Army training command headquarters to relocate from Virginia to Texas

The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) will soon move its headquarters from Fort Eustis in Newport News to Austin, Texas — but questions linger about how many military and civilian staff will be impacted and which of the command’s functions will relocate.

The move stems from a directive from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to transform and streamline the military and eliminate “wasteful spending.” In an April 30 memo from Hegseth to senior Pentagon leadership, he directed the Secretary of the Army to merge the Army Futures Command (AFC) in Austin with TRADOC as a way to “downsize, consolidate, or close redundant headquarters.”

On May 7, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that the new, merged command — called the Army Transformation and Training Command — will be headquartered in Austin.

“Having a whole bunch of headquarters doesn’t make things go faster,” George said. “I would argue that, you know, streamlining that will help. … Right now, we have all these different functions that are trying to do similar things in two commands, and we need to combine those together.”

TRADOC, created on July 1, 1973, under Gen. William E. DePuy, supports the Army by training soldiers and support units. It oversees 32 Army schools organized under 10 Centers of Excellence, each focused on a separate area of expertise within the Army.

The Army states that these centers train more than 750,000 soldiers and service members annually.

In 2011, TRADOC moved its headquarters from Hampton’s Fort Monroe to Fort Eustis, after Fort Monroe ceased to be an Army post under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. TRADOC oversees the Center for Military History, the Center for Initial Military Training and the Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth.

TRADOC said in a news release last week that while it has been announced that the new command’s headquarters will be located in Austin, no decisions have been made regarding the relocation of specific functions or personnel. The command says, “Reports suggesting otherwise are speculative and not based on official decisions.”

Maj. Chris Robinson, a TRADOC spokesperson, says that the command is a large organization with more than 35,000 military and civilians worldwide. Of this, approximately 2,000 are based at Fort Eustis, and of those, about 800 personnel are tied to the headquarters component of TRADOC.

The command says TRADOC continues to operate at Fort Eustis.

“We know there are questions in the community, and we want to be clear — TRADOC isn’t going anywhere right now,” Gen. Gary M. Brito, its commanding general, said in a statement. “Our mission continues, our people remain essential, and we will share updates when decisions are made.”

Robinson said more information on the merger should become available in mid-June.

“In October, we will see a new command form, where a new commanding general will also take reins of both organizations,” he said in a statement.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, who represents the base in Congress, expressed concerns about the merger of the two commands.

“As the representative from Newport News, I will be seeking more information and clarification from the Army on how we can minimize the impact this will have on service members in Hampton Roads,” Scott said.

However, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a fellow Democrat, indicated that the impact of the merger on Newport News shouldn’t be too significant.

“Army leadership told me that despite the merger of TRADOC and Army Futures Command, TRADOC operations will remain at Fort Eustis with no significant change to personnel levels,” Kaine said. “This will provide continuity for servicemembers, their families, contractors and the Hampton Roads community. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue to monitor the situation to make sure these assurances are upheld.”