{"id":54574,"date":"2018-07-13T17:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T17:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/13\/why-the-army-picked-austin-for-futures-command\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:02:43","slug":"why-the-army-picked-austin-for-futures-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2018\/07\/13\/why-the-army-picked-austin-for-futures-command\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Army picked Austin for Futures Command"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=dc80154f-7fa4-46c1-9ed8-410c70457c9f\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-dc80154f-7fa4-46c1-9ed8-410c70457c9f.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Army officials explain why Austin is the best place for the newest command, led by a four-star general.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 After whittling down a list of more than 150 cities to five, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2018\/07\/12\/army-futures-command-headed-to-austin\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Army has decided on Austin, Texas,<\/a> for its new four-star command designed to tackle modernization priorities that will help it fight the next wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Questions on the distance from the Pentagon and other major four-star commands have cropped up overnight as well as whether or not the Army will struggle to fit in and be accepted by hip, anti-establishment entrepreneurs with whom it hopes to collaborate to gain a vast technological edge against peer adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa\/2017\/10\/09\/the-army-is-creating-a-new-modernization-command-to-keep-projects-on-track\/\" target=\"_blank\">Army Futures Command<\/a> was stood up in October at the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual conference in Washington. The plan is to realign the Army\u2019s modernization priorities under a new organization that will implement cross-functional teams that correspond with the service\u2019s top six modernization efforts: Long-Range Precision Fires, Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift, the network, air and missile defense, and soldier lethality.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/global-force-symposium\/2018\/03\/26\/army-futures-command-taking-charge-of-conjuring-up-new-capability\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McCarthy-Tight-3-2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Army Futures Command taking charge of conjuring up new capability<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Army is closing in on choosing a location and a commander for its new Futures Command as it prepares to stand the organization up this coming June.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These priorities address gaps the Army found \u2014 as it looked toward fighting complex, hybrid wars against near-peer adversaries \u2014 as the result of a focus on asymmetric warfare and counterinsurgency operations over the past 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are in the midst of a change in the very character of war,\u201d Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said at a July 13 Pentagon press briefing. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t, and didn\u2019t, have the organization solely dedicated to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While other commands had modernization efforts built in, \u201cit was spread out all over the place and no one was solely dedicated to looking into the deep future and determining the implications to the U.S. Army,\u201d he said. \u201cWe needed to dedicate a single organization to that and thereby streamline and consolidate and bring unity of command and purpose to the Army for the development of our future capabilities. That is why. That is the reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army believes Austin will provide the new command with the tools to be disruptive, innovative and break the entire service out of the archaic industrial age, allowing it to effectively focus on modernizing and preparing for future, more complex operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2018\/02\/08\/army-futures-command-might-be-in-a-city\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McCarthy.jpg_db0308.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Army Futures Command might be in a city<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy teased out some possibilities for the service&#039;s new Futures Command that will be established this year at a Brookings Institution event Feb. 8.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Austin beat out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2018\/04\/19\/army-narrows-locations-for-new-futures-command-to-15\/\" target=_blank>short list <\/a>of Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. \u201cThe choice was very difficult, but we ultimately had to make a choice that was best for the U.S. Army,\u201d Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters during the briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service developed a model and criteria to assess cities using an outside firm and then validated the findings through its own internal studies and analysis as well as through a federally funded research and development center to narrow the search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army focused on six major criteria to choose Austin: proximity to science, technology, engineering and mathematics workers and industries; proximity to private sector innovation; academic STEM and research and development investment; quality of life; cost; and civic support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI laid out the six variables. Austin scored the highest,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the Army looked beyond those metrics and envisioned \u201chow each city ecosystem would support our modernization efforts and priorities vertically from concept to capability to solution,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cWe do not have time to build this ecosystem; it needs to be ready immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army found Austin had access to academia, industry and mature entrepreneurial incubator hubs \u201cto give our leaders placement and access to talent, ideas, collaboration and willingness to help us build the culture we need,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the service will have a headquarters established in an office building in downtown Austin for leadership, it will also embed personnel within incubator hubs already well established in the city, places where entrepreneurs sit in a \u201csea of laptops\u201d collaborating on big problems and ideas, McCarthy described.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army has acknowledged the strength of entrepreneurialism, and \u201cthese incubator hubs are really challenging these big corporations,\u201d McCarthy added. This is why, for example, there is a growth of venture capital arms within major defense firms, he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is where collaboration, networking and innovation is happening daily at rates that cannot be duplicated on an Army post or industrial park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked how the Army can be confident it would be accepted by entities like academia and entrepreneurial hubs that are inherently culturally different from the military, McCarthy said there has been an \u201coverwhelming level of support\u201d and a desire for the Army to be there from each city that made it to the top-five list. \u201cI can\u2019t emphasize that enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCarthy said there is already an advance team heading to Austin that will be there to initially stand up the command. He also said an incentives package has been offered by the state of Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army is working through the details of the incentives package and has not yet inked a deal, \u201cbut we have the offer on the table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2017\/11\/08\/fundamental-changes-afoot-at-major-commands-as-army-sets-up-new-modernization-outfit\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AUSA_McCarthyMilley08.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Fundamental changes afoot at major commands as US Army sets up modernization outfit<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy says setting up the service&#039;s modernization command could mean fundamental changes are afoot for major commands.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milley noted that the establishment of Army Futures Command in Austin is only beginning \u2014 its initial operational capaiblity \u2014 but it will reach a full operational capability in one year from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt will take one year,\u201d he said, \u201cto stand this command up, have all of its processes fleshed out, have all of the people assigned and to start seeing some initial results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army Secretary Mark Esper added that much is likely to change over time. \u201cWe have to be comfortable operating in the gray over time. There may be things that we pull into the organization and move them back out as we evolve and learn. \u2026 That is part of the culture that we are trying to build, is flexibility to adapt your organization, your processes to the needs of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Army picks Austin, Texas, for its four-star command in the hopes it will help change the service&#8217;s culture to be more innovative, rapid and technologically disruptive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"5":{"categories":["your-army","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-army"}}},"categories":[160,11,14,36,48],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3330],"class_list":["post-54574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-land","category-newsletters","category-the-americas"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6U7YOLHFLZDHPGECVWMB4DDKRM","arc_canonical_url":"\/land\/2018\/07\/13\/why-the-army-picked-austin-for-futures-command\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why the Army picked Austin for Futures Command - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Army picks Austin, Texas, for its four-star command in the hopes it will help change the service&#039;s culture to be more innovative, rapid and technologically disruptive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2018\/07\/13\/why-the-army-picked-austin-for-futures-command\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the Army picked Austin for Futures Command\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Army picks Austin, Texas, for its four-star command in the hopes it will help change the service&#039;s culture to be more innovative, rapid and technologically disruptive.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2018\/07\/13\/why-the-army-picked-austin-for-futures-command\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-13T17:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:02:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jen Judson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jen Judson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    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