Momentum is the key word for 2020 at the U.S. Army Futures Command, says its commander, Gen. Mike Murray.

Speaking Feb. 10 at an Atlantic Council forum, Murray said the key to meeting ambitious modernization goals is to keep moving. “I think you’ll see in 2020 a pretty aggressive year of demonstrations, experimentation and—something I’m very proud of—soldier touchpoints,” he said, referring to getting prototypes into the hands of soldiers for early evaluation.

Early and continuing soldier feedback will be critical to success, Murray said.

Momentum has many parts, Murray said. First, the Army needs to discover innovative products and strategies. Second, the Army must find faster ways of delivering capabilities to the field. Third, the Army can’t slow or pause, Murray said, describing what he called the need for persistent modernization where something is being constantly upgraded and refined.

This means there is no time to relax for a command that in its two years of existence has grown from 12 people to more than 26,000.

The ultimate goal is to grow the current force into a future force, without stopping along the way because operational demands don’t allow the Army to pause while modernizing, Murray said.