In the coming years, Army leaders predict 21 additional brigades of Soldiers will be added to the Army's fighting force.
We have 42 active brigades and are building to 48 in the next few years (so maybe we have 43 or 44 by now, I'm not sure). I can say with absolute confidence that we are not getting 21 additonal combat brigades for the active Army despite the implications of this statement standing alone.
I think this should be read in the context of the story's emphasis on integrating the Guard as an operational reserve. We are rebuilding the Army Guard combat units into 28 modular brigade combat teams that will rotate 4-5 brigades per year into the available force pool for deployment.
I'm sure the "21" brigades we are going to get reflect the addition of 4-6 active combat brigades plus the standing up of the balance of 21 with reorganized Guard brigades in the next few years. In time, we'll have 76 combined active and Guard Army combat brigades.
Given budget pressures, I'd be very disturbed if we were going to 63 active brigades in the next few years. We'd have a hollow Army for sure in no time at all. And we may get it anyway with just 48 active brigade combat teams. Which is why I was worried about adding to our Army end strength as a panicky reaction to perceived failure in Iraq.
