U.S. Army Wants to Form 12th Combat Brigade

U.S. Army leaders are weighing how to best form a 12th combat aviation brigade (CAB). A new brigade is needed to maintain the 12-month rotation schedule of units serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt, the director of Army aviation. The U.S. keeps four CABs deployed to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. The current structure (11 regular Army CABs, one of which is committed to South Korea, and eight National Guard ones) combined with the rotation objectives (at least a year at home for each year deployed for regular Army units and five years at home for Guard units) forces Army leaders to give some CABs less time at home. Building a new CAB from scratch would cost $3.7 billion and take 3-5 years, Mundt said, given current production schedules. If the service dismantles some existing aviation units and reassigns their assets, he said, a new CAB could be fielded in 12-24 months. For related news