Sullivan the opportunity to discuss AUSA and Army priorities with the senators and their senior staff.He was also able to reiterate the message delivered by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the featured speaker. (See related story, Page 2)Odierno’s message to...
The Association of the Unites States Army’s Council of Trustees elected one new member and re-elected four members to serve three-year terms beginning July 1 to the Association’s council – AUSA’s governing body.The council met May 7 at the Association’s national headquarters in Arlington, Va.Lawrence B. Prior III, executive vice president of service sectors, BAE Systems, Inc., was elected to serve his first term as an Association trustee.Elected to serve as trustees for additional three-year terms were Gen. Carl E. Vuono, USA, Ret.; Maj. Gen. Patricia P. Hickerson, USA, Ret.; Dennis A...
Army wounded warriors faced off in the third day of competition at the 2012 Warrior Games, May 3, winning three medals in the shooting competition.
Army athletes took six gold, five silver and seven bronze medals during the track and field events May 4 at the 2012 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs."One of the biggest things coming from something like this both on the mental side and physical side are improvements," retired Staff Sgt. Michael Kacer said.Adding, "Emotionally, mentally, physically, you just better yourself as a whole once you get into sports."Kacer joined the Pennsylvania National Guard right out of high school and remained in the military for 10 years and five months until his retirement in May 2010.During his deployment to...
He checks his recurve bow and slips the string taunt on the lower tip, loops the strung end on the outside of his foot, then slides the other end through the top.With steely nerves and the finesse of a master weaver, you’d never know he was shot multiple times at a point blank range.Staff Sgt. Ammala Louangketh, C Company, Warrior Transition Battalion-Europe in Schweinfurt, Germany, is one of 50 athletes representing the Army in the third annual 2012 Warrior Games.Louangketh has served the U.S. Army for 19 years. This will be the second time he’s competed in the games.More than 200 competitors...
Reduced oxygen simulated higher elevations to help Staff Sgt. Spencer Anderson as he trained for the cycling competition in Colorado at the 2012 Warrior Games.Anderson, an Army medic, is among 30 soldiers and 20 veterans representing the Army at the Third Annual Warrior Games, a week-long event for wounded troops in Colorado Springs, Colo.Events include cycling, archery, wheelchair basketball, shooting, swimming, track and field and sitting volleyball.Cycling keeps Anderson, a soldier wounded in combat, on a positive track.He started cycling 16 months ago. Now, it’s part of a routine...