PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY www.ausa.org August 31, 2023 | AUSA Extra 1 Hokanson on why Guard troops serve G en. Daniel Hokanson, the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau, delivered an upbeat message to the force about why Na- tional Guard members and their mis- sions are vitally important. Speaking in Reno, Nevada, at the 2023 conference of the National Guard Association of the United States, Ho- kanson said it is worth stopping for a moment to recognize why men and women serve in the National Guard. “We don’t always talk about why— why we wear this uniform, why do we deploy our formations overseas, why do we train, why do we serve and why do we give up our most valuable asset, our time, for something greater than ourselves,” Hokanson said. The simple fact, he said, is the Na- tional Guard’s missions—at home and Florida National Guard soldiers prepare Zodiac boats Tuesday in Tallahassee for potential search-and- rescue missions as Hurricane Idalia churned toward the state. (ARMY NATIONAL GUARD/SPC. CHRISTIAN WILSON) around the world—are important. “Your impact is bigger than you’d imagine,” Hokanson said. “We serve because there is a calling inside each and every one of us to re- ally make a difference,” he said. “We seek challenges, wanting to do more, learn more and be more. We are driv- en by an innate internal force to do something good.” Hokanson added that a person’s character “determines what you do when it counts the most. When faced with a crisis, some people freeze, un- sure of what to do. Some people flee, running away from the danger. Some people fight back. A rare special few fight for the lives of others,” he said. “That’s what being a Guardsman is all about,” he said, citing countless times in the last year when National Guard members have responded to help others. “We all have reasons to serve. We have reasons we drill, reasons we train, reasons we leave our civilian jobs and our loved ones behind,” Ho- kanson said. “We have reasons we strive and sacrifice, and reasons we wake up the next day and choose to do it all over again.” “We serve because this profession of arms offers untold opportunity to everybody ready to learn it,” he said. “We serve because there is no bet- ter feeling than your family’s arms around you when you return from de- ployment. We serve because at the end of the day, someone has to stand up and do the right things for our fami- lies, for our communities, for our na- tion and for our world.” Maneuver Force Trains for Future Fight 3 AUSA Papers Focus on Military Thinking 4 Community Partner Challenge for Chapters 5 Book Program UN Peacekeeping in Jerusalem 6 Chapter Highlights Eagle Chapters 7 IN THIS ISSUE VOLUME 5 NUMBER 18 AUGUST 31, 2023LEARN MORE & REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.AUSA.ORG/EVENTS Join us to hear a presentation by John H. Davis, author of Combat to College: Applying the Military Mentality as a Student Veteran. Davis—a former paratrooper who says he was the most tattooed person at Harvard—will give practi- cal advice to veterans who may be struggling as they start their college careers. 7 SEPTEMBER 2023 1200–1300 EDT JOIN THE DISCUSSION! This webinar will include a Q&A session in which questions submitted by the audience will be selected and asked by the moderator. A recording of the webinar will be available on our YouTube page the following day. COMBAT TO COLLEGE Applying the Military Mentality as a Student Veteran with author John H. Davis Moderated by CW5 (Ret.) Phyllis J. Wilson AUSA Senior Fellowwww.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY August 31, 2023 | AUSA Extra 3 Infantry, armor units focused on training for future fight A sense of urgency perme- ates the Maneuver Center of Excellence as it trains the Army’s maneuver force for the next fight, the center’s commander said. “I fear that we’re a miscalculation away from combat in both the the- aters, and folks leaving Fort Moore have to be ready,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, commanding gener- al of the Maneuver Center of Excel- lence and Fort Moore, formerly Fort Benning, Georgia. “We don’t want to go that route, but the best way to deter is to be well-trained and well- equipped.” Speaking on a panel at the As- sociation of the U.S. Army’s 2023 Warfighter Summit and Exposition in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Buz- zard said the Maneuver Center of Ex- cellence is working closely with the Combined Arms Center and Army Futures Command to make sure it’s delivering the right training to the Army’s infantry and armor troops. “It’s not all about the materiel piece. Some of the changes, as we look toward the future, is doctrinal based, force design updates, training changes,” Buzzard said. These changes are even more