The Army announced new stationing plans last month for a growing force that will affect 380,000 soldiers and family members and cost more than $66 billion in construction projects through 2013.
It's the largest Army transformation since World War II, and moves the force toward a "modular," or brigade-centric, posture.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard A. Cody told reporters at the Pentagon Dec. 19 that the design represents a holistic improvement across the entire service branch.
"We're changing the footprint of our Army to a make it more agile, more expeditionary, but also to place our formations and our family members in post camps and stations that have a higher quality of life, have a higher quality of training ranges," he said.
The plan will be implemented as the force expands by 74,200 soldiers by 2010. Most of the increase will be in the active component; the Army Guard is set to grow by 8,200 troops as part of the increase.
In accordance with a 2005 Base Realignment and Closure rulings analysis, the plan:
* Stations two infantry brigade combat teams (BCTs) each to Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; and Fort Bliss, Texas.
* Stations eight support brigades across the country, including an air defense artillery brigade at Fort Hood, Texas; a military police brigade at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; a maneuver enhancement brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo; a fires brigade at Fort Bliss; an expeditionary sustainment command at Fort Lewis, Wash.; and a battlefield surveillance brigade at Fort Pofk, La. A maneuver enhancement brigade will be restationed to Fort Drum, N.Y, and Fort Richardson, Alaska, pending completion of an environmental analysis.
* Retains two heavy BCTs in Germany for two years. The two extended brigades tentatively will relocate in fiscal 2012 and 2013 to Fort Bliss, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M., respectively.
Meanwhile, more than 740 construction projects totaling $66.4 billion are outlined in the plan.
© 2008 National Guard Association of the United States Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Source: National Guard
