The Association of the U.S. Army is urging top congressional leaders to pass critical legislation authorizing the funding and resources needed to support the Army’s warfighting priorities.

In a letter addressed to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, retired Gen. Bob Brown, AUSA president and CEO, underscores the Army’s priorities and urges quick passage of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.

“The Army is vital to national security with ongoing conflicts across the globe demonstrating that landpower is essential and the land domain is decisive,” Brown writes in his Nov. 18 letter. He requests  that the committees “authorize funding—at least at the level included in the Senate passed bill.”

Additional resources, he writes, “should support Army priorities, enable continuous transformation, enhance Army infrastructure and improve both the organic and defense industrial base—in a word—warfighting.”

Addressing the volatility represented by China and North Korea in the Indo-Pacific theater, Brown asserts that the Army has the capacity to provide ground-based deterrence and is critical to facilitating and sustaining joint operations, training allies and partners and helping to maintain stability in the region.

 Brown requests the committees’ continued support for the Army’s continuous transformation, training and sustainment priorities, including a strong organic industrial base, network command and control, long-range precision fires and air and missile defense “which have proven to be indispensable capabilities for successful ground combat in the Europe and Middle East.”

Acquisition reform, including multi-year procurement and flexible funding authorities and the right to repair, are “very important to the Army and the joint force,” Brown writes. He adds that inclusion in the NDAA of at least a 3.8% pay raise for soldiers is important, as are provisions that enhance recruitment efforts and educational opportunities for Junior ROTC.

Brown also expresses AUSA’s support for quality-of-life enhancements and improvements in military spouse employment and transition assistance.

“As you know, the Army is indispensable to national security,” Brown writes, urging the committees to “swiftly pass the NDAA and authorize resources and flexibilities that reflect the urgency and demonstrated need that our national security challenges require.

Read the letter here.