{"id":17091,"date":"2018-03-26T17:48:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T17:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/26\/the-army-is-already-putting-new-gear-in-soldiers-hands-as-it-builds-its-modernization-command\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:35:12","slug":"the-army-is-already-putting-new-gear-in-soldiers-hands-as-it-builds-its-modernization-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/show-reporter\/global-force-symposium\/2018\/03\/26\/the-army-is-already-putting-new-gear-in-soldiers-hands-as-it-builds-its-modernization-command\/","title":{"rendered":"The Army is already putting new gear in soldiers\u2019 hands as it builds its modernization command"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama \u2014 The new Army Futures Command<\/a> is slated for initial operating capability this summer, with full capabilities a year later, but acquisition research teams are already down at the unit level to get soldier input on systems that in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, an infantry battalion within the 82nd Airborne Division<\/a> is testing a network prototype, one of the new command\u2019s six modernization priorities, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville<\/a> told Army Times on Monday at the AUSA Global Force Symposium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got the equipment, it\u2019s out with the troops, they\u2019re giving the feedback,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people that are developing the systems are there right with them, so they\u2019re actually using it and giving very good feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville speaks March 26 at the AUSA Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. (Jeff Martin\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soldiers at the unit level, working with the command\u2019s cross-functional teams, will be key to all of Futures Command\u2019s projects, leaders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo they\u2019re helping us build this network from the ground up, and we\u2019re building it from the top down,\u201d McConville added. \u201cGetting the input of users is extremely important, or you won\u2019t have a system that they\u2019re going to use when it gets fielded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s similar to a special operations model, he said, which has been an inspiration in the effort to streamline Army acquisitions as whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey get it down, they give special operators a chance to work with the equipment,\u201d McConville said. \u201cThey touch it, they feel it, and then we can quickly turn those things around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t