AAAA begins this new year in great shape with membership near record levels of over 20,000 members and our strongest ever financial balance sheet. The future also looks bright as we prepare for the rapidly approaching Army Aviation Warfighting Summit April 15-17, 2026 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
By the time you read this I will have returned from visiting our Badger Chapter in Wisconsin for their annual ball and will have also attended the Aviation Senior Leaders Conference at Fort Rucker, AL.
In many respects these two very different events show the breadth and depth of AAAA’s mission statement of Supporting the Aviation Soldier and Family. From the grass roots level, in this case at a largely Reserve Component-based chapter, to the Branch policy and vision level with our senior Army and Branch leaders at Fort Rucker, AAAA is present, providing assistance through presence and resources.
In a just a few weeks, AAAA is sponsoring the inaugural annual Army Best Drone Warfighter Competition in Huntsville, AL, February 17-19, 2026. We have had a tremendous response from the most senior levels of the Pentagon, all the way down to our individual units. The three-part competition will take place in the mornings on the 2,300 acre University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) Drone Range, while the working groups will meet every afternoon at the Huntsville Marriott at the Space & Rocket Center, a few minutes away.
This is an Army Soldier event coordinated by the Aviation and Maneuver Centers, but we will have a few industry partner exhibits, both at the hotel and the UAH range. Special thanks to Neros Technologies for sponsoring, supplying and supporting the standardized drones for the individual warfighter competition at the UAH Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) site at the range.
In the second phase of the competition, the tactical Hunter-Killer event teams will bring their own unmanned aircraft systems, as will the Innovation Competitors who will present their unit-built systems. Exhibits sold out almost immediately and we are going to have to expand the event for next year to accommodate the demand for everything from moving targets to counter-drone operations.
As mentioned earlier, the Annual Summit is just around the corner and we are putting the final touches on that agenda now. We will have an outstanding roster of speakers and opportunities for interaction and networking that span the breadth of the Army Aviation Enterprise from sustainment to acquisition. We’ll also showcase many of the emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), drone warfare, launched effects (LE) and of course, the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) MV-75. We’ll also continue to offer opportunities for professional career development and post-Army employment. Continuous Transformation is the name of the game as we prepare to face our peer competitors and support the Army Aviation Branch to remain agile, adaptive and lethal on the modern battlefield.
At the end of the day, everything we do from sponsoring the Army Aviation Congressional Caucus, to the millions of dollars that AAAA has provided in support of scholarships over the decades, AAAA has one goal in mind. Since AAAA’s inception in 1957, almost 70 years ago now, we have had no higher calling than to support you, your family, and your career by remaining relevant to you, the Branch, and the Army. Let us know how we can do even better.
Above the Best!
MG Wally Golden, U.S. Army Retired
37th President, AAAA
walter.golden@quad-a.org
