Army Regulation 10-87, "Army Commands, Army Service Component Command and Direct Reporting Units," has been posted to the Army Publishing Directorate Web site, http://www.apd.army.mil/.
AR 10-87 fully implements the transformation of the Army's command structure to more effectively support an expeditionary Army at war.
The Army began reorganizing its commands in June 2006 to increase its global responsiveness and defense of the homeland. The new structure identifies three types of headquarters: Army Commands, Army Service Component Commands and Direct Reporting Units.
The change is important in completing the Army's transformation to a modular force. It also increases its effectiveness by transforming business processes while operationally focusing the theater armies to combatant commands.
The restructuring eliminates the Major Army Command and recognizes the global role and multi-disciplined functions of the Army Commands, allows the ASCCs to report directly to the Department of the Army while serving as the Army's single point of contact for a combatant command and acknowledges DRUs as functional proponents at the Department of the Army level.
Col. John E. Phelan, chief of staff for U.S. Army South, an ASCC, helped write the regulation in a previous assignment and now practices it every day.
According to him, the ability for the Army to have a single point of contact for the combatant command is critical in effectively conducting operations and disaster response missions, as well as fulfilling day-to-day missions in the war on terrorism and homeland security.
"Just recently U.S. Army South assisted its COCOM, U.S. Southern Command, in humanitarian relief in Latin America in the aftermath of an earthquake followed by two hurricanes," Col. Phelan said. "We were able to provide USSOUTHCOM with immediate critical capabilities and could turn to Headquarters, Department of the Army for additional assistance when required"
"The result reinforced the intent of the Regulation: to support the unity of command for the COCOM and operationally focus the ASCC, while leveraging the enhanced capabilities of the new theater-Army design," he said. "This arrangement reduces response time and, in this case, enabled U.S. Army South to support the rescue of 40 Americans as well as saving lives and reduce the suffering of the citizens of our partner nations."
Three Army Commands - U.S. Army Forces Command (also designated an ASCC), U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and U.S. Army Materiel Command - perform multiple Army Service Title 10 functions across multiple disciplines.
The nine ASCCs are: U.S. Army Europe, U.S. Army Central, U.S. Army North, U.S. Army South, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Command and Eighth Army.
Eleven DRUs provide the Army with institutional or operating functions unavailable anywhere else in the Army. The are: U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Signal Command, U.S. Army Medical Command, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Military District of Washington, U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Army Reserve Command, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Command and U.S. Army Installation Management Command.
