Reorganization plan of United States Army

The reorganization plan of the United States Army is a current modernization and reorganization plan of the United States Army that was implemented under the direction of Brigade Modernization Command. This effort formally began in 2006 when General Peter Schoomaker (the Army Chief of Staff at the time), 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 was 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 by Army Chief of Staff, Eric Shinseki, in 1999, but was bitterly opposed internally by the Army.)

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 is being 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, 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.

Beginning in 2018, the US Army Futures Command, a new Army command for modernization will be activated. This modernization effort, to be coordinated with FORSCOM, Army Materiel Command, and TRADOC, addresses the long lead times for introducing new materiel and capabilities into the brigades of the Army.

Origin and initial design
Before General Schoomaker's tenure, the Army was organized around large, mostly mechanized divisions, of around 15,000 soldiers each, with the aim of being able to fight two major theatres simultaneously. Under the new plan, the Army would be organized around modular brigades of 3,000–4,000 soldiers each, with the aim of being able to deploy continuously in different parts of the world, and effectively organizing the Army closer to the way it fights. An additional 30,000 soldiers were recruited as a short-term measure to assist in the structural changes, although a permanent end-strength change was not expected because of fears of future funding cuts, forcing the Army to pay for the additional personnel from procurement and readiness accounts. Up to 60% of the defense budget is spent on personnel and an extra 10,000 soldiers would cost US$1.4 billion annually.

On November 22 and 23, 2002, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs held the "Belfer Center Conference on Military Transformation". It brought together present and former defense officials and military commanders for the stated purpose of assessing the Department of Defense's progress in achieving a "transformation" of U.S. military capabilities. The conference was held at the Belfer Center at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The United States Army War College and the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series were co-sponsors. In some respects this could be said to have been the birthplace of Transformation as a formal paradigm.

In 2004, the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), which commands most active Army and Army 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 (now part of General Dynamics) to provide Modularity Coordination Cells (MCC) 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.

History of ARFORGEN

The Secretary of the Army approved implementing ARFORGEN, a transformational force generation model, in 2006. ARFORGEN process diagram 2010 Army Posture Statement, Addendum F, Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN)

ARFORGEN model concept development began in the summer of 2004 and received its final approval from the Army’s senior leadership in early 2006.

FORSCOM, Department of the Army AR 525-29 Military Operations, Army Force Generation, 14 Mar 2011

Planning process, evolution, and transformation
The commander-in-chief directs the planning process, through guidance to the Army by the Secretary of Defense. 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,  and also to transform for the future. In support of transformation for the future, TRADOC, upon the advice of the Army's stakeholders, has assembled 20 warfighting challenges. These challenges are under evaluation during annual Army warfighting assessments, such as AWA 17.1, held in October 2016. AWA 17.1 is an assessment by 5,000 US Soldiers, Special Operations Forces, Airmen, and Marines, as well as by British, Australian, Canadian, Danish, and Italian troops. For example, "reach-back" is among the capabilities being assessed; when under attack in an unexpected location, a Soldier on the move might use WIN-T to reach back to a mobile command post, to communicate the unexpected situation to higher echelons.

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 and 75 modular support brigades in 2007 to 45 Brigade Combat Teams and 83 modular support brigades by 2013.

On 25 June 2013, US 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.

On 6 November 2014, it was reported that the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, currently stationed in South Korea, will 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 2001–2014.

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.

Reorganization plans by unit type
The Army has now been organized around modular brigades of 3,000–4,000 soldiers each, with the aim of being able to deploy continuously in different parts of the world, and effectively organizing the Army closer to the way it fights. The fact that this modernization is now in place has been acknowledged by the renaming of the 'Brigade Modernization Command' to the "U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command," on 16 February 2017.

Modular combat brigades
Modular combat brigades are self-contained combined arms formations. They are standardized formations across the active and reserve components, meaning an Armored BCT at Fort Hood will be the same as one at Fort Stewart.

Reconnaissance plays a large role in the new organizational designs. The Army felt the acquisition of the target was the weak link in the chain of finding, fixing, closing with, and destroying the enemy. The Army felt that it had already sufficient lethal platforms to take out the enemy and thus the number of reconnaissance units in each brigade was increased. The brigades sometimes depend on joint fires from the Air Force and Navy to accomplish their mission. As a result, the amount of field artillery has been reduced in the brigade design.

The three types of BCTs are Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs), Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (includes Light, Air Assault and Airborne), and Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs).

