AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast

How did Ike approach challenging decisions to give America peace in Europe and prosperity at home? Author and one of Ike’s four grandchildren, Susan Eisenhower, describes how he strategically led the nation through a transformational time by focusing on fact-based decision-making, envisioning the whole, including causes and consequences, and  holding himself accountable. Pursuing the “Middle Way,” Ike led through pivotal events like D-Day, Little Rock, the Korean War, Cold War crises, Red Scare, and the Missile Gap controversies.
Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Susan Eisenhower, Author, How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions
Host: Joe Craig, Director, AUSA’s Book Program
Resources:
How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest DecisionsWeb: https://susaneisenhower.com/Twitter: @eisenhowergroup

Army engineers are fighting Covid-19 with virtual reality to design and build Alternative Care Facilities and using supercomputers to model predictions of viral spread. Three experts spearheading this vital work from the U.S. Army Engineers Research and Development Center (ERDC), Dr. David Pittman, Dr. Todd Bridges, and Mike Channell, join us today to describe their efforts to defeat the coronavirus and to share insights they have gained for moving forward.
 
Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
 
Guests:  Dr. David W. Pittman, Director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) & Director of R&D and Chief Scientist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 
Dr. Todd Bridges, Senior Research Scientist for Environmental Science, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
Mr. Mike Channell, Chief of the Installation Support Division, ERDC Installation Operations Command 
 
Host: COL(Ret) Dan Roper, AUSA’s Director of National Security Studies
 
Resources:
 
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)Web: https://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Facebook/Twitter: @ArmyERDCLinkedIn: @U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)Web: https://www.usace.army.mil/ Facebook/Twitter: @USACEHQLinkedIn: @US Army Corps of Engineers
 
Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program (DoD HPCMP)Web: https://www.hpc.mil/

Curious about the Army Finance Strategy for 2026 (AFS26)? Two top officials from the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management & Comptroller), Mr. Jonathan Moak and LTG Thomas Horlander, join us to describe how the AFS26 supports the Total Army. Find out how the 5 Pillars for Acceleration, core to the AFS26 framework, support the Army’s overall People First strategy. The pillars are: Develop the Workforce, Assign and Align Culture, Build the Bench, Inspire Innovation, and Enhance Communication.
Guests:
Mr. Jonathan D. Moak, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management & Comptroller) 
LTG Thomas A. Horlander, Comptroller and Military Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management & Comptroller) 
Host: Mr. Mark Haaland, AUSA’s Director of Government Affairs
Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Resources:
Army Financial Management & ComptrollerWeb: https://www.asafm.army.mil/Twitter: @asafmcLinkedIn: @ASA (FM&C)

How does wearing blue support our Army? Gold Star spouse, Lisa Hallett, started running as a coping mechanism after her husband John was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. Other surviving spouses joined her, wearing their fallen service members’ blue PT shirts during their first runs. The support system they built evolved into Wear Blue: Run to Remember, a nonprofit running community that honors the service and sacrifice of the American military. They run as a living tribute to the fallen, the fighting and the families of the U.S. military. Lisa and her colleague Dave Leach, join us today to discuss the background of the organization, their pivot to virtual races during the pandemic, and how supporters from both military and civilian communities can get involved. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
 
Guests:
Lisa Hallett, President & Co-Founder, Wear Blue: Run to Remember
Dave Leach, Chief Operations Officer / Director For the Fighting Race, Wear Blue: Run to Remember
 
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:
 
Wear Blue: Run to Remember
Web: https://www.wearblueruntoremember.org/
Virtual Summer 2020: https://www.wearblueruntoremember.org/virtual-summer-2020
LinkedIn: @Wear Blue Run To Remember
Facebook: @wearblue
Twitter: @wbr2r
 
Army Ten-Miler
Web: https://www.armytenmiler.com/
Facebook: @ArmyTenMiler
Twitter: @armytenmileratm

Immunizations are key to staying healthy during this unprecedented time, but there are a lot of questions about them. Does my child need immunizations even if school is virtual this Fall? Is it safe to take my child to the doctor during the pandemic? If I social distance and wear a mask, do I still need to get the flu vaccine? Two experts from the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Immunization Healthcare Division, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Ruth Brenner and Ann Morse, MSN, join us today to guide us through common queries, provide immunization resources and describe how the DHA is supporting Operation Warp Speed to provide a coronavirus vaccine to 300M individuals by January 2021. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guests:
Lt. Col. (Dr.) Ruth Brenner, USAF, Deputy Chief, Defense Health Agency, Immunization Healthcare Division
Ann M Morse MSN, APRN, FNP-BC Immunization Healthcare Division, North-Atlantic Regional Vaccine Safety Hub, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
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:
DHA Immunization Healthcare DivisionWorldwide Support Center Line: +1-877-438-8222; Option 1. Licensed providers on call 24/7.Email: dodvaccines@mail.milWeb: https://www.health.mil/vaccinesPaper (PDF): Recommendations for Mass Immunization Events During Pandemic ConditionsFacebook: @DHAImmunizationHealthcareTwitter: @dha_ihb
CDC Vaccines & ImmunizationsWeb: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
Military Health SystemWeb: https://www.health.mil/Facebook/Twitter: @militaryhealth
Defense Health AgencyWeb: https://www.health.mil/About-MHS/OASDHA/Defense-Health-AgencyFacebook: @DefenseHealthAgencyTwitter: @DoD_DHALinkedIn: @Defense Health Agency

