Nicknamed the “Macon Volunteers” in honor of the city where it was founded originally in 1825, the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is one of the oldest active units in U.S. Army history and understandably has gone through myriad redesignations and reorganizations. But in 2016, it seemed that history was repeating itself for the Georgia-based National Guard unit.
In March of that year, the Army announced that the Brigade had been chosen for an Army program designed to test what the Army calls the “Associated Units concept.” Under the Associated Units program, National Guard and active-duty units are matched with each other to improve their training effectiveness and increase their preparedness. The 48th IBCT was chosen to work with the 3rd Infantry Division—the “Rock of the Marne”—while the Army’s Task Force 1-28 Infantry was selected to be associated with the 48th IBCT.
The reason this might evoke a sense of déjà vu for the 48th is that it was part of a somewhat similar program established in the early 1970s called the Reserve Component Roundout Brigade Program. Launched in 1973, the Roundout Program was created to make up for shortfalls in Army manpower caused by budget cuts in the Post-Vietnam era. Some Regular Army divisions were staffed at just two-thirds strength, and would be “rounded out” by a National Guard Brigade; while the National Guard Brigades did not train actively with their assigned Regular Army Divisions, they were nonetheless associated with them.
From 1976 to 1992, the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which was designated the 48th Infantry Division (Mechanized) during that period, served as the Roundout Brigade for the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized). When the Roundout program was brought to an end in 1996, the 48th was selected as one of 15 Enhanced Brigades and was assigned to work again with the 24th Infantry Division, foreshadowing the type of training the Army hopes to achieve with the “new” Associated Units concept.
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