PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY www.ausa.org June 27, 2024 | AUSA Extra 1 JROTC instructor eligibility expands W ith more than 1,700 pro- grams and 20 others ap- proved to open in the next two years, the Army’s junior ROTC now has access to a larger pool of instructors because of a provision in the 2023 and 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Army junior ROTC instructor po- sitions that previously were limited to retirees are now open to recently separated officers and NCOs who served honorably for at least 10 years; reached the ranks of staff sergeant through command sergeant major, any warrant officer grade or captain through colonel; and possess an asso- ciate degree or higher. Service mem- bers from the National Guard and Army Reserve who meet the require- ments also are eligible to apply. “The additional eligibility for ju- nior ROTC instructors will allow men and women who have served honorably in our Army to pass their knowledge and experience on to younger generations,” said retired Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, the Associa- tion of the U.S. Army’s vice president for Leadership and Education. “As a former junior ROTC cadet, I know the value these programs have in building better citizens and future leaders for our nation,” Smith said. “My life was changed for the better due to the positive impact of my ju- nior ROTC instructors.” A new pay model also has been im- Retired Lt. Col. Dustin Elder, an Army junior ROTC instructor and coach at Webb City High School in Missouri, walks the line to check on his team as they compete in the 2023 Junior ROTC National Air Rifle Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio. (U.S. ARMY/TIM RAYMOND) 80 Years Later, Soldier Finally Laid to Rest 3 Paper: Cyber Warfare, AI Optimize Army’s Edge 4 Book Program WWII Stories from Italy, Africa 6 Chapter Highlights Eagle Chapters 7 IN THIS ISSUE VOLUME 6 NUMBER 9 JUNE 27, 2024 plemented to account for non-retiree junior ROTC instructors, with pay based on rank, education level, type of position and school location. Junior ROTC is the third-largest youth program in the U.S., with 1,734 active programs and another 20 schools approved to open a ju- nior ROTC program in the next two years, according to an Army news release. Cadets in the program ex- ceed schools’ averages in attendance, graduation and GPA, and have lower drop-out rates and instances of indis- cipline, according to the Army. “The power of Army JROTC is its ability to create better students, bet- ter citizens and better leaders for See Junior ROTC, Page 5www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY June 27, 2024 | AUSA Extra 3 WWII soldier laid to rest in Normandy 80 years later E ighty years after he was killed in the Battle of Cherbourg, France, 1st Lt. Nathan Bas- kind has been laid to rest in an American military cemetery. On June 23, Baskind was laid to rest with full military honors at the Normandy American Cemetery in France. The Pittsburgh native’s fam- ily and friends, as well as U.S. and local officials, were in attendance. “Today is unique not just because we are burying and honoring an American soldier,” said Charles Djou, secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, in a news release from the commission. “Eighty years after 1st Lt. Baskind gave his last measure of devotion here in Nor- mandy, ... this ceremony is the state- ment of the very best American val- ues and human values.” The American Battle Monuments Commission operates and maintains 26 cemeteries and 31 federal memo- rials, monuments and commemora- tive plaques in 17 countries through- out the world, including the one in Normandy and three in the United States. Since March 4, 1923, the commission has worked to honor the service, achievements and sacrifice of more than 200,000 U.S. service First Lt. Nathan Baskind is laid to rest June 23 at Normandy American Cemetery, France, 80 years after his death. (AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION/JULIEN NGUYEN-KIM) members buried and memorialized at its sites. In June 1944, Baskind was a pla- toon commander with Company C, 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and was killed 17 days later during the Battle of Cherbourg. Several attempts were made to retrieve Baskind’s body from where he was ambushed, but his fellow soldiers couldn’t find him. After the war, investigators from the Ameri- can