In the late 1980s, there was a fourth "line" company added (DCompany) in most infantry and tank battalions. Often these will be stored in vehicles until needed. The infantry battalion was a key structure in the Royal Army and thus its structure went through a fair few changes during the course of the war. If additional, theyll require their own wagon with the necessary extra personnel as crew. How would they operate together from a logistical view point? Go to Units A corps includes two to five divisions with anywhere between 20,000 and 45,000 soldiers. In 1944 an US Army infantry battalion roughly consisted of 900 men. The regular army gets guns and spare gun crews to keep them going 24/7. In the United States Army, a battalion is a unit composed of a headquarters and two to six batteries, companies, or troops. Starting in 20052006, the U.S. Army's mechanized and tank battalions were reorganized into combined arms battalions (CABs). The way my unit does it is to strip kit down to belt kit and daysack for fighting and then have gonk bag in a canoe bag and a single rocket pouch containing admin kit. 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 think were missing a trick with not using the reserve transition from regular service. Its a tactical-sized unit that can perform a battlefield function on its own. The understanding we always had with the TA was that they would fight the big one, the clue was in the name really, well until 2014 at least. To deal with 3 points infantry mass, use of TA, and number of vehicles, which are all interconnected: 1. In a trentch or a building 5.56mm belt feds are superb. Each fire team consists of the Fire Team Leader, an Automatic Rifleman (Specialist) serving an M249 light machine gun, Grenadier (Specialist) serving an M4A1 carbine and M320 grenade launcher, and Rifleman (Private First Class). Achieving A Common Size and Structure for UK Infantry Battalions, Learning from how our Allies armies are organized, Matching Brainpower with Firepower - The British Armys new Ranger Regiment, A modern Royal Navy ASW corvette based on the WW2 Flower-Class, The 10 Most Significant US Aircraft of World War 2, Armoured Infantry battalions -732 personnel, Mechanised Infantry battalions -709 personnel, Light Infantry battalions 560 personnel, Air Assault Infantry battalions 662 personnel, Specialised Infantry Battalions 267 personnel, Public Duties Infantry Battalions 560 personnel, Armoured Infantry Battalions IFV (Warrior) 6 battalions, Mechanised Infantry Battalions MIV (Boxer) 6 battalions, Light Protected Mobility Battalions LPPV / MRVP (Foxhound / JLTV / Bushmaster) 6 battalions. It offered HE, WP, smoke and illuminating bomb types. With a 7.62mm MG, 7.62mm DMR and 6 shot 40mm GL in each section I would not want to follow the Yanks direction to an overly powerful 6.8mm AR for everyone. 100th Infantry Battalion. No, I am asking us to attack the sacred cows of ceremonial roles to put troops in combat formations ! By embedding these assets at the battalion and brigade levels these organisations get used to working autonomously and are supported by more CSG as each level moves up. 57mm Opportunity for Reservists too? Is it time to recognise that for platoons to have sufficient dismounted mass in lower-capacity IFVs we now require five or six vehicles per platoon? Combat companies consist of (usually mechanised) infantry, combat engineers, or tanks. If the mortar setup is still the same as it used to be, isnt that 6 x 81mm in peace time plus 3 from TA for full war time deployment strength ? But different battalions of the same regiment have seldom fought together. ), probably Boxer SPH. Other corps usually use the term "regiment" instead. Doing this has massively increased the company in vehicles (+6) and personnel (platoon now being 9+9+9+9+4+4=44 without a Signaller or medic). - Without the operational Army, the institutional side has no purpose. I dont understand why the commando (no bipod) version of the 60mm mortar would be less accurate or more difficult to get rounds on target than a 51mm ? This means units/sub-units pinged would spend a colossal amount of time rehearsing at cost of other training and tasks. Again, organisational structure is important. %PDF-1.6 % No one wants a similar video of their cap badge. and engineer battalions for each Infantry Division. They usually consist of three or more field armies, with about 1 million to 3 million soldiers. Also not every infantry unit would then need an kind of sister tank unit (because of rotation, because of terrain and so on) and so the number of vehicles for the protected mobility units which could at the same time act as independent fighting units seperate