Why Redesign the Army?
Abstract
The United States Army is undertaking a complete organizational redesign of its combat and associated support units in the midst of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) to better meet current and future operational requirements. This redesign to a modular Unit of Action creates a more capable and lethal reconnaissance squadron that will increase the overall lethality of the force. The effort, as well as the associated restructuring and stabilization initiatives, are deemed important by proponents as they are intended to sustain both the active and reserve Army through a potentially long-term, manpower and resource intensive war on terrorism. Within this design is the reorganization of all the light and heavy ground maneuver brigades to Unit(s) of Action (UA). Each UA consists of two maneuver battalions, a support battalion, and a Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Targeting, and Acquisition (RSTA) Squadron. Is this radical reorganization really necessary for the Army to operate in the current GWOT? The focus of this paper is the design of the reconnaissance element within the UA. Given the current task organization and role of brigade and battalion level reconnaissance, the RSTA Squadron provides a substantial increase in the ability of ground combat units to gain intelligence and protect the force. The paper discusses the redesign of the Army, the proposed modular Army, current reconnaissance in the Army, RSTA in the UA, and the advantages of a RSTA squadron over current reconnaissance capabilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA520244
Entities
Organizations
- Marine Corps University