Army discontinues two organizations as service focuses on multidomain and large-scale combat ops

The Army today announced it has discontinued the Asymmetric Warfare Group and Rapid Equipping Force as the service transitions its focus from counterinsurgency operations to multidomain operations and large-scale combat operations.

Both organizations were deactivated Sept. 30 and personnel and resources will be reallocated to the operational force, according to an Oct. 2 Army statement.

"The Army established these units to rapidly identify material and non-material solutions to operational challenges encountered during the counterinsurgency fight in Afghanistan and Iraq," the Army said. "As our focus changes to great power competition and large-scale combat operations, Army analysis indicated that the personnel and resources could best be utilized in building the operational fighting force."

The Army wants to achieve a full multidomain operational force by 2035. Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, director of Army Futures Command's Futures and Concepts Center, told reporters last year the service's latest modernization strategy focuses on an MDO force in 2035, while the first strategy was largely focused on materiel modernization.

Wesley in April told reporters a new design for force structure called the "AimPoint Force" was approved by the Army's chief of staff.

AimPoint Force is based on the service’s MDO concept and describes what the force needs to look like to fight near-peer competitors, he said.