THE TENSION: Pentagon: Army Announces Force Structure Actions

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2009 -- The following news release made available Friday by the U.S. Department of Defense is the text of a statement regarding Army force structure actions:

The Department of the Army announced today a series of planned unit activations, inactivations, relocations and conversions at four installations. These force structure actions will result in an increase of 2,440 soldiers at Fort Riley, Kan., an increase of 418 soldiers at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., a decrease of 295 soldiers at Fort Irwin, Calif.; and a decrease of 376 soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo. Implementation of these changes is expected to be completed in September 2011.

For unit relocations; the 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Brigade will move from Fort Carson to Fort Riley and the 70th Engineer Battalion will move from Fort Riley to White Sands Missile Range and be re-designated as the 2nd Engineer Battalion.

At Fort Riley, the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (1/1 ID), will convert to a modular, Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) formation. The 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, Delta Troop, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 5th Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, and 101st Combat Support Battalion will convert to modular force structure design to support 1/1 ID HBCT.

At Fort Irwin, the 79th Ordnance Company will activate, the 557th Maintenance Company will inactivate, and the 669th Maintenance Company will convert to a modular design.

These force structure actions are a part of the integrated force structure changes that support Army transformation. These actions are not expected to change Army civilian authorizations at each installation.