The United States Army Futures Command (AFC) was a United States Army command that ran modernization projects. It was headquartered in Austin, Texas.
The AFC began initial operations on 1 July 2018.US Army It was created as a peer of Forces Command (FORSCOM), Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and Army Materiel Command (AMC). While the other commands focus on readiness to "fight tonight", AFC aimed to improve future readiness for competition with near-peers.Sébastien Roblin (11 Oct. 2019) China's stealth drones and hypersonic missiles surpass—and threaten—the U.S. Binkov (11 Oct 2019) New game changing weapons shown at Chinese military parade; October 2019 Binkov explains and animates Hypersonic glide trajectories for under-the-radar operation; Binkov estimates which weapons displays are mockups; Compares and contrasts Chinese, Russian, and US capabilities The AFC commander functioned as the Army's chief modernization investment officer. It was supported by the United States Army Reserve Innovation Command (75th Innovation Command).
On October 2nd, 2025, Army officials inactivated the Army Futures Command and activated the U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command (T2COM). This effectively merged AFC with Training and Doctrine Command. The Army will retain AFC's headquarters to serve as the new headquarters for T2COM.
History
2018 Between 1995 and 2009, the Army spent $32 billion on programs such as the Future Combat SystemSydney J. Freedberg Jr. (8 August 2014) Pentagon Struggles To Get Small-Biz Tech : FCS misuse of OTA, other acquisition issues. that were later cancelled with no harvestable content.Dan Lamothe Washington Post (2018-07-12) Army to unveil details about new Futures Command in biggest reorganization in 45 years As of 2021, the Army had not fielded a new combat system in decades.Matthew Cox (28 April 2018) How Future Combat Systems Failed Arpi Dilanian and Matthew Howard Army.mil (6 September 2018) Safer, smarter, faster: An interview with Gen. James McConville Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. (14 March 2019) Army 'Big Six' Ramp Up in 2021: Learning From FCS
Army Futures Command was established in 2018 by Army Secretary Mark Esper to improve Army acquisition by creating better requirements and reducing the time to develop a system to meet them. Leaders who helped form the command include General Mark Milley, then Army Chief of Staff, and Under Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy. Its first commander was General John Murray,Carlson, Kara formerly the Army's G-8.
Over his tenure as Army Secretary, Esper led a process known as "night court", working with other top service officials, to free up and shift billions of dollars into modernization programs and based the new command in Austin, Texas, an area known for its innovative, technology-focused workforce.Jen Judson (28 Aug 2018) Can Austin make the Army weird? The Army gave the command's chief and the leaders of new groups, dubbed "§ cross-functional teams", the authority to manage requirements and the leeway to direct dollars.
At its founding, Futures Command was focused on six priorities:The capabilities as prioritized by the Chief of Staff, will use subject-matter experts (SMEs) in the realms of requirements, acquisition, science and technology, test, resourcing, costing, and sustainment, using CFTs for:
Improved long-range precision fires (artillery):—(Fort Sill, Oklahoma) Lead: BG John Rafferty ... PEO Ammunition (AMMO) Next Generation Combat Vehicle—(Detroit Arsenal, Warren, Michigan) Lead: BG Geoffrey Norman ... PEO Ground Combat Systems (GCS) Vertical lift platforms—(Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama) Lead: BG Wally Rugen ... PEO Aviation (AVN) Mobile and expeditionary (usable in ground combat) communications network (Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland) Network Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence—Lead: BG Jeth Rey ... PEO Command Control Communications Tactical (C3T) Assured Position Navigation and Timing—(Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama) Lead: William B. Nelson, SES Air and missile defense—(Fort Sill, Oklahoma) Lead: BG Brian Gibson, ... PEO Missiles and Space (M&S) Soldier lethality Soldier Lethality—(Fort Benning, Georgia) Lead: BG Larry Q. Burris, Jr. ... PEO Soldier Synthetic Training Environment—(Orlando, Florida) Lead: BG William Glaser ... PEO Simulation, Training, & Instrumentation (STRI) Contested logistics—(Huntsville, Alabama) Lead: Army Materiel Command (AMC) stood up in 2023 Above, 'dotted line' relationship (i.e., coordination) is denoted by a ' ... ' Long-range precision fires, Next Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift platforms, a mobile & expeditionary Army network, air and missile defense capabilities,MG Cedric T. Wins (09.10.2019) CCDC'S road map to modernizing the Army: air and missile defense DVIDS release (10 September 2019) Same CCDC text but with 3 more images. Fifth in a series. and soldier lethality.
