Brigadier General (Retired) Jerry W. McElwee served as the Program Manager for the Future Combat Systems (FCS).

Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki introduced the FCS program in October 1999. The program originally entailed the transformation of the Army's Legacy Forces that is comprised of divisions into a lighter, modular organization called the Objective Force. Initial plans were to field the first of such modular-equipped forces in 2011 and complete the entire Objective Force by 2032.