Army to reduce demands, training requirements for deployments

Army secretary Ryan McCarthy announced the proposed changes Tuesday at the virtual opening ceremony of the Association of the United States Army virtual conference.

"We will focus our training on the basics of individual, squad, platoon and company-level training and key leader training while reducing the requirement to conduct brigade and battalion live-fire exercises," McCarthy said.

"We will pursue options for brigade combat training centers that are a mix of in-the-box organic battalions, command post exercises and heavy-light rotations," he said.

The idea is to give more time to units so leaders can invest in soldiers and their families.

Typically rotational deployments involve a long list of trainings that must be completed before departure, which can extend the pre-deployment process.

It's not clear which requirements McCarthy plans to eliminate.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said last week that the Army is looking for ways to shorten noncombat tours to reduce the strain on the service.

In his address McCarthy said the loss of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, who went missing from Fort Hood this spring and whose remains were found near the installation this summer, caused a reckoning that pushed the Army to make personnel a higher priority.

Multiple investigations have been launched into deaths and charges of racial and sexual harassment at the base, which also installed a new commanding general at the beginning of September.