US Army Brigade

Combat Team Dr Carlo Kopp

LAV III Stryker operating in Iraq, with anti-RPG mesh fitted. An ongoing criticism of the LAV in urban operations has been vulnerability to RPG fire,
larger IEDs and difficulty negotiating very narrow streets. Proponents of the LAV argue that the vehicle is so quiet that opponents can often be
surprised by their arrival.

he US Army is reinventing itself through M1 Abrams tank, the M109 Paladin, the MLRS

T
the most radical and deep force rocket artillery system, the Apache/Black Hawk
structure changes in 60 years. These helicopters, and the Patriot SAM system all
changes are in part a result of occupied niches in this model, which provided
technological evolution and a result of mobile heavy forces intended to hold enemy
changing styles of conflict. This offensives, and to provide a manoeuvre force
process of change has resulted in the most capable of punching through layered Soviet style
acrimonious argument observed in the US Defense defensive formations.
debate in many decades. This revolutionary change This force structure aimed to break the Warsaw
has lessons for Australia as its force grapples with Pact in a direct confrontation and execute
the changing technology and complexity of conflict. 'Blitzkrieg' style operations. The land campaigns of
M1131 Stryker Fire Support Vehicle. The FSV is
In the US the debate is divided along two principal 1991 and 2003 in Iraq illustrated the capability of
a sensor platform with a laser ranging / axes. The first axis is that of the heavy versus the such forces to dominate on the classical
designation capability, and a communications medium/light structure force; the second axis manoeuvre battlefield.
package, intended to facilitate direct and indirect focuses on how to best implement light and The limitation of such a heavy force structure is in
fire support. medium forces. The eventual outcome will likely be its poor strategic mobility and immense logistical
brigade-sized combat elements termed Brigade tail to support the force with ammunition fuel and
Combat Teams (BCT). There certainly has been no other consumables. With such a large fraction of
shortage of opinion on all sides of this complex heavy equipment, this style of force requires
debate. extensive and slow sealift capability and large
The established US Army force structure is the secure staging areas through which to deploy. That
product of direct linear evolution that started during was not an issue for potential Cold War conflicts as
the early years of World War II. Stimulated by much of the force was pre-deployed, with
conflicts in which the US was pitted against the permanent basing in Europe and South Korea.
Wehrmacht, Waffen SS, and Japanese The changing nature of conflicts over the last
Army/Marines this evolutionary process decade stimulated evolutionary changes. The US
encountered a succession of conflicts involving became embroiled increasingly in conflicts that
Soviet surrogates and the four decades of standoff required rapid deployment of ground forces and,
M1132 Stryker Engineer Support Vehicle. The in Central Europe. Korea and Vietnam were pivotal, more recently, sustained deployment of forces to
ESV is intended to support mine clearing and with the US fighting derivatives of Soviet doctrine secure territory. While well adapted to this regime
obstacle removal tasks.
and technology. of combat, the US Marine Corps is much smaller
(Photos: US Army) The product of this process over several decades than the US Army and its role centres on
was a heavy force structure, characteristically built amphibious operations rather than general-
around specialised divisional size formations. The purpose land warfare.

