October 6, 2005: As part of the U.S. Army's ongoing reorganization and transformation, there was going to be new nomenclature for combat units. Brigades were to be known as "Units of Action" (UA for short). Divisions were to be Units of Employment X (UEx) for divisions and corps, and Units of Employment Y (UEy) for armies and theaters. These changes were not popular. The general who approved this stuff was recently forced out of his job because of zipper control issues (adultery), and now the army is tossing the unpopular new names for old units. Well, almost.

Brigades will now be called "Brigade Combat Teams" (BCT). That's not so bad, and the brigades will keep the same history (which helps morale) of the divisional and independent brigades they were reorganized from.

The corps and divisions will undergo an interesting change. Both will become more like the traditional army (a headquarters with a lot of self-sustaining combat units attached). In effect, the army now has two sizes of "corps" (depending on whether the commander is a two star major general, or a three star lieutenant general.) Each of these headquarters will have a permanent staff of 800-1,000 troops, and will command as many BCTs and support units needed to get the job done. A division headquarters could handle 2-5 BCTs. It's unclear if the traditional corps (with two-five divisions plus support units) arrangement will be retained. The army has long talked about getting rid of at least one layer of headquarters. Since the new corps and divisions will retain their historical names (and most BCTs will still belong to a division), it appears that a division headquarters and up to five BCTs would be sent to take care of a small job (like Afghanistan), while a corps, and a dozen or so BCTs would take care of bigger jobs (like Iraq).

The traditional armies will disappear, at least as we know them. Like the corps and divisions, they will consist of about a thousand or more headquarters troops, with corps, divisions, BCTs and support units added as needed. The armies will now be known by names, instead of numbers, which indicate their geographical location. Thus the 3rd Army, which runs operations in the Middle East will now be called "ARCENT" (supporting Central Command). The 6th Army, which controls units oriented towards Latin America, will become "ARSOUTH" (supporting Southern Command). In Korea, the 8th Army will be withdrawn back to the United States, and renamed "USARPAC." The 7th Army, in Europe, will be absorbed into the current "USAREUR" headquarters. Back in the United States, the 5th Army will be "ARNORTH," and continue to run a lot of the training operations in the U.S.

It remains to be seen if any of this will have any positive effect. The first of the reorganized BCTs are headed for Iraq and Afghanistan in the next six months. After those units return, comparisons can be made. The division headquarters will probably also be kept in Iraq, if only because the division headquarters troops proved useful for civil affairs and reconstruction duties.