Army sunsets Futures Command, activates Transformation, Training Command

WASHINGTON — The Army has officially deactivated Army Futures Command after seven years in service and will combine it, along with the also-deactivated Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), into a new organization dubbed the Transformation and Training Command, or T2COM.

“The deactivation ceremony for the Army Futures Command took place Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, at 7:45 a.m. at the LBJ Auditorium on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas,” a spokesperson from T2COM told Breaking Defense today. “The event marked the end of the command’s seven-year history and was followed by the activation of the Transformation and Training Command.”

The combination of the two organizations is part of the service’s sprawling Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) effort announced in May. ATI aims to cut the number of general officer billets and restructure the service’s offices responsible for crafting requirements and buying weapons. The idea is to build a “leaner, more lethal force,” according to Secretary Pete Hegseth’s memo announcing the initiative. 

AFC was stood up in 2018 in Austin, Texas, under the first Trump administration with a four-star general at the helm. It was created in an attempt to speed up the requirements process and break down bureaucratic processes to get tech and weapons into the hands of soldiers quicker. At the time, part of TRADOC’s mandate was redirected towards AFC, with the new command assuming responsibility for shepherding in new weapon requirements.

“Some of this is back to the future, for example, AFC mostly came from TRADOC and so putting it back makes sense,” John Ferrari, a senior nonresident fellow at AEI and retired Army Maj. Gen., told Breaking Defense before the ATI initiative was announced.

“Additionally, AFC was premised on devolving to its acquisition authority and that did [not] happen, so it is a brave leader who says we tried it and it is not delivering results we expected and admits that out loud.”

Before it was sunset, AFC was headed by Gen. James Rainey and TRADOC was headed by Gen. Gary Brito, both of who retired with the activation of T2COM.

Lt. Gen. David Hodne, previously the deputy commanding general for futures and concepts at AFC, will lead the new T2COM. The new command will operate mostly out of Austin, Texas, and will have some operations in Fort Eustis, Va. — TRADOC’s old headquarters — according to Association of the United States Army. Hodne was nominated for a fourth star earlier this year which is currently awaiting Senate confirmation. 

“My replacement, my current deputy, Dave Hodne, is going to take over for me next week, staying in Austin,” Gen. Rainey said earlier this month during a Special Competitive Studies Project event. 

“He will have more authority, more ability, [more] control of basically the entire institutional Army to get the ability to transform even faster … names will change, patches will change, but we’re not going … the Army is not leaving Austin, [we’re] doubling down on transforming.”