The Major Pieces in the Valley

The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review shows our main forces will be as follows:

Department of the Army:


4 Corps headquarters


18 Division headquarters


73 total brigade combat teams (BCTs) (45 Active Component [AC] and 28 Reserve Component [RC]), consisting of:


40 infantry brigade combat teams (IBCTs)


8 Stryker brigade combat teams (SBCTs)


25 heavy brigade combat teams (HBCTs)


21 combat aviation brigades (CABs) (13 AC and 8 RC)


15 Patriot battalions; 7 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries


Department of the Navy:


10 – 11 aircraft carriers and 10 carrier air wings


84 – 88 large surface combatants, including 21 – 32 ballistic missile defense-capable


combatants and Aegis Ashore


14 – 28 small surface combatants (+14 mine countermeasure ships)


29 – 31 amphibious warfare ships


53 – 55 attack submarines and 4 guided missile submarines


126 – 171 land-based intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and electronic


warfare (EW) aircraft (manned and unmanned)


3 maritime prepositioning squadrons


30 – 33 combat logistics force ships (+1 Mobile Landing Platform (MLP))


17 – 25 command and support vessels (including Joint High Speed Vessels, 3 T-AKE


Class dry cargo/ammunition ships, 1 mobile landing platform)


51 roll-on/roll-off strategic sealift vessels
 
3 Marine expeditionary forces


4 Marine divisions (3 AC and 1 RC)


11 infantry regiments


4 artillery regiments


4 Marine aircraft wings (6 fixed-wing groups, 7 rotary-wing groups, 4 control groups,


4 support groups)


4 Marine logistics groups (9 combat logistics regiments)


7 Marine expeditionary unit command elements


Department of the Air Force:


8 ISR wing-equivalents (with up to 380 primary mission aircraft)


30 – 32 airlift and aerial refueling wing-equivalents (with 33 primary mission aircraft per


wing-equivalent)


10 – 11 theater strike wing-equivalents (with 72 primary mission aircraft per wingequivalent)


5 long-range strike (bomber) wings (with up to 96 primary mission aircraft)


6 air superiority wing-equivalents (with 72 primary mission aircraft per wing-equivalent)


3 command and control wings and 5 fully operational air and space operations centers


(with a total of 27 primary mission aircraft)


10 space and cyberspace wings


Special Operations Forces:


Approximately 660 special operations teams (includes Army Special Forces Operational


Detachment-Alpha[ODA] teams, Navy Sea, Air, and Land [SEAL] platoons, Marine


special operations teams, Air Force special tactics teams, and operational aviation


detachments [OADs])


3 Ranger battalions


165 tilt-rotor/fixed-wing mobility and fire support primary mission aircraft
 
I'd like to see the breakdown of the Army brigade types as active and reserve component. I assume we could safely put a higher proportion of our heavy brigades in the reserves if counter-insurgency is our near-term future environment.
 
And this doesn't mention what I thought were two new Navy infantry battalion-sized units for riverine warfare.
 
Another interesting thing, to me is the complete reversal of the Army's combat brigades status. Back when the Long War began, if my memory serves me right, we had 33 active component brigades and 42 National Guard brigades. But all but 15 of the Guard brigades were practically unusuable, being considered a strategic reserve. Now the Guard (and Reserves) are used much as active forces are, as an operational reserve, and are continuously mobilizing to support the active forces.
 
Much in recruiting, training, leadership, and equipment is required to make these pieces the baddest motherf**kers in the valley, fearing no evil as they march and fight through the Valley of Death, but they are the basis for our military power in the next 5 years or so.

UPDATE: An article noting the continuation of the use of the National Guard as an operational reserve to supplement the active component.