News. Society of National Association Publications - Award-Winning Newspaper Published by the Association of the U.S. Army VOLUME 42 NUMBER 5 www.ausa.org March 2019 Inside the News Senior Leaders Discuss Family Initiatives at AUSA – 2 – View from the Hill Budget Uncertainty, Again – 3 – NCO and Soldier Programs Get Involved With AUSA – 6 – Benefits Highlight Member Benefits Are Growing – 10 – AUSA Book Program Learn About Your Army – 14 – Capitol Focus Government Shutdown – 14 – AUSA Supports Guard, Reserve – 16 – New ILW Paper ‘Proxy Warfare’ – 20 – Leaders Pledge Housing Fix – 23 – Chapter Highlights Redstone-Huntsville John Shipley Honored – 19 – Join AUSA Today Greater Augusta-Fort Gordon Young Professionals The Association of the United States Army is the Army’s professional as- – 20 – sociation, the voice for the Army on Capitol Hill, and offers support for Fairfax-Lee soldiers and their families. Become a member and add your voice in sup- 2019 Scholarships – 23 – port of the Army and our soldiers. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Taylor Hoganson) 2 AUSA NEWS q March 2019 ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Army leaders announce family support initiatives at AUSA enior Army leaders, who for years have used the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual Smeeting as a place to hear complaints about family programs, came to AUSA again in February to announce steps they’re taking to address those problems. At a livestreamed Family Readiness Initiatives Forum at AUSA’s national headquarters in Arling- ton, Va., Army leaders discussed new projects on housing, moving, spouse employment and child care aimed at improving quality of life for soldiers and their families, and they promised much more to come. Army Secretary Mark T. Esper, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey said they’ve done a lot to start addressing major complaints from soldiers and spouses and are ready to hear more ideas. Esper has launched a webpage, Questions From the Road, where he answers questions raised during visits to posts and communities: https://www.army. From left, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville, Army Secretary Mark T. Esper and Sgt. mil/leaders/sa/questions/ Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey speak at the AUSA family forum. (AUSA photo) Housing is a major initiative, he said. Inspections of older homes are underway, with centers to “make sure soldiers receive the priority The Army will also use conditional hiring for plans to close the worst housing by 2026. they should.” spouses who appear to meet the requirements, so Lead paint inspections are being done on pre- Additionally, the hiring process for child care they can start work while their formal hiring is be- 1978 homes, while inspectors are also looking for workers and other civilian jobs is being streamlined. ing processed, he said. asbestos, he said. Esper said that when he started as Army Secre- Efforts also continue to assist spouses who re- To reduce some of the turmoil of change-of-sta- tary last year, it took an average of 134 days to hire quire state licensing for their profession, with a pol- tion moves, the Army plans to double the number a civilian. That number has decreased by about 10 icy under discussion that would reimburse the cost of quality assurance inspections of household goods percent, he said, and the eventual goal is to reduce of transferring licenses from another state. shipments and have more shipments done in crates the hiring period to 60 days. This will expand day In response to an online question from a military rather than moved piece by piece to cut down on care staffing, a move that both adds capability and spouse in Fort Rucker, Ala., regarding spouse em- theft and damage. aids military spouses looking for work, he said. ployment, Dailey said that spouses should look to The customer satisfaction scores of moving com- Esper added that talks with the Office of the Sec- the Transition Assistance Center on their installation. panies used by the Army will also be posted online, retary of Defense have led to other opportunities. “I have visited every [transition center] in the and in May, the U.S. Transportation Command will “We will soon be receiving new authority for Army, and while those resources are primarily for stand up a 24/7 hotline for anyone in the Depart- direct hiring, which allows us to hire folks in cer- soldiers, every single one said they would never ment of Defense to call and get assistance with tain specialties in a matter of weeks, and soon we turn a family member away,” he said. moving issues. will see a new policy come on called PPP, which Today, 53 percent of soldiers are married, McCo- On child care, Esper said the Army is revising its is preferred hiring, that will give us another tool,” nville said, and 43 percent have children. eligibility policy for Army-run child development Esper said. “We enlist soldiers, but we retain families. That’s what these changes are all about,” he said. “We want your feedback and your help.” “This has been a great opportunity, and we want to do it again in the future,” Esper concluded, thank- ing AUSA for hosting the event. “AUSA takes military family readiness very se- riously,” said retired Lt. Gen. Guy Swan, AUSA’s vice president for education, who moderated the event. “The operational effectiveness of our Army is in many ways tied directly to the health and well- being of Army families.” Patty Barron, director of Family Readiness at AUSA, said, “We were honored to host the Army senior leaders at AUSA headquarters. It is what we do best. By bringing the voices of our Army fami- lies to the decision makers, we ensure their issues are spotlighted at the highest levels in the Army. “We are very happy to see Army leaders listening closely to the issues raised at our family forums and Military spouses line up to bring their questions to the attention of Army leaders. (AUSA photo) making steps to address the complaints.” ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY March 2019 q AUSA NEWS 3 Budget uncertainty looms again over DoD and the Army With the national election last November and the changes in the House of Representatives, the ad- View from the Hill ministration cannot count upon support from Con- By Mark Haaland gress as it has in the past, either. One possible solution for the defense budget be- elcome to the new Congressional year. ing discussed by Senate Armed Services Commit- What a start 2019 and the 116th Con- tee Chairman James Inhofe and other congressional gress have had so far: the partial govern- leaders would be for the administration to submit W the defense budget at the Budget Control Act level ment shutdown, a funding bill along with a declared emergency to add funding to the border wall, the priations Defense Subcommittee on March 13. for fiscal year 2020 and then include a non-war re- delay in the budget being submitted to Congress, For the past few years, the Army’s top budget lated budget request with the war related request, and the beginning of congressional hearings and priority has been to restore readiness, and readiness known as the Overseas Contingency Operations preparations for many more hearings to come. remains the Army’s top priority. budget. And we are only in February! With the budget for fiscal year 2020, we are told There is much deliberation and many hearings to The administration is required by law (31 U.S.C. the Army will dedicate more funding to moderniza- go through before we will know the outcome, but 1105(a)) to submit its budget request to the Con- tion to address longer-term readiness, lethality and the Defense Department and military services are gress by the first Monday in February, but once overmatch. continuing to emphasize the importance of the bud- again the budget is delayed. This year the delay is The overarching budget challenge for DoD and get for fiscal year 2020 being approved (authorized due to the government shutdown. the federal government is the return of the Budget and appropriated) in time for the new fiscal year on The Army staff currently expects the Department Control Act budget caps in 2020. Oct. 1, 2019. of Defense will brief and release the budget for fis- Fiscal year 2019 is the second year of the cur- We will continue to provide updates on the bud- cal year 2020 in mid-March, around the 11th, with rent two-year budget deal. Without an agreement get, along with the Armed Services Committees and budget details such as the Procurement and Re- between the administration and Congress, seques- Appropriations Committees, as the 116th Congress search & Development documents being available tration will kick in with the new year, 2020. reviews and deliberates on the submitted budget the following week. Of course, this may change. Absent an agreement, the defense budget will and acts, or does not act, to pass legislation funding With the delay in the budget, the posture hearings take about a $71 billion reduction from fiscal year the Defense Department and the Army in time for (where the service secretaries and service chiefs 2019 levels and the non-defense budget will take the new fiscal year. testify before the Armed Services Committees and about a $55 billion reduction. Please stay tuned for more information in up- the Defense Appropriation Sub-committees on the These are big numbers that will have a consider- coming columns.