US Army nominates new Futures Command chief

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has nominated a new leader for Futures Command — Lt. Gen. James Rainey — nine months after its first commander Gen. Mike Murray retired, the service’s undersecretary said Sept. 7 at the Defense News Conference.

Lt. Gen. James Richardson, Murray’s deputy, has served as acting commander since the first commander’s retirement in December 2021.

The Army command that oversees the requirements process for modernization had been without a confirmed four-star leader for more than nine months after officials worried the front-runner for the job would not receive congressional approval because he allegedly had reservations about deploying the National Guard during the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.

Several current and former Army personnel, speaking on background because they were not authorized to discuss personnel matters, told Defense News that Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt was considered for the position. But Army leaders worried the controversy over how Piatt was portrayed in the lead-up to deploying the National Guard would hinder his chances of earning a Senate confirmation.

Defense News first reported Sept. 6 that the Army was likely to nominate Rainey, the G-3/5/7 chief in charge of Army strategic operations at the Pentagon, to lead Army Futures Command.

“The entire Army team has been fully behind getting a new commander to AFC as soon as we possibly could, and I think we’ve said that pretty consistently for the last couple of months,” Gabe Camarillo told Defense News at the conference.

Rainey “brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that I think would be fantastic for the role if he’s confirmed. Having served as the G-3/5/7, he’s got a lot of experience in the Pentagon on the Army’s operational needs and capabilities. He understands the budget, having worked those issues for the last several years in the Pentagon as well. And I would also note he’s got a lot of operational experience as well to draw back,” Camarillo added. “But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that he was the former commander of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth — the CAC — and that is a tremendous asset, I think, and background and experience that I think he’ll be able to take into the job if he’s confirmed by the Senate Armed Services Committee.”

The CAC at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is central to Training and Doctrine Command’s doctrine creation. The Army is close to transforming its multidomain operations concept into doctrine by the end of this year.

“So we look forward to his prompt and speedy consideration for confirmation,” Camarillo said.

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

华盛顿——美国陆军副部长于9月7日在国防新闻发布会上宣布，美国陆军已提名詹姆斯·雷尼中将担任未来司令部的新任司令。此前，该司令部首任司令迈克·默里将军已于九个月前退休。

自第一任指挥官于 2021 年 12 月退休以来，穆雷的副手詹姆斯·理查森中将一直担任代理指挥官。

负责监督现代化需求流程的陆军司令部已经九个多月没有一位正式的四星上将领导人了，此前官员们担心该职位的热门人选不会获得国会的批准，因为据称他对在 1 月 6 日国会大厦袭击事件期间部署国民警卫队有所保留。

多位现役和退役陆军人员匿名向《防务新闻》透露，沃尔特·皮亚特中将曾是该职位的候选人之一，因为他们未获授权讨论人事问题。但陆军领导人担心，在部署国民警卫队之前，围绕皮亚特形象的争议会影响他获得参议院确认的机会。

《防务新闻》9月6日率先报道，陆军很可能提名五角大楼负责陆军战略行动的G-3/5/7主管雷尼领导陆军未来司令部。

“整个陆军团队一直全力支持尽快为美国陆军司令部任命一位新指挥官，我认为在过去的几个月里，我们一直都在强调这一点，”加布·卡马里洛在会议上告诉《防务新闻》。

“雷尼拥有丰富的经验和知识，我认为如果他获得确认，将非常适合这个职位。他曾担任G-3/5/7（陆军作战参谋部情报、后勤和作战能力）职务，在五角大楼积累了丰富的陆军作战需求和能力方面的经验。他对预算也十分了解，过去几年他也一直在五角大楼处理相关问题。我还想指出，他拥有丰富的作战经验，”卡马里洛补充道。“但我必须提到，他曾担任莱文沃斯堡联合兵种中心（CAC）的指挥官——我认为这是一笔巨大的财富，也是他如果获得参议院军事委员会确认后能够胜任这项工作的背景和经验。”

位于堪萨斯州莱文沃斯堡的联合作战中心（CAC）是训练与条令司令部条令制定的核心。陆军有望在今年年底前将其多域作战概念转化为条令。

“因此，我们期待他能尽快获得确认，”卡马里洛说。

珍·贾德森是一位屡获殊荣的记者，为《防务新闻》报道陆地战争。她也曾为《政治报》和《内幕防务》工作。她拥有波士顿大学新闻学硕士学位和凯尼恩学院文学学士学位。