ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Barely 15 months after joining the Army to play guitar in The U.S. Army Band, Staff Sgt. Jan Knutson stood before President Donald Trump at the White House and received the National Medal of Arts on behalf of U.S. military musicians around the world.

Knutson, 21, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with recording artist Alison Krauss, actor Jon Voight, author James Patterson and celebrity chef Patrick O’Connell, among others, who were honored at the Nov. 21 ceremony for their contributions to the arts and humanities in the first such ceremony held by Trump since he took office in 2017.

A Colorado-based community partner of the Association of the U.S. Army is one of 15 businesses recognized by the Defense Department for support of National Guard and reserve members.

Delta Solutions & Strategies, LLC, a Colorado Springs company providing technical assistance, engineering support and consulting and adviser services for electronic, space and missile systems, received a 2019 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award during an Aug. 23 ceremony.

The Association of the U.S. Army has announced its six “Best Chapter” winners for 2019 based on their achievement and success in growing membership, hosting events, raising money for scholarships and other programs, and supporting units and recruiters.

The awards will be presented in October at AUSA’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.

The awards are calculated in six groups, with five based on chapter size and one for the best overseas chapter.

The Association of the U.S. Army has announced the recipients of its 2019 National Awards, which will be presented in October during AUSA’s Annual Meeting and Exposition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

General Creighton W. Abrams Medal

The General Creighton W. Abrams Medal for exceptional service to the U.S. Army will be awarded to Elaine Rogers, the president and CEO of the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore. Rogers has worked for the USO since 1976 and has been president of USO-Metro for 42 years.

Army National Guard installations in Mississippi, Washington state and Wisconsin, and an Army Research Laboratory group working in Maryland, won Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards for 2019.

The annual awards were announced April 22 by the Department of Defense.

The U.S. Army Research Lab’s Tagnite technical working group at Aberdeen Proving Ground received the environmental excellence award for weapons system acquisition. They developed a magnesium weapon system component manufacturing capability for the Apache H-64 helicopter.

The fifth-annual Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing were presented April 25 at the Pentagon by Undersecretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy and Bruce Jette, assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology.

“Middle Tier Acquisition using Overlapping, Iterative, and Incremental Development: A Faster Way to Combat Opioid Exposure,” by Col. Matthew G. Clark and Hannah Feldman of the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense, was the winning entry in the category of Acquisition Reform. 

The 2019 Wash100 list of the top leaders in government contracting includes three current and three former members of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Council of Trustees and last year’s winner of AUSA’s award for distinguished service on the industrial committee.

This is the sixth consecutive year for the Wash100 awards to private and public leaders. The 100 people were selected for the honor by Executive Mosaic, a media and events company.

Nominations are due Dec. 30 for the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation’s 2019 Citizen Honors awards, a program in which military heroes identify courage and self-sacrifice in others.

Award winners will be announced on March 25, 2019, which is National Medal of Honor Day.

The Association of the United States Army’s 2018 Annual Meeting and Exposition ranks as the third largest trade show and convention on a list of the Top 100 Events in Washington, D.C., in 2018.

AUSA is the only military association to be mentioned on Washington’s Top 100 list that covers galas, political events, parades and trade shows. The annual list is created by BizBash, a resource for event and meeting professionals.

Seven U.S. Army installations and neighboring communities will receive Army Community Partnership Awards in a December recognition ceremony.

The 2018 Army Community Partnerships Awards are aimed at highlighting exceptional examples of community and installation agreements that aid readiness, reform, services or processes, expand capabilities or improve lives.

The 2018 winners are: