Religious Support in the Division XXI Heavy Brigade

Force XXI technology changes the war-fighting doctrine of the US Army. The new digital technology combined with changes in the design of the force structure created a new mechanized infantry or armor division. This division, called Division XXI, changes the religious support doctrine of the US Army's chaplain corps. The problem is determining how religious support will change in a Division XXI heavy brigade during combat operations. The study began with a doctrinal review of the evolution of religious support from the Vietnam War to the present. It also presented an overview of the digital technology and the force redesign of the brigade combat team. The study continued with the presentation of three data sets: religious support lessons learned from the combat training centers under the AirLand Battle doctrine, religious support lessons learned from the digital training rotation at the National Training Center, and religious support lessons learned from the Fourth Infantry Division (Mechanized) Limited User Test at Fort Hood, Texas. The data was compared using four categories of religious support tasks: planning religious support during combat, synchronization of religious support, battlefield wandering, and survival on the battlefield. The data indicated religious support planning and execution under Division XXI are enhanced by the digital systems. The study concluded with proposed religious support doctrine for ministry teams assigned to a Division XXI heavy brigade combat team.