ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Greetings from the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), our Army’s and our soldiers’ professional organization.

Across the Army and around the world, Army leaders, soldiers, Army civilians, retired soldiers, veterans, industry leaders and Army families are all excited about this year’s Association of the United States Army’s (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition in October here in our Nation’s Capital.

Those who have attended the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition last year will immediately note the meeting is back in line with the Columbus Day weekend and the 33nd Annual Army Ten-Miler...

“Building Readiness: America’s Army from the Great War to Multi-Domain Battle,” the theme of the Association of the United States Army’s 2017 Annual Meeting and Exposition, Oct. 9–11, will set the tone for speeches, industry and military exhibits, and special presentations from senior Defense Department and Army leaders.

The Army-selected theme for the meeting recognizes that 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I, which marked the birth of 41 U.S. Army divisions and made the U.S. a leading military power.

It also recognizes the challenge for the future, symbolized...

The M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle that led the charge from Kuwait into Baghdad in 2003 has once again served as the lead vehicle advancing on a vital objective.

This time the objective was the campus of the National Museum of the United States Army (NMUSA) now under construction at Fort Belvoir, Va.

The Bradley, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry A Troop, during the Iraqi war, was the first of four macro artifacts to be pre-positioned early in the construction process on reinforced concrete slabs and extensive support structures in their permanent display locations.

On...

Your support is critical to continue the mission of the Association of the United States Army and we appreciate it.

Please visit these links for valuable services for you:

• Professional Development – www.ausa.org/professional-development
• ILW Publications – www.ausa.org/publications/institute-of-land-warfare
• Meetings and Events – www.ausa.org/meet
• Chapter Networking – www.ausa.org/chapters

These alone are worth the cost of membership. But wait, there’s more!

As a way to say thank you, we are expanding your membership benefits with programs that offer real dollar savings – and when our members use them...

This year marks a critical period for our soldiers, families and civilians in Korea. Eighth Army is undergoing massive changes.

Iraq was not desperate in 2009 and 2010. The security situation was relatively in hand and improving. The political situation was touchy, but also progressing.

The U.S. Army Human Dimension Strategy informs the Army’s approach to the joint acquisition process for programs such as the Future Vertical Lift aircraft. There is a potential that the requirement developers or the aircraft’s designers may attempt to replace the aviator in the new cockpit with remotely manned or even automated piloting systems. To follow the Army’s strategy, it is imperative to keep an aviator in the cockpit.

The Army’s latest tactical helicopter program of record began more than 30 years ago, before aviation became an Army branch. While the Army’s current generation of...

The world is alive with artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. IBM’s Watson made headlines by besting Jeopardy champions while more recently, Google’s AlphaGo defeated several acknowledged champions in the board game Go. Companies pursue numerous solutions to apply the latest technologies and add to their product lines: Amazon uses its algorithms to give better product recommendations; Facebook is looking to establish (and now create) even more connections among social media users; meanwhile, IBM is advertising Watson as an analyst who ostensibly brings...

The world is alive with artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. IBM’s Watson made headlines by besting Jeopardy champions while more recently, Google’s AlphaGo defeated several acknowledged champions in the board game Go. Companies pursue numerous solutions to apply the latest technologies and add to their product lines: Amazon uses its algorithms to give better product recommendations; Facebook is looking to establish (and now create) even more connections among social media users; meanwhile, IBM is advertising Watson as an analyst who ostensibly brings...

Reviews of books featuring joint ops in the Pacific Campaign, the 79th Division, small wars, and George Washington.

The Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was a seminal conflict that featured competing conceptions of operational art. Of all the notable generals, George Washington of the Continental Army and William Howe of the British Army exercised perhaps the most impactful operational art that shaped the course of the conflict.

While Washington described a defensive strategy that sought to avoid a general action or put anything at risk unless it was necessary to preserve the Continental Congress’s declared policy of political independence, Howe prioritized decisive action as the most effective way to end the...

For this month’s benefits highlight, the focus is shopping discounts.

Sometimes discounts for members appear organically. I had a meeting with one of our partners, and the representative left me a pair of socks as a parting gift.

How odd, I thought. I gave them to a friend. He texted me a few days later – “How do I get more of those socks? I need 10 pairs! Throwing my other socks away.”

He has neuropathy, which makes his feet numb. Numbness changes to pain after he’s been on his feet an hour into the work day. His feet didn’t hurt at all the day he tried them.

He thought it was a fluke and wore...

In future wars with near-peer adversaries, the U.S. Army needs to be a self-sustaining force for long periods of time, a panel of experts said at AUSA’s Hot Topic forum on Army sustainment.

War brings sustainable strength and mass to bear, said Maj. Gen. Doug Chalmers, deputy commanding general - support for III Corps.

“The unique selling point of the U.S. Army is that it’s the only force left in the western world that’s structured to fight and win wars, not just battles,” he said.

Long-term wars need sustainable scaling over time as conditions change, Chalmers said. He compared these types of...

Greetings from the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), our Army’s association for education and professional development, and a major supporter of the Army’s Soldier for Life efforts.

I spent the week of 19-23 June in El Paso, Texas, with AUSA’s General of the Army Omar Bradley Chapter supporting the Sergeant Major of the Army’s (SMA) Senior Enlisted Training and Leader Development Conference and the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) graduation.

The week started on Monday for Sgt. Maj. of the Army Dan Dailey’s quarterly Senior Enlisted Council for senior Command...

As discussed in last month’s column, we have launched the 2017 AUSA Member Advocacy Campaign.

Your participation can make a real difference. If our campaign is successful, your Army could gain an additional $13 billion to $15 billion a year.

That is a 10 percent increase, which would help solve many, many problems, from readiness to procurement to benefits.

If you have never met with your federal elected officials in the House of Representatives or the Senate, now is your chance. Make it a bucket list item to check off.

Get smart on the issues of sequestration and the defense budget caps using the...