[1] They usually consist of three or more field armies, with about 1 million to 3 million soldiers. You wouldnt task the Mortar No4 to act as CPO and lay and prep fuses and fire and correct all on his own as a matter of routine, would you? It just seems a bit of an own goal to me youve got a big powerful IFV that you cant exploit fully. A battalion in the Indian Army consists of four rifle companies. The total then is simply calculated as 18338. 27 Sep 44. The question of multi-shot 6 round revolver type 40mm grenade launchers with MV rounds versus the UGL is a good one. But each platoon then gains four or five extra soldiers. The corps is the highest level of command that can provide operational direction for actual combat. Often Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) officers are assigned to the battalion, to coordinate naval gunfire support. An infantry battle group will typically be commanded by the commander of the core infantry battalion around which it is formed and can range in size from 300 to 1,500 or more soldiers, depending on the nature of the mission assigned. A regiment consists of a regimental headquarters, a headquarters company (or battery), and two to five organic battalions (Marine infantry regiments three battalions of infantry; Marine artillery regiments three to five battalions of artillery; Marine combat logistics regiments one to three combat logistics battalions). I have been asked many times about our Army infantry structure in Vietnam. .?UF&-b4W[u&SgJ`/24$4jfbH@\t,#QG^*)W&HTSE|:=:pl9xp}u KNv The battalion-level system we have used since WW2, with mortars organised in a separate platoon, still seems to work well. Your email address will not be published. It normally has a headquarters company, support company, and three rifle companies (usually, but not always, A, B and C companies). V:Y@|L']$||Cv%r00{: $d[HAXK4;V(53QDS{cnWAFd_kG802C>8J/]'rc|zNgzP[>nr@0; dCR$SPeh!Y2z;aq]3]MQE=$o>\x=B/tcTuNJ,j~^iD}!rq|kWG#4ory6hK ]6~961f3>Dm#| Same for Mech Inf, if you are happy to reduce dismounted infantry mass to 22 (36 + 4). 25th INFANTRY DIVISION (Occupation) During the occupation of Japan from 1945-1950, the 25th Infantry Division retained its triangular WWII organization of three infantry regiments. They are not man-portable. I am not going into the argument about a Battalions manning however the REME manning is open to question. With a universal size, it is easy to see gaps and to fill them. To take, and then hold ground is the usual answer. The Warrior has two benches how many can you squeeze on? In the TA i carries both L85A1 and Browning 9mm. Also in such an modular overall force you can also much more easily deploy and re-role then only tank units or only infantry units and this would the increase the strategical mobility and the overall flexibility of the UK forces imo very much. I must ask though The infantry brigade combat team, as of 2014, contains 4,413 soldiers and is organized around three battalions of infantry. A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). Organization of the formations and units of the German Army after the start of the Russian campaign until 1945. Anyway, having filled all the racks with ammo for the cannon and chain gun and having packed the rations away, stowed everybodys gonk bag, admin pouch, daysack and squeezed the six dismounts in, you give them a couple of NLAWs (12kg, 1m long each), an ASM (9kg, 1m long) and hand the 2IC a couple of spare crates of ball and a couple of link, half a dozen extra smoke, boxes of cyalumes, handful of shermulies etc etc and you see that quite quickly its become so crowded that six dismounts is the absolute maximum. Each company is commanded by a major, the officer commanding (OC), with a captain or senior lieutenant as second-in-command (2IC). Higher levels are concerned with administration rather than operations. - light cannon, assigned to AT unit If its not can we at least work round it by concentrating on fire and manoeuvre? A field army consists of two or more corps and is run by a general or lieutenant general. Select A Unit From the Menu to Learn More: There are a few distinct exceptions in the structure of each military service. This amounts to 1 officer and 38 permanent enlisted personnel, as well as 3 usually attached enlisted personnel. At a higher level, each armored brigade (formerly designated 'heavy brigade') is now composed of three CABs (versus the two CABs of a former heavy brigade), one reconnaissance squadron, one artillery battalion, one brigade engineer battalion (BEB), and one brigade support battalion (BSB). Thinking about the need to operate from IFVs, Mechanised infantry vehicles (MIVs), from helicopters, and on foot, the first proposal is to standardise all Infantry Rifle Platoons around a common size that provides some degree of flexibility. . The LMG is a good belt-fed weapon up to 400m, perfect for D FT. Leave the general as a pl asset for depth targets and to join the suppressing section to give it big licks when needed. Each battalion usually consists of the following: In the Soviet Armed Forces, a motorised rifle battalion could be mounted in either BTR armoured personnel carriers or BMP infantry fighting vehicles, with the former being more numerous into the late 1980s. @whitehaxkle I like this idea, keeps the flexibility of providing vehicle crews while improving the firepower ! Consider too the fact that soldiers are bigger now and less flexible in such cramped space, having bulky rigid body armour, helmets, belt kit and the ubiquitous daysack which did not factor to the same extent when Warrior was designed. Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a 13th (infantry howitzer) and 14th (antitank) company. Indeed, it is my opinion that four dismounts is all Warrior can really operate with for the dismounts to have any degree of comfort. The fourth MG platoon in each rifle company is removed as GPMG is returned to other platoons. Perhaps in Armd/Mech it could even be comverted into a 120mm Mortar Pl, complementing the 81mm which can struggle in the faster-moving and dispersed Armd battle? Changes: Type: Pages. Company (b) In principal belongs to the auxiliary service. The Quartermasters Platoon will be comprised of support staff whose job it is to manage and distribute material and other resources to each of the rifle companies. In addition, each section now has an organic 7.62 mm L7A2 GPMG gunner plus a designated marksman with the 7.62 mm L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle. I dont understand what problem having a light, medium and heavy brigade in a division solves. It will have 6 ambulances, each crewed by 3 personnel, although this may be increased to 8 or 9 for high intensity operations, creating a total headcount requirement of 1 medical officer + 25 other ranks. It is worth noting that the current model of the Army Reserve infantry actually achieves the endstate you seek already: generating an additional rifle company as well as generating an additional section per specialist platoon. 