Overextended national guard undergoing sweeping changes.

• Author: Pappalardo, Joe
• Position: National Guard

National Guard leaders are planning a fundamental restructuring that is aimed at making the force more versatile and relevant.

Planned changes include a slight reduction in the number of Army National Guard brigades, new roles for personnel, the formation of specialized units to meet specific threats and an attempt to close the gap between capabilities of Guard and active units.

These efforts come as the Guard faces dilemmas and stresses which experts say are the result of overuse as an operational force in deployments.

"There's a perception we won't walk away from our old structure," said Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard, at a recent defense conference. "Wrong. I'll walk away from anything that doesn't make sense."

The redesigned Army National Guard will feature 34 brigades, according to officials at the National Guard Bureau. This number reflects 10 heavy brigades; 23 light brigades, including a scout group, and one Stryker brigade. That is a decrease from the current 36 brigades.

"Every division in the Army ... has over time become different. This concept brings them back to standard designs," said a National Guard Bureau official, who did not want to be identified. "For deployments, this simplifies planning and execution of operations."

Of the 36 existing brigades, only 15 currently are properly staffed and resourced, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker. The reformed force structure is meant to increase effectiveness, as well as efficiency. "Tailoring of forces is simplified when you know how units are designed, what they are capable of and how they need to be supported," the official said.

The presence of the Stryker brigade will provide the Army with a quicker maneuver capability, Guard officials said, even though it will pose a challenge in training leaders and soldiers rapidly.

"We haw always had an ability to employ light forces quickly," noted another Guard official. "However, they have limited lethality against armored and mechanized enemy formations. The Stryker brigade combat team is capable of being deployed anywhere in the world within 96 hours. Having one in the Army National Guard is the right thing to do."

Reorganization also includes forming specialized units with unique capabilities.

For example, the Guard is creating 10 enhanced response forces, consisting of a weapons of mass destruction civil support team, a revamped division medical company able to treat and decontaminate 150...