Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1472997
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 16 UCW JULY 13 - 19, 2022 AUSA expo on Fort Bragg will focus on warfighters by HANNAH LEE A new Association of the U.S. Army event is coming to the Crown Com- plex this month. e AUSA Warfighter Summit and Exposition is a two-day, in-person summit to teach leadership and professional development. e theme this year is "America's Response Force: Ready Today, Ready Tomorrow." Retired Brig. Gen. Jack Haley is the Vice President, Membership and Meetings for the AUSA. He says they have wanted to host a big event at Fort Bragg for a while and is excited to kick this event off as it's aimed at the everyday soldier. "We wanted to do an event that was focused purely on the soldier, the warfighter," Haley said. "We have been wanting to do this for a long time, and it's finally coming together." e summit will feature presenta- tions by Army senior leaders and com- mands based at Fort Bragg, as well as experts from industry and academia. Topics will span the seven warfight- ing functions and highlight the way Army operational forces can sharpen their capabilities to win on the future battlefield. ere also will be discussions on best practices to sustain foundational readiness and modernization and promote installation resilience. But it won't be all lectures and panels. On the other side of the Crown Complex will be an obstacle course called the Battle Challenge Area. "We will run soldiers through the obstacle course and reward top male and top female over the two days," Haley said. e keynote speaker on the first day of the summit will be Gen. James C. McConville, the Chief of Staff of the Army. e keynote speaker on the sec- ond day of the summit will be Sgt. Maj. of the Army, Michael A. Grinston. One speaker Haley thinks will excite people will be former NFL Player and Army Captain Alejandro Villanueva. Villanueva will deliver a PRIME Talk on People, Readiness, Innovation, Modernization and Education. "He's going to talk to soldiers about leadership, morals and ethics that he learned when he was deployed in Afghanistan," Haley said. "I also think he will run the battle course with a couple of troops and do a physical training session with some of the sol- diers at Fort Bragg." Gen. Andrew Poppas, the new com- mander of United States Army Forces Command, will also have a chance to talk to Fort Bragg soldiers during a town hall on the second day of the summit. Poppas and Grinston will hold a discussion on building readi- ness through cohesive teams that are highly trained, disciplined and fit. In addition, a session dedicated to the spouses and families of service- members will be held. at panel called Community Grit: Building Fam- ily Support Readiness will take place on the first day of the expo. For those who can't make it to all of the panels, many of them will be live-streamed on AUSA's website and social media. Online registration is open until July 20. e event itself will take place on July 27 and July 28. ere is no cost for military and government civilian personnel. All attendees, exhibitors and speakers are to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Masks are optional. To register, go to https://meetings.ausa. org/warfighter/index.cfm. EVENT HANNAH LEE, Assistant Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200 4104 Raeford Rd. Fayetteville, NC 28304 910.483.1234 www.bryanhonda.com Proudly Serving Our Community For 75 Years. Home of the Bryan Honda $3,010 Advantage!