Graves Registration Command learned that Baskind had been cap- tured and later died at a hospital for German air force personnel near Cherbourg on June 23, 1944, accord- ing to the commission. For 80 years, Baskind, a Jewish American, was buried in a German army mass grave with German sol- diers. At the Normandy American Cemetery, he will be buried under a Star of David. His burial was conducted in collab- oration with Operation Benjamin, an organization dedicated to identifying and correcting burial errors of Jew- ish American soldiers buried under Latin crosses. “Nate’s ambition was to be a suc- cessful businessman, and his fa- vorite remark was, ‘As I live and breathe,’” said Samantha Baskind, a great-niece of the late lieutenant, in the news release. “Today, he will really be at rest in France. Today, a giant scar in my family will be at least partially healed.” Correction In the June 20 issue of AUSA Extra, the caption accompanying this photo misidenti- fied Master Resilience Trainer Evie King. (AUSA PHOTO)www.ausa.org4 AUSA Extra | June 27, 2024 Gen. Bob Brown, USA Ret. President and CEO, AUSA Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, USA Ret. Vice President, Leadership and Education, AUSA Luc Dunn Editor Desiree Hurlocker Advertising Manager Advertising Information Contact: Fox Associates Inc. 116 W. Kinzie St. • Chicago, IL 60654 Phone: 800-440-0231 Email: adinfo.rmy@foxrep.com ARTICLES. Articles appearing in AUSA Extra do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the officers or members of the Council of Trustees of AUSA, or its editors. Articles are expres- sions of personal opinion and should not be interpreted as reflecting the official opinion of the Department of Defense nor of any branch, command, installation or agency of the Depart- ment of Defense. The publication assumes no responsibility for any unsolicited material. Email: extra@ausa.org ADVERTISING. Neither AUSA Extra, nor its publisher, the Association of the United States Army, makes any representations, warranties or endorsements as to the truth and accuracy of the advertisements appearing herein, and no such representations, warranties or en- dorsements should be implied or inferred from the appearance of the advertisements in the publication. The advertisers are solely respon- sible for the contents of such advertisements. MEMBERSHIP RATES. Premium membership rates are $40 for two years or $75 for five years. Lifetime membership is $400 and can be paid in full or in four monthly installments. A special Premium rate of $10 for two years is open to E1–E4 and cadets only. New two-year Basic membership with select benefits is free. Learn more at www.ausa.org/join . Voice for the Army – Support For the Soldier PERK OF THE WEEK ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Author: Army must take ‘bold steps’ to seize information advantage AUSA members have access to free legal documents for individuals and small businesses—just visit www. ausa.org/legal and create an ac- count with LawAssure. Choose from a variety of documents, including wills, powers of attorney, bills of sale, creating an LLC and more. T he Army should integrate cy- ber warfare, artificial intelli- gence and autonomous systems to maintain the information advan- tage, according to the author of a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army. “Information is the raison d’être for command and control, situational understanding, decision-making and nearly all action across the warfight- ing functions,” retired Lt. Col. Amos Fox writes. “Bold steps are required for the Army to maximize its poten- tial in the information dimension. It must carefully examine how to reor- ganize its forces, rewrite its concepts and doctrines, and reimagine the battlefield.” In “Information Advantage: Using Cyber Warfare and HMI to Seize the Initiative,” Fox argues that data and information should be “reimagined” for future battlefields. Fox is a fellow with Arizona State University’s Fu- ture Security Initiative. Fox cites the Army’s definition of information advantage as “when a force holds the initiative in terms of situational understanding, decision- making and relevant actor behavior.” Cyber and information advantage will be the focus of an upcoming AUSA Hot Topic. The daylong event on July 2 will take place at AUSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and feature leaders and experts from the Army, the State