PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY www.ausa.org August 1, 2024 | AUSA Extra 1 Guam critical to Indo-Pacific security D efending Guam, a tiny but strategic U.S. territory in the Western Pacific that is most vulnerable to “the pacing threat of China,” is critical to the joint force operating in the Indo-Pacific theater, senior Army leaders said. “The [People’s Republic of China] has the ability to mass a number of different threats against a lot of plac- es in the Pacific,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Costello, commander of the Honolu- lu-based 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said Tuesday during an event in the Strategic Landpower Dialogue series co-hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army and the Center for Strategic and In- ternational Studies. A soldier assigned to Task Force Talon, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, observes as a missile pallet is lowered during a reload and unload drill of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The THAAD battery, equipped with a state- of-the-art missile defense system, is tasked with defending Guam and its surrounding areas against ballistic missile threats. (U.S. ARMY/CAPT. ADAN CAZAREZ) Troops Train, Provide Feedback on the Go 3 DoD Leaders Focused on Improving Health Care 4 Member Benefits Education Savings 6 Chapter Highlight Greater New York-Statue of Liberty 7 IN THIS ISSUE VOLUME 6 NUMBER 14 AUGUST 1, 2024 See Guam, Page 5 Noting that “there is no sanctuary any longer in the Pacific,” Costello touted the benefits of a new composite battalion that, when it becomes opera- tional, will comprise several weapon systems to provide a layered defense capability against enemy missiles. “We need to be able to defend this important, … one of the most impor- tant combat power projection hubs and spokes that we have within the Pacific,” Costello said, adding that “if deterrence should fail, the theater Army requires capabilities, posture, signaling and will, and this compos- ite battalion that the Army is provid- ing for the defense of Guam meets all of those requirements.” Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, director of the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office and executive of- ficer of the Joint Program Office for the Guam Defense System, said Chi- na is a “complex threat” from both an operational and materiel perspective. “We’re looking at the pacing threat of China, which has offensive capa- bilities unlike anything we’ve been seeing in [Central Command], un- like anything that we’re seeing in Europe, and it requires us to think differently,” Rasch said. Rasch warned that the defense of Guam, a 210-square-mile island whose biggest land owners are the U.S. Navy and Air Force, cannot be left to chance.www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY August 1, 2024 | AUSA Extra 3 25th Infantry Division soldiers adapt to new capabilities A s the Army fields autonomous capabilities throughout the force, Hawaii-based soldiers demonstrated that new technologies can be incorporated on the move and while in contact, senior leaders in the Indo-Pacific said. Just back from a six-month Opera- tion Pathways rotation, having spent most of their time training with their counterparts in the Philippines, sol- diers with the 25th Infantry Divi- sion’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team were observed “changing their mentality” as they adapted to the new technol- ogy, said Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, the division commander. During their rotation, the soldiers focused on warfighting readiness and “transformation in contact,” an initiative driven by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to help the Army adapt more quickly to evolving technology. As part of that effort, the 25th Infantry Division soldiers worked with advanced sensing, strik- ing and protection capabilities. The soldiers adapted to the new Spc. Adam Finley, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, runs to the firing line with a Carl Gustav M4 recoilless rifle during an anti-tank subject-matter expert exchange with Philippine army soldiers as part of Exercise Balika- tan 24 at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines. (U.S. ARMY/SPC. EVAN WILSON) AUSA Basic Members can now view a selection of articles from the August issue of ARMY magazine. To read the articles, click here. ARMY magazine August issue capabilities easily, but “now they’re also looking up … and they’re ask- ing questions about the small un- manned aerial systems they’re see- ing, so watching them incorporate these new technologies at the earliest phases of training is really changing their mentality to integrate these additional assets, to see farther, to sense better, to strike farther and protect the formation,” Evans said July 26 during a call with reporters. One piece of equipment that proved popular was the Silent Tactical Ener- gy Enhanced Dismount, or STEED, said Command Sgt. Maj. Shaun Cur- ry, the division’s senior enlisted ad- viser. A cart that the soldiers called the wheelbarrow, the STEED was quickly used to perform a multitude of tasks that helped soldiers move farther and faster while lightening their load. “You can put up to three casual- ties on it. One person can move this equipment back by itself, so no longer do you need a whole squad to move one casualty,” Curry said, noting that “what the soldiers have been do- ing during transformation in contact is playing with that piece of equip- ment and the manufacturer to see what else it can carry.” Soldiers began to use the wheel- barrow to carry a company’s commu- nications equipment for mission com- mand and mortar systems, Curry said. “The next thing we’re starting to play with now is power generation, and how do we maintain our power systems, which is always going to be a limiting factor for [us] as we are a light brigade combat team, so less ve- hicles and less