from the infantry could be smaller as if every infantry unit would have its own protected vehicles. Unless you seek to change the structure of Reserve TACOS call-up liability then keeping reserve battalions paired to regular battalions is a good way of being able to generate an extra company of volunteers. Total raised: $5,448,951.00 Total includes user, company, and offsite donations. The squad is led by a Squad Leader (Staff Sergeant) and further subdivided into two homogenous fire teams designated Alpha Team and Bravo Team and each led by a Fire Team Leader (Sergeant). It is also suitable for Light Role battalions operating on foot. Tactically, battalions are grouped into brigades. NOTE: This summary of Army Tables of Organization and Equipment includes only combat and directly related major support units. Regiment). Nagy, Istvan Austrian Cavalry UK Infantry battalions have a Fire Support Company with five elements. (b) In principal belongs to the auxiliary service. These units are characterized by their lack of integral motorization or mechanization for the entire brigade, and are thus less mobile, but as a result are highly deployable. The first use of the word in English was in the 1580s. In the back of the Warrior 510 are two benches, not individual seats. $1.50. This has the unfortunate side effect of not creating many TA officers above the rank of major. The basic individual weapon in the light infantry battalion was the M14 rifle, while the airmobile unit was authorized M16 rifles. Most previous reorganizations focused on reducing the size of the infantry and bloated higher-echelon headquarters, turning over entire organizations, such as the railway corps, to civilian control, and transferring units to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the People's Armed Police (PAP). These new combined arms battalions are modular units, each consisting of a headquarters company, two mechanized infantry companies, two tank companies, and a forward support company attached from the battalion's parent brigade support battalion. Prior they would have travelled in an M1165A1 HMMVW, although any mark of HMMVW that was available likely would have been used. To clarify, I dont think we should be finding a person in the turret, Im saying thats where theyd have to come from at four vehicles unless one lies on the floor. Do we need to simplify the rank structures of UK Armed Forces? Armored BCTs (ABCTs) include three armor/mechanized infantry battalions, an armed reconnaissance cavalry squadron, a field artillery battalion, a logistics support battalion, and a brigade engineer . Theyre generally headed by a four- or five-star general. Maybe reserve Infantry can protect reserve loggies delivering stores and ammo. Great conversation going here, I am squished onto public transit in 30 c temps in Ontario, so please excuse typos ! However, guarding Buck House entails huge levels of scrutiny screw-ups will be recorded and shared online. and normally have subordinate units that are identified by single letters (BatteryA, CompanyA, TroopA, etc.). You might be interested to know that my battalion reflects this by rarely having more than five dismounts as a matter of routine! Starting Discussions About Defence Issues. published by the Department of the Army, May 2018, published by the Department of the Army, April 2016, published by the Department of the Army, October 2016, MCoE Supplemental Manual 3-90 Force Structure Reference Data ". I know the 60 and LMG are going but if were doing something as radical as new infantry ORBAT then perhaps we can pretend it is done by enlightened headsheds. Date. 300 BLK ). \ |sZ4U !{s<0 Arty - Artillery This articles argues that it would create a more flexible and potent force as well as making it easier to re-role battalions if a universal, multi-role structure was developed. These included heavy anti-tank TOW missile platoons, ground surveillance radar sections and man-portable air-defense system sections. The number in blue is the number of men within that level of command. Interesting article on a subject I personally know little about. Of course, there will always be exceptions, be you Regular or Reserve, but to dismiss them as second-rate soldiers is unfounded and outdated. Weapons companies do not receive a letter designation. In a pinch, sure, but routinely just five or six. Combat enemy fast air? A group consists of four or five field armies and between 400,000 and 1 million soldiers. A division would consist of 2 Brigades and a CnC org (900) there would be 8 Divisions bringing the deployable combat force to 79.2k with an army HQ (4.5k) and Support division of 22.5k personnel inc. Army reserve backing this all