Armored Brigade Combat Teams, or ABCTs consist of 4,743 troops. This includes the third maneuver battalion as laid out in 2013. The changes announced by the U.S. army on 25 June 2013, include adding a third maneuver battalion to the brigade, a second engineer company to a new Brigade Engineer Battalion, a third battery to the FA battalion, and reducing the size of each battery from 8 to 6 guns. These changes will also increase the number of troops in the affected battalions and also increase the total troops in the brigade. Since the brigade has more organic units, the command structure includes a deputy commander (in addition to the traditional executive officer) and a larger staff capable of working with civil affairs, special operations, psychological operations, air defense, and aviation units. An Armored BCT consists of:
 * the brigade headquarters and headquarters company (HHC): 43 officers, 17 warrant officers, 125 enlisted personnel – total: 185 soldiers. The commander and deputy commander each have a personal M2A3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
 * the Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB) (formerly Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB)), consisted of a headquarters company, signal company, military intelligence company with a TUAV platoon and two combat engineer companies (A and B company). The former BSTB fielded 28 officers, 6 warrant officers, 470 enlisted personnel – total: 504 soldiers. Each of the combat engineer company fields 13× M2A2 ODS-E, 1× M113A3, 3× M1150 ABV, 1× M9 ACE, and 2× M104 AVLB.
 * a Cavalry (formerly Armed Reconnaissance) Squadron, consisting of a headquarters troop and three reconnaissance troops and one armored troop. The HHT fields 2× M3A3 cavalry fighting vehicles and 3× M7A3 fire support vehicles armed with TOW anti-tank guided missiles, while each reconnaissance troop fields 7× M3A3 cavalry fighting vehicles. The squadron fields 35 officers and 385 enlisted personnel – total: 424 soldiers.
 * three identical combined arms battalions (CABs); flagged as a battalion of an infantry, armored or cavalry regiment. Each battalion consists of a headquarters and headquarters company, two tank companies and two mechanized infantry companies. The battalions field 48 officers and 580 enlisted personnel each – total: 628 soldiers. The HHC fields 1× M1A2 main battle tank, 1× M2A3 infantry fighting vehicle, 3× M3A3 cavalry fighting vehicles, 4× M7A3 fire support vehicles and 4× M1064 mortar carriers with M120 120 mm mortars. Each of the two tank companies fields 14× M1A2 main battle tanks, while each mechanized infantry company fields 14× M2A3 infantry fighting vehicles. In 2016, the ABCT's combined arms battalions adopted a triangle structure, of two armored battalions (of two armored companies plus a single mechanized infantry company) plus a mechanized infantry battalion (of two mechanized companies and one armored company). This resulted in the reduction of two mechanized infantry companies; the deleted armored company was reflagged as a troop to the Cavalry Squadron.
 * a Field Artillery battalion, consisting of a headquarters battery, two cannon batteries with 8× M109A6 self-propelled 155 mm howitzers each [The changes announced by the U.S. Army on 25 June 2013, include adding a third battery to the FA battalion, and reducing the size of each battery from 8 to 6 guns. These changes also increase the number of troops in the affected battalions and also increase the total troops in the Brigade.], and a target acquisition platoon. 24 officers, 2 warrant officers, 296 enlisted personnel – total: 322 soldiers.
 * a brigade support battalion (BSB), consisting of a headquarters, medical, distribution and maintenance company, plus six forward support companies, each of which support one of the three combined arms battalions, the cavalry squadron, the engineer battalion and the field artillery battalion. 61 officers, 14 warrant officers, 1,019 enlisted personnel – total: 1,094 soldiers.

Infantry Brigade Combat Team, or IBCTs, comprised around 3,300 soldiers, in the pre-2013 design, which did not include the 3rd maneuver battalion. The 2013 end-strength is now 4,413 Soldiers:
 * Special Troops Battalion (now Brigade Engineer Battalion)
 * Cavalry Squadron
 * (2), later (3) Infantry Battalions
 * Field Artillery Battalion
 * Brigade Support Battalion

