Transformation of The United States Army - Modular Brigades

Modular Brigades

One of the major initiatives of the modernization plan involves migrating the Army from a division-centric force designed to fight one or two potential major-theatre wars toward a modular, brigade-centric force that is expeditionary in nature and deployed continuously in different parts of the world. To help with the force structure changes, an additional 30,000 soldiers were authorized under emergency authority. As of 2005, a permanent end-strength change is not expected because General Schoomaker fears funding will be cut in future years, forcing the Army to dip into its procurement and readiness accounts to pay for the added personnel. (Personnel represent 60% of the defense budget and every extra 10,000 soldiers cost, in total, US$1.4 billion annually.)

Before Schoomaker's tenure, the Army was organized around large, mostly mechanized divisions of around 15,000 soldiers each. Under his plan, the 3,000-to-4,000-soldier combat brigade is becoming the primary building-block unit of the Army. The Army describes this realignment as, in effect, organizing its brigades closer to the way it fights.

In 2004, the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), which commands almost all of the active Army and Army Reserve forces based in the Continental United States, was charged by the Department of the Army with supervising the modular transformation of its subordinate force structure. In March, 2004, FORSCOM awarded a contract to Anteon Corporation (now part of General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc.) to provide Modularity Coordination Cells (MCC) to each transforming corps, division and brigade combat team within FORSCOM. Each MCC was tailored to the unique requirements of its supported unit, but all contained a tightly-integrated team of functional area specialists who provided direct, ground-level support to the unit. The full network of MCCs was coordinated and managed by the Anteon office in Atlanta, Georgia.