Army Chemical Review presents professional information about Chemical Corps functions related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, smoke, flame, and civil support operations.
Issue link: https://chemical.epubxp.com/i/141522
formations and the relocation of active USAR and ARNG
personnel, Department of the Army (DA) civilians, and
military technician billets. Most of the manning would be
based on troop program unit and individual mobilization
augmentation assignments.
y Facilities. Two new headquarters facilities would be
required—one for the new CBRN command and one for
the new CBRN brigade. If existing facilities at installations
such as Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Joint Base
Lewis-McChord, Washington, could be re-missioned, the
cost impact could be minimized. In particular, refagging the
existing 209th Regional Support Group as the foundation
of the new USAR CBRN brigade would be benefcial with
regard to available manning authorization and the use of
the headquarters facilities at Fort Leonard Wood. If remissioning were not possible, temporary buildings would
be used until new USAR facilities could be planned,
budgeted, and built. Adequate facilities would represent the
largest single cost of implementing this course of action.
Future Direction/Long-Term Focus
The proposed solution represents one possible course of
action for improving the operational capability of the USAR
CBRN force and, by extension, strengthening the Chemical
Regiment as a whole. The Chemical Corps and USAR Command should work together to thoroughly develop this and
other possible courses of action to address the problems and
shortfalls described. Evaluative criteria must be established—
particularly with regard to cost/beneft analyses and the identifcation of acceptable levels of strategic risk. Although a challenge, it would be possible to complete staffng by the end of
the current fscal year.
Results/Conclusion
Like its Regular Army counterparts, the USAR has successfully restructured itself throughout the past 12 years to meet the
challenges of transformation while at war. In becoming the operational reserve that was originally envisioned in the Abrams
Doctrine5 of the 1970s, the USAR has used a framework of
operational and functional commands to achieve the levels of
readiness and fexibility necessary to meet the strategic needs
of the Army. But to best meet the missions and demands identifed in the National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of
Mass Destruction,6 the time has come to align and integrate all
USAR CBRN forces into a single, operational-level command.
Such a USAR CBRN command would provide the training
readiness oversight necessary to meet operational requirements, supply depth in operational reserve, and improve the
quality and professionalism of the Chemical Corps.
Units Criticized for Being Untrained, Unprepared,"
National
Defense,
June
2007,