AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast

CASAs are the connective fiber between the American people and Secretary of the Army. They are also Great Americans. Ken Wong, CASA for Pennsylvania-East, was born and raised in Philadelphia, and joins us today to describe why he became a CASA, and how he liaises with local community leaders to share the Army story.
Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army (CASAs) are business and community leaders appointed by the Secretary to advise and support Army leaders across the country. They assist with recruiting, connect with local National Guard and Army Reserve units, serve as a voice for Soldiers and Army Families, and speak at community events about the Army’s message. There are over 100 CASAs throughout the U.S. and its territories, and they all have agreed to serve without salary, wages or related benefits, and are afforded a 3-star protocol status. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Note: This episode was recorded 26 May 2020.
Guest: Ken Wong, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) for Pennsylvania-East and President, CIG Asia Ltd.
Host: Sergeant Major of the Army (Retired) Daniel A. Dailey, AUSA’s Vice President for NCO and Soldier Program
Soldier Today, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, focuses on what is important to Soldiers and NCOs.
Resources:
Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the ArmyWeb: https://casa.army.mil/
AUSA’s NCO & Soldier ProgramsWeb: https://www.ausa.org/programs/nco-and-soldiersTwitter (Dailey): @15thSMA

Today we honor all the extraordinary women who have served in the U.S. Military. Due to COVID-19, AUSA had to cancel its Women’s History Month program back in March, so we are hosting this Special Edition podcast to highlight the voices of women who have served. Joining us today are two remarkable women who chose Army careers, CW5(R) Phyllis Wilson, President of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, and CSM(R) Donna Brock, Executive Coach, Facilitator, Community Coach for Together With Veterans, and Treasurer for the Army Womens Foundation. They describe what motivated them to join the Army, their accomplishments and challenges, mentorship, and how their military experience has affected their life today. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
 Guests:
Chief Warrant Officer 5 (Retired) Phyllis Wilson, President, Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) Memorial Foundation
Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Donna Brock, Executive Coach, Facilitator, Community Coach for Together With Veterans, and Treasurer for the Army Womens Foundation
Host: Nzinga Curry, AUSA’s Director of Education & Programs
Army Real Talk, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, aims to help AUSA and the Army better connect with the younger generation.
Resources:
Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) Memorial FoundationWeb: https://www.womensmemorial.org/Facebook: @MilitaryWomensMemorialTwitter: @wimsatweets
Army Womens FoundationWeb: https://www.awfdn.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Army-Womens-Foundation-98678409553/Twitter: @usawf
Together With Veterans: Rural Veterans Suicide Prevention ProgramWeb: https://togetherwithveterans.org/Twitter: @TogetherWVets

The goal is to bring in 10,000 new Soldiers. CSM Tabitha Gavia, the senior enlisted leader at the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), shares with us about the upcoming Army National Hiring Days, June 30 – July 2. This is an Army-wide virtual campaign showcasing the U.S. Army’s 150 full-time and part-time career options, training, benefits and education to inspire individuals to consider military service. USAREC’s mission is to recruit America's best and brightest volunteers that are able to deploy, fight, and win. The U.S. Army Recruiting Command is responsible for manning both the Active Army and the U.S. Army Reserve, ensuring security and readiness for our Nation. Recruiting operations are conducted throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and at U.S. facilities in Germany and Asia. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Army National Hiring Days, June 30 – July 2, 2020: www.goarmy.com/hiringdays
Community Partner Outreach Program: https://armystrong.goarmy.com/a/cp.html
Guest: Command Sergeant Major Tabitha A. Gavia, Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC)
Host: Sergeant Major of the Army (Retired) Daniel A. Dailey, AUSA’s Vice President for NCO and Soldier Programs
Soldier Today, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, focuses on what is important to Soldiers and NCOs.
 
Resources:
Army National Hiring Days, June 30 – July 2, 2020: www.goarmy.com/hiringdays
Community Partner Outreach Program: https://armystrong.goarmy.com/a/cp.html
U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC)Web: https://recruiting.army.mil/Twitter/Facebook: @USARECLinkedIn: @USAREC-HQ
AUSA’s NCO & Soldier ProgramsWeb: https://www.ausa.org/programs/nco-and-soldiersTwitter (Dailey): @15thSMA

How did field artillery lead to victory in Operation Desert Storm? Author COL (Retired) L. Scott Lingamfelter, former executive officer of the 1st Infantry Division Artillery, discusses his new book with us today. He describes how his fellow field artillerymen, known as “redlegs,” decimated enemy defenses and paved the way for the ground assault that defeated Iraqi forces in the First Gulf War. Lingamfelter gives us a boots-on-the-ground perspective on the largest US artillery bombardment since World War II. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: COL(R) L. Scott Lingamfelter, Author, Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War
Host: Joe Craig, Director, AUSA’s Book Program
 Resources:
Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War by L. Scott LingamfelterWeb: https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813179209/desert-redleg/Facebook/Twitter: @kentuckypress

