ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Association of the U.S. Army is focusing its efforts on a strategic plan with an eye toward 2025, retired Gen. Carter Ham, AUSA’s president and CEO, told the association’s chapter leaders.

The strategic plan, which is a directive from AUSA’s Council of Trustees, aligns with a significant year for both the Army and the association – the Army’s 250th birthday and AUSA’s 75th anniversary, Ham said.

The Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle team utilized the AUSA 2019 Warriors Corner Oct. 14 to highlight the changing Army modernization environment and how that translates to the accelerated delivery of warfighter capabilities.

Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, commanding general of Combat Capabilities Development Command, opened the presentation by emphasizing many of the changes of the last few years, and how those changes have created a type of synergy across the vehicle modernization enterprise.

Senior military leaders would do well to engage on social media, because that's where their troops are, media-savvy panelists said to an audience that live-tweeted their comments. 

The comments and live-tweets occurred Oct. 14 during a forum at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

The Army announced the winners of the 18th annual Best Warrior Competition during an Oct. 14 luncheon at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.

The 2019 Soldier of the Year is Spc. David Chambers, representing U.S. Army Forces Command, and the Noncommissioned Officer of the Year is Staff Sgt. Dakota Bowen from U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

“You represent what we want in our soldiers: physically fit, dedicated professionals,” said keynote speaker Gen. Joseph Martin, the Army’s vice chief of staff.

The Army is changing the way it recruits, develops and trains soldiers—and it’s looking to Generation Z for how to do it, a senior leader said.

“We have to train leaders to fight and win in this environment,” Col. Timothy Hummel, director of G-2 Operational Environment at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, said while speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition on Oct. 14. 

The Army recognizes the need to change as it focuses on developing its future leaders, some of whom are coming into the Army now, he said.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said he welcomes candid opinions from soldiers, including those who disagree with national policy decisions, such as the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria.

In remarks at a press conference Oct. 14 with McCarthy and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, McCarthy said that “more and more soldiers are very candid about how they feel.”

With a dire warning that America’s adversaries are investing billions in new weapons and methods, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the Army must continue its push to increase readiness, improve its strategic mobility and focus on modernization or risk losing the next war. 

“Russia and especially China are on a trajectory to surpass U.S. capability,” McCarthy said. “Both seek to modernize, to man and gain overmatch against the U.S. and our allies. Either you have a sense of urgency today or a sense of regret tomorrow.”

From fitness and nutrition to mastering the fundamentals, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston wants to empower noncommissioned officers to take care of their soldiers and build cohesive teams.

In remarks Oct. 14 during a forum at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, Grinston called on the audience, many of them NCOs, to focus on an initiative he calls "This is My Squad."

“This is my squad, I don’t let anything happen to my squad,” Grinston said. “It shows ownership, something you’re proud of. This is going to be the driving force.”

The first day of the largest annual land warfare exposition in North America features a major address from new Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, the unveiling of the Army’s Soldier and NCO of the Year, a key presentation from the service’s new senior enlisted leader, and much more.

During a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Pentagon, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy pledged to be the secretary soldiers deserve and continue to push the service to modernize and remain the most lethal fighting force in the world.

“We must maintain a sense of urgency, negate bureaucracy and dogma and remain steadfast in our priorities of readiness, modernization and reform,” McCarthy said during the Oct. 10 ceremony hosted by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.