The U.S. Army closed out 2025 amid a broad set of organizational, technological and acquisition reforms aimed at accelerating modernization and reshaping how the service fights, buys and governs digital capability.
The Army’s 2025 Year in Review, published by the service branch on Dec.15, highlighted significant events, including its 250th birthday and the launch of transformation initiatives intended to streamline force structure, compress decision timelines and redirect resources toward lethality and operational relevance.
Announced in May, the Army Transformation Initiative served as a throughline for many of the year’s acquisition and governance decisions.
At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Army Summit on June 18, senior Army leaders and the industrial base will examine what this transformation means, with discussions centered on force design, acquisition reform and progress toward the Army’s 2030 objectives. Register now to gain insight into how the service is advancing a unified network and aligning modernization priorities with operational demands.
How Did Acquisition Reform Accelerate Under the Army Transformation Push?
Acquisition reform became one of the most tangible expressions of the transformation effort.
The Army announced the creation of six portfolio acquisition executives to streamline oversight and accelerate delivery of weapons and technologies. It also deployed AI-enabled tools under the CORA initiative, reversing the AROC acronym of the Army Requirements Oversight Council, to identify outdated acquisition requirements and reduce bureaucratic friction.
In November, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said the service plans to procure at least 1 million drones over the coming years while strengthening the domestic industrial base. Additional reforms included a new procurement model for tactical radios, streamlined foreign military sales procedures and an Army-led effort to establish an online marketplace for counter-drone technologies.
How Did the Army Reshape Its Global and Operational Posture?
One of the most visible structural changes came in December with the activation of Western Hemisphere Command. The move marked a shift in how the Army organizes regional operations and security cooperation, signaling an effort to better align command structures with the evolving demands of geopolitics and homeland security. The transition ceremony underscored the Army’s intent to modernize not only its platforms and networks, but also its command and control of forces globally.
Personnel decisions also reinforced the Army’s transformation agenda. In September, Brent Ingraham was sworn in as assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology following Senate confirmation. He now serves as the Army’s acquisition executive, science adviser to the secretary of the Army, senior procurement executive and senior research and development official.
How Did Artificial Intelligence Advance Across Army Operations?
Artificial intelligence emerged as a recurring enabler across both battlefield and enterprise initiatives throughout 2025.
In November, the Army tested AI-aided target recognition as part of its Next Generation Command and Control prototype experiments, seeking to accelerate decision-making and fire missions in contested environments. Earlier in the year, the service rolled out a generative AI platform designed to streamline internal communications, reclassify personnel descriptions and support innovation across the force.
At the network level, the Army launched NETCOM Edge in January, introducing an AI- and machine-learning-enabled analytics environment to improve network operations and data-driven decision-making.
How Did Network, Cyber and Governance Reforms Support Transformation?
To align technology delivery with operational urgency, the Army reorganized Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications and Network in December, restructuring oversight to speed deployment of NGC2 capabilities.
That move is in line with the release of the second version of the Army Unified Network Plan, which outlined how the service will converge networks, improve resilience and enable multidomain operations.
Cyber and data governance also took center stage. Throughout the year, Army Chief Information Officer Leonel Garciga, a two-time Wash100 awardee, issued policy memoranda addressing the use of cybersecurity services across the Army’s unified network, cross-domain solutions-as-a-service, software assurance, data aggregation and the application of AI within records management and FOIA requirements.
What Does 2025 Signal for the Army’s Path Forward?
Taken together, the Army’s actions in 2025 reflect a deliberate shift toward speed, integration and enterprise-wide alignment. Modernization is no longer framed as a collection of discrete programs, but as a coordinated reset spanning force structure, acquisition, networks and governance.
As the Army enters 2026, leadership has positioned transformation as a sustained operating model—one that prioritizes operational relevance, automation and rapid delivery across the entire force.