Stryker Brigade Combat Team or SBCTs comprised about 3,900 soldiers, making it the largest of the three combat brigade constructs in the 2006 design, and over 4,500 Soldiers in the 2013 reform. Its design includes:
 * Headquarters Company
 * Cavalry Squadron (with three 14-vehicle, two-120 mm mortar reconnaissance troops plus a surveillance troop with UAVs and NBC detection capability)
 * (3) Stryker infantry battalions (each with three rifle companies with 12 infantry-carrying vehicles, 3 mobile gun platforms, 2 120 mm mortars, and around 100 infantry dismounts each, plus an HHC with scout, mortar and medical platoons and a sniper section.)
 * Anti-tank company (9 TOW-equipped Stryker vehicles) (folded into the Brigade Engineer Battalion)
 * Field Artillery Battalion (three 6-gun 155 mm Howitzer batteries, target acquisition platoon, and a joint fires cell)
 * Engineer Company (folded into the Brigade Engineer Battalion) [An additional engineer company was added to the battalion in the 2013 reform]
 * Signal Company (folded into the Brigade Engineer Battalion)
 * Military Intelligence Company (with UAV platoon) (folded into the Brigade Engineer Battalion)
 * Brigade Support Battalion (headquarters, medical, maintenance, and distribution companies)

Modular support brigades
Similar modularity will exist for support units which fall into five types: Aviation, Fires (artillery), Battlefield Surveillance (intelligence), Maneuver Enhancement (engineers, signal, military police, chemical, and rear-area support), and Sustainment (logistics, medical, transportation, maintenance, etc.). In the past, artillery, combat support, and logistics support only resided at the division level and brigades were assigned those units only on a temporary basis when brigades transformed into "brigade combat teams" for particular deployments.

Combat Aviation Brigades will be multi-functional, offering a combination of attack helicopters (i.e., Apache), reconnaissance helicopters (i.e., Kiowa), medium-lift helicopters (i.e., Blackhawks), heavy-lift helicopters (i.e., Chinooks), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) capability. Aviation will not be organic to combat brigades. It will continue to reside at the division-level due to resource constraints.

Heavy divisions (of which there are six) will have 48 Apaches, 38 Blackhawks, 12 Chinooks, and 12 Medevac helicopters in their aviation brigade. These will be divided into two aviation attack battalions, an assault lift battalion, a general aviation support battalion. An aviation support battalion will have headquarters, refuelling/resupply, repair/maintenance, and communications companies. Light divisions will have aviation brigades with 60 armed reconnaissance helicopters and no Apaches, with the remaining structure the same. The remaining divisions will have aviation brigades with 30 armed reconnaissance helicopters and 24 Apaches, with the remaining structure the same. Ten Army Apache helicopter units will convert to heavy attack reconnaissance squadrons, with 12 RQ-7B Shadow drones apiece. The helicopters to fill out these large, combined-arms division-level aviation brigades comes from aviation units that used to reside at the corps-level.

Fires Brigades (renamed Field Artillery Brigades in 2014) provide traditional artillery fires (Paladin, Howitzer, MLRS, HIMARS) as well as information operations and non-lethal effects capabilities. After the 2013 reform, the expertise formerly embodied in the pre-2007 Division Artillery (DIVARTY) was formally re-instituted in the Division Artillery Brigades of 2015. The operational Fires battalions will now report to this new formulation of DIVARTY, for training and operational Fires standards, as well as to the BCT.

Air Defense: The Army will no longer provide an organic air defense artillery (ADA) battalion to its divisions. Nine of the ten active component (AC) divisional ADA battalions and two of the eight reserve (ARNG) divisional ADA battalions will deactivate. The remaining AC divisional ADA battalion along with six ARNG divisional ADA battalions will be pooled at the Unit of Employment to provide on-call air and missile defense (AMD) protection. The pool of Army AMD resources will address operational requirements in a tailorable and timely manner without stripping assigned AMD capability from other missions.

Maneuver Enhancement Brigades are designed to be self-contained, and will command units such as chemical, military police, civil affairs units, and tactical units such as a maneuver infantry battalion. These formations will be designed to be joint so that they can operate with coalition, or joint forces such as the Marine Corps, or can span the gap between modular combat brigades and other modular support brigades.

Sustainment Brigades provide echelon-above-brigade-level logistics.

The former Battlefield Surveillance Brigades, now denoted Military Intelligence Brigades (Expeditionary), will offer additional UAVs and long-term surveillance detachments. Each of the three active duty brigades are attached to an Army Corps.



