AUSTIN (KXAN) — The new Army Futures Command headquarters in downtown Austin now has about 100 people on board as it continues to beef up its staffing.

The Army has said it’ll take about a year to hire all 500 people needed at the new HQ, located at the University of Texas System building.

“We’re in the midst of this merger, bringing the elements of Army Futures Command together as we pursue full operational capability by next summer,” said Under Secretary of the United States Army, Ryan McCarthy.

McCarthy visited Austin this week to check on the progress of the unit’s creation.

He said, “We’re ahead of progress from what I’ve seen. Very excited about the progress that’s been made. It seems like we got momentum.”

The 100 people working at the headquarters right now are mostly in human resources, managing the Army’s day-to-day functions.

Commanding General John Murray told KXAN only about 20 were hired from Central Texas because they were looking for people who already knew the Army’s core functions.

Locals will have a shot next year at other opportunities.

“The State of Texas has more applications in than any other state in the country in terms of open jobs, in terms of people submitting their resumes,” said Murray. “It’s well over 1,000.”

When the Army fills the rest of the positions, Murray will look for people who know the tech sector well. After all, the goal of the new command is to modernize the Army.

“We have a lot of smart people, but we don’t have all the smart people,” he said. “We tend to think the way we always thought. So innovative thought on how the problems could be solved differently than what we would come up with is really what I’m after, in terms of hiring that type of talent in the headquarters.”

The headquarters will be fully up and running by the end of July. They will eventually manage 24,000 people across the country.