The Texas A&M University System is turning to a veteran of U.S. Army modernization to become the first executive director of the George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC).
Effective today, Col. Rosendo “Ross” Guieb moves from the senior staff of Army Futures Command (AFC) to a new role managing the BCDC, a complex being built on the 2,000-acre RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas, to help accelerate military innovation.
“Who better to lead this critical national defense initiative,” said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. “Ross understands the challenges of modernization inside and out. He will be instrumental as we assist the Army with next-generation battlefield readiness.”
Guieb has been serving as executive officer to Gen. John M. Murray, the first commanding general of AFC. Before that role, he was the executive officer of the task force that created AFC, which was established in 2018 as the most significant Army reorganization since 1973. Guieb retired from the Army after serving 29 years.
Previous assignments include two tours in Iraq, a tour in Afghanistan, a brigade command at Fort Hood, Texas, and multiple deployments to Honduras and Panama. At the Pentagon, Guieb served as executive officer to then under secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, who is now secretary of the Army.
The BCDC is designed to support the Army’s desire to quicken its procurement process dramatically, accelerating it to something closer to the technology advances in the private sector.
It will feature the nation’s biggest enclosed-tube testing facility for hypersonic and laser technologies as well as laboratories and high-tech, outdoor testing grounds for air and land vehicles. Soldiers from Fort Hood and the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets will help test prototypes as they are being developed. The complex is named after former President George H.W. Bush.
Guieb will report to Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor of engineering and national laboratories for the Texas A&M System.
“Ross will be integral to our program and will keep serving our country in this new role,” Banks said. “His experience will help ensure that the strategic partnership between AFC and the Texas A&M System remains perfectly aligned.”
Guieb will manage the vision, goals and execution strategies of the BCDC while working to expand relationships with other key stakeholders in national defense innovation. He will work alongside Dr. John E. Hurtado, deputy director and chief technology officer of BCDC.
The $200 million complex is funded through investments by the Texas Legislature, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents, and a five-year contract between the Army and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.
Elaine Mendoza, chair of the Board of Regents, applauded the decision to hire Guieb.
“Secretary McCarthy, Gen. Murray and Lt. Gen. Jim Richardson all know that they can ask anything of A&M and we will step forward to meet the challenge,” she said. “All members of the Texas A&M System Board of Regents have met Col. Guieb, and we are confident and entrust Chancellor Sharp, Gen. Murray and Dr. Banks to appoint him as the first BCDC executive director. This is an excellent demonstration of progress in the commitment A&M has made to serve our state and nation for future generations.”
For additional information on the BCDC, see the 2020 special edition of the annual Texas A&M Engineer magazine.
For additional information on Col. Rosendo “Ross” Guieb, see Bush Combat Development Complex Leader shaped by family legacy of military service.
About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation with a budget of $6.3 billion. The System is a statewide network of 11 universities; a comprehensive health science center; eight state agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and the RELLIS Campus. The Texas A&M System educates more than 151,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $1 billion in FY 2019 and helped drive the state’s economy.