Security Force Assistance Brigades
Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs) are brigades whose mission will be to train, advise, and assist (TAA) the armed forces of other coalition partners. The SFAB are neither bound by conventional decisive operations nor counter-insurgency operations. Operationally, a 500-soldier SFAB would free-up a 4500-soldier BCT from a TAA mission. On 23 June 2016 General Mark Milley revealed plans for train/advise/assist Brigades, consisting of seasoned officers and NCOs with a full chain of command, but no junior Soldiers. By October 2017, the first of six planned SFABs (the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade) will be established at Fort Benning. The SFABs will consist of 500 senior officers and NCOs, which, the Army says, could act as a cadre to reform a full BCT in a matter of months. In May 2017, the initial SFAB staffing of 529 soldiers was underway, including 360 officers. The officers will have had previous command experience. Commanders and leaders will have previously led BCTs at the same echelon. The remaining personnel, all senior NCOs, are being recruited from across the Army. Promotable E-4s who volunteer for the SFAB are automatically promoted to Sergeant upon completion of the Military Advisor Training Academy. Funding for the first two SFABs was secured in June 2017.

On 16 October 2017, BG Brian Mennes of Force Management in the Army's G3/5/7 announced accelerated deployment of the first two SFABs, possibly by Spring 2018 to Aghanistan and Iraq, if required. This was approved in early July 2017, by the Secretary of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Army. These SFABs would be trained in languages, how to work with interpreters, and equipped with the latest equipment including secure, but unclassified, communications and weapons to support coalition partners, as well as unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). The first five SFABs would align with the Combatant Commands (CENTCOM, PACOM, AFRICOM, ...) as required; an SFAB could provide up to 58 teams (possibly with additional Soldiers for force protection). 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade deploys to Afghanistan in Spring 2018. On 8 February 2018, 1st SFAB held an activation ceremony at Fort Benning, revealing its colors and heraldry for the first time, and then cased its colors for the deployment to Afghanistan.

On 8 December 2017, the Army announced the activation of the second Security Force Assistance Brigade, for January 2018, the second of six planned SFABs. The SFAB will consist of about 800 senior and noncommissioned officers who have served at the same echelon, with proven expertise in advise-and-assist operations with foreign security forces. Fort Bragg was chosen as the venue for the second SFAB in anticipation of the time projected to train a Security Force Assistance Brigade. On 17 January 2018 Chief of Staff Mark Milley announced the activation of the third SFAB.

A team of twelve soldiers would include a medic, personnel for intelligence support, and air support, as cited by Keller.

In the event of a national emergency the end-strengths of the SFABs could be augmented with new soldiers entering basic training and advanced individual training.

Command headquarters
Division commands will command and control these combat and support brigades. Divisions will operate as plug-and-play headquarters commands (similar to corps) instead of fixed formations with permanently assigned units. Any combination of brigades may be assigned to divisions for a particular mission up to a maximum of four combat brigades. For instance, the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters could be assigned two armor brigades and two infantry brigades based on the expected requirements of a given mission. On its next deployment, the same division may have one Stryker brigade and two armor brigades assigned to it. The same modus operandi holds true for support units. The goal of reorganization with regard to logistics is to streamline the logistics command structure so that combat service support can fulfill its support mission more efficiently.

The division headquarters itself has also been redesigned as a modular unit that can be assigned an array of units and serve in many different operational environments. The new term for this headquarters is the UEx (or Unit of Employment, X). The headquarters is designed to be able to operate as part of a joint force, command joint forces with augmentation, and command at the operational level of warfare (not just the tactical level). It will include organic security personnel and signal capability plus liaison elements. As of March 2015, nine of the ten regular Army division headquarters, and two national guard division headquarters are committed in support of Combatant Commands.

When not deployed, the division will have responsibility for the training and readiness of a certain number of modular brigades units. For instance, the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters module based at Fort Stewart, GA is responsible for the readiness of its combat brigades and other units of the division, assuming they have not been deployed separately under a different division.

The re-designed headquarters module comprises around 1,000 soldiers including over 200 officers. It includes:
 * A Main Command Post where mission planning and analysis are conducted
 * A mobile command group for commanding while on the move
 * (2) Tactical Command Posts to exercise control of brigades
 * Liaison elements
 * A special troops battalion with a security company and signal company

Divisions will continue to be commanded by major generals, unless coalition requirements require otherwise. Regional army commands (e.g. 3rd Army, 7th Army, 8th Army) will remain in use in the future but with changes to the organization of their headquarters designed to make the commands more integrated and relevant in the structure of the reorganized Army.