criti- cal as the Army prepares to bring online “a lot of new capabilities,” Buzzard said, including the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the Next Generation Squad Weapon and the M10 Booker Combat Vehicle. These are “a lot of important ma- neuver initiatives,” but “they’ve got to be tied to how we fight,” Buzzard said. As the Maneuver Center of Excel- lence looks at how it’s training the force, it must take into consideration the changing character and nature of war, Buzzard said. “There’s a funda- mental shift right now in the charac- ter of war,” he said, citing the rise in manned and unmanned lethal fires, machine learning, robotics, artifi- cial intelligence and an increasingly transparent battlefield. Soldiers learn how to operate a Bradley Fighting Vehicle during One Station Unit Training earlier in August at Fort Moore, formerly Fort Benning, Georgia. (U.S. ARMY PHOTO) The proliferation of unmanned aer- ial systems and the need to operate safely in the electromagnetic spec- trum are the two biggest challenges, Buzzard said. “For the last 20 years, I didn’t have to look up, and I didn’t have to worry about how long I keyed the hand mic,” he said. Now, soldiers must know how to defend against unmanned aerial sys - tems at the tactical level. “Our sol- diers can’t just look and wonder what that is,” Buzzard said. Instead, they must recognize the threat posed by these systems and that “an incred- ible amount of indirect fire is com- ing” and react accordingly, he said. Soldiers also should be think- ing about how they can employ un- manned aerial systems. “I want captains, lieutenants, flying them,” Buzzard said. “Our soldiers are so creative and innovative when we give them this type of technology.” They also must be able to operate on a transparent battlefield, where the enemy can easily monitor their movements and locations. “We’re not conditioned right now to operate ef- fectively on the radio,” Buzzard said. “Every time you key that hand mic, you’re giving yourself away.” Are soldiers and units staying on the move? Are they using code words? “The last 20 years, we’ve probably learned some bad habits about op- erating in the electromagnetic spec- trum,” Buzzard said. “We’ve got to really think about how we train all this,” he said. “How do we train [Multi-Domain Opera- tions]?” The war in Ukraine has reinforced some “timeless lessons” about the fundamentals of fighting, Buzzard said. As an example, Russian forces struggled with combined arms op- erations, reinforcing the importance of making sure U.S. soldiers are trained on their bread-and-butter tasks, he said. Amid all this change, war remains a brutal contest of wills, Buzzard said “In the end, when all the technology fails and two people are staring at each other with guns, ours have to be better prepared … to lead through adversity and complexity,” he said.www.ausa.org4 AUSA Extra | August 31, 2023 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 or by emailing membersupport@ausa.org, phoning 855-246-6269, or mailing Fulfillment Manager, P.O. Box 101560, Arlington, VA 22210-0860. Voice for the Army – Support For the Soldier PERK OF THE WEEK ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY AUSA paper series seeks to explore future warfare and military thinking F uture warfare and how the military thinks about it will be the focus of a new series of papers published by the Association of the U.S. Army. The first paper in the series, “West- ern Military Thinking and Breaking Free from the Tetrarch of Modern Military Thinking,” is now avail- able. It seeks to start a discussion on military thinking about the future of armed conflict by highlighting the differences among strategy, concepts, doctrine, plans and theory. It also will describe how institutional thinking is well represented in contemporary military thinking, but independent ideas are underrepresented. The series “sets aside conventional wisdom, institutionally perpetuated myths and Futurist ideology, instead probing into the future from a Con- flict Realist perspective,” according to series author Lt. Col. Amos Fox, a doctoral candidate at the University of Reading and a freelance writer and conflict scholar writing for AUSA. Fox, whose research and writing focus on the theory of war and war- fare, proxy war, future armed con- flict, urban warfare, armored war- fare and the Russo-Ukrainian War, has been published in RUSI Journal and Small Wars and Insurgencies, among many other publications. The first paper in the series is available here. In the second article, Fox will explore the top myths in military thinking and how they contribute to what he describes as “cognitive stag- nation” in military thought. Next, he will begin to delve into the ideas of future armed conflict, including ways to optimize