Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times

Army to switch 2 heavy brigades to Strykers

Two heavy brigade combat teams will vanish by 2013 to make way for two new Stryker brigades, bringing the Army’s number of active SBCTs to eight and taking another bite out of its armor formations.

Planning documents obtained by Army Times say 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas, will be converted to SBCTs beginning in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012, respectively, and will take 24 months to become fully operational.

Another combat aviation brigade would be built, with aviation assets reallocated from the 3rd ACR’s Longknife Squadron, mostly AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, and tracked equipment and other assets of the heavy units to undergo conversion will be redistributed to the Army’s heavy BCTs as needed.

The move to convert two heavy brigades to Stryker units signals the Army’s shift toward a lighter, more quickly deployable formation that is infantry-focused and proven to be highly mobile in diverse environments.

And it further reduces the Army’s number of heavy brigades. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had announced in April that the Army would hold the total number of brigade combat teams at 45 rather than the planned 48, and the Army nixed a plan to grow three heavy brigades.

The 1st HBCT, which is deploying to Iraq now, will begin its conversion in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, during the reset period after its fall 2010 redeployment.

The 3rd ACR redeployed from its third rotation to Iraq in January and no announcement has been made about its next deployment.

But the Stryker plan calls for the 3rd ACR to begin its conversion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 during the reset period following deployment.

That would mean the unit will be receiving orders to deploy for a year beginning fall 2010.

DISCUSS: This story