Austin Named Finalist For U.S. Army Headquarters Function

AUSTIN, TX — The U.S. Army has named Austin a finalist for its proposed Army Futures Command, which would be the headquarters for its modernization priorities, Austin Chamber officials announced on Friday.

“We are thrilled that the United States Army is considering Austin as a potential location for its Army Futures Command” said Mike Rollins, CEO of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. He noted the city's status as host city for a number of other military functions: “The Austin region is already home to the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUX), as well as the Texas Reserve Command and the largest U.S. Army installation in Fort Hood."

Various city dynamics make Austin an ideal locale for the military headquarters function, Rollins added: "We believe that our local community more than meets the criteria for this new venture. Our strong academic institutions and our leading technology innovation sector have a history of collaborating to find solutions,” Rollins said. “We look forward to coordinating with Mayor Adler and our community partners and engaging in further discussions with the Army to demonstrate why Austin has the talent, collaborative community, and experience necessary to ensure the Army Futures Command would be successful here.” Rollins said.

In his letter to the House Armed Services Committee, Under Secretary McCarthy stated that “access to academia and business…software development, systems engineering” and from a business perspective “closer relationships with companies that work very well with the technologies that we need. Working with industry to help us solve our problems.” The Army Futures Command would house around 500 civilian and military personnel.

More information about the Army Future’s Command can be found here.

>>> Top photo by Tony Cantú