Coronavirus: AUSA Cancels Huntsville Conference

UPDATED with McConville, Jette, Quad-A statements WASHINGTON: The Association of the US Army has cancelled its annual winter conference in Huntsville, Ala. Scheduled for next week, the Global Force Symposium & Exhibition is the latest major event shut down as a precaution against the contagious COVID-19 coronavirus, which Army researchers have been mobilized to combat. The virus has shut down parts of the F-35 fighter supply chain and caused the Pentagon to restrict travel and implement social distancing measures.

“Sydney, we have truly enjoyed having the Global Force Symposium and Exhibition in Huntsville over the past several years, so this was a tough decision,” retired Gen. Carter Ham, AUSA’s president and CEO, told me in an email this morning. “Last year, about 6,400 people attended. But, out of concern for the health and safety of the expected attendees and exhibitors, I am confident this is the right decision.”

UPDATED Army leaders scheduled to speak at the conference were quick to signal their support for AUSA.

“Gen. McConville was informed of the decision to cancel the Global Force Symposium by AUSA leadership,” said a spokesman for the Army Chief of Staff. “He understands the reasons for AUSA’s decision and supports their efforts to mitigate the risks associated with COVID19.”

“While it’s unfortunate the event had to be cancelled, we applaud the efforts AUSA made to ensure the health and safety of vendors, sponsors and attendees,” said the Army’s civilian acquisition chief, Bruce Jette, who had planned not only to speak to the gathering but to award over a million dollars in prizes to innovative small business there. “We value each opportunity to meet with innovative companies, and we are continuing conversations to move forward with the Army’s top priorities in readiness, modernization and reform.” UPDATE ENDS

History In Huntsville
Amidst Army budget cuts and travel restrictions, AUSA moved its winter conference from balmy Fort Lauderdale to Huntsville in 2014, where the event – renamed the Global Force Symposium – has been held ever since. While less attractive to junketeers than Florida, Huntsville is a major hub for the Army, home to Redstone Arsenal, the three-star Army Space & Missile Defense Command, and the four-star Army Materiel Command, which hosts the event along with AUSA. There’s a sizable NASA presence as well, giving Huntsville one of the country’s highest concentrations of advanced degrees per capita and the nickname Rocket City. Even the convention center where the conference is held is named after former Nazi German rocket scientist Werner von Braun, who helped launch the US space program after World War II.

The winter conference in Huntsville, with over 6,000 attendees, has always been overshadowed by AUSA’s flagship annual meeting each October in Washington, DC, where attendance exceeds 30,000. But for reporters in particular, the Huntsville event punches well above its weight, because senior leaders, particularly from Army Futures Command, have come to use it as a major – and more manageable — forum to sit down with the press. I’ve attended every year (and the last year in Florida as well) and was slated to moderate a panel this year.

Of course, this kind of face-to-face contact among people from all over looks a little different with coronavirus cases rising across the country. Having started on the West Coast, infections have reached New York, where the mayor yesterday urged everyone who can, to work from home. Some attending individuals and organizations had already begun to cancel on their own initiative.

“We have, of course, been monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely over the past weeks,” Ham told me. “The CDC guidance has been helpful, and it was my determination that we would best limit potential exposure by cancelling the event in Huntsville. As noted in media reporting, a number of companies which normally participate in AUSA events have recently implemented travel restrictions for their employees, so that was a factor for us as well.

“The AUSA staff is now reaching out to all those individuals and businesses who had registered for the event to address refunds,” Ham said. “We are working through the details of this decision now with all affected organizations.”

How will this affect the organization’s finances? “While this, obviously, will have an impact on our operating budget, AUSA is fortunate to be in a strong financial position,” he told me, “so I envision no significant effect on our ability to fulfill our mission to support America’s Army and to continue to provide programs and services of value to our more than 190,000 members.”

UPDATE Prompted by AUSA’s announcement, a related group, the Army Aviation Association of America (aka Quad-A), announced it was monitoring the coronavirus situation closely and making contingency plans, but it hasn’t yet cancelled its annual conference in Nashville next month.

“AUSA just moments ago cancelled their major ‘AUSA Global’ event scheduled for next week in Huntsville,” said association president Jeff Schloesser, a retired Army two-star, in a statement. “We are [also] tracking the NRA Nashville-wide Annual Meeting that ends just a couple days before we begin….It is still on.”

“The AAAA leadership will make a final decision two weeks out [from the conference] on Monday 6 April,” Schloesser said. “We are also building contingencies to hold the event later in the year if that becomes necessary.”

“If Nashville declares a State of Emergency like Austin did last week and shut down the famous South x South West conference, or DoD does issue a travel ban,” he said, “that would certainly cancel our event automatically and instantly.” UPDATE ENDS