The reorganization plan of the United States Army was implemented from 2006 to 2016 under the direction of the Brigade Modernization Command. This effort formally began in 2006 when General Peter Schoomaker (the 35th Army Chief of Staff) was given the support to move the Army from its Cold War divisional orientation to a full-spectrum capability with fully manned, equipped and trained brigades; this effort was completed by the end of 2016. It has been the most comprehensive reorganization since World War II and included modular combat brigades, support brigades, and command headquarters, as well as rebalancing the active and reserve components.
The plan was first proposed in 1999 by Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki but was bitterly opposed internally by the Army.
Origin and initial design In the 1980s the "Army of Excellence" reorganization had been the last fundamental reorganization of the Army's divisions.Wilson, "Maneuver and Firepower.
Before Schoomaker's appointment, the Army was organized around large, mostly mechanized, divisions of around 15,000 soldiers each, with the aim of being able to fight in two major theatres simultaneously. Under the new plan, the Army would be organized around modular brigades of 3,000–4,000 soldiers, intended to deploy continuously in different parts of the world and to organize the Army closer to the way it fights.
An additional 30,000 soldiers were recruited as a short-term measure to ease the structural changes, although a permanent end-strength change was not expected because of fears of funding cuts. This forced the Army to pay for the additional personnel from procurement and readiness accounts. Up to 60% of the defense budget is spent on personnel; at the time, each 10,000 soldiers cost roughly US$1.4 billion annually.
In 2002, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs held a key conference: the "Belfer Center Conference on Military Transformation". Co-sponsored by the United States Army War College and the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series, on November 22 and 23, it brought together present and former defense officials and military commanders to assess the Department of Defense's progress in achieving a "transformation" of U.S. military capabilities.
In 2004, the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), which commands most active and reserve forces based in the Continental United States, was tasked with supervising the modular transformation of its subordinate structure.
In March 2004, a contract was awarded to Anteon Corporation (later a part of General Dynamics) to provide "Modularity Coordination Cells" (MCCs) to each transforming corps, division and brigade within FORSCOM. Each MCC contained a team of functional area specialists who provided direct, ground-level support to the unit. The MCCs were coordinated by the Anteon office in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Secretary of the Army approved implementing "Army Force Generation" (ARFORGEN), a transformational force generation model, in 2006. ARFORGEN model concept development began in the summer of 2004 and received its final approval from the Army's senior leadership in early 2006.Henry S. Kenyon (June 2006) U.S. Army Reforges Training and Readiness.
In 2007 a new deployment scheme known as Grow the Army was adopted that enabled the Army to carry out continuous operations. The plan was modified several times including an expansion of troop numbers in 2007 and changes to the number of modular brigades. On 25 June 2013, plans were announced to disband 13 modular brigade combat teams (BCTs) and expand the remaining brigades with an extra maneuver battalion, extra fires batteries, and an engineer battalion.
In 2016, the Army force generation process ARFORGEN was sidelined because it relied mostly on the Active Army, in favor of the total force policy, which includes the Reserve and National Guard; in the new model, the total force could have fallen to 980,000 by 2018,Soldiers need to be ready 100 percent of time, says FORSCOM commander, Army.mil, accessdate=2016-06-05 subject to DoD's Defense Strategic Guidance to the Joint Staff. By 15 June 2017, the Department of the Army approved an increase in the Active Army's end-strength from 475,000 to 476,000. The total Army end-strength increases to 1.018 million.Department of the Army announces force structure decisions for fiscal year 2017 accessdate=2017-06-25 Global security.org: 2017 National Defense Authorization Act "Military Personnel" accessdate=2017-02-02
Planning process, evolution, and transformation The commander-in-chief directs the planning process, through guidance to the Army by the Secretary of Defense.Robert M. Gates (5 Jan 2012) "Defense Strategic Guidance" Every year, Army Posture Statements by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army summarize their assessment of the Army's ability to respond to world events,HQDA McHugh & Odierno, A STATEMENT ON THE POSTURE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY 2015 , Army.mil, accessdate=2016-06-05DoD 2017 DoD Posture Defense Statement and also to transform for the future.Army.mil,Mission of the U.S. Army accessdate=2016-09-11 In support of transformation for the future, TRADOC, upon the advice of the Army's stakeholders, has assembled 20 warfighting challenges.ARCIC Army Warfighting Challenges (AWFCs) accessdate=2016-10-25 These challenges are under evaluation during annual Army warfighting assessments, such as AWA 17.1, held in October 2016. AWA 17.1 was an assessment by 5,000 US Soldiers, Special Operations Forces, Airmen, and Marines,TRADOC News THE EVOLUTION OF THE ARMY WARFIGHTING ASSESSMENT as well as by British, Australian, Canadian, Danish, and Italian troops.US Army Army tests new warfighting tech at Army