WASHINGTON — The military deputy to the Army acquisition chief will — in a way — have a second boss going forward.
In addition to working for the chief Army acquisition executive, Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski will also serve as the deputy commander to the Army Futures Command commander Gen. Mike Murray, according to Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy.
Ostrowski’s new additional title and duties were formalized in writing through a directive signed by Army Secretary Mark Esper “a couple of days ago,” McCarthy said at the Defense News Conference on Sept. 5. “They are moving out on that already.”
The acquisition military deputy will still be hard-lined to the acquisition chief, Dr. Bruce Jette, McCarthy said, and so will program managers assigned to work with each of the cross-functional teams set up under Army Futures Command to work on advancing the service’s top six modernization priorities.
Program managers are already formally working “hand [in] glove” together on each of the CFTs, McCarthy said, and the Army is going to, wherever possible, co-locate program managers with the CFTs.
The CFTs are spread out across the country at installations focused on relevant endeavors to each modernization priority.
The reason for making the military deputy to the acquisition chief a deputy commander under the AFC is “all about unity of effort and unity of command,” McCarthy told Defense News on the sidelines of the conference. “The idea of having the deputy commanding general there is to bring us closer together from a communications standpoint to ensure there is a right level of support being provided to the cross-functional teams,” he said.
Ostrowski is still rated by the acquisition chief, “so there is no doubt where he gets his orders from,” McCarthy noted.
“All it does is create better teamwork,” he said.
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