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 The succession of conflicts since 1989 also BMP-1 infantry-fighting vehicle was introduced.
brought significant reductions in the capabilities of The debate over the future shape of the US Army
opposing ground forces. Hammered for weeks or boiled over with the acrimonious public argument
days by air power delivering precision weapons over the cancellation of the Crusader Self Propelled
before a land force made contact, these forces Howitzer, this eventually led to the removal of the
abandoned the Cold War notion of massed tank then Secretary of the Army.
battles under the deluge of smart bombs raining Current US Army planning reveals a shift away from
from the sky. heavy to medium and light dominant formations
The US Army thus had to confront two core well under way.
problems. The first was to achieve strategic Another facet of the US debate about future force
mobility so the force could arrive in theatre quickly structure centres on how to best implement the
M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle (LAV-III). The enough to matter; the second was wasting the 'new look' force structure. That debate has been no
core of the BCT Striker brigades is the ICV, which world's best heavy divisions against an opposing less acrimonious, and no less protracted.
has a crew of two and carries nine infantrymen . heavy force ‘littered’ across the battlefield n the first iteration of the US Army drive for highly
following aerial attacks. mobile forces, the LAV-III 8x8 family of vehicles
The Marine Corps coped well with this post-Cold became the basic platform for the medium brigade
War style of combat. Traditionally an all arms force force structure. The LAV-III is a redesigned
using combined force formations, and accustomed derivative of the existing LAV-25 series, itself an
to using air power as a substitute for heavy land evolution of the earlier MOWAG Piranha 6x6 and
force firepower, the Marines stole the limelight 8x8 vehicles. Larger and heavier than the Marine
repeatedly. Corps LAV-25 derivatives, the LAV-III is much
However, the process of change for the US Army closer in concept to the ubiquitous Soviet BTR-60
has been painful. With decades of institutional family of vehicles, and the slightly larger Warpac
experience centred in divisional sized heavy OT-64 series.
M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System. The Stryker
formations, few in the Army community liked the This choice was strongly disputed, and continues
brigades will derive much of their fire power from
the MGS system, which is equipped with a 105mm idea of shifting to a combined arms model – to be disputed, by the Air Mech Strike (AMS) study
gun common to early variants of the M1 Abrams trading away heavy formations for medium and group, an association of retired and serving US
tank. The MGS has a stabilised turret, permitting light formations, becoming more like the Army officers, mostly from the airborne division.
the three-man crew to fire on the move. competing Marine Corps. AMS argue that the LAV-III is too soft and too heavy,
The combined arms model closely coupled with lacks the cross-country and urban terrain mobility
supporting air power is hardly unique. Pioneered by of a tracked equivalent such as an evolved M113,
the Soviets and Nazi Germany during the lead-up and the LAV-III is difficult to airlift. Airlift is a critical
to World War II, air power remained central to consideration for the AMS group, who regard
Soviet force structure planning until the collapse of dependency upon C-17 and C-5 airlift as a critical
the regime. It is a model designed around bottleneck in the strategic mobility of the planned
formations of arbitrary sizes, which provide a medium and light forces. AMS have produced a
balanced mix of capabilities, usually optimised for range of innovative proposals, including the idea of
a specific theatre or opposing formation. A good using surplus commercial 747 freighters to lift
example would be a Wehrmacht or Waffen SS M113 and Wiesel equipped medium/light forces, to
combined arms formation in 1944, equipped with bypass the strategic mobility bottlenecks.
M1127 Stryker Reconnaissance Vehicle. The RV PzKw V and VI heavy tanks along with SdKfz 251 Unfortunately for the AMS group, their arguments
is intended as a platform for deploying six strong half-track infantry carriers and support vehicles, to date have not been accepted by the Army
scout teams. The baseline vehicle is also Sturmgeschutz III/IV tracked assault guns, leadership, and the focus in the new structure
common to the M1129 Stryker Mortar Carrier, Jagdpanzer IV self propelled anti-tank guns, SdKfz remains on the LAV-III centric model for medium
equipped with a 120 mm and 60 mm mortar for
indirect fire roles. 230 series 6x6 and 8x8 armoured cars, and other forces.
vehicles. Long term, the US Army envisages the introduction
The Soviets closely emulated this model, using of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) vehicles as
mixed tanks and tracked self-propelled guns with the core capability of the light/medium force
wheeled BTR-60 and tracked BTR-50 personnel structure.
carriers until the late 1970s, when the tracked

M1135 Stryker NBC Recon Vehicle. The NBC RV

M1134 Stryker Anti-Tank Guided Missile. The ATGM variant is intended to provide a highly
mobile anti-tank capability, using a remote control turret with sensors and a pair of TOW
missile launcher tubes. The system is intended to supplement the MGS.

