Merger process to begin in October; layoffs remain unclear
Josh Janney //July 10, 2025//
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Merger process to begin in October; layoffs remain unclear
Josh Janney //July 10, 2025//
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Army announced Thursday that there will not be a full-scale relocation of all U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) personnel and functions from Fort Eustis in Newport News to Austin, Texas.
In May, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that TRADOC would be merged with the Army Futures Command (AFC) in Austin to form a new command — the Army Transformation and Training Command. The planned merger follows a directive from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to transform and streamline the military, eliminating “wasteful spending.”
However, the announcement raised questions about how many military and civilian staff would be impacted and which TRADOC operations would relocate to Austin.
In an attempt to provide clarity, the Army announced on Thursday that it’s moving forward with the planned merger of TRADOC and AFC to create a new Army command.
A media advisory released by Maj. Chris Robinson, a TRADOC spokesperson, says that an Army execution order officially directing the merger is anticipated in early August and will provide additional details regarding the transformation.
According to the announcement, the merger process is expected to begin around Oct. 1 and continue “well into” 2026.
Robinson said recent reports suggesting a full-scale relocation of TRADOC personnel or functions from Fort Eustis to Austin are inaccurate. While the new command will have its four-star headquarters in Austin, Robinson says this will not involve relocating all TRADOC personnel or operations.
He added that both TRADOC and AFC will soon be inactivated to create the new command. TRADOC in its current form will not be moving to Austin.
It is still unclear what percentage of Army and civilian personnel will relocate. TRADOC, established on July 1, 1973, trains over 750,000 soldiers and service members annually. Its headquarters have been based at Fort Eustis since 2011. Robinson previously said the command has 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.
“When units inactivate or change mission, a move for military personnel is not automatic,” Robinson’s email stated. “Several factors — such as rank, current position, and stabilization, among other factors — determine whether a soldier will relocate. There may even be opportunities for soldiers to transfer to a different unit on Fort Eustis. Each soldier can work with the Army to explore assignment options that support their career goals and family needs. In most cases, Army personnel will stay at one assignment for two or three years.”
The Army has also not publicly revealed if any civilian layoffs could be expected from the merger.
Last month, a bipartisan delegation that wrote a letter seeking more information on the merger stated that it had heard that TRADOC’s G-2 section at Fort Eustis, comprising approximately 250 positions, may be eliminated as part of the consolidation. Delegation members were also told that the Center for Initial Military Training at Fort Eustis may be folded under a staff directorate and that the headquarters staff of the three-star general at Fort Eustis may be reduced to 20 to 25 soldiers, with ongoing general staff reductions projected to be between 20 and 80 personnel.
In his advisory, Robinson wrote, “Should any civilian positions be impacted by the TRADOC/AFC merger, leadership is committed to working closely with supervisors and affected personnel to identify and pursue open opportunities across Fort Eustis.”
He was unable to confirm the delegation’s previously stated number of layoffs, saying, “That level of detail has not been determined yet and falls outside the scope of what has been officially released.” He also could not say how many personnel would be likely to remain in Newport News and how many would be relocated to Texas, saying, “We don’t have a precise number for any potential personnel changes right now.”
“The Army Execution Order, expected in early August, will provide the detailed guidance our planning teams need to design the new command,” Robinson said in an email. “We will have more fidelity on personnel decisions after that and will share updates as they become available.”
The Army, he added, will release comprehensive details on the merger once more information becomes available.
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