Warfighting Assessment accessdate=2016-10-23US Army Special Operations Forces integrate into AWA 17.1 accessdate=2016-10-28US Army AWA 17.1: Increasing the pace of battle in a coalition environment accessdate=2016-10-29A RIC-U might be used by a coalition partner to encrypt their individual networks, when interoperating with a US Army voice network. For example, is among the capabilities being assessed; when under attack in an unexpected location, a Soldier on the move might use Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T). At the halt, a light Transportable Tactical Command Communications (T2C2 Lite) systemASA(ALT) Weapon System Handbook (2018) Transportable Tactical Command Communications (T2C2)Spc. Matthew Marcellus, 1st Armored Division. Communications in Motion: (15 May 2019) Iron Soldiers train on inflatable satellite communications system T2C2 http://fortblissbugle.com/2019/05/15/communications-in-motion-iron-soldiers-train-on-inflatable-satellite-communications-system-t2c2/ Mark Pomerleau (March 23, 2018) The Army's newest satellite antenna is remarkably simpleMr. Joe Welch, Lt. Col. Jack "Shane" Taylor and Mr. Michael Beery (July 12, 2016) Network Marketplace: Open for Business and Growing could reach back to a mobile command post, to communicate the unexpected situation to higher echelons,US Army Army prepares to test enhanced network operation tools at NIE 16.2 accessdate=2016-11-05US Army Future warfighting calls for semi-independent units, empowered leaders accessdate=2017-02-16 a building block in multi-domain operations."We are going to have to empower [and] decentralize leadership to make decisions and achieve battlefield effects in a widely dispersed environment where subordinate leaders, junior leaders ... may not be able to communicate to their higher headquarters, even if they wanted to", Milley said. C. Todd Lopez, Army News Service. (May 5, 2017) Future warfare requires 'disciplined disobedience,' Army chief says accessdate=2017-05-05US Army Army, Marine leaders bring multi-domain concept closer to reality accessdate=2017-02-16 US Army Air Force may join Army in refining multi-domain concept accessdate=2017-03-18The Army Strategy 2018 army.milSydney J. Freedberg Jr. (April 03, 2019) How Army's Multi-Domain Overhaul May Impact The National Guard ' In 2009, the Army officially replaced "command and control" with "mission command"' Austin Carne (7 Jul 2020) Mission Command: The Army's Powerful Leadership Tool Col. Douglas M. McBride Jr. and Reginald L. Snell, Ph.D. (9 January 2017) Applying mission command to overcome challenges Creating trust is the foundation for accomplishing the mission. US Army
Implementation and current status Grow the Army was a transformation and re-stationing initiative of the United States Army which began in 2007 and was scheduled to be completed by fiscal year 2013. The initiative was designed to grow the army by almost 75,000 soldiers, while realigning a large portion of the force in Europe to the continental United States in compliance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure suggestions. This grew the force from 42 Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) and 75 modular support brigades in 2007 to 45 Brigade Combat Teams and 83 modular support brigades by 2013.
On 25 June 2013, 38th Army Chief of Staff General Raymond T. Odierno announced plans to disband 13 brigade combat teams and reduce troop strengths by 80,000 soldiers. While the number of BCTs will be reduced, the size of remaining BCTs will increase, on average, to about 4,500 soldiers. That will be accomplished, in many cases, by moving existing battalions and other assets from existing BCTs into other brigades. Two brigade combat teams in Germany had already been deactivated and a further 10 brigade combat teams slated for deactivation were announced by General Odierno on 25 June. (An additional brigade combat team was announced for deactivation 6 November 2014.) At the same time the maneuver battalions from the disbanded brigades will be used to augment armored and infantry brigade combat teams with a third maneuver battalion and expanded brigades fires capabilities by adding a third battery to the existing fires battalions. Furthermore, all brigade combat teams—armored, infantry and Stryker—will gain a Brigade Engineer Battalion, with "gap-crossing" and route-clearance capability.US Army
On 6 November 2014, it was reported that the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, currently stationed in South Korea, was to be deactivated in June 2015 and be replaced by a succession of U.S.-based brigade combat teams, which are to be rotated in and out, at the same nine-month tempo as practiced by the Army from 2001 to 2014.Stripes.com
Eleven brigades were inactivated by 2015. The remaining brigades as of 2015 are listed below. On 16 March 2016, the Deputy Commanding General (DCG) of FORSCOM announced that the brigades would now also train to move their equipment to their new surge location as well as to train for the requirements of their next deployment.Arpi Dilantsian and Matthew Howard (April 1, 2019) Plan, prepare, practice: An interview with Lt. Gen. Laura RichardsonUS Army Michelle Tan Big BCT changes mapped out for 2015 February 9, 2015, Army Times.DoD News (July 9, 2015) Army Announces Force Structure, Stationing Decisions
By 2018, Secretary of the Army Mark Esper noted that even though the large deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan had ceased, at any given time, three of the Armored Brigade Combat Teams are deployed to EUCOM, CENTCOM, and INDOPACOM, respectively, while two Infantry Brigade Combat Teams are deployed to Iraq, and Afghanistan, respectively.US Army (23 April 2018) Army Secretary Esper, senior NCO Dailey discuss modernization, recruiting, retention