ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

“Centurion Wings” are an informal award given to a jumpmaster who has conducted 100 static line jumps. Many of the U.S. Army’s airborne units celebrate this accomplishment by adding the soldier’s name to a plaque in the battalion area or conducting a simple ceremony with fellow jumpmasters after an airborne operation.

Centurion Wings are not worn on a uniform, nor is there any official documentation. But with units already informally celebrating the award, Army leaders should consider formalizing the award and creating a new badge—a Centurion Parachutist Badge—to recognize this career...

Thucydides is often credited with stating, “The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards.” However, the quote is most likely and accurately attributable to British author Lt. Gen. Sir William Francis Butler in his 1901 biography of Maj. Gen. Charles George Gordon, a controversial British war hero.

Regardless, the message is clear—nations must expect and demand that military leaders are both warriors and scholars. Therein lies the rub.

For as long as...

I dealt with barracks management for 30 of my 32 years of service. I lived in the barracks as a young soldier and NCO. I managed three barracks rooms as a team leader and 6,000 barracks rooms as a division command sergeant major. But on a self-evaluation, I would give myself a C-minus on barracks management for most of my career. I am ashamed of this.

I did not become fully invested in ensuring that barracks provide the home that soldiers deserve until I became a division command sergeant major. This is a difficult admission. My epiphany came as my eldest child got ready to enter the...

As a young captain in 1990, I was excited to be asked to give a presentation at the annual Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C. I had written a number of articles on maneuver warfare and looked forward to the event, which promised to include a large audience. Facing a crowded room, I noticed an elderly gentleman in the front row who seemed to grow more agitated as I spoke.

Wrapping up the presentation, I invited questions from the floor. Rising to his feet, the old fellow intoned, “I don’t have a question. I’d just like to say I’m damned tired of...

On the 50th anniversary of the all-volunteer force, the important question is: “How has the move to manning the Army without relying on conscription fared?” The short answer: Quite well.

Over the past half-century, the Army has transformed from an organization of largely first-term draftees and draft-motivated volunteers into a career-oriented force of experienced, motivated soldiers, proven in peace and war.

While some still regret that most American citizens will not serve their country in the military, few in service or out would vote to reinstate the draft. The reasons are the same...

No. 353. That was my draft number. Drawing a very high number made the likelihood of being drafted remote. As the troop requirements for the Vietnam War declined and the transition to the all-volunteer force began, the military draft ended in 1973, with the last draftee entering the Army in June of that year.

I went to college after high school, largely because that’s what most of us graduating from our large public high school in suburban Cleveland were expected to do. Cleveland was not exactly a hotbed of military activity in those days. Most of our dads had served in World War II or...

The Association of the U.S. Army 2023 Warfighter Summit and Exposition in Fayetteville, North Carolina, will be a rally point for thousands of soldiers, Army civilians, military families and partners seeking a glimpse of the future. Throughout the two-day event in late July, attendees will explore cutting-edge technology, next-generation tactics, and leadership and readiness trends that will directly impact soldiers in our formations.

This year’s Warfighter Summit will highlight how the U.S. Army is training to fight and win the nation’s wars. The event’s speakers and exhibits will...

The Army Software Factory, a first-of-its-kind venture launched by the U.S. Army Futures Command in early 2021, is forging new digital avenues for the U.S. Army and joint force to dominate future battlefields.

The concept of dynamic problem-solving is at the forefront of Army Software Factory efforts. The fast-paced and highly kinetic nature of future warfare means relying on contracted support—particularly off-site support—will, in many scenarios, no longer be a viable option. The Army recognizes that ground forces will need to quickly wield and conduct data and software operations in...

Armed Forces Evolved After Draft Ended

The All-Volunteer Force: Fifty Years of Service. Edited by William Taylor. University Press of Kansas. 344 pages. $49.95

By Brig. Gen. John Brown, U.S. Army retired

The U.S. has defended itself with an all-volunteer force for 50 years. Relying on conscription during World War I and World War II and the early Cold War, Americans soured on the draft during the prolonged Vietnam War. Running for president in 1968, Richard Nixon promised to end the draft and established the Gates Commission to assist in that purpose once elected. Congress...

Shi Heng Yi, headmaster of the Shaolin Temple Europe, discussed self-discovery in his 2020 TEDx talk, “5 hindrances to self-mastery.” He asked, “What does the view look like at the top of the mountain?” One can describe what they see. They can even use pictures to share what it was like. However, it is really in the climb to the mountain’s summit that understanding lives. To earn a look at the trees below, the sunset above, to hear the birdsong, brings something hard to capture in a word or graphic. That something is understanding.

The view gained from a reading of history offers something...

I remember as a young paratrooper, standing on a field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before one of my first mass tactical parachute jumps. Hundreds of jumpers of all ranks gathered around a raised platform where the senior commander stood and gave us words of wisdom for the jump and subsequent missions for the night.

I do not remember what was said that night, nor can I recall what the senior commander told us on any of the scores of similar nights. When I catch up with my peers and other paratroopers today, we wonder if the leaders who put all that effort into their talks knew we were...

National defense priorities require a fundamental change in the employment of the Army National Guard. By moving past the binary construct of a strategic versus operational reserve, the Guard will contribute more effectively to Army, joint force and local requirements.

Just as 20 years of operations in an irregular warfare environment necessitated transition of the Army National Guard (ARNG) from a strategic to an operational model, the global security environment requires integration of Guard forces to perform a broader spectrum of roles. Following the shift in DoD’s focus from...

The proliferation of drones, long-range artillery and precision missiles is forcing the Army to evolve a key component of the battlefield—the command post. The large, concentrated, tent-based command and control systems that sprawled across the landscape in Iraq and Afghanistan are too easily targeted and attacked using new technologies, rendering them vulnerable in the future operating environment.

Today, commanders are dismantling the tent-based command post and disaggregating it into more mobile—and therefore more survivable—nodes. This achieves two goals. First, it makes command posts...

The proliferation of drones, long-range artillery and precision missiles is forcing the Army to evolve a key component of the battlefield—the command post. The large, concentrated, tent-based command and control systems that sprawled across the landscape in Iraq and Afghanistan are too easily targeted and attacked using new technologies, rendering them vulnerable in the future operating environment.

Today, commanders are dismantling the tent-based command post and disaggregating it into more mobile—and therefore more survivable—nodes. This achieves two goals. First, it makes command posts...

It is well known that on D-Day, June 6, 1944, combat elements of five U.S. Army divisions assaulted German defenses in Nazi-occupied Normandy, France: the 1st, 4th and 29th Infantry Divisions and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. Less known is that combat elements of a sixth division also landed that day—those of the 90th Infantry Division.

The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 90th’s 359th Infantry Regiment, which were attached to the 4th Infantry Division, were part of the assaulting force on what was designated as Utah Beach.

Despite frequent recountings of the landings on Utah Beach...