the battlefield to account for systems such as drones, sensors and long-range fires. The fourth paper in the series will examine the future of force structure and force design, along with some recommendations to address further future operational and tactical mili- tary challenges. Finally, the fifth paper will provide a full history of future war and ex- amine how the U.S. military and its Western partners must be prepared to address future competitors on a technology-rich battlefield. Publication dates for the remaining four papers have not been set. Read the first paper here. Master Sgt. Chris McNally, of the Michigan Army National Guard, teaches soldiers training to become drone instructors how to operate a reconnaissance drone Aug. 12 at Camp Grayling, Michigan. (ARMY NATIONAL GUARD/STAFF SGT. TEGAN KUCERA) Through AUSA’s partnership with Active&Fit Direct and Choose Healthy, you pay just $28 a month for access to more than 17,200 gyms including Golds, LA Fitness, Chuze Fitness, Snap 24/7 Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Curves and many more. Use the promotion code SUMMERSTRONG to have the enrollment fee waived at www.ausa.org/gym.www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY August 31, 2023 | AUSA Extra 5 Chapter challenge aims to grow AUSA Community Partners A s part of its Community Part- ner program, the Association of the U.S. Army is sponsor- ing a yearlong recruiting challenge for its 121 chapters. The monthly challenge, which kicked off in July, aims to encourage AUSA chapters to recruit or renew more Community Partners. It is de- signed to boost partner engagement and encourage chapters to connect with local businesses. “Community Partners are impor- tant to AUSA chapters, and revitaliz- ing the Community Partner program is an ongoing focus for the associa- tion,” said Angela Quidley, AUSA’s business development manager for Community Partners. There are five award groups, based on chapters’ overall member- ship size. The winning chapter in each category receives $500 and five points toward Best Chapter. AUSA also is awarding five points to the second and third place chapters in each group. The following chapters are the winners of the Community Partner Challenge for July: • George Washington—Award Group 1 • Greater Augusta-Fort Gordon— Award Group 2 • GA Omar N. Bradley—Award Group 3 • Rock Island Arsenal—Award Group 4 • Picatinny Arsenal-Middle Forge —Award Group 5 Chapters placing second and third in their award group for the month of July—with some finishing in a tie— include Redstone-Huntsville, Cen- tral Texas, Fort Novosel-Wiregrass, Fort Leonard Wood-Mid Missouri, Fort Knox, Northern New York-Fort Drum, Arizona Territorial, Capi- tal District of New York and Henry Leavenworth. The Carlisle Barracks-Cumberland Valley, Las Vegas-John C. Fremont, National Training Center-High Des- ert, Central California, Thunder- bird, Tucson-Goyette, MG William F. Dean, Picatinny Arsenal-Middle Forge, Rhode Island, Stuttgart and Hellenic chapters also placed second or third. Winners of each month’s competi- tion will be announced in AUSA Ex- tra. “Each month is a new opportunity to win, and we look forward to recog- nizing our outstanding chapters for their efforts,” Quidley said. Chapters needing assistance with their Community Partners can con- tact Quidley at aquidley@ausa.org.www.ausa.org6 AUSA Extra | August 31, 2023 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY A U.N. peacekeeper from the U.S. Army’s 728th Military Police Battalion practices patrolling techniques during the multina- tional exercise Shanti Doot 4 in Bangla- desh. (MARINE CORPS/LANCE CPL. ADAM MONTERA) Author details UN peacekeeping assignment in Israel T he American public is often unaware of the broad range of missions tackled by the Army. As one example, U.S. forces partner with the United Nations for peace- keeping and peace enforcement op- erations across the globe. While these missions are common- ly overlooked due to a natural focus on using military force to achieve victory in war, history has demon- strated the impor- tance of winning the peace. The newest title in the Associa- tion of the U.S. Army’s Book Pro- gram gives a first-hand account of one such mission. In Yanks in Blue Berets: American UN Peacekeepers in the Middle East, retired Col. L. Scott Lingamfelter details his Army assignment as a military observer in Jerusalem in the early 1980s during a time of heightened Arab-Israeli tensions. The Book Program sat down with Lingamfelter to talk about, in his words, “a warrior’s book about peace.” ****** AUSA: How were you selected to serve in the U.N. peacekeeping op- eration? Lingamfelter: It was actually serendipitous. The Army sent me to the University of Virginia to earn a master’s degree in Middle East and Soviet studies