The U.S. Army has discontinued its Rapid Equipping Force which as set up during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to get urgently needed capabilities into the field in 180 days or less.
As the Army shifts from a focus on counterinsurgency operations to going up against near-peer adversaries like Russia and China across air, land, sea, cyberspace and space domains in large-scale operations, the REF’s utility and mission has been in question.
The service is also disbanding its Asymmetric Warfare Group.
The discontinuation won’t happen overnight. Both organizations will be fully deactivated by the end of fiscal 2021 “and will transition the mission of providing immediate support to other organizations,” the statement noted.
Over the past several years, the REF hung on to certain missions and continued to advocate for its relevancy.