Wormuth says new directive does not downgrade futures command

By Evan Ochsner / May 12, 2022 at 2:18 PM

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth on Thursday said her new directive outlining the role of Army Futures Command alongside Army acquisition authorities is not intended to downgrade the influence of AFC.

“That directive in no way downgrades Army Futures Command or diminishes its role,” Wormuth told members of the House Armed Services Committee. “It still remains an incredibly important part of our acquisition enterprise.”

Multiple members of the committee asked Wormuth about the directive, which among other things removed language from earlier guidance that said “AFC leads the Army’s future force modernization enterprise.”

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) said he was concerned the directive was shifting funding authority from AFC, a military command, and giving it to the Army assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, a civilian office.

“Why are you taking authority away from warfighters and essentially giving it back to the bureaucracy?” he asked.

Wormuth said the intent of the directive was to clear up ambiguities about the statutory role of the ASA(ALT) and said it “was not our intent” to pull authority into the bureaucracy.

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