The regular Army maintains 31 Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) and 11 Combat Aviation Brigades (CABs), with no net change from FY 2019 to FY 2020. The Army National Guard will maintain its current force of 27 BCTs and 8 Combat Aviation Brigades (CABs). This is a change from the previous plan to deactivate a BCT and go down to 26 BCTs. The Army Reserve, which consists mostly of support units (“enablers”), retains two Theater Aviation Brigades (TABS).
The Army continues its reorganization of BCTs begun in 2014. Under the reorganization, the infantry and armored brigades add a third maneuver battalion. (Stryker brigades already had three maneuver battalions.) This reorganization makes brigades larger and more flexible but requires more soldiers.
The Army also continues implementing its plan to convert two infantry BCTs into armored BCTs, resulting in a total of 13 IBCTs, 11 ABCTs, and 7 SBCTs in the regular force and 19, 5, and 2, respectively, in the Guard.
I think this is one fewer brigade than before 9/11. But the units won't be understrength.
Also, during the Cold War the active Army was evenly split between leg infantry and heavy forces.
The situation is not completely parallel because now the Army has light mechanized brigades with the Stryker brigades.
Personally, I'd shift three infantry brigade combat teams to armored brigades.
Or as an alternative, assign a tank battalion to each Stryker brigade; and a company to each infantry brigade--including the airborne and airmobile brigades (odds are they will move into a theater like any other unit--by ship).
And remember that during the Iraq War we reduced the non-Stryker brigades to two battalions each with 4 companies each. I assume that the battalions now have 3 maneuver companies, restoring the triangular structure all the way down.
I do want to protest this statement that minimizes the need for Army brigades:
The Pacific theater consists mainly of ocean and long distances.
Well, if you truncate the theater at the shore, sure. But the many populous countries in Asia that border the Pacific (and Indian) Oceans--hence INDOPACOM for our command out there--surely change that calculation, no? That's what I argued in Military Review.