equipment,” he said. Transformation in contact, Evans said, “is a way to adapt formations to get new technology into the hands of soldiers with a clear acknowl- edgement that the battlefield has changed.” “We are striving each and every day to be more lethal and more mo- bile as part of the cornerstones of warfighting readiness,” he said. “We acknowledge that with the changes of technology and tactics that are prevalent, there’s a requirement to rapidly transform.”www.ausa.org4 AUSA Extra | August 1, 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 DoD works to boost medical readiness, improve troops’ access to health care L eaders in the Defense Depart- ment are focused on improving medical readiness and access to care in the Military Health System, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said. “The [Defense Health Agency] is a new enterprise, … so we are in [a] growing stage,” Dr. Lester Marti- nez-Lopez said Tuesday during an Association of the U.S. Army Noon Report webinar. “There are a lot of negotiations between the services and Defense Health Agency to make sure that … we’re going to deliver the right care to every service member that is wounded or injured.” A retired Army major general and family medicine physician, Martinez- Lopez was the first Latino to head the Army Medical Research and Materi- el Command. He is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine and has a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. To ensure that soldiers and other service members get adequate access to care, DoD is working to bring pa- tients back to its military treatment facilities. “We’re going to move to MemberDeals is a leading enter- tainment benefits provider, and AUSA members receive exclusive discounts, special offers and access to preferred seating and tickets to top attractions, theme parks, shows, sporting events, movies, hotels and much more. Visit www.ausa.org/ entertain to learn more. critical MTFs first to reattract pa- tients,” he said. “The places where we have the [most] patients and the active-duty and service members, we’re going to put investment in those places first, so we start attract- ing patients back. As we succeed in that, then we will keep expanding.” To improve readiness and brain health, DoD also is looking to mini- mize exposure to blast overpressure, which are shock waves generated by firing heavy weapons such as mor- tars, rockets and rifles. “The department is being proac- tive and trying to minimize the risk,” Martinez-Lopez said. “Our first tar- get on blast overpressure is training. Can we minimize the exposure of blast overpressure in training?” Military health care needs to “go back to the basics” and build trust among patients, Martinez-Lopez said. “Health care for me is about taking care of family. Anyone in uni- form is family,” he said. “That’s the way we need to approach it. This is not a business, so we need to sustain that … family culture. That starts in the military treatment facilities, and that starts in the clinics.” From left to right, retired Maj. Gen. Joseph Caravalho, Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez, assis- tant secretary of defense for health affairs, and retired Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, AUSA’s vice president for Leadership and Education, prepare for a Noon Report webinar on Tuesday at the association’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. (AUSA PHOTO)www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY August 1, 2024 | AUSA Extra 5 Guam From Page 1 “We’re looking at a small space, we’re looking at a potential adver- sary that has a lot of capability and capacity, so we have to be very effi - cient with how we utilize the capa- bilities we have,” Rasch said. “It’s causing us to think differently.” The integration of air and mis- sile defense capabilities “makes the whole of the capability much greater than the sum of its parts,” Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, program executive offi cer for Missiles and Space, said, explaining that individual systems may operate “suboptimally” in a contested environment against the “massive threats” presented in the Indo-Pacifi c theater. “The sum of the components is typ- ically how we would fi ght, but we’ve realized that that’s not adequate nor suffi cient for fi ghting against the PRC in the future,” Lozano said. Guam Army National Guard soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, currently assigned to Task Force Talon’s Security Forces Company, patrol the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense site ‘Excalibur’ in Dededo, Guam. (U.S. ARMY/MAJ. TREVOR WILD)www.ausa.org6 AUSA Extra | August 1, 2024 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY T his month, I want to highlight three organizations the Asso- ciation of the U.S. Army has partnered with that provide services to help veterans get the most out of their benefi ts and certifi cations for career advancement. MyVet BENEFITS If you are a veteran or service member, check out MyVet BENE- FITS, an app that matches veterans, military members and their families with a personalized list of benefi ts and services they’ve earned. After completing a brief profi le, the system connects you with benefi ts at the federal, state and local levels, as well as those from nonprofi t organi- zations. You can quickly compare, fi lter and save benefi ts specifi c to you and your family. The founder of MyVet BENEFITS is Todd Ernst, an Air Force veteran who spent fi ve years leading the fi ght to change U.S. law to provide equal survivor benefi ts for reserve compo- nent families that lost loved ones in the line of duty. The team at MyVet BENEFITS is composed of veterans and military spouses and family members who have experienced the same frustra- tions you have trying to navigate the complex maze of military benefi ts. Learn more, review the privacy policies, download the app and more at https://www.myvetbenefi ts.com/. PMP certifi cations