General John “Mike” Murray
John Michael “Mike” Murray is a United States Army general, the first commanding general of United States Army Futures Command (AFC), a new four-star Army Command (ACOM) headquartered in Austin, Texas. Murray was previously the G-8, a deputy chief of staff to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army (CSA). G-8s serve as principal advisor to the CSA for materiel requirements, as military counterpart to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology (ASA(ALT)).
Modernization reform is the focus of AFC, which means readiness for a nearer-term future, whereas immediate readiness is the charter for the current ACOMs: FORSCOM, TRADOC and AMC, as well as the army service component commands, such as USARPAC. Previous modernization efforts involved five and ten year plans, but a goal for AFC is to reduce the requirements definition stage from five years to one year.
Interview
Will America change or become obsolete? Commanding General of Army Futures Command, General John Murray is spear heading this issue head on. His mission at Army Futures Command: Modernize the Army in a way that has never been done before. No easy feat as this is one of the biggest cultural changes the Army has ever faced. Modernizing our military and creating a more innovative fighting force is arguably the most important thing we are doing today.