AUSA (Association of the United States Army)

2026 Gingerbread Ball - "Save the Date" & Sponsorship Opportunities Good Afternoon, Your great Association of the US Army (AUSA) Monmouth Chapter sends best wishes to all for a terrific “rest of the summer”! The AUSA Monmouth Chapter's 2026 Signature Event, the annual Gingerbread Ball, is now scheduled for Dec 5th, 2026 at the Jersey Shore's Sheraton Eatontown Hotel. Click HERE for our "Save The Date" flyer. Mark your calendar and pass it around to your friends.

Dozens of service members were awarded the Mexican Border Defense Medal in recognition of their service at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a ceremony July 27 at the Pentagon, 35 soldiers, 14 Marines and one sailor received the medal for the border mission, which kicked off in January 2025, according to a Pentagon news release.

Amid constantly evolving adversary cyber threats, soldiers, their fellow service members and cyber defense experts tackled real-world cyber scenarios together during Cyber Shield 2026. “Threat actors are already here,” Brig. Gen. Russell McGuire, exercise director and assistant adjutant general of North Carolina, said during a July 21 media roundtable about the exercise.

An Army-led task force has published a handbook about drone threats, protecting against drones and how to counter them, according to a Department of War news release. Joint Interagency Task Force 401, established last fall, is charged with leading the military’s efforts to counter the growing drone threat. “It is crucial to build a common foundation for counter-drone efforts as we work … to respond to this growing threat,” said Maj.

Land power remains a vital capability as the U.S. military adapts to keep pace with evolving technology and adversaries that are preparing for all-domain warfare, according to a new report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Army Accepting Applications for Harding Fellowship Applications for the Harding Fellowship are open, and active-duty Army captains, master sergeants and chief warrant officers 4 have until Aug. 15 to apply for the three-year military writing opportunity. “From foundational skills like copy editing and visual creation, to the nuances of strategic communications, the fellows can expect to learn a challenging array of practical knowledge,” Maj.

The Army has updated its body composition policy for all soldiers, part of a broader Pentagon initiative to establish a streamlined and equitable standard across the force. Instead of the body mass index tables long used to measure body fat, a soldier’s waist circumference will now be divided by the soldier’s height to evaluate body fat percentage in a formula known as waist-to-height ratio, or WHtR, according to an Army news release.

Armor formations are the only force in the Army that can barrel onto the battlefield with large-scale firepower, and the integration of technology is only enhancing that capability, a brigade commander said. While technological advancements on the modern battlefield may limit some maneuver, “when deception, electronic warfare, firepower creates even just brief openings, armor formations are still the only elements that can rapidly penetrate, exploit and hold ground at scale,” said Col.

After more than 80 years of supporting homeland defense, U.S. Army North was inactivated July 15 during a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston. The command’s responsibilities and areas of operation, as with those of the former U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army South, have been subsumed by the new U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command, which was stood up Dec. 5 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

It’s time for the Army to prioritize crafting “beautiful, inspirational environments for its soldiers” through a renewed focus on the service’s buildings, according to a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army. “Since the end of World War II, Army construction has generally valued efficiency over humanity, inspiration, or longevity,” Maj. Robert Rose writes in the AUSA Landpower Essay. “Instead of providing community, installations produce cold alienation.