Posted on 06/19/2005 5:47:49 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division has completed its transformation into a letters jumble that in effect means greater flexibility and fire power. Military authorities now wish the division to be known as a Unit of Employment X (or UEx for short) under a wide-ranging reorganization the U.S. military is carrying out.
In a veritable festival of acronyms and monikers, the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported Friday the Second Infantry Division had formed an artillery brigade, a so-called Fires Brigade, centered on two Multiple Launch Rocket System or MLRS battalions at Camp Stanley in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. A U.S. Forces in Korea or USFK official said an Area 1 Heavy Brigade Combat Team (or HBCT), Multi-Functional Aviation Brigade (or MFAB) and Fires Brigade were formed on June 14-16 - all apparently part of the process of transforming the Infantry Division into a UEx.
A UEx, experts explain, is a unit capable of performing functions somewhere between an existing division and army corps; the U.S. is currently converting about 10 divisions around the world into UExes, with the Korea-based division the first to make the transition. A UEx, pundits further elucidate, is made up of three to five Units of Action, or UAs, which, they say, denotes “an existing brigade-level combat unit.”
According to Stars and Stripes, the artillery brigade known as a Fires Brigade is additionally nicknamed "Thunder Team" and consists of the two MLRS battalions perhaps more easily identified as the 702nd Brigade Support Battalion and Company D, 122 Signal Battalion. They have a total strength of about 1,500 men. Second Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. George A. Higgins said the unit formed “the most powerful artillery force on the Korean Peninsula."
The paper reported the Thunder Team had been training for months, and the unit's command and control capabilities would be put to a comprehensive test during exercises later this year that are dubbed, for reasons best known to military authorities, the Ulchi Focus Lens.
The Second Infantry Division has also reorganized an existing brigade into an Area 1 HBCT consisting of seven battalions, including infantry and armor. With its massive firepower and greater mobility, the unit can carry out operations even without the support of another unit, the paper said.
The MFAB, meanwhile, combines attack and transport capabilities and consists of two attack helicopter battalions of the latest AH-64D Apache Longbow variety and an assault helicopter battalion equipped with UH-60 Blackhawks and CH-47 Chinooks.
I need a paper and pencil
They're the expeditionary forces for the MILFs (Military Infiltration Logistical Force).
It seems a shame to lose the 2nd ID moniker also.
If it's a division, call it a division. If it's a brigade, call it a brigade. I can see it now: "The Big Red UEx".
Looks like the Army is trying to outdo the Navy in using acronyms. Though there's a long way to go before it can outdo acronyms like COMDESRON5DSDIV6DESLANT.
Is this a silly trick to confuse enemies?
Maybe they meant to rename them TSOP by MFSB.
Weird acronyms? What weird acronyms?
This is just absolutely asinine.
This is the ultimate example of the kind of "good idea" that will be the ruin of the U.S. Army.
Next thing you know they'll take the headgear of a storied and elite unit and make everyone wear it.
Marketing 101. Take an old idea, package it differently and call it new.
It's BS.
They have two jobs.
1. Kill People
2. Break things
There is no marketing.
Right on. "SECOND TO NONE!" bump.
Actually, it's a very good idea and it's already helped my unit to overcome logistical support problems that would be next to impossible to solve under the old Army system.
I appreciate the service of the "older" folks here on FR, but just because something changes in the military from the way it was when you were in doesn't automatically make it a bad idea.
Oh, really? Explain recruiting then.
If a name change improves logistical support, then don't you suppose that there was something else wrong?
My point is that the Army gratuitously changes names for no apparent reason or benefit.
Boutique brigades?
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