The Association of the U.S. Army is releasing six new podcasts in June, including an update from Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston and a discussion on the Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness initiative.
From the youngest privates to the most senior leaders, soldiers must build trust with their partners before the fighting starts, a panel of senior NCOs said during a discussion at the Association of the U.S. Army’s LANPAC Symposium and Exposition.
“When it’s time to go somewhere, nobody in this room will fight alone,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said, adding that “building those relationships goes beyond just equipment.”
The Association of the U.S. Army is releasing four new podcast episodes in March, including an update from Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston.
First up in the “Army Matters” series is the podcast featuring Grinston, who has been the Army’s senior enlisted leader since August 2019.
Working to get after some of the social challenges facing the force, the Army’s top enlisted leader urged NCOs to think differently about what it means to take care of their soldiers.
Outlining his top priorities Oct. 13 during a forum for NCOs at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2021 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston took aim at the phrase, “All I see is green,” that over time has become a way of telling soldiers they are all being treated equally.
The active Army is close to being fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, but less than half of the soldiers in the Army Reserve have been vaccinated because of the logistical challenges of reaching people who are “spread all over the country,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said.
While major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have ended, the Army continues to be on a high operational pace and is “more ready than we have ever been,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said.
“We’re not 250,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan like we were in 2006 and [2007], but we are still extremely busy doing the missions that we’ve been asked to do for our country,” Grinston said Sept. 30 during a call with media hosted by the Defense Writers Group, part of the Project for Media and National Security at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston is going back to the basics.
Army efforts to take care of people are critical to maintaining readiness, the service’s senior enlisted leader said.
“We need to look at our people as readiness and then we build up from there,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said.
Speaking Aug. 31 at the Fires Conference 2021, a three-day virtual event hosted by the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Grinston emphasized the importance of the Army’s People First focus.
Sgt. Maj.
Big changes to grooming and uniform standards are on the way, as are updates to outdated terminology and imagery used in Army regulations to illustrate proper soldier appearance.
The changes represent the first update since 2017 to Army Regulation 670-1, the “Guide to Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia,” and are aimed at reflecting the Army’s renewed focus on equity, diversity and inclusion while adhering to functionality, good order and discipline.
