Photo By Christopher Wilson | The flags of Maj. Gen. John Rafferty, director of Long Range Precision Fires and Maj....... read more read more
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FORT SILL, Okla. (July 1, 2022) — In a ceremony June 16, 2022, Fort Sill said farewell to two long-time cross-functional team directors.
Maj. Gen. John Rafferty, director of Long Range Precision Fires and Maj. Gen. Brian Gibson, director of Air and Missile Defense, both founding directors of their respective teams, have handed over the reins and will be moving on to other commands.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to work with the two general officers,” said Lt. Gen. James Richards, acting commanding general of Army Futures Command. “We are the best in the world and when all of you put your minds together, you can make it happen. Thank you both so much for your leadership.”
The Cross-Functional Teams were established to narrow existing capability gaps by developing capability documents, informed by experimentation and technical demonstrations, to rapidly deliver requirements to the Army Acquisition System. The Army’s modernization priorities, which are necessary for future readiness and Multi-Domain Operations, are the focus of the
CFTs’ activity.
The Army's six modernization priorities are: Long-Range Precision Fires; Next Generation Combat Vehicles; Future Vertical Lift; The Network; Air & Missile Defense; and Soldier Lethality. To achieve this, Army Futures Command leads the following eight cross-functional teams: Air and Missile Defense, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Future Vertical Lift, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Long-Range Precision Fires, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Network, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Next Generation Combat Vehicle, Detroit Arsenal, Warren, Michigan; Soldier Lethality, Fort Benning, Georgia; and Synthetic Training Environment, Orlando, Florida.
Rafferty and Gibson have led their respective teams since their establishment in 2018.
From here, Gibson will take command of the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Honolulu, Hawaii. Taking over will be Col. Patrick Costello.
“To Col. Costello and family — Welcome. I know you're excited to be out of the Pentagon and there's no better place than Fort Sill for you to be,” said Gibson. “This is not goodbye, but farewell for now. We will dearly miss each and every one of you and have cherished and enjoyed our time here.”
Costello was born in Charlottesville, Virginia and commissioned as an Air Defense Artillery officer upon graduation from Providence College in 1997 where earned his bachelor’s degree. Costello comes to Fort Sill from his most recent assignment as the Executive Officer to the Secretary of the Army.
Rafferty is set to take over as Chief of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC. Col. Rory Crooks, who has a long history at Fort Sill, is taking over the Precision Fires team. He hails from Spokane, Washington and was commissioned as a Field Artillery officer from Washington State University in 1994.
“CFTs exemplify our Army’s ‘people first’ approach,” said Rafferty. “You put people first and give them the resources they need then they'll do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission. So, thanks, not only to our team, but to everybody here for making this possible.”
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2022 12:05 |
| Story ID: | 424255 |
| Location: | FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 148 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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