Military Officer - August 2006 - (Page 50)

■ six ﬁres brigades armed with cannon, rocket, and mis- sile artillery; ■ 10 maneuver-enhancement brigades that include engineers, military police, air defense, and nuclear, biological, and chemical defense units; ■ 11 sustainment brigades that include medical, ﬁnance, human resources, ammunition, transportation, maintenance, and other supply and service units; and ■ 12 aviation brigades, an aviation command, and three sustainment commands. In addition, six of the Army Guard’s current combat brigades are to be converted into support brigades. They will increase the number of high-demand units, such as military police, psychological operations, chemical response, special operations, and civil affairs. Balancing act Such rebalancing of the Army Guard has been under way since 2002, says Col. John Renaud, the Army Guard chief of trucks, lots of Humvees, and we will be getting some more updated equipment” Rodriguez says. He is hoping for new medium-size trucks. “They’re really essential,” both for war and for homeland defense missions, he says. The Guard’s two missions — ﬁghting wars and responding to domestic emergencies — “are mutually reinforcing,” Rodriguez says. Even as BCTs become the go-to unit in the restructured Army Guard, the eight existing divisions won’t entirely disappear. In peacetime they will oversee training, and in war they will serve as deployable command-and-control headquarters. For an operational reserve, “mobilization is an expectation, not an exception,” Renaud says. “Years ago, in the strategic reserve, you maybe mobilized once in a 20-year career.” Now, the Army Guard wants its BCTs ready to deploy once every six years. “It’s a completely new way to look at the reserve components,” he says. The Army Guard is scrapping the old mobilization formula of “alert, mobilize, train, and deploy” and adopt- The Army Guard is scrapping the old mobilization formula of “alert, mobilize, train, and deploy” and adopting a new model — “train, mobilize, and deploy.” of strategic plans and policy. There are two key beneﬁts from the makeover: It puts more troops in high-demand specialties to reduce the stress on troops who have deployed repeatedly during the war on terrorism, and it increases the kind of capabilities the Guard needs for homeland defense and to respond to natural disasters. That’s important to the nation’s adjutants general, like Army Maj. Gen. Charles Rodriguez, who heads the Texas National Guard. A BCT’s broader mix of capabilities and its ability to sustain itself for at least several days make it well-suited for homeland defense missions, Rodriguez says: “That’s what you need for the initial foray after a hurricane.” Rodriguez’s troops were activated twice last fall as hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept into the Gulf coast. Texas will have two BCTs. “We have helicopters, lots 50 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2006 ing a new model — “train, mobilize, and deploy.” A sixyear “force generation” cycle will keep about 25 percent of the force fully trained and deployed or ready to deploy at any time. Units in the ﬁrst three years of the six-year cycle will concentrate on such tasks as recruiting and retention, individual and crew training, squad- and platoon-level proﬁciency, and staff training. They also will work to resolve equipment shortages. Years four and ﬁve will feature higher-level collective training to prepare for possible deployment. Ideally, year ﬁve will include a combat training center rotation or its equivalent, according to the National Guard Bureau. Units in year six of the cycle will be deployed or, in the absence of a need to deploy, will be kept fully trained and equipped and ready to deploy.

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Military Officer - August 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapter Activities Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Changing of the Guard Four-Star Rating Long Term Care Kryptogram Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2006

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