RESHAPING AMERICA'S ARMY

Army,  Mar 2005  by Lowe, Karl

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Naming Maneuver Units of Action

Unit of action is a neutral term intended only to convey a function. Its neutrality between brigade and regimental preferences spared the Army acrimony that might have robbed reorganization planning of its ability to focus. Because UA has no historical roots, a choice now has to be made between "brigadist" and "regimentalist" preferences.

Historically, regiments were fixed entities made up of units of mostly the same branch. When field artillery and engineers were grouped with an infantry regiment, the combination formed a regimental combat team. Transforming them to brigades in the early 1960s provided greater flexibility and brought infantry and armored formations of roughly equal size and function under a common naming convention. An exception was made for armored cavalry regiments, which, while roughly the same size, are fixed formations in which a single branch predominates.

If the Army were to call its maneuver UAs regimental combat teams, only half or less of the armor, cavalry and infantry regiments in today's combat arms regimental system (CARS) would be preserved. In contrast, calling UAs brigades would preserve all existing regiments. For example, the 1st Cavalry Brigade would carry on the 1st Cavalry Division's lineage and insignia and include representative battalions and squadrons of the division's historically associated 5th, 7th, 8th and 12th Cavalry Regiments (three as maneuver battalions and one as the brigade cavalry squadron). Other maneuver brigades of the current 1st Cavalry Division would be assigned the designations of former armored divisions.

Forming Maneuver Brigade Combat Teams

Three types of maneuver brigades would exist-heavy, medium and light. Apportioning brigades among those types should be driven by need, not consensus. The current heavy force is larger than it should be relative to the Army's needs, as affirmed by the last Quadrennial Defense Review. That some tank and artillery battalions are serving in Iraq as ad hoc infantry, cavalry or military police illustrates the force-mission imbalance. The current heavy force includes 10 armored brigades (one infantry and two tank battalions each) and six mechanized brigades (the opposite mix). To correct the force-mission imbalance, the armorheavy brigades would become new-model heavy brigades while existing mechanized brigades would become standard medium brigades, with their tank battalions converted to cavalry squadrons.

Mechanized, motorized, air assault and light infantry brigades would be standardized to form 24 identical medium brigades, each with three infantry battalions and a cavalry squadron. Two of the infantry battalions would have a modified air assault design while the remaining infantry battalion and brigade cavalry squadron would be equipped with Strykers or, on an interim basis, Bradleys. That would give all brigades some armor, consistent with experience in Iraq. Six airborne-qualified light brigades would be similarly organized but with lighter vehicles.