By KARA CARLSON | The Austin American-Statesman | Published: May 12, 2021 AUSTIN (Tribune News Service) — As Austin-based Army Futures Command continues to expand its presence and modernization efforts around Austin and the state, its best practices could help model innovation for the Department of Defense and the rest of the military. On Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks toured several Austin sites for the Austin-based innovation unit to learn more about how it's working to harness and acquire technology and train talent. Futures Command is a public-private initiative that leads modernization projects for the Army. The military chose Austin for its headquarters in 2018.