WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Army Togo D. West, Jr., and Chief of Staff,
Army, General Gordon R. Sullivan announced today details of their plan to
restructure the active component Army from 12 to 10 divisions as directed by
the October 1993 Bottom-Up Review.
To be implemented over the next two years, the plan stabilizes the force at an
active duty end strength of 495,000 soldiers as the Army prepares to transform
into the force of the future -- Force XXI.
The plan calls for inactivating
two army headquarters, called Continental U. S. Armies (CONUSAs), three combat
brigades, and two division headquarters and their divisional troop units.
It
also moves two air defense brigades and an armored cavalry regiment to new
locations.
The net result will be the reduction of current year positions from
540,000 to 495,000, approximately 10 percent of today's force, by the end of
fiscal year 1996.
Implementation will be subject to the applicable provisions
of the National Environmental Policy Act and actions of the Base Realignment
and Closure Commission.
The 10-division Army will consist of four light divisions and six heavy
divisions, all stationed at existing installations.
All divisions will consist
of three active component brigades, increasing battlefield lethality and
strategic responsiveness.
Some divisions will have one brigade stationed at a
different location.
The overall stationing rationale was to maximize training
land availability for the active and reserve components, mutual support of
collocated units, and force projection capabilities.
Some division and subordinate unit designations may change following an
ongoing review of lineage and honors by the Army Center of Military History.
Announcement of any changes to unit designations will be made after the
completion of that review.
Implementation will begin immediately.
Two brigades, the 194th Armored
Brigade (Separate) at Fort Knox, Ky., and the 3rd Brigade of the 25th Infantry
Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, will be inactivated by the end of
fiscal year 1995.
The 1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division (Light), often called
the 9th Infantry Regiment (Manchu), at Fort Lewis, Wash., will be realigned as
the 3d Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division.
The 1st Brigade, 6th Infantry Division, at Fort Richardson, Alaska, retains
its designation, but is aligned with the 10th Mountain Division (Light
Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y., to serve as its third brigade.
The overall force
structure changes are designed to maximize the Army's worldwide power
projection capability.
Leaving the brigade in Alaska further reinforces the
Army's commitment to security and stability in the Pacific Rim.
Realignment of CONUSAs, the units that provide regional oversight for reserve
forces training and mobilization and have domestic responsibilities such as
disaster assistance within the continental U.S., are also to be completed in
fiscal year 1995.
The 1st Army at Fort Meade, Md., and the 6th Army at The
Presidio of San Francisco, Calif., will be inactivated.
Oversight of reserve
units will be consolidated under the remaining two CONUSA headquarters.
The 2d
Army at Fort Gillem, Ga., will control reserve units in an area from Minnesota
to Louisiana and eastward.
The 5th Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, will
control reserve units in the western portion of the country.
The drawdown will continue through fiscal year 1996 with the inactivation of
the headquarters and supporting units of the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized)
at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort
Carson, Colo.
One brigade at Fort Carson will also be inactivated.
The
brigade remaining at Fort Carson will fall under the command of the 2d Armored
Division at Fort Hood.
The two brigades remaining at Fort Riley will be
aligned with the divisions stationed in Germany.
Also in fiscal year 1996, the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, currently stationed
at Fort Bliss, Texas, the Army's Air Defense Center, will move to Fort Carson
and will share the post with the brigade that is to remain there.
Two air
defense artillery brigades, the 108th at Fort Polk, La., and the 31st at Fort
Hood, will move to Fort Bliss.
Four corps headquarters will remain in the force structure: I Corps at Fort
Lewis, III Corps at Fort Hood, V Corps in Germany, and XVIII Airborne Corps at
Fort Bragg.
Three cavalry regiments also will remain in the force structure: the 2d
Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light) at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort
Polk, La., the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Carson, and the 11th Armored
Cavalry Regiment at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif.
