ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

As the Army continues its transformation, it must ensure that training keeps pace with new systems and technologies, and the service must work with industry partners to expedite the acquisition process, two senior Army leaders said.

“It’s an exciting time—the Army is doing a lot, very quickly,” said Douglas Bush, the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology. “We want to make things easier for our leaders, our commanders and our soldiers.”

As the Army faces pressure to adopt the technologies and digital tools rapidly becoming the standard for business and professional operations, service leaders plan to roll out a slate of new development and acquisition policies aimed at standardizing best practices and taking advantage of outside expertise and already validated efforts.

But even with these initiatives in motion, the Army may not be moving fast enough to satisfy the industry partners supporting its work. 

As a new unprovoked invasion ignites war in the Middle East, the U.S. Army is watching—and it’s better prepared to assist now than it was two years ago.

That’s the message from Douglas Bush, assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology. Speaking Oct. 9 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Bush hailed the transformation that has taken place within Army acquisition in the past year, motivated by the urgent need to support Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia. 

With the rapid evolution of technology, soldiers fighting on the battlefields of 2050 may not look too different from a science fiction movie or a video game, a senior Army leader said.

Speed, agility and partnerships with industry are critical to the Army’s success as it transforms the force for the future, a panel of experts said during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama.

“We have to be able to react at a speed that paces the threat, and that includes in acquisition,” said Douglas Bush, assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology. Congress has helped, he said, by giving the Army various authorities to “go much more quickly when we need to.”

Douglas Bush, the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, says his top priority is very simple: “The only thing that actually matters in the Army is equipping soldiers so they can fight and win.”

Speaking at an Army Aviation Hot Topic event hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army, Bush said the Army has struggled in the past on designing, building and fielding new products. Times have changed, he said, with the Army on the edge of big changes.

The Army’s top acquisition official says great progress is being made on transformational systems and aiding Ukraine. 

“We’ve had some great successes,” Doug Bush, the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, said at a recent news briefing. “This coming year is going to be even bigger.” 

Army plans to field hybrid-drive tactical vehicles by 2035 and fully electric tactical vehicles by 2050 align with a broader service strategy to slow climate change and transition more fully to renewable energy sources. 

But the Army’s top acquisition official says this move will also make soldiers more effective against the enemy.

The Army’s new acquisition chief wants to speed up the process of getting soldiers what they need, bolster software talent in the workforce and encourage innovation across the enterprise.

Doug Bush, the new assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said he plans to continue responsible use of the “new authorities we have” to enable a faster acquisition process. He said there is a demand from Army leadership and from Congress that soldiers get what they need as they confront the evolving demands of combat.