{"id":22151,"date":"2018-03-27T21:19:43","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T21:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/27\/abrams-army-units-will-be-tasked-to-work-on-each-of-futures-commands-priorities\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:20:28","slug":"abrams-army-units-will-be-tasked-to-work-on-each-of-futures-commands-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/global-force-symposium\/2018\/03\/27\/abrams-army-units-will-be-tasked-to-work-on-each-of-futures-commands-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Abrams: Army units will be tasked to work on each of Futures Command\u2019s priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. \u2014 There are eight cross-functional teams<\/a> tasked with tackling the Army\u2019s modernization needs, and this time around, leaders are taking care to get soldier feedback<\/a> from the get-go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So before they\u2019ve reached even initial operational capability, scheduled for this summer, the head of Army Forces Command<\/a> has begun aligning CFTs with the Army\u2019s numbered corps to test new devices and equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is where we get immediate soldier feedback to help refine requirements,\u201d Gen. Robert Abrams told Army Times on Tuesday at the AUSA Global Force Symposium. \u201cOne of our challenges all along has been, in the current acquisition process, we bring soldiers in kind of late, we bring commanders in late.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gen. Robert B. Abrams, Commanding General of US Army Forces Command, speaks during the MG Robert G. Moorhead National Guard\/Army Reserve Breakfast at the AUSA Annual Meeting. (Mike Morones for Army Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, CFTs will be able to call up their assigned commander to coordinate a research session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, we want to try something out three weeks from now \u2013 I need 10 soldiers to come down to Benning, 10 soldiers to go up to Vermont, 10 soldiers to go here, 10 soldiers to go there,\u201d Abrams said, explaining the plan. \u201cHey I need a platoon to go, and we\u2019re going to put stuff in their hands and try it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teams are aligned according to a few factors, Abrams said, based not only on what the corps itself does, but where divisions are in operational tempo and how innovative their leaders are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, most of the Army\u2019s infantry brigade combat teams are under XVIII Airborne Corps, so they have taken on the soldier lethality portfolio, Abrams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also have the network, where 82nd Airborne Division soldiers began testing new communications equipment last summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, III Corps has the next-generation combat vehicle \u2014 because they\u2019re home to eight of the service\u2019s nine armored brigade combat teams \u2014 as well as synthetic training, because the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas-based CFT is only a couple hours from Fort Riley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey probably have our best, what we call a mission command training center, where we do our exercises,\u201d Abrams said of Riley.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And long-range precision fires landed at I Corps, because they are already involved in a multi-domain task force prototype that is launching next year under U.S. Army Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those Army Futures Command is still standing up, the CFTs are off and running with a handful of projects, based on programs the Army has already been working, and commercially available products the Army is scouting for its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these is the enhanced night vision goggles, at the top of the list for the soldier lethality CFT.<\/p>\n\n\n\t