M1133 Stryker Medical Evacuation Vehicle. The MEV is intended to

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 Brigade Combat Teams
The US Army is now in the process of restructuring
from a force structure model built around division-
sized formations to a one built around brigade-
sized formations. Aside from changes in equipment
types, this represents the single largest force
structure change in the US Army for many decades.
The aim is to provide smaller and more flexible
self-contained formations, suitable for rapid
deployment while permitting the deployment of
'tailored' forces for specific campaigns. Rather
than deploying a small number of divisions, a
larger number of brigades would be combined to
achieve the same numbers but with more flexible
composition for the task at hand.
These brigade-sized combat elements are termed
Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) and will be the model
into the foreseeable future. A key feature is that
many capabilities, historically maintained at a
corps or divisional level, will be migrated down to
the brigade level to facilitate autonomy and
deployability.
The Brigade Combat Team model (US Army). Three brigade designs have been defined for the
BCTs: Heavy (armoured/mechanised), Stryker and
Infantry. Commonality across the structure of all
BCTs is to be as high as practicable, with
differences reflecting role specialisations for
specific BCT types.
The Heavy and Infantry brigade structures will have
two manoeuvre battalions while the Stryker will
have three. The Heavy and Infantry brigades will
have an RSTA (Reconnaissance, Surveillance and
Target Acquisition) squadron, a fire battalion, a
support battalion and brigade troops battalion. In
Stryker brigades, an engineer company will replace
the troops’ battalion. RSTA squadrons or battalions
would provide conventional and chemical recce
functions. The brigade troops’ battalion would
provide command post, liaison, intel and signals
capabilities for the brigade.
The Heavy and Infantry BCTs would have
manoeuvre elements comprising two combined
arms battalions with four infantry or armour
companies, plus scouts, engineers and
sustainment forces.
The fires battalions comprise two artillery batteries
with supporting acquisition and counter-battery
radars.
Transformtion of the divisional model to a brigade model (US Army). The restructured brigade model is complemented
by a reorganised headquarters model, which
replaces the existing corps and divisional
headquarters elements.
This model is centred on the UEx (Unit of
Employment X) scheme, in which a modular and
deployable headquarters element with separate
command posts control up to six BCTs in combat
operations, and possibly more in 'stability'
operations (peacekeeping/enforcement). These
BCTs are currently Infantry, Stryker, Heavy and in
the future FCS equipped.
A mix of Supporting Brigades, comprising
Manoeuvre Enhancement, Battlefield Surveillance,
Aviation, Fires and Sustainment brigades, further
supports the model combining BCTs and UEx
headquarters.
Manoeuvre Enhancement brigades are additional
brigade level combat forces intended to preserve
freedom of movement for the BCT elements, these
include capabilities such as EOD, air defence,
chemical decontamination and reconnaissance,
and would be tailored to specific environments.
The UEx model (US Army).

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Battlefield Surveillance brigades would provide extensive RSTA and
intelligence capabilities to support the BCTs. Conclusions
Aviation Brigades include scout, attack and transport helicopters. There seems little doubt that the new brigade level structure being
Fires Brigades are intended to provide precision and standoff fire support adopted by the US Army will be better suited to an environment in which
to BCTs, including close support when in contact with enemy forces. multiple conflicts of varying intensity, scale and duration are more likely
Sustainment Brigades will provide logistical support for the UEx package than the Armageddon scenario of the Soviets rolling through the Fulda
in theatre. Gap.
Indeed, other than an unlikely scenario of a land force invasion of the
Other Structural Changes PRC, there may not be any conflicts in the foreseeable future that fit the
pattern of the Cold War. As a result, specialised formations and
The dissolution of the established Army, Corps and Divisional structures capabilities built around the Cold War model are likely to become niche
in favour of the more granular and flexible BCT model has captured capabilities, not sustainable in the longer term.
much of the debate, but it is not the only change. The challenge faced by the US Army in it transformation process is to
Restructuring and growth of Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) ensure that the new model delivers the intended effect. Combined arms
aim to enhance Special Forces (SF), Civil Affairs (CA), Psychological forces can work well, as proven by practitioners since the 1940s, but
Operations (CA), Ranger, and Army Special Forces Aviation (ARSON) cultural changes and different thinking about how force is applied is
capabilities. The emphasis would be not only on strengthening these paramount. While much of the resistance has been institutional, as
capabilities but also structuring them in a modular fashion so they can changes on this scale are unsettling for any large organisation, an
be more easily attached to BCT structured force elements in theatre. ongoing problem has been reluctance to wind down capabilities that are
Changes are also planned for organic Air Defense Artillery (ADA) units, of limited usefulness in contemporary conflict - the heavy tracked self
which encompass Surface to Air and Anti-Ballistic Missile capabilities. propelled guns formations are a good example. In this respect, the US
The legacy model of an organic ADA battalion in each division is being Army is going through the same trauma as navies did with the decline of
dissolved to provide a pool of ADA battalions attached as required to a the battleship and heavy battle cruiser.
deployed BCT centric force element. For the ADF there are many good lessons to be learned from this process
Engineer forces would also undergo restructuring. BCTs would have in its process of transformation of the Australian Army into a Hardened
embedded engineer force elements designed to support BCT operations, Networked Army, with the capability and flexibility to deal with a range
while additional engineer force elements would be pooled to selectively of combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian exigencies.
augment specific formations as required.
Medical units, Signals, Intelligence and Military Police forces would also
be restructured to adapt to the BCT model, and some roles changed to
better adapt to the current environment.
The legacy US Army Chemical Corps, responsible for NBC protection,
smoke generation, chemical reconnaissance, and historically offensive
use of CW, would be restructured into company and platoon sized
elements, attached as required to BCT formations or used to support
homeland defence operations.

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