2007 U.S. Army Posture Statement | Addendum H: ARMY FORCE GENERATION

Addendum H (ARMY FORCE GENERATION)

Army Force Generation Model - Chart

Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) is the structured progression of increased unit readiness over time resulting in recurring periods of availability of trained, ready, and cohesive units. These units are prepared for operational deployment in support of Combatant Commanders’ or civil authorities’ requirements. Units are task organized in modular expeditionary forces, tailored for mission requirements. They are sustainable and have the capabilities and depth required to conduct the full range of operations in a persistent conflict. Operational requirements drive the ARFORGEN training and readiness process. These same requirements support the prioritization and synchronization of resourcing, recruiting, organizing, manning, equipping, training, sustaining, sourcing, mobilizing, and deploying cohesive units more effectively and efficiently as shown in Figure 1.

The goal is to achieve a sustained, more predictable posture to generate trained and ready modular forces. Tailored for joint mission requirements, these forces preserve the capability to defend the homeland; to provide defense support to civil authorities; to deter conflict in critical regions; to surge to conduct major combat operations when required; and are managed in a way that maintains the quality and overall health of our All Volunteer Force.

The new security environment of continuous operations renders obsolete the old paradigm of tiered readiness. Tiered readiness allocated resources by a unit’s place in the deployment sequence for contingency war plans and created “Have” and “Have-Not” units. Tiered readiness cascaded equipment modernization by units.

The Army now allocates resources by a unit’s mission and deployment sequence so that all units have what they need to fight and win when it’s their turn to deploy. We now maneuver equipment to arm all deploying Soldiers with the best possible systems, regardless of component. The Army’s intent is to organize, train, equip, source, mobilize, and deploy whole, cohesive units that are ready to execute their mission.

By applying the ARFORGEN process, the Army will gain a more holistic view of global force demands and assess availability of forces across a six-year planning cycle. The Army will focus units against future missions as early as possible and task organize modular expeditionary forces tailored to joint mission requirements. As operational requirements mature over time, the Army will be able to refine modular expeditionary forces. Active and reserve component units will be resourced alike, based on assigned missions and deployment sequences.

Army units will proceed through the Reset and Train, Ready and Available force pools to meet operational requirements with increased predictability. Units in the Reset and Train force pool redeploy from operations, receive and stabilize personnel, reset equipment, and conduct individual and collective training. Unit collective training is focused on core Mission Essential Task List (METL) tasks, such as offensive and defensive operations. The Reset and Train phase culminates in a brigade-level collective training event. Units in the Reset and Train force pool are not ready or available for major combat operations. However, they should be ready to respond to homeland defense requirements and provide defense support to civil authorities at all times.

Units in the Ready force pool continue mission-specific collective training and are eligible for sourcing if necessary to meet joint requirements. Their collective training is designed to focus on its directed METL, such as stability operations.

Units in the Available force pool are in their planned deployment windows and are fully trained, equipped, and resourced to meet operational requirements. In this way, ARFORGEN enables units to be fully-trained to conduct full-spectrum operations.

The Army needs recurrent, assured, and predictable access to source, mobilize, and deploy cohesive reserve component units to conduct sustained operations. Reserve component units form the campaign-quality depth of the Army and provide essential combat support and combat service support capabilities. The active component is not structured to fight alone after the first 30 days of expeditionary operations.

Recognizing the need to plan and sustain the Total Force, the Army established objectives for how each component would be built and utilized. The Army’s dwell-time planning objective for the active component is one year deployed to two years at home station. The planning objective for involuntary mobilization of Army National Guard and Army Reserve units is one year mobilized to five years demobilized.

ARFORGEN supports the transition of reserve component units from a strategic reserve to an operational force. A critical element of this transition is the shift away from managing reserve component operational tempo by individuals to managing it by units. The Army seeks to deploy trained, ready, and cohesive reserve component units. The result will be improved mission effectiveness, decreased risk of casualties, and decreased post-mobilization training time. ARFORGEN supports the Army’s goal for reserve component Soldiers to join together, train together, deploy together, and fight together.

With the expansion to 76 modular BCTs and approximately 225 Support Brigades – coupled with recurrent, assured, and predictable access to reserve component units – the Army will be able to meet the anticipated demand for BCTs and vital supporting units from our active and reserve components. Resourced sufficiently, the Army can surge an equal number of BCTs from the Ready force pool to meet joint requirements. Fully resourcing the Army to reset the force as soon as possible will decrease the time units are not ready to deploy and increase the Army’s capability to surge to meet crisis situations.

