ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

While there is a burgeoning body of literature examining the skills necessary for officer success in joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational environments, less has been written about the value of broadening experiences for performing in subsequent operational assignments within the Army at all echelons.

In our careers, broadening experiences outside the Army were ideal preparation for key developmental assignments at both company and field grade levels. Broadening is also about building better leaders within the Army, not solely about preparing officers to excel when dealing...

In April 1994, a group of distinguished Army leaders watched as the first “digi- tized” battalion to fight the National Training Center’s opposing force tried to assault the opposing force’s defensive positions. It was not a pretty picture. In spite of the intervehicle information system available to task force leaders, the opposing force had their way—not an unusual outcome at the Army’s combat training centers then or now.

In spite of the inability to defeat the opposing force, there were lessons learned from the experience. Who needs “the network,” along with why and how to make it routinely...

A recurring cliché of Hollywood war movies is the newbie lieutenant who falls to pieces in his first battle and has to be rescued by his crusty old platoon sergeant. It is a trope of which I am heartily tired. And yet, I am compelled to admit that in the U.S. Army, it has a basis in reality. We, as an Army, have a moral obligation to do everything we can to ensure that our newest officers are capable of meeting and mastering the first shock of combat they encounter as small-unit leaders. We have this moral obligation, not to prevent Hollywood from making more clichéd war movies but to save the...

After more than 25 years of unprecedented conventional combat power overmatch, we have awakened to near-peer adversaries with sophisticated capabilities.

After more than 25 years of unprecedented conventional combat power overmatch, we have awakened to near-peer adversaries with sophisticated capabilities.

The competition was intense in ARMY magazine’s 2016 SFC Dennis Steele Photo Contest. We received more than 70 entries that captured everything from soldiers and families to training and ceremonies. Army photographers took the top two spots, while an Army spouse placed third.

The first-place winner, Capt. Brian Harris, a public affairs officer with the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., wanted “to tell the Army story,” so he entered the contest after finding out about it through the I Corps public affairs team. He jumped at the chance because “finding new places to share...

Book Reviews on Topics Including Tank Destroyers and U.S. Army Doctrine Changes.

Sgt. Augustus Maiyo led his fellow soldiers to snatch the top five places in the 32nd running of the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday, Oct 9.

“We were running together the whole time,” said Maiyo, a Kenyan native who is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, or WCAP.

According to Maiyo, most of the WCAP team stayed out in front the entire race. That allowed the team members to move to the finish line as one. Of the more than 35,000 runners who participated, none of the others came even close.

“It was a win for the Army,” Maiyo said.

Seconds before the start of the race, Army Chief of Staff...

Three days after pinning on his fourth star, the new commander of the Army Materiel Command spoke to high school and college students about his rise as an Army officer.

Gen. Gus Perna told the junior and senior ROTC cadets that he credits his own ROTC program and experiences for his success, during a luncheon at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.

“ROTC changed my life. It brought me discipline. It brought me standards. It brought me teamwork. It brought me compassion and caring. It brought all the great attributes that we are known for today,”...

From the rising nuclear threat posed by North Korea to Russian cyber hacks, from migration to terrorism to climate change, the U.S. is no longer shielded from trouble, as it once was, by two oceans and long distances.

“The homeland is less and less a sanctuary,” said Robert Salesses, deputy assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense integration and defense support of civil authorities.

Thus, a role the military has always had but has been long overshadowed is re-emerging: homeland defense.

Salesses spoke Oct. 5 at the Association of the U.S. Army 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition during...

The Army Rapid Capabilities Office was created because “our adversaries have been modernizing” while the Army was waging a counter-insurgency fight, Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt said Oct. 4.

“This cannot wait,” he added.

Piatt, director of operations at the newly formed office, cited the capabilities in electronic warfare, unmanned aerial vehicles, cyber and disruption of the global positioning system that Russia demonstrated in its support of Ukrainian separatists.

Those activities present challenges to the Army “that we’ve never seen before.” If the Army cannot fight in those conditions, “we can’t...

The Army warrant officer community is concerned that it lacks a single voice to represent it at the senior Army levels during the development of the strategy to re-examine the Army in the Force 2025 and Beyond initiative.

During an Oct. 4 forum at the 2016 Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, a WO5 in the audience described the situation as having “unity of effort but we don’t have unity of command when it comes to Warrant Officer 2025.”

Another warrant in the audience said he listened to the sergeant major of the Army talking about how they would execute the...

With the Army’s reduction in size over the last several years across all three components, and a continued reduction for at least the next two years, retaining and developing the very best soldiers and leaders is a key component of readiness.

As Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has said, “Readiness is our number one priority and there is no other number one.”

Manning, equipping, training and leader development are the four components of readiness.

To get the manning and leader development pieces correct for the Army, a focused effort on talent management and potential are essential for...

The civilian workers of the Department of the Army were lauded at a luncheon on the third and final day of the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

“AUSA recognizes Army civilians are an integral part of the Army team, ensuring the readiness and well-being of soldiers and their families,” said John B. Nerger of the AUSA Advisory Board of Directors.

Adding, “Army civilians provide unmatched expertise, stability and continuity to our force, qualities we depend upon for the Army to succeed at any mission it’s given.”

The luncheon’s keynote speaker, Under Secretary of...

Supporting operations abroad as well as hometown infrastructure improvements earned honors for reserve component units from South Dakota and Minnesota during the Maj. Gen. Robert Moorhead Guard and Reserve Breakfast Oct. 3 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

The Walter T. Kerwin Jr. Readiness Awards were presented to the 153rd Engineer Battalion of the South Dakota Army National Guard, and Forward Support Company of the 367th Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in St. Cloud, Minn.

Gen. Robert B. Abrams, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command...