President's Commentary: The Road to a Perpetual State of Modernization

From space-based capabilities and autonomous weapons to the strategic use of artificial intelligence, it is clear from the actions of our military departments and federal agency leadership that today’s modern battlefield has shifted dramatically and is rapidly evolving. Military advantage belongs to those who rapidly field and integrate new capabilities. And as our adversaries closely track our capabilities, maintaining momentum with a perpetual state of modernization is not optional; it is imperative.

Along with our global allies and partners, we must continue to accelerate the adoption of emerging technology, integrate command-and-control systems and advance collective digital transformation initiatives to preserve decision advantage. 

The mission is not new, but the urgency has never been greater. 

Nearly a decade ago, as the U.S. Army’s chief information officer/G-6, I spoke candidly at MILCOM 2017 on the U.S. Army’s efforts to modernize at speed and scale. 

The landscape has substantially transformed since then. Today’s Army is driving several near- and long-term transformation initiatives to modernize at scale and move at the speed of relevance.

Through the Army Transformation Initiative, launched in 2025, the Army has comprehensively reformed acquisition, a milestone highlighted by Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Acting Chief of Staff Christopher Laneve during a May Armed Services Committee hearing. 

The service consolidated 12 program executive offices into six portfolio acquisition executives, alongside the establishment of the Pathway for Innovation and Technology as an additional innovation-focused construct. This framework is designed to streamline alignment between modernization priorities and emerging technology pathways. Together, these changes reduce bureaucracy and compress capability delivery timelines. 

Each of these steps brings state-of-the-art capabilities closer to the soldiers who need it most.

Building on that foundation, Driscoll has spearheaded the FUZE initiative, which merges several existing research funding programs into a $750 million annual fund aimed at accelerating prototype-to-production timelines. 

Historically, the gap between innovation and deployment of new tools has been a persistent vulnerability in land force modernization. Efforts to close that gap must remain a priority.  

Looking ahead, efforts like FUZE may offer a useful model for broader department-level innovation integration, one that organizations not already aligned around a unified framework should consider for adoption as required.

Across the military services, similar modernization efforts are taking shape. The Navy’s chief of naval operations, Adm. Daryl Caudle, released his Fighting Instructions earlier this year, which we discussed extensively at WEST 2026. 

Additionally, the U.S. Air Force announced a restructuring of its strategy, design and requirements directorate in April, establishing a chief modernization officer position. 

Furthermore, I’m very encouraged by the intelligence community’s transformational initiatives in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Our allies and partners are no exception. NATO is implementing its digital transformation implementation strategy 2.0, which underscores the importance of innovation in delivering decisive advantage to the warfighter. 

And at last year’s TechNet Augusta conference, Lt. Gen. Jeth Rey, deputy chief of staff, G-6, laid out his 30-month acceleration plan to implement Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) across the Army enterprise. With a powerful call to industry, he outlined his focus areas and emphasized a steadfast commitment to reducing barriers and increasing transparency.

Current battlefields have made one thing clear: interoperable technology in the hands of the warfighter is imperative. Along with our coalition partners, we must continue driving forward to achieve seamless integration of modern platforms across every domain.

The ongoing modernization agenda is both bold and ambitious. Our collective job is to make sure the ecosystem around it is equal to the task.

AFCEA’s value is not just in the events we convene or the publications we produce—it’s in the trusted network we maintain across government, military and industry. As the military and our allies accelerate transformation initiatives, we are committed to being a platform where hard problems are surfaced, where industry and government can speak candidly, and where the next generation of technology leaders are mentored and developed. 

What separates this community of interest from others is our willingness to learn from each other and “go together.” The conversation that began years ago continues today, and there is no more fitting venue or more critical moment to carry it forward. 

There are “miles to go before we sleep,” but I’m proud of the “perpetual state of modernization” that we find ourselves in today.