{"id":59155,"date":"2019-07-22T17:20:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T17:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/22\/can-futures-command-change-the-armys-relationship-with-academia-and-small-business\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:25:53","slug":"can-futures-command-change-the-armys-relationship-with-academia-and-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2019\/07\/22\/can-futures-command-change-the-armys-relationship-with-academia-and-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixing relationships: How US Army Futures Command is working with small biz, academia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Army Futures Command<\/a> is laying the groundwork to strengthen collaboration with academia and small businesses to solve some of the service\u2019s most major problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army has struggled with relationships outside of the established defense industry, particularly with small businesses and Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small businesses have expressed concerns about working with the government, mostly in regard to the time it takes to secure a contract award as well as the complex and cumbersome government-contracting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government Accountability Office issued a report<\/a> last week that found Army Futures Command could improve how it works with small businesses. The report was released on the eve of AFC\u2019s declaration of full operational capability<\/a>, which is officially set for July 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe funny thing is if I talk to defense primes, they are convinced all we are working with is small business, and I talk to small business all they are convinced … we are working with the defense primes,\u201d Gen. Mike Murray, AFC commander, said during a July 18 press briefing at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a combination of both for us to accomplish our mission, and in many ways a combination of both working together\u201d to achieve the command\u2019s goals in modernizing the Army, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Murray agreed there is more to be done. To its credit, the command was built from scratch and was a \u201cblank canvas\u201d just a year ago, Murray said. The command went from 24 pioneers on the ground at its headquarters in Austin, Texas, to 24,000 soldiers and civilians in 25 states and in 15 countries, over the course of the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since landing in Austin, the AFC has established \u201cfocused relationships\u201d with industry and academia, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engaging small businesses<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One critical step toward engagement with small businesses was the creation of the Army Applications Laboratory in Austin\u2019s Capital Factory \u2014 an innovation hub for entrepreneurs in the heart of the city\u2019s downtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The venue, with more than 100 Army personnel, is to identify novel solutions to benefit the Army\u2019s modernization priorities. For example, the lab is kicking off a major effort this week to discover out-of-the-box solutions for an autoloader for its Extended Range Cannon Artillery system<\/a> in development under its top priority \u2014 Long Range Precision Fires<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t