ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

For many young leaders, the Army can be a frustrating experience. They see areas that can be improved upon, but quickly become frustrated with conservative leadership, bloated bureaucracies and navigating a system that can favor time in service and rank over good ideas.

In 1970, economist Albert O. Hirschman published a treatise titled, “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty.” While the essay falls within the area of economics, it offers some food for thought to leaders serving in the Army today. Hirschman compares two competing paths that members of an organization can take when the organization isn’t...

Some soldiers may be sorry down the road for not signing up for the Blended Retirement System during the opt-in period that ended Dec. 31. The results of the opt-in, which required a complex decision with difficult choices, will have researchers examining why more troops did not choose the new system. The answers will impact retention and readiness. One question that might be asked, based on early data, is whether soldiers missed out on a good deal.

The system replaces the High-3 system in which individuals had to have served 20 years’ active or equivalent reserve service to qualify for...

For over 100 years, the United Kingdom and the United States have fought alongside one another as we, together with our allies, have sought to protect our way of life and help shape a bright and prosperous future for our children and grandchildren. As brothers in arms, we have fought two world wars, brought about the end of the Cold War, and operated side by side in Korea, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. Like all close friends, there have been disagreements—think Suez and Vietnam—but the relationship between the U.K. and U.S. militaries is, today, closer than that of any other two nations.

A...

The almost 40-year-old Abrams tank has a significant role in the Army’s vision for 2028 because of a major facelift that upgrades the engine, sensors and sights, along with advanced armor and an active protection system aimed at fighting, surviving and winning.

But it is not quite the radical new tank the Army needs for the future.

While tanks have been declared obsolete many times since their first use in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the latest high-tech upgrades to the legendary M1 Abrams make it more reliable, effective and lethal, allowing the Abrams to be a key asset in the land portion...

When someone leaves home for the first time at the age of 17 or 18 to join the military, they never foresee what they are about to face. After 23 years and traveling around the world, I have seen it all. I want to highlight the three most important aspects of military life through a junior leader’s lens: leadership, diversity and family involvement.

Leadership

If we want to dominate our adversaries and ensure our military is the strongest in the world, we must continue to maintain the smartest and most agile leaders.

Leadership is defined as influencing others by providing direction, motivation...

It was an overcast, cold day in October 2008. We were in the crucible of the French Foreign Legion’s basic training: the infamous “Farm” where the legion introduces its newest recruits to its traditions, hardships and expectations.

That day, my platoon leader had me speak with a civilian teacher who was at la Ferme to analyze the legion’s methods of teaching French to foreigners. For about 15 minutes, I spoke with this teacher in French.

Even a few months before, this would have been difficult, if not impossible. In summer 2008, my abilities to communicate in French remained limited. This was...

Seventy-five years ago, the Allies stormed the Normandy beaches to confront Nazi totalitarianism and liberate Europe. D-Day, June 6, 1944, was a watershed event in World War II and arguably the defining moment of the 20th century in the West. To paraphrase Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower: American soldiers, in conjunction with America’s allies, came for one purpose only, not to gain anything for themselves, not to fulfill any ambitions that the United States had for conquest, but to preserve freedom—systems of self-government in the world … to make sure that Hitler could not...

Design thinking arms the U.S. Army with the ability to creatively and rapidly produce solutions to some of the service’s thorniest problems. How will the Army improve its lethality with an increasingly obese and inactive younger population? How will the Army incorporate innovative capabilities amid a troubled procurement system and expanding near-peer threats? These nebulous and often ill-defined problems are well-suited for design thinking—an end-user-focused methodology to solving problems.

A recent project conducted by a team from the Center for Army Analysis for outgoing Army Chief of Staff...

Secret Unit Wreaked Havoc Behind the Lines

Uncommon Valor: The Recon Company that Earned Five Medals of Honor and Included America’s Most Decorated Green Beret.. Stephen L. Moore. Naval Institute Press. 440 pages. $35

By Lt. Col. Robert K. Brown, U.S. Army Reserve retired

No book is more aptly titled than Uncommon Valor: The Recon Company that Earned Five Medals of Honor and Included America’s Most Decorated Green Beret. This is an in-depth analysis of the American warriors who staffed the most covert and unique small-unit operations of the Vietnam War.

The reconnaissance company’s parent...

On Dec. 8, 1941, Japan initiated a massive offensive to wrest the Philippine Islands from Allied control just seven hours after attacking Pearl Harbor. The defending U.S. Army and Filipino forces, which had focused on counterinsurgency operations since 1898, remained largely organized, trained and equipped for stability efforts instead of modern large-scale ground combat operations.

While the coalition featured two U.S. Army-led corps with 10 understrength Filipino divisions and a single American infantry division in reserve, the defenders lacked the organizational capacity to enable, employ...

On Dec. 8, 1941, Japan initiated a massive offensive to wrest the Philippine Islands from Allied control just seven hours after attacking Pearl Harbor. The defending U.S. Army and Filipino forces, which had focused on counterinsurgency operations since 1898, remained largely organized, trained and equipped for stability efforts instead of modern large-scale ground combat operations.

While the coalition featured two U.S. Army-led corps with 10 understrength Filipino divisions and a single American infantry division in reserve, the defenders lacked the organizational capacity to enable, employ...

The first pickup laid down suppressive fire with its .50-caliber heavy machine gun; the other pickup—called a “technical” in the many places such makeshift combat vehicles are found—then advanced to the next fold in the sand, braked hard and took up the thundering cadence with its own weapon. The first technical used that suppression to resume its advance, and the two vehicles continued their alternating progress down a football field-length of Iraqi desert.

The principles of fire and movement were developed by German stormtroopers in World War I, yet were new to these Kurdish Peshmerga...

Armando Yturria, a retired Army Special Forces sergeant major and a member of the Association of the U.S. Army, was recently recognized by the Quilts of Valor Foundation for his distinguished military service as a special operations leader.

Yturria, who is now a Richland County Sheriff’s Department investigator, retired from the Army in 2005 after 25 years of service and multiple deployments.

He was presented a Quilt of Valor by Anne Mixon, the foundation’s state coordinator, and Tammany McDaniel, the organization’s national executive director, during ceremonies attended by senior military and...

Greetings from the Association of the U.S. Army, our Army’s association for education and professional development and a major supporter of the Army’s Soldier for Life efforts.

The 36th annual David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition started in the dark of the morning on April 12 with 53 two-man buddy teams competing to be the best of the best at Fort Benning, Georgia.

The first event set the stage for the 60-hour challenge as all the teams sprinted from the starting line on a buddy-team run of unknown destination and distance.

“The Best Ranger Competition measures three critical aspects of...

Over the next few weeks, the House and Senate armed services committees will start drafting their fiscal 2020 defense authorization bills. A letter to committee leadership from the Association of the U.S. Army and other associations outlined joint legislative priorities designed to enhance reserve component operational readiness while continuing to promote the goals of Total Force integration.

The letter was signed by retired Gen. Carter F. Ham, AUSA’s president and CEO, along with leaders from the Adjutants General Association of the U.S., the Air Force Association, the Enlisted Association of...