ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Maj. Gen. Tom Mullikin retired from command of the South Carolina State Guard (SCSG) during a formal change-of-command ceremony on Dec. 1, at the South Carolina State House in Columbia.

Mullikin relinquished command to Brig. General Leon Lott, sheriff of Richland County, who previously held the post of deputy commander of the SCSG.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster presided over the proceedings.

Recently appointed by McMaster to chair the state’s new Flood Commission, Mullikin has served in varying leadership and command capacities in both the SCSG and the S.C. Military Department’s Joint...

“Readiness for Multi-Domain Operations” is the theme for the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2019 Global Force Symposium and Exposition, to be held Tuesday, March 26, to Thursday, March 28, in Huntsville, Ala.

This AUSA Institute of Land Warfare professional development forum, held at the Von Braun Center, marks the sixth consecutive year the symposium has taken place in Huntsville, home of more than 900 defense contractors and a military workforce of uniformed and civilian personnel totaling over 65,000.

Senior Army military and civilian personnel from the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command...

Beverly Lowe knew something was amiss when no one would tell her who the recipient of the 2018 Brigadier General Robert Drolet Service to Veterans Award was.

As co-host of the YMCA Veterans Prayer Breakfast each November, it’s intel she is typically privy to. But when she began asking the question this year, she found people time and time again were dodging the answer.

When Cathy Anderson, last year’s recipient, began describing the 2018 winner during the breakfast, Lowe finally understood why.

“When Cathy started making the speech, I knew from what she was saying that it was me, and I was just...

Kelli Pendleton, president and CEO of the Christian County Chamber of Commerce, has one goal she intends to accomplish during her tenure as the next president of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell Chapter: Increasing membership.

Pendleton has been involved with AUSA before, during her time as director of military affairs for the chamber, so she knows that membership nationally is much higher than it was a few years ago.

However, with what she calls a strong board for the local chapter and great leadership in Fort Campbell and in Kentucky and Tennessee supporting the mission...

Life insurance is not interesting to most people, I know.

I’m a licensed insurance agent, but it’s not something I talk about with family and friends. But, I wish I had spoken to my family to offer some unsolicited advice before my uncle died many years ago.

I was surprised to learn he had made me the executor of his estate. I was even more surprised when I found all the necessary paperwork and learned he had listed “my estate” as the beneficiary of his life insurance.

There may be no worse way to handle the proceeds of a life insurance policy than to designate the estate as the beneficiary...

The Association of the United States Army’s Council of Trustees nominated two additional candidates to serve as trustees and re-nominated six current members to serve on the Association’s council – AUSA’s governing body.

The council met Dec. 10 at the Association’s national headquarters in Arlington, Va.

Nominated to serve as trustees were Andy Hove, president and CEO of AM General, and Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell.

Nominated for additional three-year terms were Phebe Novakovic, Rudy de Leon and John Harris. In addition, retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack L. Tilley, currently serving...

George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died at his home in Houston, Texas, on Nov. 30, 2018. He was 94.

Bush also served four years as vice president under President Ronald Reagan; director of the Central Intelligence Agency; chief, U.S. Liaison Office, Peoples Republic of China; U.S Ambassador to the United Nations; member of the House of Representatives, 7th District, Texas; and as a U.S. Navy aviator during WW II, where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals.

He was interred at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the west campus of...

Forget the win-loss records when the Army-Navy football game is played. Both teams raise their performances to a higher level when they face each other.

That was the case Saturday [Dec. 8] at Lincoln Financial Field as 66,749 fans screamed and cheered while the two squads waged an intense defensive struggle.

In the end, Army won its third straight game against Navy, taking the 119th edition of the annual matchup by a score of 17-10.

As it had on multiple occasions this year, the Army defense carried the Black Knights against their opponents from Annapolis.

Though Army quarterback Kelvin Hopkins...

While we continue to fight our post-9/11 wars, our military leaders are doing all they can to make sure we prepare for the next war. What we aren’t doing as well is sufficiently preparing at the strategic level.

The secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chiefs of all the services are working on doctrinal updates, appropriate training focus and focused modernization strategies; experimenting and investing in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and other rapidly advancing technologies; upgrading leader development programs; and improving methodologies associated...

If you have served in the armed forces long enough, you have run into toxic leaders: individuals who through action or inaction decimate unit climates and sap the will and motivation of the members in it. You may have seen and probably felt their effects. Yes, toxic leaders are detrimental to organizations they lead. These people destroy unit and soldier morale, drive out future leaders and prevent units from operating to their full potential. They directly affect the soldiers below them.

However, toxic leadership doesn’t just harm the relationship between those leaders and their subordinates...

A new field of systems thinking has emerged with the potential to transform the U.S. Army and its professional military education system. This new field could create emergent and adaptive leaders by placing a high value on creative and critical thinkers. It offers a new way to view problems and build intuitive thinking. Essentially, it could be the next frontier for the Army to create a superior cognitive force or, more specifically, a metacognitive force.

This new approach is called Systems Thinking v2.0, and it has the potential to fundamentally change and improve how leaders can think...

A new field of systems thinking has emerged with the potential to transform the U.S. Army and its professional military education system. This new field could create emergent and adaptive leaders by placing a high value on creative and critical thinkers. It offers a new way to view problems and build intuitive thinking. Essentially, it could be the next frontier for the Army to create a superior cognitive force or, more specifically, a metacognitive force.

This new approach is called Systems Thinking v2.0, and it has the potential to fundamentally change and improve how leaders can think...

What is the Army Ethic and what is the difference between “Ethic” and “ethics”? Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong (philosophy, theology, law). The Army Ethic is the professional ethic of the U.S. Army—the heart of the Army. It inspires soldiers’ shared identity as trusted Army professionals of character, competence and commitment, bound together in common moral purpose.

The moral principles of the Army Ethic, including the Army Values, provide the moral and legal basis for why and how we serve, guiding our decisions and actions. The Army exists as a profession for one reason: to...

In 2016, after more than 50 years of fighting, the government of Colombia signed a historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a leftist guerrilla group more commonly known as FARC. Unfortunately, a signed peace agreement does not guarantee peace will endure. Critical to ensuring a lasting peace is an effective demobilization, disarmament and reintegration process. What role the military should play in that process is an important question that could determine any peace agreement’s sustainability.

Each summer, we organize Contemporary Battlefield Assessments in which we...

In 2016, after more than 50 years of fighting, the government of Colombia signed a historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a leftist guerrilla group more commonly known as FARC. Unfortunately, a signed peace agreement does not guarantee peace will endure. Critical to ensuring a lasting peace is an effective demobilization, disarmament and reintegration process. What role the military should play in that process is an important question that could determine any peace agreement’s sustainability.

Each summer, we organize Contemporary Battlefield Assessments in which we...