up. However, there is no escaping from the fact that a 40 mm grenade packs much less HE than a 51 mm mortar bomb. @UKLP The GPMG Light Role and GPMG Sustained Fire are very different weapons with very different roles and capabilities. The battalion organization allows the commander to scale his force to accept like-type additional infantry or intelligence organizations. Individual sections may carry between one and four NLAW disposable ATGMs. As a bonus I thought that a closer relationship with reserves at battalion might serve as a nice middle ground, with regulars perhaps choosing that as way out of the service as well as for reserves finding it a way in. For purposes of clarity, this display is simplified through the elimination of numerous headquarters, maintenance and other support units which are normally attached to or associated with the listed combat units [despite the well known fact that amateurs talks tactics while professionals talk logistics]. Could we not then consider having whole crews staying with the vehicle rather than depleting them when the section has to dismount? Your email address will not be published. After 1882, cavalry battalions were renamed squadrons and cavalry companies were renamed troops. Light infantry Battalion It also gives Platoon HQ additional firepower that can be allocated to individual sections as required. We recommend you cite primary sources. The following is the current organization ofthe. The Puma HC2 support helicopter, for example, carries 12 personnel, while a CH-47 Chinook can carry an entire platoon. In my world it would be EAGLE 44 and 66 to have commonality in light and medium protected mobility. With the Army embracing other new technologies, such as drones and loading carrying autonomous vehicles, having sufficient technical personnel to operate and maintain them suggests that having sufficient REME personnel is essential. A step in the right direction? Phase 1 and 2 training for a Combat Medic is around 40 weeks, compared to 28 for an infantry soldier, and even then they are not allowed to practice unsupervised until theyve completed their class one training (usually a year into their first posting). I like your idea: dismounted mass needs to be maximised. The United States Navy has construction battalions and navy cargo handling battalions. Both featured the same support units as well, with a signal platoon, supply platoon, repair workshop and medical aid station. Platoon-size unit per Division With the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling (which translates to "section"). NATO defines a battalion as "larger than a company, but smaller than a regiment" while "consisting of two or more company-, battery-, or troop-sized units and a headquarters. The nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. God Bless you man. I think we need silly ideas and massive reforms, such as your ideas on simplify rank structures to fit with a much smaller army. The centerpiece of the Army's operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the infantry brigade combat team, is in danger of becoming obsolete in the face of near-peer opponents. That might work for armoured Infantry or Boxer based mechanized infantry, where the infantry are close protection for armoured vehicles, or their closely supporting artillery firepower. This would prevent your rifle sections from becoming overburdened and also allow greater autonomy at company level, perhaps creating miniature battlegroups akin to French SGTIAs. And as i wrote here in this blog in an earlier article especially the UK forces should be as multi-purpose and as flexible and mobile as possible, especially on the stratetigic and operational level. They are also Emergency Care Sergeants and can maneuver with either the Company Commander or First Sergeant. VFHVe xC=E>wPK gk R$~(k: CQuu9#MN mb)jNE1>SCBC+l 1 Why are we tethering ourselves to four? Storage space is hardly ample; the wagons were designed for blokes to fight from, not live in. - light cannon, assigned to AT unit The elements in the organizational chart for the U.S. Army span from the individual soldier all the way to the largest building block commonly used, the Corps. We recommend you cite primary sources. on Bushmaster as their ride. Its more the lack of balance than PD itself. German Organization for Combat, 1944. The question of multi-shot 6 round revolver type 40mm grenade launchers with MV rounds versus the UGL is a good one. firepower and protection yes (which would possibly be over kill), but at the expense of a massive logistical footprint. I thought of this after reading your article on assault guns. Price. . Im not sure that he can wave farewell to Warrior