WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The Army is reorganizing the National Guard but not cutting any troops, the civilian chief of the Army said Wednesday.
"There is not going to be any reduction in the National Guard. Overall, the Army (and)... the active Guard and Reserve overall -- the military capability will continue to grow," said Army Secretary Francis Harvey.
Media reports in December about plans to cut between 25,000 and 30,000 Guard troops to save money for the Army engendered strong protests from Capitol Hill and state governors. About a quarter of Army troops serving in Iraq are from National Guard units.
Harvey said Army plans to have 106 National Guard brigades remains the plan.
"The number in the baseline plan was 106. The number today is 106. There is no change in the number of National Guard brigades," Harvey said.
However, the Army is shifting the mix of combat units and combat support units -- military police, emergency responders, engineers, civil affairs -- within that 106. The Guard now has 15 enhanced combat brigades. The Army originally planned to create 34 brigade combat teams, but will now create only 28; there will be six more support brigades created instead. Combat support brigades have skills useful in both warfare and domestic emergencies like hurricanes.
Harvey said there would not be a reduction in troop strength within those brigades, pledging to fund as many National Guard troops as the Guard can recruit and retain.
He said the response of the National Guard to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was a factor in deciding to change the mix of combat brigades to support brigades.
A brigade comprises about 3,500 troops.
The National Guard heads of the 54 states and territories wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Jan. 5 asking that any proposals to reduce the National Guard be rejected.