Recently married into the military or have a son or daughter serving? AUSA’s new publication, Customs, Courtesies, and Traditions of the U.S. Army: A Primer for Family Members was created with you in mind! Join author, Ginger Perkins, for a discussion of what drives her passion for military customs. Available June 15 in AUSA’s online book shop, this is a comprehensive reference book aimed at bringing spouses, parents, siblings, extended family members and friends closer to the bigger Army family by explaining their soldier’s world. Perkins, an Army spouse for 38 years, and her husband, retired GEN David Perkins, are now Army parents. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Ginger Perkins, Author, Customs, Courtesies, and Traditions of the United States Army: A Primer for Family Members
Host: Patty Barron, AUSA’s Director of Family Readiness 
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.
Resources:
Customs, Courtesies, and Traditions of the United States Army: A Primer for Family MembersAvailable 15 June 2020AUSA Shop: https://shop.ausa.org/collections/books

The Military Spouse J.D. Network (MSJDN) chips away at barriers to legal careers for military spouses. Karen E. Scanlan, Immediate Past President, MSJDN, describes how the organization came into existence as part of her efforts while job seeking as an attorney and military spouse. MSJDN supports military spouses in the legal profession by advocating for licensing accommodations for military spouse attorneys; educating the public about the challenges faced by career-minded military spouses and their families; encouraging the hiring of military spouses; and providing a network connecting military spouse attorneys with each other and their supporters. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Karen E. Scanlan, Immediate Past President, Military Spouse J.D. Network
Co-hosts: Nzinga Curry, AUSA’s Director of Education & Programs, and Patty Barron, AUSA’s Director of Family Readiness
Army Real Talk, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, aims to help AUSA and the Army better connect with the younger generation.
Resources:
Military Spouse J.D. Network Web: https://www.msjdn.org/LinkedIn: @Military Spouse JD NetworkFacebook: @militaryspousejdnetworkTwitter: @milspousejdInstagram: @msjdn

What are the keys to keeping America’s Armed Forces moving forward? GEN(R) Carter Ham, AUSA’s President and CEO, interviews Gen. John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the DoD’s COVID-19 response efforts and how the military’s top leaders are modernizing, adapting and preparing the force for multidomain operations. The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the nation's second-highest-ranking military officer, responsible for overseeing joint military requirements, representing the military in National Security Council deputies meetings, and performing other duties as directed by the chairman. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: General John E. Hyten, United States Air Force, 11th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
Host: General Carter F. Ham, United States Army, Retired, President & Chief Executive Officer, Association of the United States Army
 
Resources:
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffWeb: https://www.defense.gov/our-story/meet-the-team/vice-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staffFacebook/Twitter: @DeptofDefense

Developing NCOs as leaders is at the heart of the newly accredited U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA), and its first class graduated June 2019. The academy falls under the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence, and the Commandant, CSM Jimmy Sellers, joins us today to tell us how the USASMA began conferring the Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Workforce Development. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Command Sergeant Major Jimmy Sellers, Commandant, The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence
Host: Sergeant Major of the Army (Retired) Daniel A. Dailey, AUSA’s Vice President for NCO and Soldier Programs 
Soldier Today, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, focuses on what is important to Soldiers and NCOs.
 
Resources:
The NCO Leadership Center of ExcellenceWeb: https://www.ncolcoe.army.mil/Facebook: @NCOLCoETwitter: @NCOL_CoELinkedIn: @ncol-coe
 
AUSA’s NCO & Soldier ProgramsWeb: https://www.ausa.org/programs/nco-and-soldiersTwitter (Dailey): @15thSMA

Bring back the DivArty. COL(Ret) Dan Roper, AUSA’s Director of National Security Studies, interviews maneuver and fires senior leaders regarding the need for the Army to return control of divisional field artillery battalions to division artillery (DivArty), rather than brigade combat team (BCT), headquarters. They describe how modularity, the force structure change making FA battalions organic to BCTs beginning in 2003, while well-suited for counterinsurgency campaigns, resulted in fire support inadequate for large-scale combat operations against peer competitors.  With the increasing need to converge fires and effects across multiple domains, the centralized control of fires that a DivArty headquarters can provide is essential to the joint force massing effects on an expanding and lethal battlefield.  While counterintuitive to some, they make a compelling case that fire support to BCTs will be significantly enhanced by this initiative. 
Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guests:
GEN (Ret) James Thurman, former Commander, United Nations Command R.O.K., U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK)
LTG (Ret) Sean MacFarland, former Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)
LTG (Ret) David Halverson, former Commanding General, U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) and Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (ACSIM)
COL (Ret) Dr. David Johnson, Principal Researcher, RAND Corporation
Host: COL(Ret) Dan Roper, AUSA’s Director of National Security Studies
Resources:
AUSA Spotlight: Massed Fires, Not Organic Formations: The Case for Returning Field Artillery Battalions to the DivArty 
Dr. David Johnson, RAND Corporation Web: https://www.rand.org/about/people/j/johnson_david_e.html Twitter: @DaveJohnsonDC

There’s no one correct way to be an Army Spouse. Patty Barron, AUSA’s Director of Family Readiness, interviews Mrs. Maria McConville, spouse of the Chief of Staff of the Army James C. McConville. They discuss how Army families are coping with COVID-19, touching on pain points such as separations, child care, PCS moves, employment, and military children’s mental health. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Maria McConville, spouse of Chief of Staff of the Army James C. McConville
Host: Patty Barron, AUSA’s Director of Family Readiness
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.
Resources:
Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) Web: https://www.army.mil/leaders/csa/Facebook: @USArmyChiefofStaffTwitter: @ArmyChiefStaff
Tutor.com - Free for MilitaryWeb: https://military.tutor.com/home
Military OneSourceWeb: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/
National GeographicWeb: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/