19 Apr 13. Association of the United Sates Army (AUSA) officials announced that the 2014 AUSA Winter Symposium and Exposition will be held, for the first time, in Huntsville, Ala. Traditionally, this symposium is conducted on alternate years with support from a featured command, namely the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) or the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). The Army Material Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, is the featured command for the 2014 symposium. Other commands and agencies at Redstone include the: Army Aviation and Missile Command, Army Security Assistance Command, Army Contracting Command, Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Command, Army Space and Missile Defense Command, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, to cite a few. Huntsville is also the home of the Association’s Redstone – Huntsville Chapter with over 2,600 military and civilian members.
18 Apr 13. The Annual Warrior Competition held at King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center in Amman, Jordan wrapped up the end of March with resounding success. This year 38 teams officially registered and by March 24, 2013 (Opening Ceremony) – 33 teams entered the stadium to compete for the title “Champion”, representing 18 countries from 4 continents. Our 5th Annual Warrior Competition was unique this year for many reasons, we conducted 14 events; 12 of these were team events and 2 were individual events. To level the playing field and make it more competitive, each event was modified from previous year’s activities and kept close hold, including the introduction of three “surprise events”. Progressing further in an effort to make Warrior Competition the most sought after global event to participate in, KASOTC added a new dimension we conducted two night events for the first time – the Spec Ops Rally and Hostage Rescue. The Warrior Competition truly showcased to the world the skills of global counter-terrorism and special operations forces. Uniting the forces for good, this demonstration of marksmanship, endurance and teamwork introduced to all participating nations the capabilities needed both individually and collectively to continue to confront the presence of terrorism within the global community. The Chinese teams took the top two positions and Canada took third overall. The significance of this global recognition will be further enhanced as ViaGlobal Group strives to expand the competition by introducing regional competitions to select a field to compete in the Annual Warrior Competition at KASOTC. Nowhere else in the world is there a larger, more sophisticated, live-fire, counter-terrorism and special operations training facility where forces for good converge to share tactics, techniques and procedures and train to keep the citizens of the world safe and secure.