Where Are They Now?
the brigades of your army. StrategyPage has a table with explanatory text:
The rule of thumb is it takes three divisions to support one in the field:
o One division training/deploying,
o One division in the field, and
o One returning/recovering.If the Army is to sustain is current deployment level, it needs 15 Divisions, just to maintain the status quo in Iraq.
In addition, the Army has at least a brigade in Afghanistan (requiring another division to sustain), 1 or 2 in the Balkans, requiring 3 – 6, and the 2nd Division in Korea, generating a force requirement for 20 – 24 divisions.
The Army has 10 active divisions, 8 Army National Guard Divisions for a total of 18 Divisions and there is a shortfall of 2 – 6 divisions. Separate brigades (the active army has 5 [3 of which are deployed] and the Army National Guard has 18) can certainly be used to make up the difference. This would require a large-scale mobilization of the ARNG and Army Reserve and would damage the ability of these units to support the Homeland Security Mission.
Thanks to friend, poet, novelist and UO reader Michael Schaffner for the link.
