The Army expects to complete its six-year conversion to a force that is capable of deploying whenever and wherever needed – while fulfilling commitments of longer dwell times to soldiers and their families – by September 2011. By then, "We will have converted all but a handful of the 300 brigades in the Army to modular organizations," said Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the chief of staff, during a Jan. 14 speech sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare. A more precise timetable will emerge, Casey said, once the Obama administration submits its proposed 2011 defense budget to Congress in the next few weeks. The Army plans to deploy 38 brigade combat teams and create two new ones this year, and deploy 42 BCTs and create six new ones next year.
