Regionally Aligned Forces vs. ARFORGEN

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 05:26:35 -0400

Thought the deployments were going to slow down? Think again. 10th Mountain to replace 82nd in Iraq.

Do you think the ARFORGEN cycle will support the Regionally Aligned Forces?

I see some units being used more than others depending on alignment. I also see a lot of money going to units that are more utilized/deployed more than others.

What do you think?
How does this affect you "choosing" duty assignments?
Will it affect your career if you never move to a "busy" unit?

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/03/30/fort-drum-soldiers-iraq-deployment/70694944/

1,250 Fort Drum-based soldiers to deploy to Iraq

About 1,250 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division will deploy to Iraq later this year, officials said Monday.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 31 at 2015 7:33 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 07:33:59 -0400

Administratively it makes sense. It makes it easier to budget, staff, and speak to logistics, especially the higher up you go (a la Congress). Operationally, as long as units can still cross regional lines (in support of), there's no real issue, however "funding" can potentially become a nightmare as you will need funds from more than one source.

Think of it like Police Precincts inside a city. They cover specific areas, and have varying tailored needs. They can however call for assistance from outside their district. It just becomes a question of "who pays for it" which actually is one of the easier questions (counter intuitively).

How that affects in the individual is another story. Not enough data. Perhaps our USAF & USN folks may be able to share a bit? They tend to be "more" geographically tied than the Army/USMC.

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Mar 31 at 2015 9:05 AM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 09:05:12 -0400

I don't think it will have a large impact on the force as far as reenlistments for a specific duty station as most times a unit is not guaranteed, just the installation.

Concerning RAF, It's better to have zero tanks than to have 3 out of 4 tanks deadlined on the side of the road.....

There's been a lot of changes in USAEUR over the last decade which created the necessity of RAF.

Some units participating in RAF maneuvers brought as few Soldiers as possible, leaving out some of their key critical specialties - regardGraf & less of the patting on the back the units received at the end of the rotation, for the Soldiers on the ground (my unit goes through every RAF rotation) it is very clear when the unit takes a short cut, just hope it will not catch us with our pants down if called upon to go east across two borders....

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Mar 31 at 2015 9:34 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 09:34:56 -0400

Will be interesting to see how it works out. When it comes down to it, soldiers go where they are told. I know a soldier's preference is taken into fact, but the needs of the army will always tip the scales.

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made Mar 31 at 2015 10:02 AM

CPT Zachary Brooks — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 10:02:01 -0400

Whatever the higher ups feel is best to continue our support in policing the world. Let's see what happens.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 2 at 2015 5:06 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 17:06:09 -0400

I don't think it change how Sm choose/ request assignment, some Sm look at where they want to be AK, HI or even GM, but in a readiness view its pro and cons, It makes sense as for as moving troop with ease in locations that there assigned to like medical getting shots for the region prior of "movement" now a con I maybe not 100% right but lll Corp is mostly heavy And XVlll Airboure Corp is mostly light and l Corp is medim "stykers" now if area need heavy they need to be able to react fast I understand that each region will have a depot of mrap and bradly and so on, or so we think ie took 90% of heavy has well as HET out of GM. I now trying to react. Sorry a styker will not stop a T-72

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 28 at 2016 8:00 PM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 20:00:06 -0400

SGM Oldsen, so, that means that when a unit is tasked to be RAF it does not affect their status in the ARFORGEN? I deal with Readiness and ARFORGEN in regards to FTN Requirements and the GFMAP. My understanding was that during Train/Ready the unit focuses on their METL, then once they are tasked for a mission during the Available status they will go back to Reset upon completion of their mission. Is this not the case for a unit tasked as RAF?