Murray announced plans to stand up an Army Applications LabSydney J. Freedberg Jr. Army Applications Lab : (23 October 2018) Army Futures Command Wants YOU (To Innovate) —Adam Jay Harrison's list for types of Funding Authority to accelerate acquisition and deployment of materiel to the soldiers, including by using artificial intelligence (AI). Kelley M. Sayler, CRS (10 Nov 2020) Artificial Intelligence and National Security R45178
Murray also said he would hire a chief technology officer for AFC.Lauren C. Williams (14 Sep 2018) Army Futures Command to set up DIU-like innovation lab Ronald Sega, CTO for AFC, Starts 1 July 2019 Ronald "Ron" Michael Sega Ronald M. SegaC5ISR
A fundamental strategy was formulated, involving simultaneous integrated operations across domains.TRADOC Pamphlet 525-3-1 (6 December 2018) The U.S. Army in Multi-Domain Operations 2028 "describes how US Army forces, as part of the Joint Force, will militarily compete, penetrate, dis-integrate, and exploit our adversaries in the future." Link moved here This strategy involves pushing adversaries to standoff,CRS Insight (IN11019) (17 January 2019) The U.S. Army and Multi-Domain Operations Congressional Research Service (CRS) Todd South (11 August 2019) This 3-star Army general explains what multi-domain operations mean for you "think, assess and employ all domains when necessary"—General WesleyYasmin Tadjdeh (10/10/2018) Army to Focus on Defeating Enemies' Standoff Capabilities Summary of standoff by presenting them with multiple simultaneous dilemmas.Sydney Freedberg, Jr. (14 January 2020) Army Chief Seeks 'Minimally Manned' Vehicles, Joint C2 LRPF, ITN, IBCS, FARA, FLRAA, and "We need a joint command and control system" —Army Chief of Staff James C. McConvilleSydney Freedberg, Jr. (2021) Army Chief To Navy, Air Force: We've Got 'Speed & Range' "The future is all about range and speed" —Gen. McConville A goal is that by 2028, the ability to project rapid, responsive power across domains will have become apparent to potential adversaries.Chief of Staff paper #1, Headquarters, Department of the Army (16 March 2021) Army Multi-Domain Transformation: Ready to Win in Competition and Conflict Unclassified version by 40th Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. James C. McConvilleChief of Staff paper #2 (1 March 2021) The Army in Military Competition
In 2018, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Futures Command would have three areas of focus:Sydney Freedberg, Jr. (26 March 2018) Army Outlines Futures Command; Org Chart In Flux
Futures and Concepts: assess gaps (needs versus opportunities, given a threat). Concepts for realizable future systems (with readily harvestable content)Lt. Col. Thomas "Bull" Holland, PhD, U.S. Army (15 January 2019) Proposed Army Futures Command Process Tenets 'Scientific research is a fundamentally different activity than technology development'; Incorporate 'scientific research into "Appendix C: Functional Concepts" and specify pathways for technology development'; Buy into the 'fail fast' mentality; '6.3-funded projects to produce knowledge (technical data) that can be consumed by requirements developers as opposed to PMs'; Use 'evidence-based requirements process' (early hypothesis testing) with citations for evidence: All projects will be executed in no less than two increments. No new requirements once an increment is started. Summary: 'advances on the battlefield requires comprehensive, coordinated changes in the entire acquisition system';The RAND Corporation (2000) Discovery and Innovation: Federal Research and Development in the Fifty States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico RAND MR1194 Appendix B: Government-Wide and DOD Definitions of R&D See Appendix B p.615 for DOD Financial Management Regulation (Volume 2B, Chapter 5) will flow into TRADOC doctrine, manuals, and training programs. Combat Development: stabilized concepts. Balance the current state of technology and the cash-flow requirements of the defense contractors providing the technology, that they become deliverable experiments, demonstrations, and prototypes, in an iterative process of acquisition.Neil Hollenbeck and Benjamin Jensen (6 December 2017) Why the Army needs a Futures Command Enable a culture of experimentation, and develop concepts and technology together. (See Value stream) Combat Systems: experiments, demonstrations, and prototypes. Transition to the acquisition, production, and sustainment programs of AMC.ASA(ALT) Weapon Systems Handbook 2018 update
Army Secretary Mark Esper said that the 2018 administrative infrastructure for the Futures and Concepts Center (formerly ARCIC) and United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC, now called DEVCOM, (formerly RDECOM)) remains in place at their existing locations.Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr. (7 May 2018) Permanent Evolution: SecArmy Esper On Futures Command What has changed or will change is the layers of command (operational control, or OPCON) needed to make a decision.
2019 AFC declared its full operational capability in July 2019,Scott Maucione (19 July 2019) Army Futures Command fully operational, dinged by GAO on announcement Sean Kimmons, Army News Service (11 July 2019) after an initial one-year period. The FY2020 military budget allocated $30 billion for the top six modernization priorities over the next five years.Devon L. Suits, Army News Service Army (26 February 2019) FY20 budget proposal realigns $30 billion The $30 billion came from $8 billion in cost avoidance and $22 billion in terminations.Sydney J Freedberg Jr (29 May 2019) Army Big 6 Gets $10B More Over 2021-2025 More than 30 projectsMichael A. Grinston, James C. McConville, and Ryan McCarthy (2019) 2019 Army Modernization Strategy revision 7, CFTs' 31 signature effortsSydney J. Freedberg Jr. (19 September 2019) Can Army Control Costs Of Its New Weapons? Currently the Army has 692 programs of record were envisioned to become the materiel basis needed for overmatching any potential competitors in the 'continuum of conflict' over the next ten yearsSydney J. Freedberg Jr. (11 January 2019) 12 Moments Of Truth For Army Modernization In 2019 in multi-domain operations (MDO).MDO Challenge (15 May 2019) *Start here* MDO 101 General explanation of multi-domain operations (MDO) for the layman
From an initial 12 people at its headquarters in 2018, AFC grew to more than 17,000 peopleAmerica's Future Series (April 2023) GEN Mike Murray - Army Futures Command "What we got right" across 25 states and 15 countries in 2019.Sean Kimmons AFC's research facilities and personnel (including ARCIC and RDECOM) moved from other commands and parts of the Army such as the United States Army Research Laboratory.
2020