a. AUSA Five Things – “How should the Army use any increase in the Defense budget?”
AUSA Five Things: A Weekly Tip Sheet for AUSA Members, dated January 16, 2017: “Bigger Defense Budget Ahead.”
“The chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees are working on a possible $640 billion base defense budget for fiscal year 2018, an amount roughly $50 billion over the 2017 budget without counting money for overseas contingency operations. The chairmen, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, want to put down a marker before lawmakers get too far along in passing the 2018 budget resolution that sets spending caps for congressional committees.
What to watch: President Donald Trump, who was sworn in on Friday, isn’t expected to have a formal budget for Congress to review until spring. The $50 billion hike is an estimate by the armed services committee chairmen of how much it would cost for the defense changes discussed by Trump during the presidential campaign.”
b. AUSA Moderator – “Approximately 7500 National Guardsmen supported the Inauguration.”
“Nearly 300 Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen will join a force of approximately 7,500 National Guard personnel from 40 states and territories supporting the 58th Presidential Inauguration Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D. C. Virginia Guard personnel will assist with traffic control, crowd management, communications, medical and chaplain support. Military support by the Guards dates back to 1798 when Gen. George Washington began his inaugural journey from Mount Vernon, Va. to New York City.”
c. AUSA Five Things – “Which units need to be in the Army Reserve’s new rapid reaction force?”
AUSA Five Things: A Weekly Tip Sheet for AUSA Members, dated January 16, 2017: “Ready Force X.”
“The Army Reserve is committed to having a rapid reaction force—what is being called Ready Force X—able to deploy up to 30,000 soldiers in 90 days or less to perform key wartime roles. Even 90 days might be too long, according to Lt. Gen. Charles Luckey, chief of Army Reserve and the U.S. Army Reserve Command commanding general.
What to watch: An assessment is underway to determine which units need to be part of Ready Force X, and what kind of training and resources are needed so they are ready for quick deployment. The longer-term goal is to rotate the on-call units, a move that would result in better training across the Army Reserve.”
d. AUSA Moderator – “Can you think of another novel idea that the Army can use in addition to a missile capable of releasing drones during flight?”
“The US Army wants a missile capable of releasing a cluster of drones during flight in order to hit multiple targets. After being released from the missile, the payload of “quad-copters” would decelerate, identify targets, land on the targets and detonate attached munitions, which the solicitation calls “explosively formed penetrators (EFP). Possible targets named in the solicitation are tanks and large caliber gun barrels, vehicle roofs, fuel storage barrels, and ammunition storage sites.”
THIS WEEK'S POLL QUESTION:
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Do you agree with Chelsea Manning’s prison sentence being commuted?
o Yes
o No
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