Army Force Structure: Plans to Restructure and Reduce Medical Corps

The Army plans to reduce its medical force structure from 786 units to 555 units by 1995. While the number of active units is expected to increase slightly, the number of units in the reserve components will be reduced by 105 units. According to the Army, this equates to a reduction of about 30,000 authorized positions. The Army plans to begin these reductions about October 1992. Based on its experiences in the Gulf war and its Medical Force 2000 initiative, Army officials have decided that the medical force should be less dependent on reserve forces, particularly in its contingency force, which must deploy quickly. As a result, the Army's future medical force will be less reliant on reserve units. The Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans directed Forces Command and the National Guard Bureau to identify which reserve medical units to eliminate. In making their decisions, these organizations sought to achieve several objectives, including the retention of needed critical skills and an increase in unit readiness.