ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Rory Cooper, a life member of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Fort Pitt chapter, recently was honored at the White House for his work developing cutting-edge wheelchair technologies and mobility devices.

Cooper, who works with the University of Pittsburgh and the Department of Veterans Affairs, received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Joe Biden during an Oct. 24 ceremony.

Through his work, Cooper has empowered the lives of “millions of Americans,” according to the citation accompanying his award.

The Association of the U.S. Army has launched a new mobile app in conjunction with its 2023 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

This year’s event is Oct. 9–11 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. With a theme of “Be All You Can Be,” the meeting will highlight how the Army is innovating, adapting and transforming for 2030 and beyond.

Army modernization programs are gaining momentum as the service works to build the Army of 2030 and beyond, a senior Army leader said. 

“We are in the process of developing new systems we're now delivering today, like [Joint Light Tactical Vehicles] and Integrated Air and Missile Defense,” Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo said during the 2023 Defense News Conference. “Now you see a lot of momentum with programs that are … making that transition to the next phase.” 

The Army needs help from industry, academia and others as it envisions and designs the Army of 2040, the commander of Army Futures Command said.

From transforming its formations to improving human-machine integration, “we need some help,” Gen. James Rainey said during a keynote speech at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition earlier this year.

“War will remain a contest of wills between humans,” Rainey said. “What’s not going to change about the future? I would offer that. That is indisputable.”

In its ongoing effort to boost recruiting, the Army has launched a new digital engagement tool aimed at streamlining the recruitment process for recruiters and future soldiers.

Modernized synthetic training environments will help soldiers sharpen their skills all the way up to the division and corps levels of the Army, leaders said.

In a Warriors Corner presentation earlier this year at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama, leaders with the Army’s Synthetic Training Environment Cross-Functional Team discussed the advancements being made to replace 1990s simulation training technology with cutting-edge synthetic trainers.