Brig. Gen. Gail Atkins, deputy chief of staff for logistics and operations at the Army Materiel Command, identified digital transformation as an immediate priority in the modernization of the organic industrial base, or OIB, the Army said Monday.
Get updates on government modernization initiatives directly from defense leaders at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Digital Transformation Summit on April 22. The event will also feature speakers from across government and industry to discuss future plans for enterprise IT, user experience, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Tickets are available here.
At an event hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association, Atkins highlighted the Army’s work with industry to adopt commercial best practices and technologies to meet the service’s modernization requirements.
“We are all in on digital twinning,” the official shared on AMC’s efforts to strengthen the OIB.
As part of the Army’s 15-year modernization plan for the OIB, AMC invested nearly $100 million in facility and equipment upgrades across its sites.
“We are literally mapping our factory floors and censoring them so that while we are manufacturing or repairing, we are iterating and planning for what the next piece needs to be,” Atkins added.
Table of Contents
What Actions Is the Army Taking to Modernize Its OIB?
AMC established the OIB Operations Center following a recent comprehensive, 90-day review of the OIB in late 2025. The OIB Integration Cell is responsible for ensuring that OIB’s long-term plans align with the Army’s strategic objectives. Meanwhile, the OIB Operations Center is in charge of accelerating OIB modernization.
“We embarked not only on a modernization plan, but a re‑imagination, and we must completely iterate and reimagine what our industrial base needs to be,” Atkins added.
Why Is the Army Modernizing Its OIB?
The Army is moving forward with a 15-year upgrade of its OIB to improve safety for personnel on production lines and increase efficiency and quality through greener manufacturing practices across all facilities to support the 2030s Army.
The OIB comprises 23 government-owned depots, arsenals and ammunition plants, some of which have been in use since the ‘70s,” Breaking Defense reported.
Related Articles
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has named Nick Andersen, executive assistant director for cybersecurity, acting director as Madhu Gottumukkala moves to a new position at the Department of Homeland Security, ABC News reported. Leadership transitions at agencies like CISA highlight ongoing developments across the federal cybersecurity community. The Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Cyber Summit on May 21 will convene federal and private sector leaders for discussions on key cybersecurity issues. Register now! In January, the White House renominated Sean Plankey, former director for cyber policy at the National Security Council, to serve as director of CISA. He has yet
NASA has appointed Joel Montalbano as acting associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate and Dana Hutcherson as acting Commercial Crew Program manager. The agency said Thursday the leadership changes follow the previously announced retirement of Kenneth Bowersox as SOMD associate administrator. Both Montalbano and Hutcherson had been serving as deputies in their respective roles. “Strong leadership is essential to advancing NASA’s mission, and Joel Montalbano and Dana Hutcherson are exceptionally well-qualified to serve in these acting roles,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. He added that their experience will support U.S. objectives in low Earth orbit and future deep
President Donald Trump has directed all federal agencies to immediately cease use of Anthropic’s artificial intelligence technology, escalating a high-stakes dispute between the Pentagon and the AI firm over military guardrails. “I am directing every federal agency in the United States government to immediately cease all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it and will not do business with them again!” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. The order includes a six-month phase-out period for the Department of War and other agencies currently using Anthropic’s Claude models, according to coverage by The Wall Street Journal.