so easily. Signals Platoon Small rationalisations made across other Support units help reduction. Anti-drones? Both 12.7 mm BMGs and 40 mm GMGs are vehicle mounted systems. If its not can we at least work round it by concentrating on fire and manoeuvre? Given that kit is cheaper than people in the long run, do we need fire firepower to make up for lack of infantry mass ? With this weapon now returned to individual sections, in lieu of the 5.56 mm L110A2 LMG, there is arguably no need for a separate machine gun platoon, especially as platoon vehicles will have a mix of 12.7 mm HMGs and 40 mm GMGs. For context Ive remembered where my TA train of thought originated, it was during the general discussion on strike brigades and a resurgent Russia. You are spot on that dismounted mass should dictate the ORBAT rather than vehicle capacity. Many armies are adding Javelin mounts to their 12.7 mm remote weapon stations. Your fantasy FF2020 is pretty much identical to mine, but I want three brigades of each type, for 1 in 3 rotation cycle. Instead, why cant be we be open to moving beyond the status quo of four vehicles per platoon? Under the observation of the Marine Corps. 40mm is under used in general in my opinion. 40mm MV is would be an excellent addition to the ammo mix in sections bit there will be some work for the SASCs to update Pams and traces so unlikely to happen. We can tailor our forces now for a sustained operation, such as we have done for Bosnia until the present I dont think we need to radically change the div structure just refine the battlegroup concept to reflect the modularity aspect of the force but reataining the mass of the individual capability the heavy, medium and light bring when needed. A battalion usually contains two to five organic companies (batteries in the artillery), with a total of 500 to 1,200 Marines in the battalion. 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. If not six wagons as I suggested previously, maybe four section vehicles plus a Pl HQ wagon? Now that the GPMG has been returned to rifle sections, a separate, fourth fire support platoon is no longer needed. Outline Organisation Structure of a Standard Infantry Battalion The following image shows the organisation structure of a standard infantry battalion in the Indian Army. .?UF&-b4W[u&SgJ`/24$4jfbH@\t,#QG^*)W&HTSE|:=:pl9xp}u KNv 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). With a smaller army limited to just 82,000 soldiers, the organisational structure and number of personnel within individual units starts to become very important. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer and reconnaissance platoons. @Jed In my fantasy army its the best allocation of resources. 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. A United States Marine Corps battalion includes the battalion headquarters, consisting of the commanding officer (usually a lieutenant colonel, sometimes a colonel), an executive officer (the second-in-command, usually a major), the sergeant major, and the executive staff (S-1 through S-4 and S-6). In the Canadian Forces, most battalions are reserve units of between 100 and 200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece. It would be no problem to fit 9 soldiers in a Warrior IFV, Boxer MIV or Bushmaster PMV. Hence a few questions. In the U.S. Marine Corps, the brigade designation is used only in "Marine Expeditionary Brigade" (MEB). consists of 9 enlisted personnel. The infantry community has a problem. The US Marine Corps already adopts a similar approach to the one described here. A U.S. Army battalion includes the battalion commander (lieutenant colonel), executive officer (major), command sergeant major (CSM), headquarters staff, and usually three to five companies, with a total of 300 to 1,000[31] (but typically 500 to 600) soldiers. This formation of three infantry battalions, an engineer battalion, an artillery battalion, a cavalry squadron, and a support battalion needs to be restructured to maximize an infantry . The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. The other support company would have the assault pioneers and the 2-3 anti tank platoons. Those in IFVs or MIVs will have an RWS with a Javelin attachment so that it can be fired under armour. The HQ Company was equipped with. They are numbered and assigned missions based on their structures. It will include the Commanding Officer, 2IC, Adjutant, Operations Officer, Intelligence Officer, and Training Officer. Perhaps theres an article to be written somewhere in there, UKLP, especially being an ex veg head? Infantry Headquarter Companys have the following elements: Perhaps, but only if we reduced the commitment. I think that