The Army is transforming into a force that relies upon a single, integrated network, the chief information officer for G-6 (operational test command) said during a Tuesday, Oct. 11 LandWarNet seminar.No longer will intelligence, fires, logistics, and mission command operate on disparate systems that, in the past, failed to facilitate communication with each other at critical moments."If you want to ride this network, you’re going to meet these technical standards we’re going to put out," said Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, the chief information officer for G-6, who moderated a panel of peers from...
The Senate has confirmed Maj. Gen. William Ingram, former adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard and current special assistant to the Army vice chief of staff for promotion to lieutenant general and director of the Army National Guard.Ingram’s confirmation occurred during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Nov. 10, the first ever when all six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified to the full committee.The testimony, for which the Joint Chiefs were joined by Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was on the matter of whether the guard...
Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, was confirmed by the Senate Nov. 10 to be the Army vice chief of staff succeeding Gen. Peter Chiarelli who has served in this position since August 2008.Austin, serving as the commanding general, United States Forces – Iraq, since Sept. 1, 2010, was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the Army’s 33rd vice chief of staff pending Senate confirmation.The Senate also confirmed Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell to be the commanding general, U.S. Army North and Fifth U.S. Army.Caldwell recently served as the commander, Combined Security Transition Command —...
Damage to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps could be irreversible if the Budget Control Act's "sequestration" provision takes another $600 billion from the defense budget, the military service chiefs testified Nov. 2.Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the future of the military services.A bipartisan congressional committee is working to identify $1.5 trillion in federal...
Story and photo by Sgt. Keven Parry, Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Inf. Div. Public AffairsThe Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, held a community day at Fort Riley’s Marshall Army Airfield Nov.16. Leaders from the communities the CAB is partnered with attended the event to learn more about the brigade.The event allowed partnership members to interact with each other and discover the extent of the brigade’s community involvement while learning about the unit from CAB Soldiers.“I was surprised at how many other groups were partnering with the brigade,” said Jeff Chapman, a...
Story and photo by Sgt. Keven Parry, CAB, 1st Inf. Div. Public AffairsSoldiers from various units throughout the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, joined together to form Task Force Nightmare in order to support 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, during their rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La. from Nov 4 to Nov 18.The aviation task force brought the strengths of Soldiers throughout the brigade together into a single team in order to accomplish full spectrum air missions that will be necessary at JRTC.All aspects of aviation operations...
It’s the right thing to do. This simple yet cogent statement is the motto of the Missing in America Project (MIAP), a national effort to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremains of veterans across the United States.Cofounded by Vietnam War veterans Richard Cesler and Fred Salanti, the project first came about in 2005 after Cesler, who was working as Idaho’s Veterans Cemetery Director at the time, came across the cremains of Sgt. Richard Trueman and his wife, Martha, locked away in a storage unit for five years.In 2006, Cesler helped organize interment ceremonies, with full military...
The high incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) within the U.S. Army is an issue that must be properly addressed, according to Vice Chief of the Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli."This is the kind of thing we’ve really got to get a handle on," Chiarelli said. "There is still a lot more work to do."Chiarelli outlined his concerns with PTSD and TBI—along with problems he believed were related to these conditions such as substance abuse and suicide—during his speech at Sergeant Major of the Army’s Best Warrior Competition Awards Luncheon at the 2011...
Senate spending bill advances. The Senate’s version of the fiscal 2012 defense spending bill was recently approved by the full Appropriations Committee.The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2012, provides $630.6 billion in base and overseas contingency operation funding. The base budget appropriation is $513.0 billion which is a spending freeze at the fiscal year 2011 level. This freeze represents a $25.9 billion reduction from the budget request, consistent with the spending cuts directed by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The defense bill also contains $117.6 billion for Overseas...
AUSA’s Charleston S.C. Chapter has adopted the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration (RHJVA) Medical Center in Charleston and several local and statewide Army Reserve and Army National Guard units.The chapter’s number one mission is helping wounded, ill, injured and needy troops from all branches of the U.S. military, as well as disabled vets and their families.Through sponsoring a jersey auction fundraiser, the chapter’s vice president for veteran affairs, Larry Dandridge, worked with the Palmetto Chapter of Women In Defense (WID) and the Charleston River Dogs minor league baseball team to...
Pharmacy home delivery co-pays reduced. The TRICARE Management Activity recently announced that co-payments for some medications provided through the TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery are being reduced to zero. As of Oct. 1, 2011, Home Delivery beneficiaries can fill generic prescriptions at no cost to themselves.Generic formulary drugs purchased through Home Delivery currently cost $3 for a 90-day supply, but as of Oct. 1 the co-payment drops to zero.Other changes to the TRICARE pharmacy co-payments that will go into effect Oct. 1 include:
- Generic formulary drugs purchased at retail pharmacies...
Even though Congress knows in early January that the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, as I write this column, we are two weeks from that date and no appropriations bills have been sent to the president nor has a defense authorization bill been sent to the president.Of course that means that federal agencies will be funded at their 2011 levels as directed by a continuing resolution until Congress finally gets off the dime (so to speak) and: Shows us the money!The continuing resolution likely will cover spending at least until mid-November.If the appropriations bills still have not been completed...
Paydays for military retirees and those who receive portions of retired pay are changing for September and December, as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) changes its pay schedule to comply with the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).The 2011 NDAA requires military retiree pay to be processed on the first day of the month. When that day falls on a weekend or national holiday, the pay date is moved to the previous business day.This year payments normally scheduled for Oct. 3 will be issued on Sept. 30, and payments normally scheduled for Jan. 3, 2012, will be issued...
During this year’s AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, just as we have in years past, we had as our guests a special group of noncommissioned officers — NCOs who have achieved excellence and who represent the best of America’s NCO Corps.Attending the meeting were the recruiters and drill sergeants of the year, and this year we added to the list the Advanced Individual Training (AIT) Platoon Sergeant of the Year.Sgt. 1st Class Paul Gahl from Fort Sill, Okla., is the 2011 AIT Platoon Sergeant of the Year.During the 2011 AUSA Annual Meeting’s Eisenhower Luncheon, he received the first Finnis D...
Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and the Army’s new chief of staff, Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, offered their predictions regarding the fate for programs for Army families at AUSA’s Annual Meeting and Exposition Monday, Oct. 10, in Washington, D.C."We will not make Army family programs the bill payer for other initiatives," McHugh declared without promising there would be no cutbacks whatsoever.Odierno told his audience, "I would not panic. We do understand the importance of family programs, but we do need to make choices." He added that feedback from families would be critical in helping his...