The 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division is undergoing a transformation into a light brigade combat team as part of the U.S. Army’s Transforming in Contact initiative.
The U.S. Army said in a release that this shift is designed to increase lethality and adaptability on the modern battlefield, with soldiers in Eastern Europe working closely with NATO allies to test new organizational structures and technologies.
“Everything we do [with transforming in contact] is grounded in one simple principle, and that is increased lethality for our formations,” said Maj. Gen. Joseph Ryan, Department of the Army assistant deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7. The program aims to create more agile and strategically mobile units capable of responding to complex combat scenarios.
The 3rd Brigade, also known as the Patriots, has decentralized its sustainment support battalion to reduce vulnerability to detection and enemy fire. Additionally, the brigade established three strike companies equipped with ground reconnaissance scouts, drones, unmanned aerial weapons, mortars, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and electronic warfare teams.
Col. Joshua G. Glonek, the brigade commander, emphasized the role of Infantry Support Vehicles in enhancing mobility. “That’s going to provide some really enhanced mobility for us, allowing us to reposition troops and equipment on the battlefield very rapidly,” he said.
The Patriots are gathering new equipment for a Joint Multinational Readiness Center rotation in Bavaria scheduled for January. They are one of three brigades involved in the first phase of the initiative, alongside the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), known as the Screaming Eagles, and the 2nd Light Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
The Screaming Eagles have already completed two rotations at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana, and participated in Operation Lethal Eagle, a 21-day field exercise. They experimented with networked communication technologies, drones, and electromagnetic decoys to enhance their capabilities in large-scale operations.
The Patriots are integrating unmanned aerial systems at every level, preparing for the upcoming combat training center rotation. The lessons learned from the Screaming Eagles are being shared to refine command and control capabilities, making command posts less detectable and more survivable.
The transformation initiative aims to adapt the Army’s operational capabilities, ensuring readiness across multiple domains, including land, air, and cyber. As Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans of the 25th Infantry Division noted, “Innovation never stops at our level. We are in a relentless pursuit of excellence and strive to get 1% better every day.”
The second phase of the transformation will extend to the 101st and 25th Infantry Divisions and two armored brigades.