In January 2017, examples of pared-down tactical operations centers, suitable for brigades and divisions, were demonstrated at a command post huddle at Fort Bliss. The huddle of the commanders of FORSCOM, United States Army Reserve Command, First Army, I and III Corps, 9 of the Active Army divisions, and other formations discussed standardized solutions for streamlining command posts. The Army is paring-down the tactical operations centers, and making them more agile, to increase their survivability.

Training and readiness
Under Schoomaker, combat training centers (CTCs) emphasized the contemporary operating environment (such as an urban, ethnically-sensitive city in Iraq) and stress units according to the unit mission and the commanders' assessments, collaborating often to support holistic collective training programs, rather than by exception as was formerly the case.

Schoomaker's plan was to resource units based on the mission they are expected to accomplish (major combat versus SASO, or stability and support operations), regardless of component (active or reserve). Instead of using snapshot readiness reports, the Army now rates units based on the mission they are expected to perform given their position across the three force pools ('reset', 'train/ready', and 'available'). The Army now deploys units upon each commanders' signature on the certificate of their unit's assessment (viz., Ready). As of June 2016, only one-third of the Army's brigades are ready to deploy.
 * "Soldiers need to be ready 100 percent of the time." —Robert B. Abrams, FORSCOM commander, June 2, 2016

Family Readiness Groups
Army spouses belong to Family Readiness Groups (FRGs) which mirror the command structure of an Army unit. An FRG seeks to meet the needs of soldiers and their families, for example during a deployment. As a soldier transfers in and out of an installation, the soldier's entire family will typically undergo a permanent change of station (PCS) to the next post. Transfers typically follow the cycle of the school year to minimize disruption in an Army family. When a family emergency occurs, the informal support of that unit's FRG is available to the soldier.

"Associated units" training program
The Army announced a pilot program, 'associated units', in which a National Guard or Reserve unit would now train with a specific active Army formation. These units would wear the patch of the specific Army division before their deployment to a theater; 36th Infantry Division (United States) headquarters deployed to Afghanistan in May 2016 for a train, advise, assist mission.

The Army Reserve, whose headquarters are colocated with FORSCOM, and the National Guard, are testing the associated units program in a three-year pilot program with the active Army. The program will use the First Army training roles at the Army Combat Training Centers at Fort Irwin, Fort Polk, and regional and overseas training facilities.

The pilot program complements FORSCOM's total force partnerships with the National Guard, begun in 2014. Summer 2016 will see the first of these units.

Sustainable Readiness Model
ARFORGEN will be replaced by the Sustainable Readiness Model (SRM) in 2017. In 2016 the Chief of Staff of the Army identified the objective of a sustainable readiness process as over 66 percent of the Active Army in combat ready state at any time, with an objective for readiness of the National Guard to be determined.

Deployment scheme
The force generation system, posited in 2006 by General Schoomaker, projected that the U.S. Army would be deployed continuously. The Army would serve as an expeditionary force to fight a protracted campaign against terrorism and stand ready for other potential contingencies across the full-spectrum of operations (from humanitarian and stability operations to major combat operations against a conventional foe).

Under ideal circumstances, Army units would have a minimum "dwell time," a minimum duration of which it would remain at home station before deployment. Active-duty units would be prepared to deploy once every three years. Army Reserve units would be prepared to deploy once every five years. National Guard units would be prepared to deploy once every six years. A total of 71 combat brigades would form the Army's rotation basis, 42 from the active component with the balance from the reserves.

Thus, around 15 active-duty combat brigades would be available for deployment each year under the 2006 force-generation plan. An additional 4 or 5 brigades would be available for deployment from the reserve component. The plan was designed to provide more stability to soldiers and their families. Within the system, a surge capability would exist so that about an additional 18 brigades could be deployed in addition to the 19 or 20 scheduled brigades.

From General Dan McNeil, former Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) Commander: Within the Army Forces Generation (ARFORGEN) model, brigade combat teams (BCTs) would move through a series of three force pools; they would enter the model at its inception, the "reset force pool", upon completion of a deployment cycle. There they would re-equip and reman while executing all individual predeployment training requirements, attaining readiness as quickly as possible. Reset or "R" day, recommended by FORSCOM and approved by Headquarters, Department of the Army, would be marked by BCT changes of command, preceded or followed closely by other key leadership transitions. While in the reset pool, formations would be remanned, reaching 100% of mission required strength by the end of the phase, while also reorganizing and fielding new equipment, if appropriate. In addition, it is there that units would be confirmed against future missions, either as deployment expeditionary forces (DEFs-BCTs trained for known operational requirements), ready expeditionary forces (REFs-BCTs that form the pool of available forces for short-notice missions) or contingency expeditionary forces (CEFs-BCTs earmarked for contingency operations).

