The bipartisan, bicameral Colorado congressional delegation, led by U.S. Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, seeks to have Denver designated as the new headquarters for the U.S. Army Futures Command, a new organizational unit tasked with leading and streamlining all Army modernization efforts.
“The Denver ecosystem will provide the Army with unmatched access to the top talent, innovation, and research and academia critical to the Army Futures Command’s mission to keep our Armed Forces at the global forefront of military science and technology,” the lawmakers wrote in a May 1 letter to U.S. Secretary of the Army Mark Esper.
“Denver is a bastion for high-tech industry and innovation, and has a dynamic start-up environment,” wrote Sen. Gardner, who was joined in signing the letter by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and seven Colorado members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Establishment of the Army Futures Command is the most significant Army reorganization effort since 1973, according to the Army, which notes it “will be the fourth Army Command and will be tasked with driving the Army into the future to achieve clear overmatch in future conflicts.”
The command, which is slated to start initial operating capability this summer, has neither a leading commander nor headquarters location named yet. Army officials have noted they want to co-locate the command in a city that has potential academic and technological partners.
In their letter, the Colorado members of Congress wrote that start-up businesses in their state attracted more than $670 million in venture capital during 2017, ranking the state as fourth in the nation for such activity. The lawmakers said their state also ranks first in private aerospace employment, third for concentration of high-tech workers, fourth for high-tech performance, and fourth for its STEM-based economy.
Additionally, they wrote, a Denver headquarters location would give the Army access to 33 national laboratories located across Colorado, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory outside Denver. And the Army also would have “easy access to the assets of the entire Front Range innovation ecosystem,” the lawmakers wrote. “These include the hub of national labs and academic institutions in the Boulder area, as well as national security missions, cutting-edge incubators, innovation hubs, and research consortia in Colorado Springs.”
The Denver area’s flourishing academic community – which includes the University of Denver, the University of Colorado system, the Air Force Academy, and the Colorado School of Mines – attracts “world-class talent, millions in research funding, and have forged cutting-edge research partnerships that will support military readiness,” the members added.
All told, Denver “fosters a balance between innovation, success, and quality of life,” the members said, and it has the nation’s fifth-largest commercial passenger airline hub, the Denver International Airport.
“The workforce and innovation that Denver draws will support the Army Futures Command efforts to ensure our Army is unmatched by adversaries,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are certain the Army Futures Command mission and personnel will likewise contribute to our blossoming innovation environment.”