Army realignment boosts forces at many bases on the home front

WASHINGTON – Army bases in Texas, Colorado, Washington, Kansas and elsewhere will gain thousands of soldiers as the military brings home 50,000 troops from Germany and Korea and reorganizes into a force designed to better fight modern battles.

The shifts will mean upheavals for many soldiers and their families in the coming years. But Army officials said Wednesday that over the long term families will move less often.

Gen. Richard Cody, Army vice chief of staff, said it was the biggest change since the beginning of World War II. Ray Dubois, a special assistant to the Army secretary, spoke of the “true cornerstone of Army transformation in the 21st century.”

The army is rebuilding around 43 ground combat brigades, each with 3,500 to 3,900 troops. The goal is to have the brigades operate far more independently than existing ones, which rely heavily on their larger division structures to function in a war zone.

Divisions were set up to do battle with an enemy such as the Soviet Union. The new brigades will function in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The restructuring takes place as the Pentagon withdraws tens of thousands of troops from their Cold War homes in Germany and South Korea.

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The new brigades are built around one of three designs:

•Light, primarily infantry.

•Stryker, built around the Stryker armored vehicle.

•Heavy, which have tanks and armored infantry carriers.

That compares with 13 designs among the 33 old Army brigades, each with between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers.

Some the changes are under way; others will not be completed until 2009.

Some troops will go with their unit and change their home base; others will change units but stay at the same base; and some units will rotate to Iraq or Afghanistan, then change their designation and home base.

Under the reorganization, Fort Lewis, Wash., now home to two brigades, will add a third, and all will become part of the 2nd Infantry Division. The fourth brigade of the division, plus its headquarters, will remain in Korea. The Army is negotiating to move I Corps headquarters, also at Lewis, to Japan. Lewis is expected to grow by 11,300 soldiers by 2011, the Army said.