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AUSA's 51st Annual Meeting
During the 230-year history of the U. S. Army-stretching from the green fields of the American colonies to the dust of Iraq and Afghanistan-the core of soldiers' service has remained duty to country, and the theme of AUSA's 2005 Annual Meeting was "Call to Duty" to honor such service, both past and present.
Held in the expanse of the Washington Convention Center in the heart of the nation's capital, the three-day event attracted 27,000 registrants to an expanded curriculum of professional forums, seminars, symposia and other educational programs along with the principal assemblies and more than 500 military and corporate exhibits covering 243,000 square feet of the Convention Center.
Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey delivered the keynote address at the meeting's opening ceremony, rioting that the United States has completed the fourth year of its global war on terrorism and that 270,000 soldiers from the active and reserve components are serving overseas in the conduct of that war or at home in support of domestic defense with "incredible honor and distinction."
"Because of their service," secretary Harvey said, "the Army is, and will remain, the preeminent landpower in the world today, the ultimate instrument of national resolve."
"For the past 230 years, our nation has thrived because of citizens who answered the call to duty ... the call to service," he said.
"Our national history is filled with examples of citizens who answered their country's call in time of peril," secretary Harvey added. "America has always had the good fortune of being blessed by people with a spirit of patriotism ... blessed by Americans who answer the call to duty."
"Those who volunteer and answer the call to duty are willing to give more than they take," he continued. "They are driven, I believe, by love of country, a devotion to duty and a willingness to sacrifice everything so others might live in peace and freedom."
The secretary said that he is confident that the call to duty will remain strong in the United States in the future and that young Americans will continue to answer that call; however, he pointed out that American soldiers in turn "require and deserve to be the centerpiece of a 21stcentury Army."