Thought Leaders – Bait: The Battle of Kham Duc

Host Joe Craig, Director of AUSA’s Book Program, speaks with authors James McLeroy and Gregory Sanders about their book Bait: The Battle of Kham Duc. The authors combine their experience as Vietnam veterans with their work as military historians to provide a personal perspective to one of the least known and most misunderstood battles of the Vietnam conflict. As part of the Mini-Tet of May 1968, two regiments of the North Vietnamese Army attacked the US Army Special Forces camp at Kham Duc near the Laos border. The NVA were looking for a major propaganda coup on the eve of the Paris peace talks, but instead they suffered massive casualties.

Web: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/MR-Book-Reviews/July-2019/Book-Review-004/

Thought Leaders, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, brings in-depth conversations with authors of military books and senior leaders. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Family Voices: Army Emergency Relief

Lieutenant General (Retired) Raymond V. Mason, Director of Army Emergency Relief (AER) joins AUSA hosts Patty Barron, Director, Family Readiness, and Nzinga Curry, Director, Education & Programs, to discuss AER programs. Since 1942, AER has distributed $2 billion to nearly three million Soldiers and their families. The organization is helping improve readiness within the Army by making sure Soldiers' families are taken care of financially, and today LTG(R) Mason announces a new category of assistance which will help active duty soldiers, retired soldiers, and spouses with child care costs. In 2017, LTG(R) Mason became the ninth director at AER, following a 35-year career in the United States Army and a subsequent position as the Chief Operating Officer of VT Systems in Alexandria, VA.

Family Voices, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, aims to connect Army families to speakers and issues that are important to their everyday lives. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Resources:

Army Emergency Relief: https://www.aerhq.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aerhq

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AERHQ/

@AERHQ

Army Real Talk: Collab with Soldier For Life

LTC Robin Johnson from Soldier for Life teams up with Nzinga A. Curry, AUSA’s Director of Education & Programs, and 1SG (Retired) Steve Canonico, AUSA’s Assistant Director for Retired Soldiers, Veterans and DA Civilians Affairs, to discuss how both organizations support our Soldiers. Robin is also a host of The U.S. Army Soldier For Life Podcast which shares information about education, employment and health & wellness resources available to Soldiers, Veterans, and their families. Subscribe to their podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and find their other content using the links in the show notes below.

Army Real Talk, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, aims to help AUSA and the Army better connect with the younger generation. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Resources:

Soldier For Life on the web: https://soldierforlife.army.mil/Soldier/

Soldier For Life Podcast: http://usarmysoldierforlife.libsyn.com/

Facebook: @csasoldierforlife

Twitter/Instagram: @csasoldier4life

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-army-soldier-for-life/

Soldier Today: Changing of the Guard

There are changes ahead for AUSA’s NCO & Soldier Programs as we welcome incoming Vice President, 15^th Sergeant Major of the Army (Retired) Daniel A. Dailey, to the helm. He interviews outgoing Vice President, 13^th Sergeant Major of the Army (Retired) Kenneth O. Preston, in this episode reflecting on his accomplishments with the Army and AUSA, thoughts on leadership, and future plans. SMA(R) Preston will continue to serve as an AUSA Senior Fellow.

Soldier Today, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, focuses on what is important to Soldiers and NCOs. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Resources:

AUSA’s NCO & Soldier Programs website: https://www.ausa.org/programs/nco-and-soldiers

Twitter: @15thSMA @SMAPrestonAUSA

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Special Edition: Year in Review & 2020 Preview

AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast has had a great first year! Hosts from our four segments, Soldier Today, Army Real Talk, Family Voices and Thought Leaders, get together to talk about 2019 highlights and what to expect in 2020. We will keep bringing you relevant discussions to help you know more about your Army. This episode features Troy Welch, Director of NCO & Soldier Programs, Nzinga Curry, Director of Education & Programs, Patty Barron, Director of Family Readiness, and Joe Craig, Director of the Book Program.

Recommendations for future special editions of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Thought Leaders – George Marshall: Defender of the Republic

Host Joe Craig, Director of AUSA’s Book Program, speaks with author David L. Roll about his new book George Marshall: Defender of the Republic. The biography fully explores George Catlett Marshall’s career to restore his legacy as “America’s most distinguished soldier–statesman since George Washington.”

