AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast

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/

There are changes ahead for AUSA’s NCO & Soldier Programs as we welcome incoming Vice President, 15th Sergeant Major of the Army (Retired) Daniel A. Dailey, to the helm. He interviews outgoing Vice President, 13th 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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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:
16th 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/

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/

Host Patty Barron, Director for AUSA’s Family Readiness, interviews Amy Bushatz, Executive Editor, Military.com. Amy is an active-duty Army spouse turned Army National Guard spouse, a fitness junky and a longtime fan of AUSA. She shares how being an Army spouse and caregiver contributed to her career as a reporter covering the military community. Her husband’s dangerous deployment to southern Afghanistan, where he experienced multiple IEDs, close mortar strikes and brain injury, changed everything about her outlook on life and the world. Their story is captured as part of a new documentary, “Sky Blossom - Growing up a Caregiver” produced by Richard Lui of MSNBC in collaboration with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and others. It will be released in Spring 2020.
 
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:
Military.com: https://www.military.com/
Twitter: @AmyBushatz @MilitaryDotCom @RichardLui @DoleFoundation
Facebook: @AmyDBushatz @Militarydotcom @rlui @HiddenHeroesEDF
 
Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/

Co-hosts Nzinga A. Curry, Director of AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare, and LTC Eugene Irby, AUSA's U.S. Army Fellow, discuss Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) options and establishing good financial management practices with guests COL(R) Steven Galing, Relationship Manager at AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust (AWMT) and COL(R) Mark Troutman, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Strategic Education International. Listen for ways to improve your financial well-being related to retirement, home ownership, emergency fund, college savings and more. Naturally AUSA is proud to celebrate Veterans Day, as we honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. So, a special thank you to COL(R) Galing and COL(R) Troutman for their Army service. Hooah!
 
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 Mentioned
Thrift Savings Plan: www.tsp.gov
Military Compensation: www.militarypay.defense.gov
AAFMAA: https://www.aafmaa.com/
Find a Certified Financial Planner (CFP): www.letsmakeaplan.org
West Financial Services: www.westfinancial.com
Financial Disclaimer:
Any opinions shared by either Colonel Galing or Colonel Troutman are theirs, alone, and do not constitute the official position of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army or the Association of the U.S. Army.
This podcast is not intended to serve as a basis for providing individual personal financial advice.  If you are seeking individual personal financial advice, please utilize the numerous military options such as, but not limited to, military one source, your local office of Army Community Services, and many Chaplain Offices provide financial management advice as well. Of course, another option is to seek out individual financial advice from a personal financial management expert.  
 Check out our other AUSA podcast, Membership Matters: http://memberpodcast.ausa.org/