ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army is committed to delivering a tactical network that will guarantee preparedness and victory over any adversary. However, ensuring success has required significant institutional and cultural change in how the service modernizes its network.

Over the past two years, the Army has revolutionized its process for developing and delivering tactical network capability. With state-of-the-art network technology available, our community has developed better business practices, leveraged soldier-driven experimentation, aligned resources and Army science and technology efforts, and is shaping and...

The Army is committed to delivering a tactical network that will guarantee preparedness and victory over any adversary. However, ensuring success has required significant institutional and cultural change in how the service modernizes its network.

Over the past two years, the Army has revolutionized its process for developing and delivering tactical network capability. With state-of-the-art network technology available, our community has developed better business practices, leveraged soldier-driven experimentation, aligned resources and Army science and technology efforts, and is shaping and...

Some 20,000 Chinese Americans served their country in World War II and were connected to the history of the Chinese in America in ways they might not have fully understood.

These young men and women were products of decades of struggles by their parents and grandparents to become American. Anti-Chinese sentiments in the U.S. were a constant reminder that Americans saw them as different and excluded them. Some enlisted, and some died, before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was finally repealed in December 1943.

But none of that mattered to these patriotic young men and women. When they saw the...

Some 20,000 Chinese Americans served their country in World War II and were connected to the history of the Chinese in America in ways they might not have fully understood.

These young men and women were products of decades of struggles by their parents and grandparents to become American. Anti-Chinese sentiments in the U.S. were a constant reminder that Americans saw them as different and excluded them. Some enlisted, and some died, before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was finally repealed in December 1943.

But none of that mattered to these patriotic young men and women. When they saw the...

Visual Guide to Winning a Worldwide Struggle

World War II Infographics. Jean Lopez, Nicolas Aubin, Vincent Bernard and Nicolas Guillerat. Thames and Hudson. 192 pages. $40

By Col. Kevin Benson, U.S. Army retired

World War II Infographics is an example of the adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The four authors skillfully use pie charts, graphs and pictures to communicate data related to the effort required for the Allies to prosecute operations and win World War II. This book contributes to the body of knowledge about this globe-spanning conflict.

The aim of the book, as written in the...

For 245 years, U.S. Army forces have served and defended the nation, whether fighting against malicious foreign militaries or battling nontraditional security threats at home. Today, our country is facing an extraordinary challenge, and the Army is standing shoulder to shoulder with our fellow citizens as we help local, state and federal governments protect America against an unseen enemy.

The Army is uniquely suited to respond to the coronavirus pandemic because of our multicomponent structure. All components—Regular Army, National Guard and Army Reserve—are in the fight. Through them, the...

For 245 years, U.S. Army forces have served and defended the nation, whether fighting against malicious foreign militaries or battling nontraditional security threats at home. Today, our country is facing an extraordinary challenge, and the Army is standing shoulder to shoulder with our fellow citizens as we help local, state and federal governments protect America against an unseen enemy.

The Army is uniquely suited to respond to the coronavirus pandemic because of our multicomponent structure. All components—Regular Army, National Guard and Army Reserve—are in the fight. Through them, the...

For 245 years, U.S. Army forces have served and defended the nation, whether fighting against malicious foreign militaries or battling nontraditional security threats at home. Today, our country is facing an extraordinary challenge, and the Army is standing shoulder to shoulder with our fellow citizens as we help local, state and federal governments protect America against an unseen enemy.

The Army is uniquely suited to respond to the coronavirus pandemic because of our multicomponent structure. All components—Regular Army, National Guard and Army Reserve—are in the fight. Through them, the...

The U.S. Army’s maturing Multi-Domain Operations concept proposes approaches to counter modernizing militarily peer adversaries, principally China and Russia. Leveraging sensor-linked weapons of increased range, speed, autonomy and lethality that some say favor the defense, these adversaries pose threats not contemplated in a generation. The resulting battlefield, expanding in complexity, reach, speed and violence, will be difficult to get to and even harder to survive on.

These developments enable the enemy to secure its objectives while systemically disrupting responding American forces. The...

The Army at times must provide deliberate and robust assistance to foreign nations in developing their military capabilities to enable U.S. defense objectives. Poland, an ally with the capacity and intent to develop a first-rate military and a nation that shares the U.S. vision for peace and stability in Europe, merits consideration for the Army’s deliberate assistance. With the right support from the Army, Poland, like Japan in the Indo-Pacific, could anchor U.S. defense strategy in Europe.

NATO relies on the U.S. to serve as a bulwark against the Russian military, yet in almost any...

Over 15 months in the late 1960s, I was the main battle tank project officer for the U.S. Army Combat Developments Command Armor Agency at Fort Knox, Kentucky. I was a major, and one of the voices for users of Army tanks, specifically for the new tank under joint development with West Germany known as the Main Battle Tank 70, or Kampfpanzer 70. The number 70 came from Army planners who hoped to have it in production during the 1970s.

That didn’t happen, but a prototype MBT-70 would become the predecessor of the present-day Abrams Main Battle Tank.

It was a challenging time to visualize and...

As our country commemorates the 13-year-long 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, stories of incredible heroism and sacrifice continue to inspire.

Former  Sgt. Gary Beikirch’s story is one of those. He received a Medal of Honor for his actions on April 1, 1970, at Camp Dak Seang, Vietnam. Beikirch’s life story is recounted in Blaze of Light: The Inspiring True Story of Green Beret Medic Gary Beikirch, Medal of Honor Recipient by Marcus Brotherton. The book was to be published in late March.

Beikirch’s story begins in Rochester, New York, where he was born on Aug. 29, 1947. He joined the Army in...

Although President Franklin Roosevelt was famous for letting members of his administration compete to get things done, Gen. George Marshall had his own way of deftly orchestrating major personalities—including the president himself—in assuring victory in World War II.

Marshall not only had to oversee and manage the global two-theater war against Germany and Japan, but he also constantly had to do battle over resources, strategies and priorities with Roosevelt, Congress, American industry CEOs, the U.S. Navy and the British high command, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He also had to...

Americans Proved Mettle Along Mississippi

The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America. William Davis. Dutton Caliber. 512 pages. $32

By Samuel Watson

Initially, the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans—which was fought after the official end of the War of 1812—passed without much notice. Decades ago, several historians had presented effective military narratives of the British offensive and its defeat. Many believed that the battle did not matter to the outcome of the war, since the peace treaty was signed in Belgium before the fighting, and Britain ratified the...

The U.S. Army has launched an Innovative Leaders Course. Due to increased complexity and uncertainty in the contemporary operational environment, this academic course has the potential to bring about combat readiness.

The aim of the year-old course is to build combat readiness by:

• First, seeking an understanding of a system and pattern recognition by using methods and approaches to problems such as Systems Thinking v2.0.
• Second, by using tools and techniques to equip the mind.
• Third, the course itself serves as the metaphorical grease to teach leaders how to reduce friction and open the curtain to...