07 Personnel summary. The Rifle Battalion of October 1940 was superseded beginning in April 1942 by a new Infantry Battalion organization. The three commanders of the U.S. forces during the Vietnam War were: General William Westmoreland, from 1964 to 1968. Light infantry Battalion Bye. So it looks as if the developments for the vehicle are at a pretty advanced stage, making a cancellation of the vehicle and its replacement by the Ajax IFV variant unlikely. within a Battalion was designated as a Heavy Weapons Company and it was If push comes to shove, the gunner or commander can do both but it is such a struggle to guide the driver (who has very constricted situational awareness in Warrior), talk on the various nets, look out for anti-armour threats, identify, track and shoot targets and watch out for dismounts and all the other stuff going on from the cramped turret (which was not designed for blokes encumbered by todays mandated PPE). @Captain Nemo It seems to be a way of thinking that stems form our past two operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and not from a perspective of a peer/near peer confrontation imo. First Army serves as a mobilization, readiness and training command; Third Army, or U.S. Army Central, commands all Army forces for U.S. Central Command; Fifth Army, or U.S. Army North, commands all Army forces for U.S. Northern Command; Sixth Army, or U.S. Army South, commands all Army forces for U.S. Southern Command; Seventh Army, or U.S. Army Europe, commands all Army forces for U.S. European Command; Eighth Army commands all U.S. Army forces in South Korea; and Ninth Army, or U.S. Army Africa, commands all Army forces for U.S. Africa Command. Table of US Divisions consists of a platoon headquarters, 3 rifle squads, and 1 weapons squads. Sniper platoons use the .338 L115A3 rifle. Jed touched upon it earlier, rekindling Think Defences rather outlandish proposal to create a non-deployable ceremonial unit. The Netherlands have four battalions that are permanently reserved for the United Nations, for the purpose of peacekeeping duties. 05 Weapon requirements For example, during the confusion and high casualty rates of both the Normandy Landings and the Battle of the Bulge, in order to bolster the strength of a depleted infantry regiment, companies and even battalions were moved around as necessary. In the late 1980s, there was a fourth "line" company added (DCompany) in most infantry and tank battalions. (Please click on the image for a larger version) The US Marine Corps already adopts a similar approach to the one described here. This means that you have moved a battalion of Foot Guards out of LONDIST and back into the deployable force thats good, right? & Organizations of the Italian Campaign for brief history Light Role battalions had 8-soldier sections. There are four companies to a battalion and four battalions to a regiment. corporal. With the 1 + 35 structure, platoons can change their configurations with relative ease. This option also ensures that each section within a platoon has a dedicated vehicle driver and gunner. They are also Emergency Care Sergeants and can maneuver with either the Company Commander or First Sergeant. In the latter case, the unit is called an eskadron, which translates roughly to "squadron". To the other side you would then have more bataillons for one type of mission and if you go to another mission again more troops and as the author stated correctly this would lead to an overall more potent, more flexible force and you can also re-role the identical units much more easily. These included air assault, light infantry, infantry, mountain infantry, airborne, and the Rangers. These are light infantry, including various light foot units, air assault, and airborne infantry. I think were missing a trick with not using the reserve transition from regular service. %PDF-1.6 % To deal with 3 points infantry mass, use of TA, and number of vehicles, which are all interconnected: 1. . The infantry organizational structure existing in 1969 was well suited to the strategy and tactics of flexible . If you look only at the bataillon here one should realize that a bataillon because of its small size is very insufficient for any real infantry combat in terrain which is suited for infantry. A company is commanded by a captain with a first sergeant as the assistant. and normally have subordinate units that are identified by single letters (BatteryA, CompanyA, TroopA, etc.). For historical reasons, armor and Ranger units of brigade size are called regiments, and the equivalent Special Forces units are called groups. I really disagree with the LMG being retired. A sacred cow! 37mm 02 Infantry Platoons built around 36 soldiers. , First Lieutenant (OF-1), armed with 1 M4A1 Carbine, , Staff Sergeant (OR-6), armed with 1 M4A1 Carbine, , Specialist (OR-4), armed with 1 M4A1 Carbine, , Specialist (OR-4), armed with 1M4A1 Carbine, Fire support personnelattached from Field Artillery Battalion, 3 RiflePlatoons(1Officer, 39 Enlisted, 3 Attached each), 1 Platoon Headquarters (1Officer and 3Enlisted + 3 Attached), , Specialist (OR-4), armed with 1 M9/M17 Pistol, , Sergeant (OR-5), armed with 1M4A1 Carbine, Forward observer and fire support RTO attached from Field Artillery Battalion. In the back of the Warrior 510 are two benches, not individual seats. Moreover, having an SF Pl means that you have more PIDs to play with too, which could be redistributed to REME or Anti-Tanks, both of which should be enlarged in Armd/Mech BGs (as well as the extra personnel in Coy HQs: Warrior Sergeant Major, CQMS(T) etc). In the UK. The nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Now that the GPMG has been returned to rifle sections, a separate, fourth fire support platoon is no longer needed.