The Last Cavalry Regiment: The Corps Commander's Requirement for the 3d ACR

In the years since Operation Desert Storm, there has been a significant restructuring of the United States Army that has had an enormous impact on the structure of the cavalry at brigade level and above. It began by ensuring the existence of a cavalry organization at every echelon of the Army from battalion to corps, then stripped them from all organizations higher than brigade. The end result was the addition of a cavalry squadron at the brigade level, at the expense of the divisional cavalry squadron, which no longer exists. Concurrently, the Army retained only one of its three active Armored Cavalry Regiments ACRs, and not a single one of its National Guard ACRs. Due to the lack of ACRs, a substitute must be identified. The Infantry BCT IBCT, Heavy BCT HBCT, and Stryker BCT SBCT are examined to determine if they can fulfill the requirements of a covering and rear area security force. Should an ACR not be available, the HBCT is determined to be the next best unit to perform the covering force mission, while the SBCT is the ideal unit for rear area operations. The ACR is still the optimal choice for the offensive cover mission, as it is specifically designed to perform this mission. Since there is only a single ACR left, it must be preserved for this mission that it performs better than any other brigade-sized unit.