Each Multi-role Combat Brigade will include armour, artillery, communication, engineer, infantry and logistic elements. The Multi-role Combat Brigades will enable more effective training in Australia and rapid deployment of forces overseas. The creation of complementary brigade structures will enhance Army's ability to undertake sustained operations.
To address these requirements Army will make a number of structural changes between 2014 and 2017. First, each of Army's existing combat Brigades will evolve from its current structure to include the following standardised units: a Brigade Headquarters, an Armoured Cavalry Regiment, two Standard Infantry Battalions, an Artillery Regiment, a Combat Engineer Regiment, a Combat Service Support Battalion and a Combat Signals Regiment. Second, in Army's three enabling Brigades, 6th Brigade (Combat Support, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance), 16th Aviation Brigade and 17th Combat Service Support Brigade, centralisation will be employed where there is insufficient mass of the capability (i.e. a set of three cannot be generated), or where a capability can force generate best from a single large mass rather than in three different formations. Third, Army will train its Reserve units to be as similar as possible to Regular units, pair the six Reserve Brigades in the 2nd Division and align each pair with a Multi-role Combat Brigade.
Plan BEERSHEBA will ensure that Army can continue to contribute forces to overseas operations as well as successfully transition to a force that maintains high levels of readiness to respond to the range of Australia's Defence needs in the future.