ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army is launching two new programs this fall as it builds its talent management efforts in the areas of artificial intelligence and data science, a senior commander said.

First up is a master’s degree program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force is based, said Gen. Mike Murray, commander of Army Futures Command. 

The Army also is creating a yearlong program for young officers, NCOs and warrant officers, he said.

The Army must work toward battery-powered vehicles as it prepares for a future battlefield where soldiers are expected to operate in small teams spread over large areas and resupply options are limited, the commander of Army Futures Command said.

“Eventually, we have to get to a hybrid-electric solution,” Gen. Mike Murray said June 10 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders livestream event. This was the first event in AUSA’s new Thought Leaders series, which will feature talks by key Army leaders.

A new Land Warfare Paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army focuses on how armed robotic systems would operate under the Army’s strict command and control doctrine.

Written by international security and counterterrorism expert Robert Bunker, an adjunct professor at the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, the paper looks at how decision-making by machines is different than decisions made by humans. Machines don’t have morals or emotions, he writes, “nor do they understand honor, integrity or self-sacrifice.”

The Army continues to build momentum for its modernization efforts despite grappling with delays and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commander of Army Futures Command said.

“We are learning a lot of lessons from this experience,” Gen. Mike Murray said June 10 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders livestream event. This was the first of a series of events that will feature key Army leaders.

The Association of the U.S. Army is launching a Thought Leaders livestream series with Gen. Mike Murray of Army Futures Command scheduled for a June 10 presentation and retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey appearing on June 15.

Murray, who became Futures Command's first commanding general when the organization was activated in August 2018, is expected to provide updates on Army modernization priorities.

Ten small businesses have been named finalists in the fourth round of the Army’s xTechSearch competition.

The companies will each receive $120,000 and advance to the finals, which are scheduled for the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2020 Annual Meeting and Exposition in October. The winner will receive a $250,000 prize to continue its work.

Twenty companies competed in the semifinals of xTechSearch 4.0, which took place online.

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.

Twenty small business and technology companies will demonstrate their innovations during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition as part of the fourth round of the Army’s XTechSearch competition.

The U.S. military could have a new, joint operating concept within a year, loosely based on the Army’s Multi-Domain Operations proposal, the commander of the U.S. Army Futures Command said.

Speaking Feb. 10 at the Atlantic Council, Gen. Mike Murray said the services have similar concepts but haven’t been able to agree on details. That could soon change, he said.

The Army has been working for about four years on the notion that a broad-capability force that could find itself challenged in the air, land, sea, space or cyberspace domains should exploit a gap in another domain.