with a follow-on as- signment to Iran. But in the middle of my studies, Iran “changed man- agement” during its 1979 revolution. I was diverted to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Jerusalem. AUSA: What prepared you for the dramatic change in roles, going from combat officer to peacekeeper? Lingamfelter: Nothing. There was no training in peacekeeping in the Army then, and UNTSO offered rudimentary training, driver and equipment familiarization, and regu- lations. Nothing in conflict resolution or peacekeeping. Book Program The best training we received was from U.N. military observers who had been there a while and taught us the ropes. That kept us alive. AUSA: I was surprised that fami- lies were encouraged to accompany those sent to the region. What did your wife think of the experience? Lingamfelter: We were both thrilled. I had just completed my Middle East studies, and Shelley was working on her Ph.D. in education. The chance to see Israeli and Arab schools interested her. She would live in relative safety in Jerusalem when I would pull duty in southern Leba- non that we referred to as “the Wild West without a good saloon.” Whenever I said goodbye to her, I hoped it really wasn’t a last goodbye. AUSA: You certainly faced your share of dangers. Do you think the signs of being unarmed observers— the blue berets, the U.N. vehicle markings—kept you safe or made you a target? Lingamfelter: In the book, I wrote, “We in UNTSO had only the protection of our blue berets and our wits, the former useless in deflecting bullets, the latter vital in avoiding them.” We relied on our instincts and our wits to survive. We were warriors who were sentinels of peace for a sea- son. But being an unarmed military observer was dangerous business. AUSA: What lessons learned would you share with the Army for future peacekeeping efforts? Lingamfelter: To be sure, the parties of the conflict must buy into the peace regimen. Additionally, any peacekeeping operation must be planned in detail. You can’t rush into a war zone similar to southern Leba- non like an ambulance answering an emergency call down the street. It takes planning, organization, trained soldiers, a clear mandate and the will of the international commu- nity to attain peace. Think about Ukraine. Are we thinking ahead? I see nothing that suggests we are. We are totally un- prepared to assist in implementing a peace, and our leaders should har- vest the lessons in Yanks. You always go forward best by going back first. ****** To order a copy of Yanks in Blue Berets, visit www.ausa.org/books. Joseph Craig is AUSA’s Book Program director.www.ausa.org ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY August 31, 2023 | AUSA Extra 7 Eagle Chapters The following chapters attained Eagle status for July by showing positive membership growth. The number of consecutive months of growth since July 1, 2023, is shown in parentheses. Allegheny-Blue Ridge (1) Arizona Territorial (1) Arkansas (1) Arsenal of Democracy (1) Benelux (1) Capital District of New York (1) Central California (1) Central Ohio (1) Central Texas (1) Chattahoochee Valley-Fort Moore (1) CPL Bill McMillan-Bluegrass (1) Delaware (1) Denver Centennial (1) Des Moines Freedom (1) Dix (1) First In Battle (1) First Militia (1) Florida Gulf Stream (1) Fort Knox (1) Fort Leonard Wood-Mid Missouri (1) Fort Liberty (1) Fort Pitt (1) Fort Riley-Central Kansas (1) Fort Novosel-Wiregrass (1) Fort Sheridan-Chicago (1) Francis Scott Key (1) Gem State (1) GEN Creighton W. Abrams (1) GEN John W. Vessey, Jr. (1) George Washington (1) Greater Atlanta (1) Greater New York-Statue of Liberty (1) Greater Philadelphia (Penn & Franklin) (1) Hellenic (1) Henry Leavenworth (1) Houston Metroplex (1) Indiana (1) Isthmian (1) Las Vegas-John C. Fremont (1) Last Frontier (1) Magnolia (1) Major Samuel Woodfill (1) Massachusetts Bay (1) MG Harry Greene, Aberdeen (1) MG William F. Dean (1) Milwaukee (1) Minutemen (1) National Training Center- High Desert (1) Newton D. Baker (1) North Texas-Audie Murphy (1) PFC William Kenzo Nakamura (1) Picatinny Arsenal-Middle Forge (1) Puerto Rico (1) Rhode Island (1) San Diego (1) Silicon Valley (1) Stuttgart (1) Suncoast (1) Texas Capital Area (1) Thunderbird (1) Tobyhanna Army Depot (1) Tri-State (1) Virginia Colonial (1) West Point Area (1) Western New York (1)Tune-in at: WWW.AUSA.ORG/PODCAST Interested in advertising on Army Matters? Contact us at podcast@ ausa.org for more information. AUSA’s Army Matters podcast amplifies the voices of the Total Army—one story at a time. Join hosts LTG (Ret.) Les Smith and SMA (Ret.) Dan Dailey every other Wednesday as they interview the modern chroniclers of the Army experience to discuss inspiring leadership stories, current issues faced by Soldiers and our military families’ journeys.Next >