The MBCT Transition From ABCT
Hi, folks. I was taking some time yesterday to reflect on the National Guard's Armored Brigades (The 278th and the 30th are top of mind), and was sort of stopping to morn their loss due to the planned transition of those units from armored unit to "Mobile Brigade Combat Teams." I'm still not sure what an MBCT is really supposed to be doing except for cosplaying as the Marines in the Pacific, or relearning lessons in the next Middle Eastern war that we learned in the last round of Middle Eastern wars. Nor do I understand why ABCTs, and the associated institutional knowledge built up through dozens of expensive and mentally exhausting rotations of being f-ed from behind at NTC or JMRC, are the key candidates for a light infantry unit based around a vehicle that makes the original tent-doored HMMWVs look like an MRAP. Nor do I understand how golf-carts address the threat of FPVs and Lancets. But I suppose that this is all part of the grand-plan to make our war-fighters even more lethal-er.
Seriously though, the point of this post isn't for a middle-aged man to rant about the new-fangled infantry unit, I actually have questions. From the looks of things, the transition hasn't started yet for either of the three ABCTs that are supposed to transition. Is there a chance it just... doesn't happen? I've heard rumblings that congress was going to say no to this whole idea, any truth to that? Have armor crews been given an off-ramp, or are they going to have to re-class or just leave the force? Also, from an active-duty ABCT perspective, doesn't this just make the already prohibitively insane work-load and schedule... worse? Like, sorry 1st Armored, we're gonna need you to rotate into Adazi again! Also, why is this a good idea, from your POV?