FORT EUSTIS, VA. - Futures and Concepts Center held a ceremony at Fort Eustis, Va., on Jan. 9, 2024, with Lt. Gen. D. Scott McKean transferring his authority as deputy commanding general of Army Futures Command (AFC) and director of Futures and Concepts Center (FCC) to Lt. Gen. David Hodne.
Lt. Gen. Hodne, a 1991 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Army seasoned leader that has commanded at all levels, will lead the organization that is charged with developing the Army's future concepts, determining its requirements, and integrating the future force through aggressive experimentation and exercises. Hodne’s span of control of FCC covers Directorates throughout the country, supporting AFC's lead in the Army's modernization and transformation ensuring the Army wins in 2035 and beyond.
Gen. James Rainey, commander United States Army Futures Command commanding general, hosted the event. He highlighted that Transfers of Authority are about the units, not the people who command them.
"The chief of the Army has four priorities; one is continuous transformation," said Rainey. "At AFC, there are six essential functions that we do, and three of those six are done by FCC, concepts, requirements, and experimentation, so if the chief wants to do four things and he's counting on me to do one of them, FCC does half of that. That is huge."
FCC has subordinate organizations across the continental United States, including the Joint Modernization Command at Fort Bliss, Texas; Cyber Center of Excellence Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate; Mission Command CDID; Fires CDID, Maneuver CDID, Maneuver Support CDID, Chaplain CDID, Sustainment CDID, Aviation CDID, Medical CDID, and Intelligence CDID, Space and Missile Defense CDID, and United States Army Special Operations Command CDID.
“Dave is unquestionably a great warfighter,” said Rainey. "He's commanded a ranger battalion, which to U.S. infantry guys is the pinnacle of tactical level warfighting, and he was a phenomenal brigade commander and has just finished absolutely crushing division command at Fort Carson."
FCC's four core competencies are Concepts, Requirements, Experimentation, and Integration.
Rainey laid out what Hodne’s role will be as the FCC director.
"You're going to be the person that figures out what the war will look like in 2030 to 2040," stated Rainey. "You're going to write that concept, experiment with it, and turn that into requirements so we can hand off and make sure that anytime we go to war, the United States Army is going to dominate the land domain and is going to win."
As Lt. Gen Hodne is welcomed to FCC, it was also an opportunity for us bid farewell to Lt. Gen. Scott McKean.
McKean took charge of FCC in November 2020.
In McKean’s farewell address to the command, McKean discussed his time at FCC, talking about the changes FCC made during that time as the requirements directorate was set up, the concepts team became more important than ever to the Army, and FCC was given the job of experimentation, all during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. McKean stressed that the FCC team had strong leaders and had built itself into an organization that AFC needed and put itself into a position to help the Army transform quickly.
"The FCC team has built a strong foundation for our Army to transform and modernize," said McKean. With this foundation, the Army can move fast because of that foundation, and I can't think of someone who's better ready to take this foundation and move it fast than Dave Hodne."
As the new FCC director, Hodne spoke about his previous time working in Army Futures Command and how vital the work FCC does is.
"It's great to be back in the Army's modernization enterprise. Having served at Army Futures Command at its inception and invested energy and effort into delivering signature modernization capabilities, I have a deep respect for all who commit to making tomorrow's Army better than today," said Hodne. "Victory on a future battlefield is not guaranteed; it is hard-earned and hard-fought, but today's efforts and investments in our future will make a difference because tomorrow is worth protecting."
Futures and Concepts Center is a subordinate organization that falls under Army Futures Command, Austin TX. Lt. Gen. Hodne also has the responsibility as a Deputy Commanding General for AFC.
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