At the recent Association of the U.S. Army gathering in Washington, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll delivered a bold, unapologetic speech that forced his audience to reckon with institutional inertia and the urgent need for reform.

With frustration clear in his tone, he warned that delay in modernizing the Army’s procurement system carries real consequences for the lives of soldiers.

Driscoll began with a blunt admonition: “We cannot f-ing wait to innovate until Americans are dying on the battlefield. We must act now to enable our soldiers. Our window to change is right now, and we have a plan to do it. We will set the pace with innovation and we will win with silicon and software, and not with our soldiers’ blood and bodies.”

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His words were intended to shock complacency awake. He painted the moment as a turning point.

“What we face right now, here in 2025, is an inflection point,” he said, before posing a question he argues every attendee should ask themselves: “Am I focusing my energy and effort so that soldiers are ready to fight and win our nation’s wars? Because every minute we don’t, we place soldiers’ lives at risk. Our actions today decide the very fate of our future Army.”

To break the status quo, Driscoll announced a sweeping organizational change: merging the Army’s various equipment purchasing bodies under a single command that answers directly to top leadership.

He pledged to cut the long 12- to 18-month contracting lag and insisted, “We are going to completely disrupt the system that has held the Army back for decades and lined the prime [contractors’] pockets for so long.… We will break down barriers until we measure acquisitions, not in years and billions, but in months and thousands.”

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His criticism extended to the Army’s reliance on aged systems. He showed a picture of a soldier born in 2004 operating a computer system introduced in 1995, and warned, “Meanwhile, Ukraine is updating its drone software every couple of weeks. It is absolutely unconscionable that we would send soldiers to war with 30-year-old, obsolete systems. This is the inflection point where we turn it all around.”

He also faulted repeated acquisition failures—programs like the RAH-66 Comanche, XM2001 Crusader, and the recently canceled M10 Booker—as evidence that the public’s trust and billions of dollars were squandered while troops were denied tools critical to their missions.

Addressing the troops directly, Driscoll acknowledged their sacrifices: “You have been let down. You have been fighting, deploying, training and preparing for years, and you’ve always had each other’s backs, but unfortunately, your civilian leadership hasn’t always done the same for you.”

To demonstrate tangible waste in the current system, he brought parts of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter onto the stage—a fin and a screen control knob.

Each could reportedly be 3D printed for $3,000 and $60, but full replacements cost $14,000 and $47,000. He said that discrepancy translates to $180,000 in excess monthly spending and months of delay.

To correct that, Driscoll has mandated that future contracts grant the Army a “right to repair,” allowing soldiers in the field to generate parts themselves via additive manufacturing.

“Soldiers will be able to download the schematic, manufacture it and install it all in the field,” he forecast.

He also touted several “disruptive” programs on display at the conference, from a “Shark Tank”–style venture fund for Army tech, to campus-style dining facilities, to experimentation with 3D printed concrete structures. All of these, he suggested, reflect a desire to tear down barriers and modernize from the inside.

Driscoll’s career path lends weight to his rhetoric. A veteran officer who served in Iraq, he later practiced law, worked in investment banking and venture capital, and rose to be COO of Flex Capital.

He said, “I can say unequivocally that the Silicon Valley approach is absolutely ideal for the Army.” He argued the Army must “train our system to move fast,” so that it keeps pace with innovation rather than trailing behind.

Beyond rhetoric, the Army—and Driscoll—seem poised for change. Observers note that the FUZE initiative, an effort to invest rapidly in emerging startups and integrate new technologies, is a central pillar of his vision.

At the same time, he hinted that a formal acquisition reorganization is imminent.

Whether Congress, industry, and military culture can adapt fast enough remains uncertain. But Driscoll’s message is clear: delay is no longer tolerable, and soldiers cannot wait.

WATCH BELOW:

@vivalavargas The Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll makes opening remarks at AUSA #army #military #militarynews #veteran #firstresponders ♬ original sound – VivaLaVargas

@vivalavargas Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll addresses GIANT wastes of money in two short examples #army #military #militarynews #veteran #firstresponders ♬ original sound – VivaLaVargas

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