U.S. Army secretary visits Bush Combat Development Complex

September 30, 2020 By Engineering Communications

Laylan Copelin

Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications

979-458-6425

Ross Guieb talking to Ryan D. McCarthy during a tour at the Research Integration Center, with both wearing hard hats, construction vests and masks. — Ross Guieb, executive director of the George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex, gives a tour of the Research Integration Center (RIC) to U.S. Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy on Sept. 30. The RIC is one of four components of the Bush Combat Development Complex on the RELLIS campus. | Image: Matthew Linguist/Texas A&M Engineering

U.S. Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy visited the RELLIS Campus today to see construction progress at The Texas A&M University System’s George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex.

The George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC) will be used to modernize the U.S. military. Leading researchers will work with warriors on high-tech solutions to real-world national security challenges.

“It’s no wonder that Secretary McCarthy marveled at the breadth of what we’re building,” said Col. Ross Guieb, BCDC executive director. “This will be a mini-research Pentagon — a high-tech hub for Army, industry and university-based experts to collaborate in one state-of-the-art location. Together we’ll develop next-generation defense capabilities to deter adversaries and convincingly win on any battlefield.”

The BCDC’s first strategic partner is the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC), which has contracted with the Texas A&M System to research, experiment with and test prototypes for next-generation soldiering.

McCarthy also toured two other Texas A&M research laboratories for hypersonics and directed energy, and he met with students from the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M.

For more information, see the full press release about McCarthy’s visit.

About the Bush Combat Development Complex

The George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC), located on the 2,000-acre RELLIS Campus, is the result of a partnership between the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) and The Texas A&M University System, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and the State of Texas. The $200 million complex will bring together researchers from U.S. universities, the military and the private sector for collaboration, demonstrations and high-tech testing of initiatives to help accelerate military innovation. The BCDC is funded with $50 million from the State Legislature, $65 million from AFC and $85 million from the Texas A&M System. For more information about the BCDC, visit the 2020 special edition of the Texas A&M Engineer magazine.