Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth Commanding General visits MEDCoE

Lt. Gen. James Rainey, the service’s deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training is the nominee to be the next Futures Command head. (Jose Rodriguez/US Army)

WASHINGTON — After a nine month delay, the US Army has nominated a new leader to head Army Futures Command amid uncertainty and confusion in Washington about the future of the organization.

Army undersecretary Gabe Camarillo announced today that Lt. Gen. James Rainey, the service’s deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training, would be the next leader of Army Futures Command. Army Futures Command is a key component of the Army’s long-term modernization strategy.

“He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that I think would be fantastic for the role, if he’s confirmed,” Camarillo said at the Defense News conference today. “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.”

Rainey previously served as the commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division from 2015-2017 and commander of the Combined Arms Center from 2019-2021. The Senate nominations website shows that the nomination was sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

In his new role at Futures Command, Rainey will help oversee the Army’s vast modernization portfolio. The service is currently committed to 35 signature programs that range from new missiles to state-of-the-art radars, network gear and new helicopters. AFC, based in Austin, Texas, is home to eight cross-functional teams that work with acquisition offices to deliver capabilities to soldiers. The Army plans to have 24 of those 35 systems in some phase of prototyping by the end of fiscal 2023.

If confirmed, Rainey will also have a role overseeing the service’s annual networking experiment, called Project Convergence. During the exercise, the Army works to connect its new modernization platforms in a contested environment. At PC22, the service plans to bring in its sister services and some allied nations.

If confirmed, Rainey would step into a uncertain future for the organization, which has been without a commander since founding leader Gen. John Murray retired at the end of 2021. The Army struggled to make a nomination after its top choice, Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, was involved in the Pentagon’s delayed response in sending the National Guard to the the US Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, Defense News reported.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have expressed concerns about the future of AFC after Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth released a memo effectively shifting some of the roles and responsibilities of Futures Command to the Army’s chief weapons buyer, the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. During budget and posture hearings on Capitol Hill earlier this year, lawmakers questioned if the Army was downgrading the role of the four-star command.

In the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers sought clarity about Wormuth’s memo and required the secretary to submit a report clarifying the roles between ASA(ALT) and AFC.

Speaking on Wednesday, Camarillo re-emphasized the importance of the command, highlighting recent success on modernization programs, including the Army’s award of its new tank in late June through the Mobile Protected Firepower program.

“We’re looking forward to that continuing,” Camarillo said. “We’re fully committed to the results and as Secretary Wormuth and (Chief of Staff of the Army) Gen. (James) McConville said, it’s delivering capability for soldiers that … matters and we expect that that’s going to continue.”