David L. Roll is the author of The Hopkins Touch: Harry Hopkins and the Forging of the Alliance to Defeat Hitler (Oxford) and the coauthor of Louis Johnson and the Arming of America (Indiana University Press), a biography of Harry Truman’s defense secretary. He is Senior Counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, a Washington DC-based international law firm, Nonresident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and founder of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, a public interest organization that provides pro bono legal services to social entrepreneurs around the world.

Thought Leaders, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, brings in-depth conversations with authors of military books and senior leaders. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Web: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533722/george-marshall-by-david-l-roll/

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Family Voices: Grow With Google

Host Patty Barron, Director for AUSA’s Family Readiness, interviews 1LT Michael St. Germain, Marketing Manager, Grow with Google – Veterans, and Platoon Leader and Pilot, UH-60A/L, in the U. S. Army Reserve. Grow With Google provides free training, tools and resources to help individuals grow their skills, career or business, and Michael works specifically with Veterans and Military Families making the transition to civilian life. Grow With Google offers military-specific services including the ability to match a military occupation code to similar civilian jobs, search work from home job opportunities, and receive assistance with resume updates. They have also partnered with organizations that can provide capital and mentorship to help the Veteran community succeed in startups.

Family Voices, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, aims to connect Army families to speakers and issues that are important to their everyday lives. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Resources Mentioned:

Grow With Google-Veterans and Military Families: https://grow.google/programs/veterans-commitment

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Army Real Talk: Empowerment-Outlets for Coping with TBI, PTSD, Injuries, etc.

Co-hosts Nzinga A. Curry, Director of AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare, and LTC Eugene Irby, AUSA's U.S. Army Fellow, interview guests from the Military Basketball Association (MBA) and Operation Song – two nonprofit organizations helping Veterans build resilience. From MBA, we are joined by MAJ Michael R. Meyers II, MBA Commissioner and Rear Detachment Commander, 4th Security Forces Assistance Brigade at Fort Carson, and COL Doug Harris, USA Ret., AUSA Pikes Peak Chapter President. The MBA provides volunteer basketball coaches and players and seeks to promote the military athlete with top teams from across the nation competing in an annual tournament held in April. From Operation Song, Bob Regan, Founder and Executive Director, describes how music allows Veterans and active duty military to share their stories through songwriting, helping them process seemingly random and chaotic events and emotions.

Resources mentioned:

MBA: https://www.facebook.com/militarybasketballassociation

Facebook: @militarybasketballassociation

Operation Song: http://www.operationsong.org/

Twitter: @operationsong

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Soldier Today: Expert Soldier Badge

The 16th Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) Michael A. Grinston joins host SMA (Retired) Ken Preston, VP, NCO & Soldier Programs, AUSA, to discuss the new Expert Soldier Badge which came about as part of TRADOC’s NCO 2020 strategy. Developed to measure expertise in warrior tasks and drills, the badge defines Soldier proficiency in a quantifiable way and builds pride in the profession. The first badges were awarded to 11 Soldiers during AUSA’s 2019 Annual Meeting this October in Washington, D.C. They excelled in 30 warrior tasks including land navigation, a twelve-mile foot march and the Army Combat Fitness Test.

Soldier Today, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, focuses on what is important to Soldiers and NCOs. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Resources:

16^th SMA Web: https://www.army.mil/leaders/sma/

Twitter: @16thSMA

Instagram: @16th_sma

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Thought Leaders: Hunting the Caliphate

Colonel Daniel Roper, U.S. Army retired, host of Thought Leaders, interviews Major General Dana J.H. Pittard, U.S. Army retired, and Master Sergeant Wes J. Bryant, U.S. Air Force retired, authors of Hunting the Caliphate: America’s War on ISIS and the Dawn of the Strike Cell. Called the definitive book on the war against ISIS, this is a vivid, first-person account from two vastly differing but converging perspectives. Pittard, who retired from the Army in 2015 after 34 years of service, served multiple combat tours in Iraq and the Middle East, and in 2014 led the initial U.S. response to stop the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq. Bryant retired from the Air Force in 2018 as a master sergeant. In 2014, he was the tactical lead for a contingent of special operations Joint Terminal Attack Controllers to first set foot in Iraq to stop ISIS.

Thought Leaders, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, brings in-depth conversations with authors of military books and senior leaders. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.

Resources mentioned:

Book Website: https://www.huntingthecaliphate.com/

Twitter: @DanaPittard @WesJBryant

Facebook: @HuntingtheCaliphateBook @danajhpittard915 @danapittard @wesjbryant

Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/