Army still deciding where to base 3rd MDTF

The Army's third multidomain task force will be stationed in the Indo-Pacific, but the service is still deciding exactly where it will be based, Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said today.

“It’s going to be tied to U.S. Army Pacific,” McConville told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast. “The final stationing decision still has to be made. But we’re in the process of standing that up.”

A “prototype” of the task force might be created in Hawaii before a final decision is made, he said.

The Army’s fiscal year 2023 budget request, which was released March 28, included plans to stand up a third MDTF. The first and second MDTFs are focused on the Pacific and Europe, respectively.

Col. Dave Zinn, who currently serves on McConville’s staff, will command the new task force, McConville said.

The MDTF is a new, theater-specific organization the Army has designed to deploy nascent capabilities in coordination with divisions, corps and other services. One-star generals lead the task forces that have already been created.

A typical MDTF will have battalions for long-range fires, multidomain effects, sustainment and Indirect Fire Protection Capability, although each task force might tweak the design based on operational needs in each theater, the director of the Fires Center for Excellence said last month.

Three of the task forces are planned to field the Army’s new hypersonic missile. A company at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA, is expected to operate the first hypersonic battery when the missiles are fielded at the end of FY-23.