Army Secretary John McHugh will retire from his post by Nov. 1 after six years in the role, according to the Pentagon.
“Secretary McHugh has been a tremendous public servant for decades, and he has helped lead the Army through a period of challenge and change,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a released statement. “There will be much time in the coming months to appropriately celebrate his many accomplishments, but for now I will just say that every soldier is better off because of his hard work and vision, and so is the country.”
Among the issues McHugh has championed recently is Army modernization, including through the integration of cutting-edge technology with soldiers on the ground. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee in March, McHugh urged lawmakers to continue to fund Army efforts that maintain a technological edge in an evolving era of warfare.
“The proliferation of information and communications technologies increases the momentum of human interaction, creating a constantly shifting geopolitical landscape. An Army that is globally engaged and regionally aligned requires access at the point of need, robust network capacity and capability that is tailorable and scalable,” McHugh said in his testimony. “The Army’s strategy is to effectively leverage joint networks, transition to cloud-based solutions and services, reduce the culture of controlling network resources and divest legacy systems to make way for resources to build network modernization. Over time, this will significantly boost information technology operational efficiency, improve mission effectiveness and posture the Army to more quickly adapt and innovate.”
In his March testimony the secretary also emphasized the Army’s strides in cyber capabilities, including the consolidation of Army Cyber Command, 2nd Army and the Joint Force Headquarters Cyber under one commander, and the establishment of the Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, Georgia and the Army Cyber Institute at West Point.
“Network dominance and defense is an integral part of our national security, and the Army is focused on proactively providing increased capability to the Joint Force,” he said. “With the evolving cyber environment, the Army has been proactively adapting to cyber threats and vulnerabilities by transforming processes, organizations and operating practices. As the Army restructures LandWarNet to support operations worldwide, it is imperative we rapidly innovate and fund network and cyber infrastructure, services, security and capabilities.”
McHugh also pressed for the continued protection of science and technology investments, and in recent months has ushered forward programs in leadership development that include fostering a growing IT workforce that can address gaps in science, technology, engineering and math.
No replacement has yet been announced, but Eric Fanning, currently serving as Carter’s chief of staff, is a top contender for the job, according to Defense News.
