An Army Brigade Combat Team
- The maneuver brigade is organized into five battalions and is called a Brigade Combat Team (BCT).
- The brigade is commanded by a full Colonel who has 21 to 24 years of service. He is supported by a senior noncommissioned officer called a Brigade Command Sergeant Major (Bde CSM).
- Battalions are commanded by Lieutenant Colonels who have 16 to 20 years of service. He is supported by a Battalion Command Sergeant Major (Bn CSM)
- The brigade has 3500 to 4500 soldiers with over 50% of them married. Battalions have 350 to 500 soldiers.
- There are over 1000 tactical vehicles in the brigade with total equipment valued at $1.1 Billion.
- The annual operating budget is over $30 million.
- The infrastructure footprint is typically over 1.5 square miles consisting of headquarters office buildings, barracks, dining halls, equipment maintenance buildings and motor parks.
- The brigade leadership has responsibility for the training, readiness and caring of its soldiers.
Note: There are many different brigades in the Army to include BCTs, Aviation, Military Intelligence, Engineer, Support, Fires, Garrisons etc that are all commanded by Full Colonels.