Ivanhoe:
No, they won't be separate formations, but within existing divisions (unless something changes within the next few days or weeks). About a million years ago when I was a Company Commander in Germany, my soldiers' and our unit's (a separate Corps MP Company) GDP was with 2d ACR and that's who we would have gone to war with. An ACR is (was) a huge organization. It had Bradley CFVs and M1A1 Abrams MBTs in the three ground Sqdns, one SP How Btry with each ground Sqdn, an Air Sqdn with attack and lift birds and a humongous Regimental Support Squadron. You could hardly lift it via air to anywhere in the world in 96 days, much less 96 hours. They were called "Regiments" because there was (and still is) more identification with a regimental system among Cav troops (IMHO) than with anyone else in the Army. The possible exceptions are the 75th Inf Regt (Rgr) and/or the 3d Inf Regt (The Old Guard).
The missions of an ACR and the proposed BCT are light years apart...an ACR's being the traditional recce and screening missions (performed for a Corps) in a MTW and the BCT's mission focus being on SSC and SASO.
Jeff:
Yeah, I was a 2Lt and a 1Lt in the old 9th ID from 1980 to 83. I remember the "heady days" of HTTD and the High Technology Test Bed on North Fort Lewis quite well. About the time I PCSd out to attend OAC (mid 83), my unit (9th Division MP Co) began receiving its FAVs. IIRC, they were made by Chenoweth and were awesome in the speed and handling department on hardstand or off road. You're right...the FAVs variants now used by SEALs (and I think the Rangers and some selected SF units played with them for a while) came out of that experiment. They also provided 1ea 250cc dirt bikes to each of our platoon hqs...same type the Rgr Bns were receiving. I know that at least one of the company's 5 Platoon Sergeants (maybe two of them) proceed to shatter their legs while tooling around Yakima or Ft. Lewis's training areas on them. After that, only the young, skinny Spec 4s and PFCs were allowed to get on them.
Jeff, the BCT is a test initially. If all goes well, it WILL happen with full operational capability a couple of years down the road. Again, it is the lead in to Force XXI and digitization. Getting all the new equipment in is the long pole in the tent right now. Again, this formation's major mission will be Small Scale Contengencies (SSCs) and Security and Stability Operations (SASO). It is not designed to be the initial entry force in a non-permissive, Major Theater War (MTW) scenario. The heavy divisions and brigades will still have that mission, probably following a DRB out of 18th Airborne Corps, ala Desert Shield if required.
Mike