Plan Beersheba was a significant restructure of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

, announced in 2011. The process of implementing the organisational changes began in 2014, and was completed in 2017.

Changes to the regular Army

Under Plan Beersheba, the Army's three regular force combat

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

s (the

1st First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * H ...

and 7th Brigades) were restructured into multi-role formations with a similar structure. Before this time the brigades were structured as mechanised, light infantry and motorised infantry formations respectively. Following the reorganisation, each of the multi-role brigades comprises: *Brigade headquarters *One armoured cavalry regiment (each equipped with M1A1 tanks, ASLAV light armoured vehicles, and M113 armoured personnel carriers) *Two light infantry battalions *One artillery regiment *One combat engineer regiment *One combat signals regiment *One combat service support battalion The three brigades rotate through a 36-month-long readiness cycle, comprising three 12-month phases. These comprise a 'reset' phase during which the brigade's soldiers conduct individual training, a 'readying' phase in which the brigade's units will prepare for combat operations, and a 'ready' phase in which the brigade is available to deploy. The

2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR) is an amphibious light infantry battalion of the Australian Army part of the 1st Division Amphibious Task Group based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. 2 RAR was initially formed as the A ...

specialises in

amphibious warfare Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

. The three combat brigades are supported by the specialist

6th 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second ...

, 16th and 17th Brigades.

Changes to the Army Reserve

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

units were significantly restructured. As part of the changes, the Army stated that the reserves' role will become "to deliver specified capability and support and sustain Australian Defence Force (ADF) preparedness and operations". The six reserve brigades in the Army's 2nd Division have also been assigned a new role. Two army reserve brigades have been paired with each of the regular brigades. The 4th and 9th Brigades have partnered with the 1st Brigade, the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

and 8th Brigades with the 7th Brigade, and the 11th and 13th Brigades with the 3rd Brigade. The pairs of brigades are expected to be able to provide a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

-sized force upon mobilisation during the regular brigade's 12 month 'ready' phase. The structure of the reserve brigades has also been changed. The reserve artillery regiments have been re-equipped with mortars, the reserve

Royal Australian Armoured Corps The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is a corps of the Australian Army which provides the Australian Defence Force's armour capability. Armour combines firepower, mobility, protection and networked situational awareness to generate shock ...

units converted from light cavalry to producing crews for

Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle } The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built four-wheel drive armoured vehicle. The Bushmaster was primarily designed by the then government-owned Australian Defence Industries (ADI), and is cur ...

s, and a brigade operational supply company was established within each of the combat services support battalions.

References

{{reflist Australian Army