Based on their commanders' assessments, units would move to the ready force pool, from which they could deploy should they be needed, and in which the unit training focus would be at the higher collective levels. Units would enter the available force pool when there is approximately one year left in the cycle, after validating their collective mission-essential task list proficiency (either core or theater-specific tasks) via battle-staff and dirt-mission rehearsal exercises. The available phase would be the only phase with a specified time limit: one year. Not unlike the division-ready brigades of past decades, these formations would deploy to fulfill specific requirements or stand ready to fulfill short-notice deployments within 30 days.

The goal was to generate forces 12–18 months in advance of combatant commanders' requirements and to begin preparing every unit for its future mission as early as possible in order to increase its overall proficiency.

Personnel management would also be reorganized as part of the Army transformation. Previously, personnel was managed on an individual basis in which soldiers were rotated without regard for the effect on unit cohesion. This system required unpopular measures such as "stop loss" and "stop move" in order to maintain force levels. In contrast, the new personnel system would operate on a unit basis to the maximum extent possible, with the goal of allowing teams to remain together longer and enabling families to establish ties within their communities.

Abrams 2016 noted that mid-level Army soldiers found they faced an unexpected uptempo in their requirements, while entry-level soldiers in fact welcomed the increased challenge.

Force size and unit organization
Overall, the Army would end up with 71 brigade combat teams and 212 support brigades, in the pre-2013 design. The Regular Army would move from 33 brigade combat teams in 2003 to 43 brigade combat teams together with 75 modular support brigades, for a total of 118 Regular Army modular brigades. In addition the previously un-designated training brigades such as the Infantry Training Brigade at Fort Benning assumed the lineage & honors of formerly active Regular Army combat brigades. Within the Army National Guard, there would be 28 brigade combat teams and 78 support brigades. Within the Army Reserve, the objective was 59 support brigades.(Chief of Staff Mark Milley credits a previous Chief, Creighton Abrams, for placing most of the support brigades in the reserve and national guard, in order to insure that the nation would use the total army, rather than only the active army alone, in an extended war involving the entire nation.)

In the post-2013 design, the Regular Army is planned to reduce to 32 BCTs after all the BCTs have been announced for inactivation.

Army commands

 * United States Army Forces Command headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
 * United States Army Materiel Command headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
 * United States Army Training and Doctrine Command headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia

Army service component commands

 * Geographic commands
 * United States Army Africa / Ninth Army headquartered at Vicenza, Italy
 * United States Army Central / Third Army headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina
 * United States Army North / Fifth Army headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas
 * United States Army South / Sixth Army headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas
 * United States Army Europe / Seventh Army headquartered at Wiesbaden, Germany
 * United States Army Pacific headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii
 * Functional commands
 * United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
 * United States Army Special Operations Command headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
 * Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois
 * United States Army Cyber Command headquartered at Fort Gordon, Georgia

Army direct reporting units

 * United States Army Reserve Command headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
 * United States Army Medical Command (MEDCOM)
 * United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia
 * United States Army Corps of Engineers
 * United States Military Academy
 * United States Army Military District of Washington (MDW) headquartered at Fort McNair, District of Columbia
 * United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC) headquartered at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia

Field armies

 * First US Army, headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois (A component of FORSCOM; responsible for training the reserve components when mobilized for overseas deployment)
 * Eighth US Army, headquartered at Yongsan Army Garrison, South Korea (component of United States Forces Korea)

Army corps

 * I Corps headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
 * III Corps headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas
 * XVIII Airborne Corps headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Divisions and brigades

 * Note: these formations were subject to change, announced in 

The 2018 budget will further reduce 40,000 active-duty soldiers from 490,000 in 2015 to 450,000 by 2018 fiscal year-end. Thirty installations will be affected; six of these installations will account for over 12,000 of those to be let go.

In early 2015, the plan was to cut entire BCTs; by July 2015, a new plan, to downsize a BCT (4,500 soldiers) to a maneuver battalion task force (1,032 soldiers, with the possibility of upsizing if need be) was formulated. In 2015, a plan was instituted to allow further shrinking of the Army, by converting selected brigades to maneuver battalion task forces. A maneuver battalion task force includes about 1,050 Soldiers rather than the 4,000 in a full BCT. This 9 July 2015 plan, however, would preclude rapid deployment of such a unit until it has been reconstituted back to full re-deployable strength. This is being addressed with the from the Reserve and Guard, and the  (SRM). Funding has been allocated for two (out of six planned) Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs) composed of 529 senior officers and senior NCOs (a full chain of command for a BCT). The changes announced so far affect:


 * FORSCOM
 * Every HHBN (2-star, and higher, headquarters battalion) reduces by 10%
 * 3rd ABCT, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning
 * 2nd SBCT, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks
 * 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command relocates from Fort Knox to Fort Bragg
 * 1st Theater Sustainment Command relocates from Fort Bragg to Fort Knox
 * ARNG
 * 81st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 40th Infantry Division to become an associated unit (SBCT) of 7th Infantry Division (81st's armor assets to be pre-positioned in Europe).
 * 1st Armored Division, at Fort Bliss (Texas), regionally aligned with Central Command (CENTCOM)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 1st Armored Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood (Texas), regionally aligned with European Command (EUCOM)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 1st Cavalry Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Riley, (Kansas)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, regionally aligned with African Command (AFRICOM)
 * 1st Infantry Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 2nd Infantry Division, at Camp Red Cloud, (South Korea)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1x Rotation Armored Brigade Combat Team, at Camp Casey, Camp Hovey, and Camp Humphreys, South Korea
 * Combat Aviation Brigade, at Camp Humphreys and K-16 Airfield, South Korea
 * 2nd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, at Camp Carroll, Camp Stanley, and Camp Humphreys, South Korea
 * 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, (Georgia)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Georgia Army National Guard)
 * Task Force 1st Btn. 28th Infantry Regiment, at Fort Benning, Georgia
 * 3rd Infantry Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade, at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia
 * 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, (Colorado), regionally aligned with European Command (EUCOM)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team
 * 4th Infantry Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 4th Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 7th Infantry Division (Headquarters only), at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, (Washington)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
 * 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
 * 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team (Washington Army National Guard)
 * 2nd Infantry Division Artillery
 * 10th Mountain Division, at Fort Drum, (New York)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team
 * 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Vermont Army National Guard)
 * 10th Mountain Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks, (Hawaii)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, at Fort Wainwright, (Alaska)
 * 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team
 * 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, (Alaska)
 * 25th Infantry Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 25th Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne)
 * 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne)
 * 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne)
 * 82nd Airborne Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 101st Airborne Division, at Fort Campbell, (Kentucky)
 * Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion
 * 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Air Assault)
 * 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Air Assault)
 * 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Air Assault)
 * 101st Airborne Division Artillery
 * Combat Aviation Brigade
 * 101st Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade
 * 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker BCT), in Vilseck, (Germany)
 * 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker BCT), at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, at Fort Polk, (Louisiana)
 * 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, in Vicenza, (Italy)

Active-duty division:
 * 11 division headquarters (one division headquarters stationed overseas in South Korea)

