Brigade combat team


The brigade combat team is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a colonel although in some cases a brigadier general may assume command. A brigade combat team contains combat support and combat service support units necessary to sustain its operations. BCTs contain organic artillery training and support, received from the parent division artillery.
Currently, the U.S. Army is structured around the brigade combat team. In this program, divisions that previously had not deployed individual brigades due to lack of integral support have now been restructured. The 1st Armored Division, 25th Infantry Division, etc. now have the ability to deploy one or more BCTs anywhere in the world. These BCTs are intended to be able to stand on their own, like a division in miniature. The soldiers assigned to a BCT will stay at their assignment for three years; this is intended to bolster readiness and improve unit cohesion.

Infantry brigade combat team

The infantry brigade combat team, as of 2014, contains 4,413 soldiers and is organized around three battalions of infantry. Each type of brigade has the same basic organization. Each infantry brigade is equipped and capable of air assault operations, whether or not it is officially designated as an air assault brigade. Also, most units typically maneuver in HMMWVs when deployed and operate as "motorized infantry" to facilitate speed of movement. The Infantry BCT can conduct entry operations by ground, air, and amphibious means.
The infantry brigade combat team consists of seven battalions: one cavalry, one brigade support, one engineer, three infantry and one field artillery.

Infantry battalion (×3)

The Stryker brigade combat team is a mechanized infantry force structured around the Stryker eight-wheeled variant of the General Dynamics LAV III. A full Stryker brigade was intended to be C-130 Hercules air transportable into theatre within 96 hours, while a division-sized force is expected to need 120 hours. The Stryker brigade is an organic combined arms unit of lightly-armored, medium-weight wheeled vehicles, and is organized differently from the infantry or armored brigade combat teams. The Stryker brigades are being used to implement network-centric warfare doctrines, and are intended to fill a gap between the United States' highly mobile light infantry and its much heavier armored infantry. The BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program was the planned successor of the interim armored vehicle before being cancelled in 2014. The team also receives training in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense.
Each Stryker brigade combat team consists of three infantry battalions, one reconnaissance squadron, one fires battalion, one brigade support battalion, one brigade headquarters and headquarters company, and one brigade engineer battalion. A Stryker brigade is made up of more than 300 Stryker vehicles and 4,500 soldiers.
Starting in 2015, the anti-tank company was reflagged from the brigade engineer battalion to the cavalry squadron, to form a weapons troop—also incorporating the mobile gun systems from the infantry battalions.

Infantry battalion (×3)

The armored brigade combat team is the army's primary armored force. It was designed around combined arms battalions that contain both M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. Other vehicles, such as HMMWVs and M113 armored personnel carrier, operate in a supporting role. In the future, it will also contain vehicles from the Future Fighting Vehicle and the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle.
An armored brigade combat team consists of seven battalions: three combined arms battalions, one cavalry squadron, one artillery battalion, one engineer battalion and one brigade support battalion. As of 2014, the armored brigade combat team is the largest brigade combat team formation with 4,743 soldiers. Prior to 2012, the armored brigade combat team was named the heavy brigade combat team.
An ABCT includes 87 Abrams, 152 Bradley IFVs, 18 M109s and 45 armed M113 vehicles. The operational cost for these combat systems is $66,735 per mile. The range of the Abrams limits the brigade to 330 km, requiring fuel every 12 hours. The brigade can self-transport 738,100 L of fuel, which is transported by 15 19,000 L M969A1 tankers and 48 9,500 L M978 tankers.

Combined arms battalion (×3)

In 2016, ABCT CABs adopted a triangle structure, of two armored battalions plus a mechanized infantry battalion. This resulted in the reduction of two mechanized infantry companies; the deleted armored company was reflagged to the Cavalry Squadron.

Armored battalion (×2)

The U.S. Army planned to implement elements of the BCT Modernization program in 2010. This program was planned to utilize elements from the Future Combat Systems program that was canceled in early 2009.
The program came in two segments. The first to be implemented would be the Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team Capability Package, which would modernize infantry brigade combat teams. The second to be implemented would be the Follow-on Incremental Capabilities Package, which could modernize all brigades.

Reorganization

After the 2013 reform's round of de-activations and downsizing, the below numbers represent the number of BCTs that will be left in the US Army's Active Component.
Combat brigades: 45
In July 2015, the Army announced the reduction of 2 additional BCTs as part of ongoing reductions to an end strength of 450,000. In addition to the reduction, one active Stryker BCT will convert to an infantry BCT, and its vehicles will be used to convert an Army National Guard BCT from armored to Stryker.
In April 2017, the Army confirmed that the proposed downsizing of 4/25 BCT was being reversed, and the BCT retained.
As of September 2018, the United States Army consists of 31 brigade combat teams:
On 20 September 2018, the Army announced that the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, will convert from a Stryker brigade combat team to an armored brigade combat team ; and the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, will convert from an infantry brigade combat team to a SBCT. The conversion of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, and the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were planned to begin in the spring of 2019 and spring of 2020 respectively. As of May 2020 no changes have been made to the vehicles used by 2/4 ID.
National Guard brigade combat teams have same TOE as active army BCTs. As of September 2018, the National Guard consists of 27 BCTs: