Brigade Combat Team

Not to be confused with Regimental combat team or Combat team.

The Brigade Combat Team (BCT) was the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the United States Army from about 2011-2016.

A Brigade Combat Team consisted of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a colonel (O-6) although in some cases a brigadier general (O-7) may assume command. A BCT contains combat support and combat service support units necessary to sustain its operations. BCTs contain organic artillery training and support, received from the parent division artillery (DIVARTY). There were three types of Brigade Combat Teams, infantry, Stryker, and armored, until mid-2025, when the fourth variant, the Mobile Brigade Combat Team, began to be introduced, following the change in the character of war in Ukraine.

In 2011-2017 the U.S. Army was structured around the Brigade Combat Team. Divisions that previously had not deployed individual brigades due to a lack of integral support were reorganized. Multiple divisions began deploying one or more BCTs in many places around the world. These BCTs were intended to be able to stand on their own, like a division in miniature. Soldiers assigned to a BCT were intended to stay at their assignment for three years to boost readiness and improve unit cohesion.

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