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Post by Chuck T on Jan 27, 2012 21:26:17 GMT -5
Herb and Allen: The latest I have seen is that the Army will inactivate 8 brigades. Herb you and I have chatted about this before. I think what will happen is that a good chunk of the combat echelon of those brigades will be plowed into third maneuver battalions for the remaining brigade. Eight flags yes but the result will be better structured brigades. My take anyway.
Allen: Force structure personel cuts are largely a game of spaces not faces.
The Navy will give up seven cruiser that don't have enough tread on the tires to warrant refit.
I see nothing in this plan to raise red flags, although some will inevitably have a great deal of heartburn, those that equate big with good. Only good is good.
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Post by Herb on Jan 27, 2012 23:33:28 GMT -5
As you know, I never liked the elimination of a maneuver battalion from the brigade. Going back to a more robust force only makes sense to me. I don't like the 490,000 number, I remember only too well the 480,000 undermanned force of the 90s. Of course if you eliminated a few generals and their staffs, and truly consolidated forces, 490,000, might work. Kind of amazing isn't it we had what 880,000 active duty troops in 1989, and now with just over half the number of troops we have virtually the same number of 3 and 4 star generals!
I wonder if other than the chairman, the chief, and the unified command commanders, how many spaces you could save by reducing all other 4 stars to 3, and 3 star staff officers to 2?
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Post by Chuck T on Jan 28, 2012 10:03:20 GMT -5
Herb: You could make a good start by eliminating Corps headquarters. With modularization the division like the corps is only a headquarters to which a mission package of brigades is assigned for a specific purpose. I see absolutely no reason for this duplication of headquarters types one having a two star, one a three. If the corps has a few more bells and whistles than a division, give the division the bells and whistles, and get rid of the excess.
The Army alone could loose eighty thousand more spaces over and above the Obama Plan and not loose one bit of capability as long as those spaces were taken from the fat and not the meat.
What most people do not realize that the slice of the Army required to support a fifteen thousand man division is and additional thirty thousand men, for a total of a forty five thousand man division slice. That is a travesty, a lard bucket. That excess is the target for cuts along with building a robust brigade structure and not a brigade designed for the force projection model du jour.
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Post by Herb on Jan 28, 2012 12:34:38 GMT -5
Installation staffs are another place cuts could be made. Eisenhower developed the current system to provide an active duty reserve of officers for wartime mobilization. As it is largely a shadow staff until the unit deploys, they should be severely downgraded and reduced with even more of their functions transferred to the reserve component. When a unit is alerted for deployment, the reserve component garrison staff should be instantly mobilized.
Schools are another place where dramatic cuts should be made, I don't know how many full colonel run around your typical school, but I bet it's enough to fill the slots in 2 or 3 divisions! Downgrade them all, but the chief of staff, and the actual training unit commanders.
Modify up or out for Field Grades. Selection boards, should retain the competent for assignment to TDA positions that have been downgraded. Let those still on the rocket fill the TO&E and related jobs. The rotation we have had results imo, with not enough actual unit experience for cdrs when they take command. I had an unusual career path, but as a major, I had spent more time in units than my Regimental commander! My career path should be the norm not the exception for command selection.
Agree with you, brigades should be the new divisions, and divisions the new corps. Though, I would still maintain a couple of Corps Headquarters, to serve as ground component commands for large expeditionary forces, such as Iraq.
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Post by Chuck T on Jan 28, 2012 22:58:23 GMT -5
Herb: I don't know if they are still there but there at least used to be U S Army Garrisons in the USAR Force Structure. Very similar in concept to your above. Agreed on up or out. All that talent walking out the door is just a waste of both money and talent.
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