wider structures, instead of ten BCTs we should look at the French and Australians. It is a genuine concern that the British Army lacks sufficient protected vehicles. Required fields are marked *. Also the logistics and training burden of all the various disposable rocket systems could be removed with CG. Lynx can carry 8 dismounts and would allow us to really increase the mass of the armored infantry withot adding to vehicle numbers in any significant way. Unless, of course, you want to really shake up what the AR is for and how it works. Both consisted of a battalion headquarters of 12 personnel and three motorised rifle companies of 110 personnel each, along with a number of combat support units: a mortar battery consisting of eight 120mm 120-PM-43 mortars or automatic 82mm 2B9 Vasileks, an air defense platoon with nine MANPADs, either the SA-7 Grail, SA-14 Gremlin or SA-16 Gimlet, and an automatic grenade launcher platoon with six 30mm AGS-17 launchers. If a rifleman receives the proper training and is skilled enough, they may be designated a squad designated marksman. Boxer and Bushmaster. Strike battalion The U.S. Army also created independent tank battalions to attach to infantry divisions during World War II in order to give them fire support. Though I strongly disagree with replacing the Woodentops, it is always good to see non-Guards have a turn. 05 Weapon requirements 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). The UK is likely to do the same, but only a limited number of vehicles will get it presumably Anti-tank and Reconnaissance platoons. Officially, Warrior carries three on the left bench and four on the slightly longer right bench. An important issue that has to be maintained are weapons then there are radios. In 2016, the Army reorganized its brigades into brigade combat teams, which are autonomous modular brigades that most commonly include one combat arms brigade and its assigned support and fire units. 8 bazookas; 3 57mm anti-tank guns; 2 .50 cal and Each battalion usually consists of the following: Battalion command Commander Second in command General service Personnel section Intelligence section Operations section Materiel section Communication section In armoured or mechanised formations the vehicle crew would be drawn mostly from Fire Support Section. At some point in the future it would be wise to introduce a a new light weight section belt fed ( see knights armament LAMG for example) perhaps in one of the many new calibres emerging ( e.g. I am not sure I would even attempt to provide reserve reinforcements to Warrior or Boxer based units. Some would argue that the 40 mm low velocity grenade is a substitute for 51 mm mortars, but maximum range is 300-400 metres not 700-800 metres. I dont think I was spoken to once during my six years in the reserves. [32] A regiment consists of between two and six organic battalions, while a brigade consists of between three and seven separate battalions. Forgive me if Ive misunderstood, but I dont see how counting drivers makes for a bigger platoon, surely we should be counting dismounts, which given the ever shrinking number of seats and the ever increasing size of our soldiers should be 28. Public duties are despised and dont help Guards recruitment really? If it isnt possible to reintroduce 51 mm, then a lightweight 60 mm mortar could be an option. CnC can be further rationalised across the whole unarmed force by having a single force structure around 1 HQ, 4 commands, each operating 2 divisions that hold all naval, land, cyber, air, space and command assets assigned to them and having a flatter structure. This is vital. Three rifle companies with 190 men each. [4] Member nations have stipulated the different names they will use for organizations of this size. Cross Reference Table that lists the numbered regiments and artillery Specifically, the transition from the failed 1940 organization to the improved 1941 organization that served the army until the spring of 1943 when finally, the 1943 organization was established. The Fire Support Company HQ structure is the same as a rifle company, except that it will have1 officer + 15 other ranks. Personnel will primarily be drivers. This size of unit would do much to increase the deployability and resilience of UK infantry battalions, especially if we could field at least 18 out of 32 battalions with some form of organic protected mobility. It just seems a bit of an own goal to me youve got a big powerful IFV that you cant exploit fully. In Platoon HQs that have 9 soldiers, the same structure would be adopted, providing an additional machine gun and designated marksman rifle.

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