User:Ancheta Wis/sandboxE

D R A F T part E History of the Army's reform efforts (really the introduction)

United States Army Futures Command (AFC) is a United States Army command aimed at modernizing the Army. It currently focuses on six priorities: The capabilities as prioritized by the Chief of Staff, will use Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the realms of requirements, acquisition, science and technology, test, resourcing, costing, and sustainment, using CFTs for: AFC's cross-functional teams (CFTs) are Futures Command's vehicle for sustainable reform of the acquisition process for the future.
 * 1) Improved long-range precision fires (artillery):—(Fort Sill, Oklahoma) Lead: BG John Rafferty  ... PEO Ammunition (AMMO)
 * 2) Next-generation combat vehicle—(Detroit Arsenal, Warren, Michigan) Lead:  BG Ross Coffman ... PEO Ground Combat Systems (GCS)
 * 3) Vertical lift platforms—(Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama) Lead: BG Wally Rugen ... PEO Aviation (AVN)
 * 4) Mobile and expeditionary (usable in ground combat) communications network (Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland)
 * 5) Network Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence— Lead: MG Pete Gallagher ... PEO Command Control Communications Tactical (C3T)
 * 6) Assured Position Navigation and Timing— (Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama) Lead: William B. Nelson, SES
 * 7) Air and missile defense—(Fort Sill, Oklahoma) Lead: BG Brian Gibson, ... PEO Missiles and Space (M&S)
 * 8) Soldier lethality
 * 9) Soldier Lethality—(Fort Benning, Georgia) Lead: BG David M. Hodne ... PEO Soldier
 * 10) Synthetic Training Environment —(Orlando, Florida) Lead: MG Maria Gervais ... PEO Simulation, Training, & Instrumentation (STRI)
 * Above, 'dotted line' relationship (i.e., coordination) is denoted by a ' ... ' 1— long-range precision fires, 2— next-generation combat vehicle, 3— future vertical lift platforms, 4— a mobile & expeditionary Army network, 5— air & missile defense capabilities,  and 6— soldier lethality.

Futures Command (AFC) was established in 2018 as a peer of FORSCOM, TRADOC, and Army Materiel Command (AMC), the other Army commands (ACOMs—providing forces, training and doctrine, and materiel respectively). The other Army commands focus on their readiness to "Fight tonight" when called upon by the nation. In contrast, AFC is focused on future readiness for competition with near-peers, who have updated their capabilities.

AFC declared its Full Operational Capability (FOC) in July 2019, after an initial one-year period. The FY2020 budget allocated $30 billion for the top six modernization priorities over the next five years. The $30 billion came from $8 billion in cost avoidance and $22 billion in terminations. Over 30 projects  are envisioned to become the materiel basis needed for overmatching any potential competitors in the continuum of conflict over the next ten years, in  Multi-domain operations (MDO).

Headquarters (HQ) and commander
On 13 July 2018, U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper said AFC's headquarters would be based in Austin, Texas. AFC spreads across three locations totalling 75,000 square feet; one of the locations in a University of Texas System building at 210 W. Seventh St. in downtown Austin, on the 15th and 19th floors. The UT Regents will not be charging rent to AFC until December 2019. The command began initial operations on 1 July 2018.

On 16 July 2018, Lieutenant General John M. Murray was nominated for a fourth star and appointment as Army Futures Command's first commanding general. His appointment was confirmed 20 August 2018 and he assumed command during the official activation ceremony of AFC on 24 August 2018, in Austin, Texas.

Value stream
The AFC commander, in a hearing before Congress' House Armed Services Committee, projects that materiel will result from the value stream below, within a two-year time frame, from concept to Soldier. The commanding general is assisted by three deputy commanders. "... what I do think you will see is some of the capabilities the cross-functional teams are working will be in production and being delivered and in the hands of soldiers in the next two years" —Gen. John "Mike" Murray (2018)."
 * the Futures and Concepts Center, led by AFC deputy commanding general Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, who is seeking 4 value streams for reducing the time invested to define a relevant requirement:
 * 1) Science and technology (S&T: discovery / collection of ideas with usable effects)
 * 2) Experiments (Testing of a system to a known expectation of effects, or else observation of that system, in the absence of a specific expectation of effects)
 * 3) Concepts development (Development of a relevant idea about that system)
 * 4) Requirements development (Development of the terms and conditions for that system)
 * Combat Development element, Army Futures Command.  Lt. Gen. James M. Richardson is the deputy commander. He assists the commander with efforts to assess and integrate the future operational environment, emerging threats, and technologies to develop and deliver concepts, requirements, and future force designs to posture the Army for the future.
 * The Capability development integration directorate (CDID) of each Center of Excellence (CoE), works with its CFT and its research, development and engineering center (RDEC) to develop operational experiments and prototypes to test.
 * The Battle Labs and The Research Analysis Center (TRAC) prototype and analyze the concepts to test.
 * JMC is capable of providing live developmental experiments to test those concepts or capabilities, "scalable from company level to corps, amid tough, realistic multi-domain operations".
 * RDECOM becomes the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), part of the Combat Development element, on 3 February 2019.
 * Combat Systems Directorate was to be led by the ASA(ALT)'s Principal Military Deputy (Principal Military Deputy (PMILDEP) to the ASA(ALT)) who will produce those developed solutions and seek feedback.
 * Gen. Robert Abrams has tasked III Corps with providing Soldier feedback for the Next Generation Combat Vehicles CFT, XVIII Corps for the Soldier feedback on the Soldier lethality CFT, the Network CFT, as well as the Synthetic training CFT, and I Corps for the Long Range Precision Fires CFT.
 * Combat Systems refines, engineers, and produces the developed solutions from Combat Development.
 * An analysis by AMSAA can then assess that concept or capability, as a promising system for a materiel development decision.

Army Chief of Staff Milley is looking for AFC to attain full operational capability (FOC) by August 2019. "I think we have been actually executing the mission for the last six to eight months if not longer. —Gen. John "Mike" Murray, 19 July 2019"

Commanding General