New Army command to focus on China, Russia

WASHINGTON — The creation of a new Texas-based Army command focused on the future will help the soldier service adapt to the emerging threats from powers such as China and Russia after years of counterinsurgency warfare, Army leaders said Friday.

Gen. Mark Milley, the Army’s chief of staff, told reporters the military recognized China and Russia have improved their military capabilities while the U.S. has been fighting insurgents in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere for the past 16 years or more.

“We are in the midst of a change inthe very character of war,” said Milley, adding the Army set aside major modernization programs in order to fight the current fifight. “No one was solely dedicated to looking into the deep future and determining the implications to the United States Army and the conduct of groundcombat of this changing character of war that we’re coming to grips with.”

In response, the Army announced it will launchthe Futures Command in Austin, Texas, aimed at insuring the service is ready for future wars.

Army Secretary Mark Esper said the command is the Army’s most signifificant reorganization in decades and will help provide soldier swith the weapons and equipment they need when they need it.

The Army laid out plans to create the command last October, marking the fifirst time since 1973 the service has added such a high-level new headquarters.

The command is expected to have a staffff of about 500 people, led by a four-star general. Ryan McCarthy, the undersecretary of the Army, said the incentive package offered by the city of Austin is still under discussion, and there are no fifinal costs yet for the command.

Initially, 15 cities were in contention, but the Army narrowed down the list to five finalists lastmonth: Austin, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Raleigh, North Carolina.

McCarthy said Austin outscored all the other cities on the key criteria, including access to universities with high-quality engineering schools, academic talent, flflourishing incubators for high-tech startups, good quality of life and reasonable cost of living.

AP FILE The Armywill launch the FuturesCommand in Austin, Texas, aimed at insuring the service is ready for futurewars. ArmySecretaryMark Esper said the command will help provide soldiers with the weapons and equipment they needwhen they need it.