Active Army and National Guard sign deal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The active U.S. Army and Army National Guard announced a new agreement in Washington in an effort to achieve a force structure balance.

The balance was a request by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. in what he calls critical to the Army’s transformation, according to the American Forces Press Service.

A memo of understanding was signed Tuesday by senior Army officials during the Association of the U.S. Army convention. The plan calls for the force structure to rebalance resources between the active and reserve components.

Scheduled to grow by more than 5,000 troops in 2013 the Army National Guard's transition to an operational force will have 112 brigades, 28 brigade combat teams, 46 multifunctional brigades and 38 functional brigades. The plan also ensures Guard units will receive equipment on par with their active-duty counterparts.

“Our reserve components are performing magnificently, but in an operational role for which they were neither designed nor resourced,” Gen. Richard A. Cody, Army vice chief of staff, in a statement. “They are no longer a strategic reserve, mobilized only in national emergencies. They are now an operational reserve deployed on a cyclical basis enabling the Army to sustain operations."