1206 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 4 / Monday, January 7, 2008 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army 

Notice of Availability of the Record of 

Decision for Army Growth and Force 

Structure Realignment 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA). 

SUMMARY: The Department of the Army 

announces the availability of the Record 

of Decision (ROD) for Army Growth and 

Force Structure Realignment. This ROD 

announces the Army’s decisions for 

growing and realigning U.S. Army 

forces within the Continental United 

States (CONUS). Pursuant to the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), the Department of the Army 

prepared a Programmatic Environmental 

Impact Statement (PEIS) that evaluated 

the potential environmental and socioeconomic effects associated with 

alternatives for Army growth and 

realignment. In the Final PEIS, which 

was published on 26 OCT, 2007, the 

Army identified Alternative Three as 

the preferred alternative. The Record of 

Decision explains that the Army will 

proceed with its preferred alternative, 

Alternative Three. This alternative best 

supports Army Modular 

Transformation; implements Global 

Defense Posture Realignment (GDPR) 

decisions; adds the necessary Combat 

Support and Combat Service Support 

Soldiers to the Active and Reserve 

components of the Army; and grows the 

Army by six Active component Brigade 

Combat Teams (BCTs) and fifteen Active 

and Reserve component support 

brigades. Each of the BCTs will be 

Infantry BCTs. In addition, the PEIS 

analysis was used to relocate a 

Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) 

headquarters and two Heavy Brigade 

Combat Teams (HBCTs). The HBCTs 

will be activated in Germany and 

retained until FY12 and FY13 before 

returning to the United States. A return 

of these BCTs to the United States is not 

a part of previous decisions to 

implement Base Realignment and 

Closure (BRAC) 2005. This decision and 

analysis within this PEIS do not include 

BRAC 2005 stationing actions, which 

are considered part of the baseline 

condition for analysis. This decision 

will result in a total growth in Army 

forces by approximately 74,200 

Soldiers, and will realign forces to 

improve readiness and responsiveness 

to meet future challenges. 

ADDRESSES: Comments or questions 

regarding the ROD can be sent to the 

Public Affairs Office, U.S. Army 

Environmental Command, Building 

E4460, Attention: IMAE–PA 5179 

Hoadley Road, Aberdeen Proving 

Ground, MD 21010–5401. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Public Affairs Office at (410) 436–2556; 

facsimile at (410) 436–1693 (during 

normal business hours Monday through 

Friday). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In January 

2007, President Bush asked Congress for 

authority to increase the overall strength 

of the Army by 74,200 Soldiers over the 

next five years. This growth will 

mitigate shortages in units, Soldiers, 

and time to train that would otherwise 

inhibit the Army from meeting 

readiness goals and supporting strategic 

requirements. In September 2007, the 

Secretary of Defense approved the 

Army’s proposal to accelerate growth for 

the Active component and Army 

National Guard. The Army must grow, 

adjust its force structure, and station its 

units and Soldiers to meet the strategic 

requirements of the contemporary global 

security environment. 

The Final PEIS examined major Army 

installations within CONUS and their 

ability to support new unit stationing 

actions in connection with growth and 

realignment. The Final PEIS provided 

the Army Senior Leadership with an 

assessment of environmental and socioeconomic impacts that would be 

associated with these actions in 

addition to the feedback and concerns of 

the public. This information was 

considered as part of the decisionmaking process for selecting the final 

stationing locations for new units. 

Stationing decisions included in the 

ROD for Army Growth and Force 

Structure Realignment include: 

retaining one IBCT at Ft Carson, CO as 

the 43rd BCT in Fiscal Year (FY) 08; 

activating the 44th BCT at Ft Bliss, TX 

in FY09; converting one Heavy Brigade 

Combat Team (HBCT) to an IBCT at Ft 

Stewart, GA in FY10; and growing three 

IBCTs in FY11, one each at Ft Stewart, 

GA, Ft Carson, CO, and Ft Bliss, TX. 

Two BCTs stationed in Germany will 

relocate back to CONUS in FY12 and 13, 

respectively. These units are selected for 

stationing at Ft Bliss, TX and White 

Sands Missile Range, NM. The Army 

will also activate eight Active 

component support brigades and 

restation two others. These actions will 

occur at the following locations: In 

FY08, an Air Defense Artillery Brigade 

headquarters activates at Ft Hood, TX; 

in FY09, a Maneuver Enhancement 

Brigade (MEB) activates at Ft Leonard 

Wood, MO; in FY10 a Fires Brigade 

activates at Ft Bliss, TX; in FY11, an 

Expeditionary Sustainment Command 

Headquarters activates at Ft Lewis, WA, 

and a Sustainment Brigade activates at 

Ft Hood, TX; in FY13, a (BfSB) activates 

at Ft Polk, LA and a MEB will be 

restationed to Fort Drum, NY. 

The restationing of a MEB is 

tentatively being considered for Fort 

Richardson, AK in FY 2010. The Army 

is considering the stationing of an 

Engineer Brigade and a Military Police 

Brigade at Schofield Barracks, HI. These 

actions will ensure the proper balance 

of combat support units and command 

and control functions are available in 

the Pacific theater to support training 

and operational requirements. A final 

decision on these actions will not be 

made until a supplemental NEPA 

analysis is completed to analyze 

impacts of stationing actions in the 

Pacific theater. 

A copy of the ROD and Final PEIS are 

available at http://www.aec.army.mil. 

Addison D. Davis, IV, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army 

(Environment, Safety and Occupational 

Health). 

[FR Doc. 07–6222 Filed 1–4–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–08–M 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Closed Meeting of the Chief 

of Naval Operations (CNO) Executive 

Panel 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Closed Meeting. 

SUMMARY: The CNO Executive Panel 

will report on the findings and 

recommendations of the Defense of the 

Sea Bed Subcommittee to the Chief of 

Naval Operations. The meeting will 

consist of discussions of the threats and 

vulnerabilities of the changing undersea 

environment, to include the undersea 

networks of pipelines, cables and 

sensors. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

January 30, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in 

CNA Corporation Building, 4825 Mark 

Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311, 

SCIF. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Sidney MacArthur, CNO Executive 

Panel, 4825 Mark Center Drive, 

Alexandria, VA 22311, tel: 703–681–

4907. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the provisions of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

2), these matters constitute classified 

information that is specifically 

authorized by Executive order to be kept 


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