Integrating ARFORGEN with modular force conversions yields a significant number of advantages to include:

A steady-state supply of trained and ready modular BCTs with enablers;

Stabilized personnel who join, train, deploy, and fight together in the same unit;

Recurrent, assured, predictable access to trained, ready and cohesive RC units;

Reduced post-mobilization training time for RC units;

A system of cyclic readiness to allocate resources based on unit missions and deployment schedules;

More predictable unit deployments for the Army, Soldiers, families and employers;

Deployment planning goals to identify high-demand, low-density units; and,

The opportunity to synchronize a broad range of Generating Force processes.

The Army is adapting the Generating Force to support ARFORGEN. The Generating Force consists of those Army organizations whose primary mission is to generate and sustain the Operational Force capabilities for employment by joint force commanders. Because it performs functions specified and implied by law, the Generating Force also possesses capabilities for employment by, or in direct support, of joint force commanders. The enhancement of Generating Force capabilities is a critical component of Army transformation. Generating Force transformation began in late 2005 with a series of decisions designed to achieve the following goals:

Transform the institutional base to more efficiently perform Service Title 10 and executive agent functions that support implementation of ARFORGEN;

Divest non-essential functions, remove unnecessary layering and duplication, consolidate functions, resource in the most cost-effective manner, and privatize or outsource functions where applicable;

Develop a joint interdependent, end-to-end logistics structure that integrates a responsive civil-military sustaining base to meet Army operational requirements;

Foster a culture of innovation to significantly increase institutional agility; and,

Convert military positions to civilian positions, where appropriate, to improve availability of Soldiers for deploying units.

The Army is also adapting training methodologies to support the Army Modular Force and ARFORGEN. Modular conversions have changed the training unit’s organic capabilities and, coupled with current operational requirements, increased the number of BCTs that require training at the Combat Training Centers (CTCs). The CTC Program includes:

The Battle Command Training Program (BCTP) based at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, supports realistic, stressful training and leader development for corps, division, and brigade commanders and their staffs.

The Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), located at Fort Polk, Louisiana, primarily trains light infantry brigade combat teams against a “live” replicated opposing force. Though JRTC primarily trains light forces, it can and has trained heavy (mechanized) forces and Stryker brigade combat teams.

The National Training Center (NTC), located at Fort Irwin, California, primarily trains heavy brigade combat teams against a “live” replicated opposing force. Though NTC primarily trains heavy forces, it can and has trained light infantry forces and Stryker BCTs.

The Joint Multi-National Training Center (JMRC) – formerly known as the Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) at Hohenfels, Germany primarily trains brigade combat teams assigned to the United States Army in Europe against a “live” replicated opposing force.

The CTCs are reorganizing and modernizing their training systems and facilities to keep pace with the Army’s training requirements for a more robust and better trained force able to handle the challenges of the current and future security environment. The CTCs are:

Expanding the BCTP program to meet the training needs from BCT to corps (including multi-functional support brigades and select functional support brigades;

Improving the Maneuver Combat Training Centers (NTC, JRTC, and JMRC) support of live fire training requirements;

Expanding available training area at both NTC and JRTC;

Improving and replacing training support capabilities (Instrumentation System and Tactical Engagement Simulations) at the Maneuver Combat Training Centers; and

Developing an Exportable Training Capability to meet the additional demand by providing a CTC-like training experience at a unit’s home station.

The Army is also adapting the Training Support System (TSS) to support Army Transformation and the ARFORGEN process. The intent is to significantly improve a unit’s ability to improve training strategies at all levels and maximize the unit’s training experience, particularly at home station. The Army is:

Modernizing range facilities and battle command training centers to enable operator, unit, and leader and battle staff training with the Army’s digital systems;

Expanding urban operations training centers;

Realigning the training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations to support increased training requirements

ARFORGEN is not just about preparing units for worldwide deployments. It affects both the Operating Force and the Generating Force. It changes the way that the Army will resource, recruit, organize, train, educate, equip, source, mobilize, deploy and sustain whole, cohesive units on a recurring basis. The goal is to generate combat power on a sustained cyclic basis more effectively and efficiently.