b'InsightsBuilding the U.S. Army of the Future: Insights from Kate Kelley, Chief Human Capital Officer, Army Futures Command By Michael J. KeeganThe creation of the U.S. Army FuturesWhat are your specific duties and responsibilities Command (AFC) marks one of theas chief human capital officer of the Armymost significant Army reorganizationFutures Command? efforts since 1973. Unlike its peer commands, which focus on todaysFirst, my title is unusual in the Army context, however it readiness, AFC focuses specificallyis a very typical title and role within the private sector and in on forging future readiness. Its statedmany federal government agencies. This was on purpose as mission is to make sure soldiers part of AFCs continuing effort to challenge legacy thinking. have what they need, before they need it, to protectMy responsibilities are broad, spanning traditional human tomorrow today.capital functionssuch as hiring, compensation, managing, career-buildingto being charged with thinking about and According to the AFCs first Commanding General Mikeintegrating modern innovative human capital practicesMurray, The AFCs incredible workforce is the foundationinto the Army. of our success. In its efforts to execute on the Army People Strategy, AFC has enhanced its use of Direct-Hire AuthorityI think of my role as trying to challenge the enterprise toto get the right talent hired faster. It has implemented severalget away from legacy human capital systems. My role isfirst-of-their-kind technology talent initiatives, establishing thealso to move the AFC as far as we can legally within the first-ever Soldier-led Software Factory in Austin, Texas, andfederal government toward practices that are more agile, an artificial intelligence degree program for soldiers and civilmodern, and more effective in attracting, keeping, and servants in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. managing talent.AFC is charged with doing what some may consider impossible, and that is predicting the future, explains Kate Kelley, chief human capital officer at the AFC. There are no guarantees and likely many hits-and-misses when attempting to anticipate the future. But the U.S. Army has a very honest assessment of itself and established [AFC] to do what it needs to do to be prepared for that future fight, she adds.Kate joined me on The Business of Government Hour to discuss the AFC human capital strategy, its efforts to attract, reskill, and retain the right talent, and ways it is working to transform organizational culture. The following is an edited excerpt of our discussion, complemented with updated and additional research.48 www.businessofgovernment.org The Business of Government'