Thread by @18airbornecorps

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THE SHORT LIFE AND FAST TIMES OF THE VANGUARD BRIGADE

A Top Of The Marne Week thread

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The story of the 3rd Infantry Division's short-lived 4th Brigade Combat Team is the saga of the Army's modularity redesign, a series of ambitious force structure changes intended to move the Army from a division-focused force to a BCT-focused force.

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It's a confusing tale: the story of a combat force built while deploying, then restructured while deploying, then shut down. It’s also the story of the remarkable ability of the American Army’s NCO corps to adapt to change.

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When General Peter Schoomaker was sworn-in as the 35th Chief of Staff of the Army in August 2003, he immediately set about to move the Army to a brigade-based structure. This was an idea of a modular force (able to deploy and fight as independent modules).

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This was an idea that had been in consideration for almost a decade: with the end of the Cold War, we no longer needed a large forward presence; we instead needed smaller, more flexible forces able to deploy quickly.

This was a MASSIVE undertaking.

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Our Army was built around divisions of 10k to 15k Soldiers. WWI, the conflict for which the 3rd Infantry Division was formed, was fought by Division. WWII by Divisions within Field Armies. The Army had been organized in that manner ever since.

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Now, the BCT would serve as the linchpin of Army structure. Within that concept, the 3rd Infantry Division (which had 3 maneuver brigades) would stand up a 4th Brigade Combat Team.

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The wildest part: 3rd ID would stand up 4th BCT, a mechanized infantry brigade, only months after redeploying from the invasion of Iraq and only months before deploying to Iraq for OIFIII!!!

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On May 26, 2004, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, the "Vanguard Brigade" was activated in a ceremony on Fort Stewart. Colonel Edward Cardon was its first commander. At the time 4th BCT had 21 Soldiers. It would gain 1,500 Soldiers in the next 6 months.

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In January 2005, a little more than 7 months after that activation ceremony, the Vanguard Brigade deployed to Iraq, commanding forces in southern and central Baghdad at a critical moment in the counterinsurgency effort.

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4th Brigade returned to Fort Stewart in January and February, 2006.

In October 2007, the brigade deployed again to Iraq, this time for a 15-month deployment just south of Baghdad, returning in January of 2009.

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In March 2009, less than 5 years after its activation, another change: 4th BCT reorganized from a mechanized formation to a light infantry brigade…and then in 2020 the BCT deployed very quickly to Iraq once again, this time to advise Iraqi forces during Op New Dawn.

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The brigade returned to Fort Stewart from that deployment in June 2011, and, of course...refit and trained for another deployment, this time NOT to Iraq. In 2013, for its 4th combat deployment in 8 years, 4th BCT went to eastern Afghanistan's violent Wardak Province.

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Under the command of Kimo Gallahue, a warfighter with experience in Wardak, the BCT faced a tough fighting season. By deployment’s end, Vanguard Soldiers were awarded 142 Purple Heart Medals and 1,500 combat badges. 9 Vanguard Soldiers laid down their lives in battle.

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Finally, on May 18, 2015, almost 11 years to the day from that initial activation ceremony: the end.

4th Brigade deactivated at another ceremony on Fort Stewart. At this moment, the Army was shedding 11 BCTs to cut almost 50,000 Soldiers out of its end-strength.

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Modularity brought with it significant problems that are observed through the story of the Vanguard Brigade.

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Such an ambitious restructure as we were fighting an open-ended war [and while the enemy in that war was changing] and preparing units to deploy introduced friction on leaders and units.

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We also lost regimental history and unit identity as we mixed and matched battalions and threw them into brigades that did not carry regimental lineage.

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Finally, we had to pare back and even deactivate many of the BCTs born during modularity a decade later as we quickly reduced force structure. And, of course, those back-to-back-to-back-to-back deployments to combat took a toll on the Vanguard Soldiers and Families.

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Despite all these challenges, during its short lifespan, the Soldiers and leaders of the Vanguard brigade served the Nation and the Army with remarkable professionalism and valor.

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There is one lasting echo from the story of the Vanguard brigade: in the span of 11 years, a group of Soldiers formed a new combat force structure, deployed and redeployed to combat 4 times, restructured mid-stream and then shut down.

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No other military in the world has a noncommissioned officer corps smart enough, disciplined enough, or agile enough to do anything close to this size and scale.