Developing Soldiers as athletes is a top priority. MG(R) Malcolm Frost, former Commanding General, Center for Initial Military Training, TRADOC, joins us today to discuss Army recruiting and training. He explains the background behind the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) in the broader context of the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) program, and its five pillars: physical fitness, physical readiness, mental readiness, spiritual readiness and performance, nutrition and sleep hygiene. The new ACFT tests 11 components that are good predictors of what Soldiers will need to do to prepare for the rigors of the job. It is geared towards changing the culture of fitness within the Army and at increasing physical readiness, when lack of fitness, health and muscular-skeletal injuries were leading to higher undeployable rates. MG Frost discusses the drawbacks to the old Physical Training (PT) approach, and emphasizes that the ACFT is the first big change we are seeing within the Army as part of the H2F program. He suggests that recruiting Soldiers who are also athletes, or developing athletes, will be an elevated priority moving forward. Army hopefuls might worry about the impact COVID-19 could have on recruitment, but MG Frost reminds us that the ACFT can be trained for at home, without special equipment. Additionally, recruiters have shifted to more online hiring sessions due to the pandemic, so potential recruits can meet them in a virtual environment. In a COVID world, we expect to see continued online interaction and continued H2F rollouts supporting our Soldier Athletes.
Additionally, we welcome our new co-host, LTC Brittany Woods, AUSA’s new U.S. Army Fellow, to her first podcast with us. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: MG(R) Malcolm Frost, former Commanding General, Center for Initial Military Training, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)
Co-Hosts:Nzinga Curry, AUSA’s Director of Education & Programs
LTC Brittany Woods, AUSA’s U.S. Army Fellow
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:
Center for Initial Military TrainingWeb: https://usacimt.tradoc.army.mil/ACFT Guidance: https://usacimt.tradoc.army.mil/ACFTGuidance.htmlFacebook: @USArmyIMT
 
Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT)Web: https://www.army.mil/acft/
 
Mission ReadinessCouncil for a Strong AmericaWeb: https://www.strongnation.org/missionreadinessFacebook: @missionreadinessTwitter: @mission_ready

What are the DoD’s top priorities in security cooperation and assistance? LTG Charles Hooper, retiring this July from 40 years of service, tells us how the security assistance environment has changed over the past few years, how it fits into the larger U.S. defense strategy, and how the U.S. can effectively compete with China in this area. He also reflects on his time serving at the U.S. Africa Command, and later leading the Office of Defense Cooperation in Egypt before eventually becoming the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Lieutenant General Charles Hooper, Director, Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Host: General (Retired) Carter F. Ham, AUSA’s President & CEO
Resources:
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Web: https://www.dsca.mil/
LinkedIn: @Defense Security Cooperation Agency

Today’s discussion with SMA Grinston covers a broad range of topics that are on the minds of our Soldiers, our leaders and our listeners.  These topics include: The loss of Army SPC Vanessa Guillen, racial inclusion and diversity in the Army, the impact of “This is My Squad,” an update on COVID-19 protection measures, and the new Army Combat Fitness Test 2 rollout. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest: Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston, 16th Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA)
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:
Sergeant Major of the Army
Web: https://www.army.mil/leaders/sma/bio/
Twitter: @16thSMA
 
AUSA’s NCO & Soldier Programs
Web: https://www.ausa.org/programs/nco-and-soldiers
Twitter (Dailey): @15thSMA

How will the new U.S. Space Force (USSF) affect the Army? COL(Ret) Dan Roper, AUSA’s Director of National Security Studies, interviews LTG(Ret) Richard P. Formica about how the Defense Department should determine which space capabilities should be transferred to the USSF and which space-related capabilities should be retained by their respective service.  LTG Formica calls for a disciplined and thorough process and proposes three principles to guide the way forward to the mutual benefit of all services and combatant commands.
 
Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org.
Guest:  LTG(Ret) Formica, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, CALIBRE Systems
Host: COL(Ret) Dan Roper, AUSA’s Director of National Security Studies
Resources:
 
AUSA Spotlight: The U.S. Army and the U.S. Space Force
 
United States Space Force (USSF)
Web: https://www.spaceforce.mil/
Facebook: @USSpaceForceDoD
Twitter: @SpaceForceDoD

Everyone’s working hard to get medical measures out there to defeat COVID. What is the Army doing, and how can families stay physically and mentally healthy while we wait for a solution? COL Deydre S. Teyhen, DPT, PhD, OCS, Commander, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), joins us today for an update on the Army’s vaccine effort, emphasizing safety throughout the development process. She describes how academia, industry and government have all come together to fight COVID-19, and how we will defeat it together as a team and as a community. Since mind and body are so intertwined, COL Teyhen also provides tips for relieving COVID-related stress arising from things like social isolation, too much family togetherness, and dealing with our emotions. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at podcast@ausa.org. 
Guest: Colonel Deydre S. Teyhen, Commander, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
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:
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR)Website: https://www.wrair.army.mil/Facebook: @WRAIROfficialTwitter: @WRAIR
U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (MRDC)Website: https://mrdc.amedd.army.mil/Facebook/Twitter: @USAMRDC