Department and industry. There will be a series of presenta- tions and discussions on the Army’s approach to gain and maintain in- formation advantage and man, train and equip its information forces. For more information or to regis- ter, click here. In his paper, Fox writes that the Army should develop “data and tempo forces,” which would operate in the same space as the XVIII Air- borne Corps’ data warfare company and the service’s multidomain task forces. Incorporating information into warfighting also will transform “the close fight,” he writes. “At a distance, military com- manders have time and space to sift through information and move ac- cordingly,’” Fox writes. “The goal … is to create separation on the battle- field, providing room for better in- formed reaction rather than having to operate in close combat.” Harnessing the power of informa- tion will allow the Army to outpace its adversaries in future conflicts, Fox writes. “The information and the informa- tion dimension is no longer the status quo realm of information and infor- mation operations,” he writes. “By viewing information through the lens of data and tempo pathways, Army forces can proactively account for how to obtain information advantage and situational information dominance.” Read the paper here. Cpl. Elmer Allgyer, right, with the 10th Mountain Division, points to a location on a map while replicating and deploying en- emy radar systems during an AI and data fusion demonstration June 11 at Oneida, New York. (U.S. ARMY/SGT. JAIDON NOVINSKA)www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY June 27, 2024 | AUSA Extra 5 Fear No Interference WEARABLENANOMINI Resilient mesh radios for drones with advanced interference-avoidance and anti-jamming Upgrade your datalink www.doodlelabs.com EVOLVE DYNAMICS SKY MANTIS 2 our nation,” said Maj. Gen. Antonio Munera, commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command, which over- sees the Army’s junior ROTC pro- gram. “Our instructors are the ones in the classrooms and their communi- ties putting their passion to work to make the power of Army JROTC come to life. Becoming a JROTC in- structor is a great way for our ser- vice members to continue to serve our nation at the community level while making a positive impact on America’s youth,” Munera said. Instructors also benefi t from teaching cadets, said retired 1st Sgt. Cinnamon Chambers, who has been an instructor at Scarborough High School in Houston for four years. “They’ve taught me more patience, and they keep me on my toes. They make me laugh every day,” Chambers said, according to the release. “They make me a better person, a better mom to my own kids, and a better wife for my husband because they keep me well-rounded.” For more information on Army ju- nior ROTC instructor opportunities, visit www.usarmyjrotc.com. Junior ROTC From Page 1 Cadets from the Wiregrass Junior ROTC Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Leadership Academy hear from Lt. Col. Brian Haas, commander of the 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment, during a June 4 visit to Fort Novosel, Alabama. (U.S. ARMY/KELLY MORRIS)www.ausa.org6 AUSA Extra | June 27, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY AUSA books highlight Army’s WWII efforts in Italy, Africa W ith the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion earlier this month, all eyes were naturally focused on the beaches of Normandy, France. The spectacle of that day, however, overshadowed another World War II milestone: The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Rome. On June 4, 1944, soldiers from the American Fifth Army entered Rome after months of fighting their way up the Italian peninsula, becoming the first Allied troops to free a capital city from fascist control. This serves as a reminder that World War II indeed was a global conflict, with wide- spread fighting even within the Western theater. The efforts of the Army in northern Africa, Italy and southern France were integral to the eventual defeat of the Nazi regime. The Association of the U.S. Army’s Book Program features several titles that focus on this wider war beyond Normandy. Starting with the Army’s landings in Morocco and Tunisia in November 1942 during Operation Torch, War of Supply: World War II Allied Logistics in the Mediterranean highlights the challenges of supplying and main- taining armies thousands of miles away on other