All areas, land battle
U.S. Army Soldiers from 1st Battalion, Bravo Company, 10th Special Forces Group conduct small unit tactical training at a regional training range and MOUT site (Military Operations in Urban Terrain Sites) in Baumholder, Germany, Aug. 29, 2023. Implementation (U.S. Army photo courtesy of Ruediger)
WASHINGTON — Struggling to adapt to shrinking forces and new weapons, the U.S. Army today announced formal plans to cut about 24,000 personnel, including thousands of special operations positions, to make way for alternative formations. .
“We are transforming our force structure. We are transforming our weapons systems through modernization programs and what we have done is…space for some new formations like multi-domain task forces. It’s not just about ensuring … it’s also about providing directed energy. [Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense] M-SHORAD,” Secretary of the Army Christine Warmoth told reporters at a Defense Reporters Group breakfast.
Worms spoke to reporters today ahead of the publication of the Army Structural Transformation white paper, which is based on what the service calls a recent Total Army Analysis, along with Army Commander Gen. Randy George. After spending a considerable amount of “quality time” briefing lawmakers, the two men explained that they plan for a force with 470,000 active-duty soldiers. This number is significantly less than the 494,000 soldiers the force is currently configured to support, but more than the number of soldiers currently authorized. 445,000 soldiers.
This means the Army will be cutting about 32,000 positions, while adding back about 7,500 positions, which the white paper calls “high-priority formations.” The newspaper clarified that the cuts were to planned space and that the military was not “asking active-duty soldiers to leave.”
To reach the 470,000 number, military leaders opted to eliminate many unfilled positions, such as media operations and psychological operations, as well as equalize 3,000 positions into special operations positions. George said the numbers were determined after “months” of consultation with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.
The plan sought approval from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, but it is a special operations framework created when the Pentagon focused on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations rather than the large-scale combat it was preparing for. Worms added that this reflects an “excessive” number of people. .
But not everything is moving forward for the Army. We are also planning for a future where the number of drones and weapons designed to shoot them down continues to grow. Therefore, structural changes also include:
- Added 4 indirect fire protection capability (IFPC) battalions.
- Nine anti-small unmanned aerial vehicle (C-sUAS) squadrons are deployed within the IFPC and divisional air defense battalions.and
- four additional M-SHORAD battalions;
Another of the “most significant new force structure additions” is the planned elimination of a total of five multi-domain task forces (MDTFs), Army Newspapers said. The force has been deploying MDTFs in recent months, and when all is said and done, three will be assigned to U.S. Army Pacific, one will be assigned to U.S. Army Europe and Africa, and the last one will be assigned to U.S. Central Command. There is a high possibility that they will be concentrated.” “Area of responsibility.
The Army says the task force is “the Army’s mission to protect joint and coalition forces, conduct intelligence gathering and synchronization, provide non-kinetic space and cyber effects to shape operations, and provide long-range fires in support.” We hope to expand the depth and scale of our capabilities. “There is a possibility of a joint military maneuver,” the newspaper said.