Potomac Officers Club (POC) hosted its 6th Annual Army Forum on Thursday to share the most recent news, initiatives and developments regarding how the U.S. Army is driving future capabilities to meet the demand and speed of the digital battlefield from the perspective of the elite executives addressing the challenges first hand.
Following an opening keynote address from Christopher Lowman, senior official performing the duties of the U.S. Army undersecretary, and two separate expert panel discussions featuring several of the most notable federal and industry leaders, the closing keynote address was given by Gen. John “Mike” Murray, commanding general of the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient.
Check out the Potomac Officers Club’s Event Page to view the 6th Annual Army Forum on demand if you missed it on Thursday, Aug. 12th.
As Gen. Mike Murray took the stage for the closing keynote, he referenced Christopher Lowman’s opening keynote during the Forum and shared the tidbit that in less than two weeks the U.S. Army Futures Command would be celebrating the third anniversary of its creation.
Gen. Murray shed a light on the shocking growth the AFC has had in just the three years since its inception. Three years ago, it acted as the largest reorganization of the service branch since 1973. It began as a “startup organization” with ten people to build it from scratch and just three years later, the command represents the efforts of more than 27,000 spread across the globe.
“I tell people all the time that when you think about AFC, it’s more than about emerging technology. It’s also about the concepts and the transition of multi-domain operations into doctrine, which are in the process of doing right now,” Gen. Murray explained. “So what’s the next concept because the material is quite interesting, but it’s actually about how soldiers will employ those materials into the technology of the future.”
Most notably, Gen. Murray mentioned that a project like the Apache aircraft development began in 1967 and was eventually delivered about 15 years later in 1982 or 1983. From his point of view, the objective is to move that process along much faster to be able to utilize the latest tech far more efficiently and quickly to put into the hands of our warfighters.
He noted that a lot of the struggle is not searching specifically for that golden solution and a lot of it is cultural from inside the service branch itself. Gen. Murray broke down the modernization efforts of the Army from World War II to the modern day and that another transformational modernization period is coming or the Army could have the same materials today in 40 years.
Visit the Potomac Officers Club’s Event Page to hear the full keynote address from Gen. John “Mike” Murray regarding the important developments of how the Army is addressing these efforts and the challenges of its major modernization efforts.
On Aug. 31st, Potomac Officers Club will host its Building the Future Battle: The Keys to JADC2 featuring Preston Dunlap, chief architect of the Department of the Air and Space Force as the keynote speaker to explore the fundamental solutions needed for the implementation of crucial areas such as the tactical edge, a common data fabric and establishing decision advantage.
Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com to register for its Building the Future Battle: The Keys to JADC2 on Aug. 31st and learn more about the challenges that JADC2 leaders are addressing to build the digital infrastructure for the future battle and national security protection.
Thank you for your continued support of the Potomac Officers Club and we hope to see you at the Building the Future Battle: The Keys to JADC2 on Aug. 31st.
