The National Guard Bureau has formally announced the designations of the new modular brigades that will be the basis lor the transformed Army National Guard.
Seventy-three percent ol Army Guard units will be alfected by transformation-the largest shift in Guard force structure since the end of World War 11.
The conversion to a modular iorce structure began in fiscal year 2005 and is scheduled to be completed by fiscal 2008.
At the core of the Army National Guard's force will be 34 modular brigade combat teams (BCTs) that are identical in structure and manning to their active-component.
The BCTs come in three types: infantry, armored and Stryker. Two of the Guard's BCTs, the 116th in Idaho and the 278th in Tennessee, will be given the traditional "Cavalry" designation; however, they will be structured identical to the Armored BCTs.
The Guard currently has one Stryker BCT-the 56th Brigade, 28th Infantry Division out of Pennsylvania.
Complementing the BCTs are a number of new modular supporting unitssix "fires" brigades, 10 combat support brigades, 11 sustainment brigades, 12 aviation brigades, an aviation command and three sustainment commands.
A major issue throughout the transformation to modular units was the desire to retain the lineage and honors of historic Army Guard regiments and battalions.
In many cases, affected states, NGB and the U.S. Army Center of Military History jointly decided to convert historic regiments to a new branch in order to keep their lineage intact.
Overall, modular conversion led to a large decrease in Army Guard field artillery and armor battalions and an increase in the number of cavalry squadrons.
© 2005 National Guard Association of the United States Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Source: National Guard
