Army Futures Command bid farewell Dec. 3 to Gen. Mike Murray and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Crosby, who served for more than three years as the first command team for the Army’s newest four-star command.  

During the relinquishment of command ceremony in Austin, Texas, Murray was honored as he prepares to retire after more than 40 years of Army service, while Crosby handed responsibility as senior enlisted leader for Futures Command to Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Hester.   

Murray’s successor has not been announced. Lt. Gen. James Richardson, Futures Command deputy commanding general for combat development, has assumed command.   

When Murray took the job in 2017, he pledged the command would “have a singular focus to make soldiers and leaders more effective and more lethal today and in the future.” He also promised that this would be a team effort to bring the best talent the Army could find to help with the task.  

The goal, he said, was to “deliver solutions at the speed of relevance, at the speed our soldiers deserve.”  

The Army expects about half its transformation priorities to be fielded by the end of fiscal 2023, including such big leaps as hypersonic missiles and major network improvements, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said, a sign of how successful Futures Command has been under Murray’s leadership. 

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth praised Murray and Crosby for great successes, and she expects the same from their successors. “The Army has been extremely fortunate to have Gen. Murray as Futures Command’s first commanding general,” she said, crediting Murray for pushing the Army to transform and for building partnerships with industry and academia.  

Murray could be depended upon to provide “frank and unvarnished” counsel, she said. 

“In my experience, not every great leader, even really great leaders, are cut out for the challenge of establishing and leading an entirely new organization,” she said. “It takes a person with vision and entrepreneurial spirit to succeed in this kind of role.” 

McConville, who played a big role in Futures Command’s creation, said, “It is just amazing how far this command has come.” To Murray, he said, “What you all have done is led the biggest Army transformation in 40 years.”  

“AFC was not easy,” Murray said of the decision to create the new command. “This was the biggest change in the Army in a really long time.”  

“I have just been incredibly blessed since company command,” Murray said of the leaders who have set examples for him in his career. “I will be forever grateful to them.”