Active-duty combat brigades: 31 at the end of 2017
 * 10 Armored Brigade Combat Teams
 * 2nd and 3rd ABCT at Fort Bliss (Texas), part of 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss (Texas)
 * 1st, 2nd and 3rd ABCT at Fort Hood (Texas), part of 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood (Texas)
 * 1st and 2nd ABCT at Fort Riley (Kansas), part of 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley (Kansas)
 * 1st and 2nd ABCT at Fort Stewart (Georgia), part of 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart (Georgia)
 * 3rd ABCT at Fort Carson (Colorado), part of 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson (Colorado)
 * 7 Stryker Brigade Combat Teams
 * 1st SBCT at Fort Bliss (Texas), part of 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss (Texas)
 * 1st SBCT at Fort Carson (Colorado), part of 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson (Colorado)
 * 1st SBCT at Fort Wainwright (Alaska), administratively part of 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks (Hawaii), but operationally under US Army Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson (Alaska)
 * 1st and 2nd SBCT at Fort Lewis (Joint Base Lewis–McChord) (Washington), operationally under the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Red Cloud (South Korea), administratively the two brigades alternate together between the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea and the 7th Infantry Division HQ at Joint Base Lewis–McChord (Washington)
 * 2nd Cavalry Regiment (SBCT) at Rose Barracks in Vilseck (Germany), independent SBCT under US Army Europe at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne Barracks (Germany)
 * 3rd Cavalry Regiment (SBCT) at Fort Hood (Texas), independent SBCT under III Corps at Fort Hood (Texas)
 * 6 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (Light)
 * 2nd IBCT at Fort Carson (Colorado), part of 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson (Colorado)
 * 1st and 2nd IBCT at Fort Drum (New York), part of 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum (New York)
 * 2nd and 3rd IBCT at Schofield Barracks (Hawaii), part of 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks (Hawaii)
 * 3rd IBCT at Fort Polk (Louisiana), a regular army brigade under the Army National Guard's 36th Infantry Division at Austin (Texas)
 * 5 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (Airborne)
 * 1st, 2nd and 3rd IBCT (Airborne) at Fort Bragg (North Carolina), part of 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg (North Carolina)
 * 4th IBCT (Airborne) at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson (Alaska), administratively part of 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks (Hawaii), but operationally under US Army Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson (Alaska)
 * 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Caserma Ederle Barracks in Vicenza (Italy), independent brigade under US Army Europe at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne Barracks (Germany)
 * 3 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (Air Assault)
 * 1st, 2nd and 3rd IBCT (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell (Kentucky), part of 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell (Kentucky)

Support brigades
Active-duty Support Brigades (with reserve-component numbers in parenthesis: ARNG/USAR)


 * 12 Combat Aviation Brigades (12/2):
 * 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, in Katterbach, (Germany)
 * 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, (Washington)
 * 10 Combat Aviation Brigades as part of active army divisions
 * 3 Military Intelligence Brigades (Expeditionary) (2/3):
 * 201st Military Intelligence Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, (Washington)
 * 504th Military Intelligence Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 525th Military Intelligence Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 4 Field Artillery Brigades (8/0) One brigade for each Army Corps and one for Eighth United States Army:
 * 17th Field Artillery Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, (Washington)
 * 18th Field Artillery Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 75th Field Artillery Brigade, at Fort Sill, (Oklahoma)
 * 210th Field Artillery Brigade, at Camp Casey, (South Korea)
 * 5 Air Defense Artillery Brigades (3/0):
 * 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, at Fort Bliss, (Texas)
 * 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, at Fort Sill, (Oklahoma)
 * 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, at Osan Air Base, (South Korea)
 * 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 4 Engineer Brigades (7/4):
 * 20th Engineer Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 36th Engineer Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 130th Engineer Brigade, at Schofield Barracks, (Hawaii)
 * 555th Engineer Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, (Washington)
 * 12 Sustainment Brigades (10/9):
 * 16th Sustainment Brigade, in Bamberg, (Germany)
 * 528th Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne), at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * Ten Sustainment Brigades as part of active army divisions
 * 5 Military Police Brigades (4/4):
 * 8th Military Police Brigade, at Schofield Barracks, (Hawaii)
 * 16th Military Police Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 18th Military Police Brigade, in Grafenwöhr, (Germany)
 * 42nd Military Police Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, (Washington)
 * 89th Military Police Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 1 Transportation Brigade (0/5):
 * 7th Transportation Brigade, at Fort Eustis, (Virginia)
 * 5 Security Force Assistance Brigades (1/0) planned, 1st in 2017:
 * 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, at Fort Benning, (Georgia)
 * 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 5 Medical Brigades (0/10):
 * 1st Medical Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 30th Medical Brigade, in Sembach, (Germany)
 * 44th Medical Brigade, at Fort Bragg, (North Carolina)
 * 62nd Medical Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, (Washington)
 * 65th Medical Brigade, at Yongsan Garrison, (South Korea)
 * 8 Signal Brigades (2/2):
 * 1st Signal Brigade, at Yongsan Garrison, (South Korea)
 * 2nd Signal Brigade, in Wiesbaden, (Germany)
 * 11th Signal Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)
 * 35th Signal Brigade, at Fort Gordon, (Georgia)
 * 93rd Signal Brigade, at Fort Eustis, (Virginia)
 * 106th Signal Brigade, at Fort Sam Houston, (Texas)
 * 160th Signal Brigade, at Camp Arifjan, (Kuwait)
 * 516th Signal Brigade, at Fort Shafter, (Hawaii)
 * 1 Chemical Brigade (1/1):
 * 48th Chemical Brigade, at Fort Hood, (Texas)