Plan Beersheba was a significant restructure of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is 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 ...

, 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 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 (the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, 3rd 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 The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 APCs. The M113 was first used ...

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 (Amphibious), The Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR (Amphib)) is an amphibious reconnaissance battalion of the Australian Army part of the 1st Division Amphibious Task Group based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. 2 RAR was ...

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 conduc ...

. The three combat brigades are supported by the specialist 6th, 16th and 17th Brigades.

Changes to the Army Reserve

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the military reserve force, 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 Citize ...

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 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 up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

-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 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 curr ...

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

2023 restructure

In September 2023 it was announced that the Army would revert to a structure of three combat brigades with a specialist roles. The 1st Brigade will become a light infantry unit, the 3rd Brigade an armoured unit and the 7th Brigade a motorised unit. The 10th Brigade will also be re-raised as a fires unit.

References

{{reflist Australian Army