Consider getting a Project Man- agement Professional certifi cation. Certifi ed project managers are in de- mand, so getting certifi ed can open the door to a world of opportunities— and you can earn more money. According to a survey by the Proj- ect Management Institute, PMP-cer- tifi ed respondents in the U.S. report- ed making an average of 32% more than their non-certifi ed counterparts Member Benefi ts Save on certifi cations, maximize your veteran benefi ts (and 16% more globally). AUSA members can get discounts through these partner companies— PM-ProLearn and Blue Summit. All AUSA members receive PM- ProLearn’s military discount of 30% off exam prep courses to earn Proj- ect Management Professional, Agile Certifi ed Practitioner and Certifi ed Associate in Project Management certifi cations. PM-ProLearn also of- fers a Lean Six Sigma certifi cation. The program includes: • All-inclusive materials and training. • Senior veteran instructors. • Application and translation. • Unlimited re-attendance for one year. • An exam and retest upon failure. • A help desk with instructors to provide one-on-one coaching and an- swer questions. Visit https://www.pm-prolearn. com/ausa to learn more. AUSA members also receive an ex- clusive 20% discount on Blue Sum- mit’s industry-leading exam prep courses for: • Project Management Professional. • Certifi ed Associate in Project Management. • Agile Certifi ed Practitioner. • Disciplined Agile Scrum Master and Senior Scrum Master. All the courses include one year of access to the Blue Summit Academy, mock exams, application assistance, post-training support and additional classes for up to one year to refresh your learning before taking the exam. Find out more at https://www.blue- summitcg.com/ausa-member-benefi t. Both organizations are authorized training partners of the Project Man- agement Institute and offer in-per- son, virtual and on-demand classes. Other educational discounts are available at www.ausa.org/savings, including Defense News, Military Times, Battle Digest, Stars and Stripes, free SAT/ACT test prep ma- terials through eKnowledge, and Tri- dent University. Susan Rubel is AUSA’s Association and Affi nity Partnerships director. AUSA members receive discounts on Project Management Professional certifi cation from PM-ProLearn and Blue Summit. (COURTESY PHOTO)www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY August 1, 2024 | AUSA Extra 7 From left to right, retired Lt. Col. Gary Port, president of AUSA’s Greater New York-Statue of Liberty chapter, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Mario Terenas, deputy director of AUSA’s Center for Leadership, and New York State Sen. Mario Mattera attend a mobilization ceremony hosted by the chapter for the 423rd Military Police Company. (AUSA PHOTO) Chapter hosts send-off ceremony for deploying soldiers I n July, the Association of the U.S. Army’s Greater New York-Statue of Liberty chapter hosted a mobi- lization ceremony for soldiers of the 423rd Military Police Company at the St. Patrick School in Smithtown. The Army Reserve unit, headquar- tered in Shoreham, is beginning a yearlong deployment in the U.S. Southern Command area of respon- sibility. Retired Lt. Col. Gary Port, the AUSA chapter president and an Army Reserve Ambassador, spoke to the hundreds of attendees—soldiers, family members, community leaders and more—about his own deploy- ment experience, when his daughter called to inform him that his wife was ill. Port’s commander offered to fly him home, but his wife told him to “finish the mission.” “That’s the kind of support that they are giving to you [soldiers] … and I want you all to remember that,” Port said about military families. Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Mario Terenas, deputy director of AUSA’s Center for Leadership and the event’s keynote speaker, agreed. “The strength of our nation is the Army, and the strength of our Army is the soldiers, and the strength of our sol- diers is the family,” he said. Terenas, who previously served as the senior enlisted leader for the 10th Mountain Division, gave the depart- ing soldiers four pieces of advice from his military career. “No. 1, do not be average. I don’t want to be next to an average soldier. ... I don’t want to be led by average leaders. Our country doesn’t deserve to have an average Army,” Terenas said. “Not being average means that you give everything it takes.” Second, provide aid if a fellow sol- dier asks for help, he said. “Any of your friends, your battle brothers, if they ask you for help, you better go to the fight.” It also is important to deal with troublesome issues quickly, Terenas said. “Through this next year, you’re going to be posed with situations and problems. Don’t walk past it,” he said, whether it’s increased stress, a person in need of help or difficulty completing a mission. Finally, Terenas encouraged the soldiers to press on in the face of failure. “You’re defined by how you overcome loss and defeat, and how you rise to the occasion,” he said. “You are going to fail this next year, at one point or another. What will de- fine you as an individual, as a soldier, as a leader, is the way you rise from that and overcome it.” The send-off ceremony—which included a barbecue, live music, displays and social engagements— showcased the Army Reserve to the community and provided an impor- tant morale boost to the deploying soldiers and their families, Port said. “Partnering with AUSA allowed the event to move beyond the drill hall and become a large family- and community-oriented affair,” he said. “This event shows what AUSA can and should be doing with our Guard and Reserve soldiers.” Greater New York-Statue of Liberty Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Mario Terenas, right, deputy director of AUSA’s Center for Leadership, speaks to soldiers of the 423rd Military Police Company during a mobiliza- tion ceremony hosted by AUSA’s Greater New York-Statue of Liberty chapter. (AUSA PHOTO)Next >