Hot on the heels of the announcement of the U.S. military’s launch of Task Force Micronesia, another U.S. military command will also have oversight of Guam.
The U.S. Army will stand up a Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office joint team.
There is a certain logic to the way the Army’s command could work with Task Force Micronesia.
According to the Defense Acquisition University, the new Rapid Capabilities Office “will conduct rapid materiel development and delivery to address immediate, near-term and mid-term combatant commanders' needs.”
Task Force Micronesia’s commander has been announced as Rear Adm. Gregory C. Huffman, currently the commander of Joint Region Marianas, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s representative to the Micronesia region.
Huffman told the Journal in March that Task Force Micronesia "is a recognition by the leadership at INDOPACOM (the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command) that we need to make sure that we have forward presence and an operationally minded staff that is ready at a moment's notice to take command and control of any operational assets that are here in the region and also eventually have control of the Guam defense system."
The Rapid Capabilities Office could supply Task Force Micronesia with the "materiel" or hardware, equipment and supplies that it needs to "take command and control" should the situation demand it.
See Guam's star rises in importance and Change on the way, Guam to see new military command, increased presence in the March 4 issue of the Journal. mbj