Retired Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel Dailey will be taking an executive position with the Association of the U.S. Army, or AUSA, a major non-profit advocating for active-duty, National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers.
Dailey will serve as the vice president for non-commissioned officer and soldier programs at the non-profit, AUSA’s president and CEO, retired Army Gen. Carter Ham, said in a press release Monday morning.
AUSA hosts educational and professional development forums throughout the year. The organization made $14 million in revenue — mostly from program services — and had $18 million in total expenses, according to June 2018 IRS filings covering a six-month period.
Executive compensation was roughly $1.5 million during that timeframe, accounting for less than 8 percent of total expenses. However, the non-profit declined to discuss how much Dailey’s new position pays.
“AUSA’s official position is that we do not discuss salaries,” spokesman Jared Lieberher told Army Times.
Dailey will be replacing another former sergeant major of the Army, Kenneth Preston, who stepped into the role in 2013. Preston will stay on at the organization as a senior fellow with AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare.
“All of us at AUSA wish SMA Preston well in his richly deserved retirement, and we extend a warm welcome to SMA Dailey,” Ham said in the release.
“[Dailey] is precisely the right leader to follow SMA Preston and to build upon the programs AUSA has established that focus on the 84% of the Total Army that serve in the enlisted ranks,” Ham added.
Dailey only retired from the Army last week, following three decades of service. He served as the senior enlisted adviser to two Army chiefs of staff, including Gen. Mark Milley, who now serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
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During his tenure as the Army’s top enlisted soldier, Dailey helped institute policies to better prepare soldiers for leaving active-duty, including a push for trade-skill credentialing.
He also oversaw some popular changes that were easier to implement, like the decision to allow black socks with PT uniforms and the one to allow headphones for soldiers in uniform at the gym.
Some of the bigger projects Dailey and his team pursued during his tenure as SMA included revamping the promotion system, which involved doing away with sequence numbers and months-long promotable status.
Dailey’s focus on helping enlisted soldiers transition to civilian life will likely be of benefit to AUSA.
“I will remain committed to the mission, vision and values of our association, continuing in the footsteps of SMA Ken Preston, who has done phenomenal work at AUSA,” Dailey said in the release. “I look forward to building on what he has done.”
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Ham originally selected Preston for the vice president position as a way to bring more attention to the role, the AUSA release said.
“[He] has made a tremendous impact across our association, just as he did while serving as the 13th SMA. We have all benefited from his experience, energy and thoughtful insights,” Ham said.
Preston retired from the service as the longest serving sergeant major of the Army at more than seven years in the role.
Preston said in the AUSA release that he “cannot think of anyone more compassionate and dedicated” to the Army’s personnel than Dailey.
“In the Army, we have a proud tradition of senior leader transition in our units across the regular Army, Army National Guard and the Army Reserve," Preston added. "We are doing the same thing here at AUSA. Dan Dailey is the right leader now to continue serving our Army team.”
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
