ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Army spouses looking for employment can face challenges—frequent moves and state licensing requirements, for example—but they have a community of resources and opportunities available to help, experts say. 

“Family wellbeing is holistic and requires that we acknowledge and support every member of the family when needed and reach out to others as we can,” Lee Kelly, director of military community support programs in the Defense Department’s Office of Military Community and Family Policy, said Oct. 15 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Symposium.

As the Army pushes ahead with its modernization efforts, people – soldiers, Army civilians, veterans, retirees and family members – will always remain the No. 1 priority, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said Oct. 15.

In his first Eisenhower Luncheon address as the Army’s top general, McConville previewed the upcoming Army people strategy and reinforced the importance of matching the right person to the right job and building cohesive teams across the force.

The Army is open for business, and it wants good ideas.

Panelists delivered that message Oct. 14 during an appearance at the Army's Warriors Corner booth at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

"We don't have all the good ideas," said Brig Gen. John Rafferty, director of the Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team. As such, he said, the Army is looking for innovators. That in itself is a challenge, one panelist said.

The Army needs continued, bipartisan help to maintain the aggressive pace of improvements across the force, its leaders said Oct 15.

Speaking at a congressional breakfast during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said the Army is on a solid path of both increasing readiness and making leaps forward in modernization, but these efforts could dry up without continued financial and policy support.

Artificial intelligence has become a common part of everyday life, and it will continue to be an enabling technology for each of the Army’s modernization priorities, the director of the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force said during an Oct. 14 Warriors Corner session at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

“I walked into the AUSA [annual meeting] one year ago, and what did I see? AI was everywhere. It’s become a pervasive part of our civilian society,” Brig. Gen. Matthew Easley said.

The Army is ready to fight today, but it will not be ready for the future fight unless it modernizes the force, Gen. Michael Garrett, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, said Oct. 14.

After seven months in his job of ensuring the Army is tactically ready, Garrett said, the “Army is ready to fight and win today … but the challenge is, how do we maintain sufficient amounts of readiness to meet our national defense strategy requirements?” 

The U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office utilized the AUSA 2019 Warriors Corner to provide an update on the introduction of new hypersonic and directed energy technologies to the force.

A new marketing campaign and a focused effort to bring in the right soldiers by getting the right recruiters on the job are part of the Army’s multi-pronged effort to make people a top priority.

What’s Your Warrior? is the question posed by a new marketing strategy designed to use the concept of talent management to reach people who are unaware of what the Army does and what careers it offers.

The highlight of Day Two of AUSA 2019 is the Eisenhower Luncheon address by new Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, but this will be a day with a wide variety of events for soldiers, Army civilians and family members.

The day will conclude with an evening concert by Gary Sinise & the Lt. Dan Band that is open to anyone registered for the annual meeting.

On-site registration opens at 7 a.m.

The Army recognizes the need for community support as it shifts away from spouse-only programs to all-encompassing soldier and family readiness groups.

“Social support and connectedness are critical for family readiness and we recognize that,” Col. Steve Lewis, chief of the family programs branch in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9, said while speaking at a military family forum at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition on Oct. 14.