Army Reorganizes to Boost Its Combat Power

7 Oct WP article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100601715.html

"The Army has embarked on a six-year plan to boost its combat power by 40,000 troops while reducing the number of noncombat jobs -- essentially giving the nation more forces to deploy without a costly increase in the active-duty Army's authorized strength of 482,000."

"But the plan is based on two key conditions that remain far from certain: That no major new demand will arise for U.S. soldiers at home or abroad, and that the Army will be able to recruit between 75,000 and 80,000 new soldiers each year through 2011..."

If, in order to find recruits, they continue to seek individuals up to 37 years of age and bribe them with $10K plus bonuses as a means of increasing combat power, I would think they are in trouble.... I would argue that they may need to trim some fat first.

The Army is smack in the middle of its transformation, not just beginning, as the article seems to imply. Many units have already restructured, several MOSs are in the process of realignment, doctrine is being rewritten, and there is a lot of painful change going on in as units simultaneously train for and recover from deployments in and out of theater in support of OIF and OEF.

Unfortunately, due to personnel demand and issues with recruiting and retention, certain standards are being ignored, reduced or sidelined in the desperation to fill slots. This is definitely a bad thing right now, in the short-term, as it has almost immediate repercussions in the field. I'm still on the fence as to how bad this may affect the force in the mid-to-long term - although I know its not across the board and may only affect certain key fields in that way.