Grow the Army was a transformation and restationing initiative of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

announced in 2007. The initiative was designed to grow the U.S. Army's force by almost 75,000 soldiers, while realigning a large portion of the force in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, moving units located there to the

continental United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

in compliance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission suggestions.

Growth plans

Soldiers

The plan was announced in a United States Army press release on December 19, 2007.Army Announces Stationing Decisions
Maj. Thomas McCuin, United States Army. Retrieved 05-05-2017 It calls for a total force growth of 74,200 soldiers, expanding the

Active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

army force by 65,000 soldiers, the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

by 1,000 soldiers, and the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

by 8,200 soldiers.Army.mil Grow the Army Informational Page
United States Army. Retrieved 04-03-2008. To support the growth, the Army simultaneously announced the restationing of 30,000 Soldiers in combat support and combat service support units throughout the United States as well as various overseas locations.

Units

The army announced that the total active duty force structure would grow by six

Infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

brigade combat team The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic Military deployment, deployable Military unit, unit of maneuver in the United States Army, U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver Brigade (United States Army), b ...

s and eight support

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, 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 ...

s of various types. This would grow the force from 42 brigade combat teams and 75 modular support brigades in 2007 to 48 brigade combat teams and 83 modular support brigades by 2013. However on April 6, 2009, Defense Secretary Gates announced that the Army will stop the growth of Army brigade combat teams at 45 versus the initially planned 48.

Logistics

The plan called for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

66,400,000,000 in spending in construction between 2006 and 2013.Grow the Army Stationing Information Brief Page 2
United States Army. Retrieved 2009-04-02. This construction comprised 743 projects, including 20 new Brigade complexes. One third of the entire Army was scheduled to be realigned during the Grow the Army and BRAC plans.

History

As part of the 2003–2008 restructuring plan, the Army moved from using division-sized formations to brigade-sized formations as the basic deployment formation. The 2007 army consisted of 42 brigades, forty of which were divided evenly amongst ten division-level commands, while two were independent. The six newly activated brigades will be designed as separate independent brigades, without division-level commands. The timeline of the Brigade Combat Team growths calls for the reflagging of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division as the independent 172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team in fiscal year 2008; this was accomplished during a reflagging ceremony on March 19 in

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

.Dagger brigade Switched patch in Activation Ceremony
Kimberly Gearhart, United States Army. Retrieved 04-03-2008 The 2nd Brigade will subsequently be reformed at

Fort Riley, Kansas Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

. A similar event occurred in September 2010, when the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division in

Baumholder Baumholder () is a town in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France. The town of Baumholder is the a ...

, Germany, reflagged as the 170th Infantry Brigade. Meanwhile, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division will be retained at

Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in 2008, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division will activate at

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 2009. Three new units were to be formed in 2011. These were to be the 5th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at

Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long, and Tattnall Counties. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, the 5th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, and the 6th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss. However, Secretary Gates cancelled the activation of these three brigades in 2009.

Sequestration

In 2014 the Army initiated a plan to cut its force size by 100,000 troops down to 420,000 personnel due to the United States budget sequestration in 2013, effectively ending the Grow the Army initiative.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grow The Army United States Army projects