ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

U.S. Troops in French Battle Get Respect

Rock of the Marne: The American Soldiers Who Turned the Tide Against the Kaiser in World War I. Stephen L. Harris. Berkley Caliber. 368 pages. $27.95
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By Lt. Col. Timothy R. Stoy, U.S. Army retired

Stephen L. Harris, author of three nonfiction books about New York’s National Guard regiments in World War I, has produced a well-written, diligently researched and insightful book on an important chapter of the American Expeditionary Forces’ history in World War I.

The Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918 was a French battle, commanded by French...

The Army is mildly obsessed with innovative leadership, as reflected throughout strategic documents such as the Army Operating Concept and the Army Vision, and leadership doctrine. For example, the Army’s leadership manual extols the necessity of innovative and creative leadership and its associated approaches, solutions, ideas and thinking more than 50 times in just over 100 pages.

Given that level of emphasis, one would assume a corresponding Army focus on the process of developing innovative leaders. Unfortunately, that assumption would be largely wrong.

Army senior leadership has beaten the...

Army leaders use electronic communication on a daily basis. Whether it is by computer, BlackBerry or smartphone, it is part of how they share information, engage in professional development, disseminate tasks within their organizations, and much more.

Only a decade ago, leaders would have performed most of these activities face-to-face, or verbally on the telephone. With electronic communication much more prevalent in the information age, leaders should be aware of its benefits and drawbacks to understand its effects on relationships and organizations.

The benefits of electronic communication...

Army leaders use electronic communication on a daily basis. Whether it is by computer, BlackBerry or smartphone, it is part of how they share information, engage in professional development, disseminate tasks within their organizations, and much more.

Only a decade ago, leaders would have performed most of these activities face-to-face, or verbally on the telephone. With electronic communication much more prevalent in the information age, leaders should be aware of its benefits and drawbacks to understand its effects on relationships and organizations.

The benefits of electronic communication...

Baseball great Yogi Berra supposedly once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” 

Brainstorming is a valuable technique when an organization must develop the plan for a large-scale or complex project or an enduring program for which there are ambiguous mission parameters, multiple constituencies, and multiple references—or worse, none—to guide the enterprise. Brainstorming helps staff generate ideas, solutions and action steps to inform the venture. It also supports the building of strong, engaged teams.

Typical issues that might lend themselves to an organization’s use of brainstorming are doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and...

NCOs, the backbone of the Army for more than 240 years, are having to step up the game in the multinational, multifaceted environment of modern Europe. In addition to their core responsibilities of training, preparing and leading soldiers, NCOs need to be innovative thinkers, creative leaders, skilled diplomats, and jugglers able to balance competing requirements.

There is no doubt they can do it. From the cold winters of Valley Forge, Pa., to the beaches of Normandy, France; and from the fields of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq and Afghan-istan, NCOs have trained and prepared soldiers to fight...

Just as the U.S. was turning its attention back to Europe to face the threat posed by Russian aggression, Kim Jong Un—North Korea’s 33-year-old supreme leader—served up three reminders of why the Asia-Pacific Theater is just as complex and dangerous as the rest of the world.

• In January, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea carried out an underground test of what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb. Although some outsiders believe it was more likely a conventional or maybe boosted-fission bomb, this was still the fourth nuclear test conducted by North Korea since 2006.
• In February, North Korea...

The Army is moving on multiple fronts to modernize, streamline and bulk up its global information network, the vast array of command, control, communications, computer and information technology capabilities providing critical direct support to warfighters around the world, according to the Army’s chief information officer, G-6.

"The number one priority is readiness, and the network enables that priority for our Army," Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell said at a recent breakfast of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare, held at the AUSA Conference and Event Center in Arlington, Va...

Fear of the return of the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration is forcing Army leaders to take interim steps that are hurting Army readiness, according to the Association of the U.S. Army.

Previous funding cuts under sequestration, formally called the Budget Control Act of 2011, coupled with uncertainty in future funding "have forced senior leaders to have to make difficult choices between different components of readiness – people, training, equipping and leadership development," retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston said in written testimony to the House Armed Services...

With troops, training and equipment taking budget precedence to ensure Army readiness, the construction and renovation of installation facilities "drop to the bottom" of the funding list, said Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment.

Hammack, and Lt. Gen. David Halverson, the Army’s assistant chief of staff for installation management, made comments March 31 during a Hot Topic forum on installation management, hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare.

"The Army made the decision to take risk in funding for...

Expanding opportunities for creative partnerships between different Army components – Regular Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve – and private sector entities can provide much-needed cost reductions in an uncertain budget environment, experts said during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Hot Topic forum on installation management March 31.

"The Army is the largest utility consumer in the federal government," and these costs are growing faster than savings, said Richard Kidd IV, who serves as deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability.

"We have cut our energy...