Notations From the Grid (Mid-Week Edition): On the latest out of the ASUSA

As part of our on-going efforts, we hereby present the following courtesy the Association of the United States Army: AUSA's Five Things: A Weekly Tip Sheet for AUSA Members

1  Space Force Aids Army The U.S. Space Force, the newest branch of the American military, has at least one major mission that is vital to the Army. Maintaining superiority in space is the first Space Force priority, defense officials said. That includes protecting freedom of operations in space, countering any efforts by adversaries to deny space capabilities to U.S. forces, allies, partners and even commercial assets. What to Watch: The U.S. Army is the Defense Department’s biggest user of space-enabled equipment that provides communications, navigation and intelligence information, capabilities that give the service an operational advantage in combat. A standard brigade combat team has more than 2,500 items of space-dependent gadgets and gear. 2  Back for Retirement Benefits Staff Sgt. Monte Gould left the Army Reserve in 2009 after a deployment to Afghanistan, just three years short of earning retirement benefits, a decision he now regrets. At age 59, he wants back in, losing 45 pounds to meet height and weight standards and applying for an age waiver. What to Watch: Gould has been accepted on the condition that he make it through basic training, something he’ll attempt in June at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He made it through Marine basic training in 1978 when his military service began. 3  Housing Progress Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy says “positive steps forward” are being made to improve living conditions in installation housing, including finalizing a new fee structure for payments to the private housing companies that control most of the housing, giving them an incentive to put families first. What to Watch: McCarthy pledges there will be quarterly town hall meetings at every installation so residents can raise concerns. Plus, he says the Army will hire 100 additional staff who will be responsible for overseeing maintenance. 4  Battle Buddies In fast-moving battles, soldiers could benefit from sensor-laden manned and unmanned systems that provide real-time analysis of various threats and suggest recommended responses. These threat-recognition autonomous systems will require fast and secure mobile communications so soldiers can make the best use of the information. What to Watch: The Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force is working on threat recognition from mobile sensors so it can team soldiers with air and ground vehicles as their battle buddies. AUSA will host an AI/Robotics Hot Topic event May 4-5 in Pittsburgh, where the task force is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University. For more information, click here: https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/events-ai-robotics-hot-topic/dcrr/87530290?h=Slbb4viNNlpgpofrcoxLapoQCpzMRpeBoxv1maFtnWw. 5  2021 Budget The Army’s $178 billion budget request for fiscal year 2021 includes a 3% pay raise for soldiers and an emphasis on the service’s six modernization priorities. In addition to more than $12.7 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation, the Army also has realigned $2.4 billion through reforms and savings to invest in its cross-functional teams. What to Watch: Lt. Gen. Thomas Horlander, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for financial management and comptroller, will discuss the Army’s budget and its plans for the future during an AUSA breakfast event tomorrow at AUSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. For more information or to watch the livestream, click here: https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/nts-breakfast-series-horlander/dcrt/87530290?h=Slbb4viNNlpgpofrcoxLapoQCpzMRpeBoxv1maFtnWw.