continents. Author David Dworak, a retired colonel who currently serves as provost of the U.S. Army War College, details the strategic operations for every great Mediterranean campaign through the conclusion of the war. A nice complement to Dworak’s overarching history is 1,271 Days a Soldier: The Diaries and Letters of Colonel H. E. Gardiner as an Armor Officer in World War II. This book provides a firsthand view of the fight in northern Africa and Italy from the point of view of a field-grade officer. Gardiner’s journal entries are ex- pertly edited by retired Col. Dominic Caracillo and supplemented with Book Program notes, photos and maps. Retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster provides the foreword in what retired Gen. David Petraeus calls “a riveting and thor- oughly engrossing read.” A third AUSA book that covers the wider European theater is Sharpen Your Bayonets: A Biography of Lieu- tenant General John Wilson “Iron Mike” O’Daniel, Commander, 3rd Infantry Division in World War II. This is the first full-length biography of one of the great fighting generals of the 20th century; O’Daniel com- manded the 3rd Infantry Division from Anzio, Italy, to the end of the war in Europe. Along the way, the division in- vaded southern France in Operation Dragoon, fought through the Colmar Pocket, and liberated Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest—contrary to what was por- trayed in the well-known HBO mini- series Band of Brothers. Military Review notes that author Timothy Stoy “has done a great service to the public” with his “superb biography.” Please visit www.ausa.org/books to order a copy of these and other titles in the AUSA Book Program. Use the promo code AUSA for select member discounts when purchasing directly through the publisher links. Joseph Craig is AUSA’s Book Program director. Infantry and armor soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division move into the wrecked city of Cori, Italy, on May 26, 1944. (U.S. ARMY PHOTO)www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY June 27, 2024 | AUSA Extra 7 Eagle Chapters The following chapters attained Eagle status for May by showing positive membership growth. The number of consecutive months of growth since July 1 is shown in parentheses. Arizona Territorial (11) Florida Gulf Stream (11) Fort Sheridan-Chicago (11) GEN Creighton W. Abrams (11) George Washington (11) Greater New York-Statue of Liberty (11) Greater Philadelphia (Penn & Franklin) (11) Massachusetts Bay (11) National Training Center-High Desert (11) Newton D. Baker (11) North Texas-Audie Murphy (11) PFC William Kenzo Nakamura (11) San Diego (11) Suncoast (11) Texas Capital Area (11) Thunderbird (11) Virginia Colonial (11) Allegheny-Blue Ridge (10) Arkansas (10) Arsenal of Democracy (10) Benelux (10) Chattahoochee Valley-Fort Moore (10) CPL Bill McMillan-Bluegrass (10) Delaware (10) Dix (10) Fort Campbell (10) Fort Leonard Wood-Mid Missouri (10) Fort Liberty (10) Francis Scott Key (10) Gem State (10) Greater Atlanta (10) Greater Los Angeles (10) Houston Metroplex (10) Indiana (10) Magnolia (10) Marne (10) MG William F. Dean (10) Milwaukee (10) Minutemen (10) Picatinny Arsenal-Middle Forge (10) Silicon Valley (10) Space Coast (10) St. Louis Gateway (10) Tri-State (10) Alamo (9) Capital District of New York (9) Central Ohio (9) Central Virginia (9) Columbia River (9) CSM James M. McDonald-Keystone (9) Denver Centennial (9) First Militia (9) Fort Riley-Central Kansas (9) Korea (9) Major Samuel Woodfill (9) MG Harry Greene, Aberdeen (9) New Orleans (9) Potomac-Liberty (9) Puerto Rico (9) Redstone Huntsville (9) Rhode Island (9) San Francisco (9) SGM Jon Cavaiani (9) Sunshine (9) Utah (9) Captain Meriwether Lewis (8) Catoctin (8) COL Edward Cross (8) Des Moines Freedom (8) First In Battle (8) Fort Huachuca-Sierra Vista (8) Fort Jackson-Palmetto State (8) Fort Pitt (8) Henry Leavenworth (8) Joshua Chamberlain (8) Las Vegas-John C. Fremont (8) MG John S. Lekson (8) Southern Virginia (8) Stuttgart (8) West Point Area (8) Western New York (8) Connecticut (7) Fort Knox (7) GA Omar N. Bradley (7) GEN Joseph W. Stilwell (7) GEN William C. Westmoreland (7) Greater Augusta-Fort Eisenhower (7) Greater Kansas City (7) Hellenic (7) Big Bend (6) Coastal South Carolina (6) MSG Leroy Arthur Petry (6) Northern New York-Fort Drum (6) Pikes Peak (6) Tucson-Goyette (6) Guam (5) MG Robert B. McCoy (5) Monmouth (5) Central California (4)Next >