New opportunities arise in the AUSA

For 22-year-old Patrick O'Neill, giving back to his country was all he wanted to do. He came from a family with a history of military service and never thought twice about joining the Army.

"I wanted to be in the Army because my dad just retired from the Army," O'Neill said. "And having a family history and just wanting to give back to my country was why I wanted to join."

But O'Neill didn't want to wait until he commissioned to start giving back to his country. He joined a club called the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) that enabled him, from the start of his time at Norwich, to actively give back to the community.

Lt. Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan founded AUSA in 1950 to be a voice for military personnel. It is a professional nonprofit that operates at both the national and local level.

At the national level, the organization is geared toward teaching and educating both the Army and the public on Army affairs and priorities but at the local level at Norwich, things are different.

"I think the difference (between national and local) is the level of education and what I mean by that is on the national scale, as far as warfare, there are different levels: tactical, operational, strategic and grand strategic," said Maj. Matthew Landrum, assistant professor of military science and recruiting operations officer at Norwich University. "Here we are talking about the tactical level but we are interacting with just the local populace."

Giving back to the community is a huge component of the Norwich chapter. Cadets help out at hockey games and put together the Army vs. Navy game. But the project that the AUSA is most known for is push-ups for food.

"They do a lot of fundraising in this push-up event and we give the food to the Vermont food bank and the little bit of money that comes out of that," said Lt. Col. Arnold Piper, assistant professor of military science at Norwich. "We had doubled this year because they went to two different locations and I know that we had my pick-up truck full and a lot of cars full as well."

The AUSA chapter is the leading single donor in Vermont. This year it again broke its record with more than 2,300 pounds of food and plans on collecting even more next year.

AUSA is not limited to Army ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadets. Anyone from any branch can join, including civilian students.

"We have a lot of freshmen this year that are actually Navy and Marine Corps," said Chris Hammel, 19, a history major from Londonderry, N.H.

The club has grown significantly over the years. Since O'Neill joined four years ago, the number has increased from 12 to 55.

In addition to community service projects, members of AUSA gain a lot from the experience.

"I think the cadets get a really good opportunity for leadership. There is a process of going through and doing the planning," Piper said. "The planning and organizing gives them great opportunities and then they have to organize themselves so that they can be efficient."

One great opportunity is a chance to go to the national AUSA conference in Washington, D.C.

"We go out and tour and get to see D.C. for about a day and then we are at the convention for about three days working the Norwich booth," said Jake Isham, 20, a political science major from Burlington, Vt. "We also get to go to the president's reception and we get to meet Gen. Sullivan, the sergeant major of the Army, and the chief of staff."

The D.C. conference is the largest organized convention for the United States Army. Norwich cadets see the newly released products, new technological advancements and gain overall knowledge of the Army.

"All the high brass is there trying to promote their products to the military," Isham said. "We got to walk around and take a look at that stuff and at the end there was a huge reception where they showed off all their cool toys."

But the highlight was when the cadets met and talked with Gen. Sullivan.

"He always loves to see, of course, the Norwich cadets down there; they are a big hit," Landrum said. "There are also a lot of alumni who love to see those guys, so it is good for our program."

Networking is also a big advantage.

"You can make a lot of good connections as far as professional development," O'Neill said. "It is a good time to meet people. We met a lot of Norwich grads, two-star generals, and all kinds of people to build up our professional development."

But one of the biggest advantages of participating in the conference is learning how to talk to people. Sometimes it can be difficult talking to high-ranking officials; that is a skill that has to be learned and acquired.

"Learning how to talk to people, like generals, is a good way to learn leadership because you can see why other leaders do what they do," O'Neill said.

Even though the club has grown significantly, it is looking to grow even larger.

"We are trying to do more actual activities rather than just community service," Isham said. "We want to add in more fun stuff like the commander's cup that didn't happen this year, so we can have more interest."