{"id":62759,"date":"2022-10-05T17:04:55","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T17:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/05\/army-futures-command-has-a-new-commander\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:44:20","slug":"army-futures-command-has-a-new-commander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2022\/10\/05\/army-futures-command-has-a-new-commander\/","title":{"rendered":"Army Futures Command has a new commander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 After 10 months without a confirmed commander at Army Futures Command, Gen. James Rainey<\/a> took over in an Oct. 4 ceremony at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library here in front of a crowd comprising nearly all Army leaders involved in creating the now four-year-old outfit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rainey\u2019s last job was on the Army staff as the head of the G-3\/5\/7 directorates, leading the service\u2019s transformation at the Pentagon. He previously led the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a speech, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth praised Rainey as \u201cthe right leader to build on the excellent work of generals Mike Murray and Jim Richardson, and take AFC into this next phase of delivering the Army of 2030 \u2013 as well as looking ahead to what we will need in 2040.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wormuth touted Rainey\u2019s achievements in prominent Army planning processes, including his involvement in the Army Campaign Plan, the Total Army Analysis, the global force management mechanism, supporting operations at the Southwest Border and responding to presidential drawdowns for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rainey took the reins from Lt. Gen. James Richardson, who served as the acting commander following the retirement of AFC\u2019s first leader, Gen. Mike Murray<\/a>, in December 2021, as the Army worked through who would be nominated to the job. Richardson retired in a ceremony directly following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army had been without a commander at Austin-based AFC <\/a>for a record amount of time because officials worried the front-runner for the job, Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, would not receive congressional approval after he allegedly had reservations about deploying the National Guard during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense News first reported Sept. 6 that the Army was likely to nominate Rainey, the G-3\/5\/7 chief in charge of Army strategic operations at the Pentagon, to lead Army Futures Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of a confirmed commander led to uncertainty at the fledgling command <\/a>and some turnover.<\/p>\n\n\n\t