ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

More than a century after his death, Charles Young, the first African American colonel in the U.S. Army, was posthumously promoted to brigadier general.

The long overdue recognition took place April 29 at an event hosted by Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, where Young began his Army career and became the third African American to graduate from the academy in 1889. 

The Army’s most valuable asset is not weaponry or any material goods, but character, retired Gen. David Perkins said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

A new monument honoring the legacy of West Point’s Buffalo Soldiers has been dedicated on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

During a ceremony on Sept. 10, the 10-foot bronze statue of a trooper mounted on horseback was dedicated on the south end of Buffalo Soldier Field, replacing a smaller memorial that had been in place since 1973. 

The 2021 graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy is entering a “changing country and a changing world,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said May 22 in his first commencement address at the institution where he received his commission in 1975. 

Austin, the first Black person to serve as U.S. defense secretary, said the cadets are entering the Army as new officers at a time when the “old ways” of doing business are changing, in the aftermath of a pandemic, with a politically divided country and threats from big and rising global competitors. 

A stand-down at West Point to focus on the issue of extremism will take place in late March as part of a series of initiatives intent on building a stronger culture of character, diversity acceptance and communication, the academy’s top leader said.

In virtual testimony March 2 before the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense, Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, gave an overview of the academy’s activities along with the leaders of the other service academies.

Fresh off winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the third time in four years, the Army Black Knights have accepted a bid to play in the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

The team from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, will play West Virginia of the Big 12 Conference on Dec. 31. The game begins at 3 p.m. Central on ESPN.

A new memorial honoring the legacy of West Point’s Buffalo Soldiers will be revealed next year as planners aim to have it completed in September 2021.

A monument featuring a trooper mounted on horseback will replace the U.S. Military Academy’s “memorial rock,” which was dedicated in 1973 to honor the Black Horse Cavalry Detachments, including the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, that served at West Point from 1907 to 1947. 

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point teaches many things to cadets, but a new focus over the past 15 months has been a campaign about character. 

Brig. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, West Point’s commandant of the Corps of Cadets, said the goal is creating cohesive teams in which leaders make the right decisions and members have confidence in their leaders. This means “choosing the harder right over the greater wrong,” Buzzard said.

Treating everyone in the Army with “dignity and respect” is the way to build cohesive, ready teams, where people feel “part of a squad rather than in a squad,” the U.S. Military Academy superintendent said Sept. 2 during an Association of the U.S. Army-sponsored discussion about race in the Army. 

The Association of the U.S. Army is continuing its discussion on racial issues and diversity in the Army with a panel that includes senior leaders from West Point and Army Cadet Command.

The discussion, part of The AUSA Noon Report webinar series, begins at noon Eastern Sept. 2. The event is free, but registration is required here.