Transforming for the Future: The U.S. Army's Force Structure and Recruiting Revolution
The United States Army is undergoing a significant force structure transformation in order to adapt to the changing security environment and nature of war. This transformation is in response to the shift from a focus on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations, which predominated following the 9/11 attacks, to a renewed emphasis on conducting large-scale combat operations against technologically advanced military powers.
To meet the requirements of the National Defense Strategy and close the gap between the designed force structure and the current Active Duty end strength, the Army conducted a thorough assessment using a process known as Total Army Analysis. As a result, the Army is implementing a force structure transformation that will reduce "authorized" troop levels to around 470,000 soldiers by FY2029. This transformation entails reducing excess force structure and establishing new formations with the capabilities required for large-scale combat operations.
The Army is also re-capitalizing its major weapon platforms, with over 30 new or upgraded systems being added across six critical modernization portfolios. These investments are critical for maintaining an advantage on the future battlefield, and include the completion of the Army's five Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs), which are intended to increase the depth and scale at which Army forces can operate.
However, with these additions, the Army must reduce its force structure in order to maintain readiness in the face of decreased end strength. The Army is currently overstructured, with insufficient soldiers to staff existing units and organizations. The planned reductions apply to authorizations rather than individual soldiers, and most installations will likely see an increase in the number of soldiers stationed there as the Army rebuilds its end strength.
The transformation also includes a multifaceted approach to realigning and resizing the force structure, which includes examining each military occupational specialty for efficiencies, reducing authorizations based on modeling that takes into account factors such as demand over time and capacity to meet National Defense Strategy requirements, and reducing the number of transients, trainees, holdees, and students.
Parallel to its force structure transformation, the Army is undergoing a significant transformation of its recruiting enterprise. This includes professionalizing its recruiting workforce, developing a new recruiting military occupational specialty, and emphasizing recruiting from the "college or some college" demographic. The Army is also improving its experimentation capability within U.S. Recruiting Command, allowing it to quickly identify and scale up promising new approaches while discarding unsuccessful recruiting practices.
The transformation of Army force structure and recruiting will take time, but progress is being made in both areas. In the coming years, the Army intends to continuously transform and improve to become more ready, agile, and lethal while fulfilling its critical responsibilities to the nation.