Author: guard7000

The Army and the National Football League (TBI) are working together to improve awareness of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and increase research into its causes, prevention and treatment.  The top leaders of both organizations, Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, met at the U.S. Military Academy 30 August to discuss the issue and sign a letter of agreement to continue sharing resources to combat TBI.  Mental and physical toughness, discipline, team over self and stressing the importance of resilience are fundamental to the cultures of both the NFL and the Army.  However, these traits can sometimes prevent them from seeking help following concussions.  NFL players and Soldiers are now coordinating strategies and using special types of tests to determine if a concussion has occurred.  Gen. Odierno and Commissioner Godell would like a cultural shift to where there is no reluctance of football players and Soldiers to ask for help after receiving concussions.  Learn more about this effort at: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=117721

The Association of the United States Army welcomes all AUSA members, military and civilian employees of the United States armed forces and their families to  AUSA’s Annual Meeting which will be held from 20-22 October, 2012 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The Annual Meeting will include four Military Family Forums in which Army senior leaders and experts in the field of family readiness provide their views on the status of the Army family and Army family readiness programs. All forums will be live streamed across the country and overseas. Anyone eligible to attend the AUSA Annual Meeting may attend the Military Family Forums. Register now by going to http://www.udreg.com/ausa/

An update on the American soldier.

 – The Army provides high caliber young people great opportunities, not a last chance.
 – Today’s Army is not the army of the Vietnam era or even the army of the first Gulf War. Today’s Army has the highest entry standards ever, and aspiring young people must compete to enter our ranks.
 – What hasn’t changed is that the Army is still a great path to the future for many Americans. With education benefits and world-class training, today’s young Soldier improves his or her quality of life with every experience.
 – Not only does a young person earn a very competitive salary with benefits such as health, education, and housing, a Soldier also derives the intangible benefits of increasing responsibility on the job, leadership development, and working as part of a team.
 – While waivers are still granted to enter the Army, they no longer give them for major misconduct or for drug or alcohol misuse, which have proven to be counter to good order and discipline.
 – The Army focuses on life-long learning and achieving goals; education achievement is possible even in deployment.
 – The Army instills in every Soldier the requirement to live by the Army Values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. The Warrior Ethos has become the heart and soul of what we expect from our Soldiers, and forms the core of Soldier behavior in deployment, in the garrison, on duty and off:
  I will always place the mission first.
  I will never accept defeat.
  I will never quit.
  I will never leave a fallen comrade.