ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Exhibitors big and small, foreign and domestic were part of the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition, the largest land forces display in North America.

On the smaller side was Qnexis, Inc., a Reston, Va.-based communications company seeking attention for an emergency communications app it has created to provide mass notifications to mobile phones.

Kurt Nguyen, the company president and CEO, said the mobile app is useful for routine communications between administrators and employees, providing company-wide or site-specific communications, and is even more useful for...

The nation is facing a complex security environment driven by four nation state challenges and the threat of violent extremism, and that has major implications for the Army and the joint force, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Oct. 5.

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. spoke during the Sustaining Member Luncheon at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

“We need a balanced portfolio of capabilities” able to deal with a range of adversaries across the full range of military conflict, Dunford said

The joint force also must try to balance the needs...

After years of assurance aimed at maintaining European confidence in the U.S., “it’s all about deterrence” again, said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commanding general, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army.

Hodges was the lead speaker at “An Ocean Closer: Synchronizing Actions and Words from the Baltic to the Black Sea,” an Institute of Land Warfare Forum during the 2016 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Approximately 30,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed across Europe, a fraction of the 300,000 kept there decades ago to deter a Soviet invasion.

Hodges said U.S. troop numbers and capabilities dwindled after...

On January 20, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his third Inaugural Address:

“The destiny of America was proclaimed in words of prophecy spoken by our first President in his first Inaugural in 1789 – words almost directed, it would seem, to this year of 1941:

‘The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered. . . deeply . . . finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.’

Roosevelt continued, “If you and I in this later day lose that sacred fire – if we let it be smothered...

On the third and final day of the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition that showcased an array of cutting-edge warfighting hardware and technology, Army leaders hosted a town hall meeting that showcased the service’s most valuable assets: soldiers and their families.

Soldier and family support programs “have a direct impact on the readiness of our Army,” Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning told an audience of several hundred people during the third of three military family forums.

“I view support to soldiers and families, taking care of their needs, entirely through...

The Army needs help from congressional staff members to explain the short-term damage that results from operating with only temporary spending, Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning told the audience at AUSA’s annual Congressional Staff Breakfast Oct. 4 at the Association’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Attended by more than 270 members of House and Senate personnel and committee staffs, the breakfast was also attended by the Army’s senior military and civilian leaders.

Fanning said there is nothing new about the Army operating under a temporary spending measure, known as a continuing...

The 2016 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition was once again a fun-filled, action packed week for AUSA members that included a number of first-time events as well as some “oldies but goodies.”

For the second straight year, the AUSA Pavilion hosted a members-only lounge where AUSA members could relax, charge their cell phones, and recharge their energy levels by enjoying caffeinated beverages at the complimentary espresso bar.

Since the Pavilion was such a hit and attracted thousands of members and non-members alike, many decided to take advantage of the membership table located in the Pavilion to...

Spc. Robert Miller is the Army’s 2016 Soldier of the Year, and Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Moeller is the 2016 Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) of the Year.

The two winners of the Army’s Best Warrior Competition were announced Oct 3 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Miller is an explosive ordnance disposal specialist with the 8th Military Police Brigade at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Moeller serves as a cavalry scout with the 108th Training Command, U.S. Army Reserve, in San Diego.

“It’s a great day to be a soldier,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey, who hosted...

In a global environment of rapid technological, societal and demographic changes, the U.S. Army’s dominance is being challenged by a belligerent Russia and rising China, and war between nation states at some point in the future “is almost guaranteed,” said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley.

Milley, who assumed duties as the 39th chief of staff in August 2015, spoke during the Dwight David Eisenhower Luncheon at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

To meet future challenges, Milley said the Army must rapidly adapt; reform its acquisition process to speed...

If the nation wants the Army to do all of the things it is being called on to do today, “you have to pay for it,” Army Secretary Eric K. Fanning said Oct 3.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 2016 Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Fanning listed the vital missions the Army is conducting. He noted that because of the reduced defense budgets and the smallest force since World War II, “we’re stretched thin.”

“Do we need to spend as much as the next nine nations combined?” Fanning said he is often asked.

“The answer is yes,” he said. “While other nations have to defend...

The 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Association of the U.S. Army concluded Oct. 5 with retired Army Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan accepting the association’s highest award.

The former AUSA president and CEO and former Army chief of staff received the General George Catlett Marshall Medal for a lifetime of selfless service to the U.S. Army and the nation.

The award is presented annually by AUSA’s Council of Trustees.

Council Chairman Nicholas D. Chabraja said he was “especially proud to honor one of our own,” and called Sullivan “one of the Army’s most revered generals.”

Sullivan said it was...

(Editor’s note: The following is an edited speech delivered by Gen. Carter F. Ham, USA, Ret., AUSA president and CEO, at the Annual Meeting’s Chapter Presidents and Delegates Dinner attended by association region, state and chapter presidents, delegates, and members of the Council of Trustees.)

“The particular business of the Association of the United States Army shall be wholly educational, literary, scientific, fostering esprit de corps, dissemination of professional knowledge and the promotion of the efficiency of the Army components of the armed forces of our country.”

Those words are from...

U.S. Approach to Warfare Reflects Centuries-Old Influences

The practice of operational art is a central aspect of the U.S. Army’s approach to planning and executing unified land operations in expeditionary campaigns. Defined in Army Doctrinal Reference Publication 3-0: Unified Land Operations as the pursuit of strategic objectives through the arrangement of tactical actions in time, space and purpose, operational art translates broad policies and strategies set by national authorities into tangible tasks for military forces to implement.

While some scholars have argued that operational art...

The question of what roles the retired military leaders of the nation should be expected or allowed to fill, or prohibited from filling, is again a matter of concern to many people. I have been asked my opinion on the subject, so with the trepidation that should be associated with venturing into a minefield, here goes.

The question is not new. In fact, it can be traced back to the end of the American Revolution when a gathering of officers contemplating challenging the Continental Congress to alleviate their grievances was deterred by Gen. George Washington, who believed political actions and...

Few doubt that we are failing in our post-9/11 wars. We have accomplished neither the strategic objectives set forth by the George W. Bush administration nor those of the Obama administration. Both had notable successes and achieved periodic tactical and operational progress, but no sustained strategic success.

Now the contenders for the presidency offer two visions. One is composed of more of the same, with the expectation of a different outcome. The other suggests we can defeat a revolutionary movement with military force alone, an approach that led the British to failure from 1776 to 1781...