The four companies include three line companies and one H&S; the four battalions include three lines and one H&S. There are always variations to what is the standard breakdown of Marine Corps unit structure. C1: S: 9. How about a Corps of Infantry ? 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. US Army Infantry Battalion Numbers. If it did by any chance happen, though, I wonder if UK Land Power could tell me whether it would make a difference to his manning arrangements. . It may indeed prove a good idea if explored and developed further but I dont understand what problem you seek to solve nor what the advantages are: it will do nothing for quality of training, Reserve professionalism and competency, morale and retention or, crucially, deployability. Yn a|FKtpW"[I'nJpbR].VB`8~q}RBTw'#g( A battalion's subordinate companies and their platoons are dependent upon the battalion headquarters for command, control, communications, and intelligence, and the battalion's service and support structure. One concern about the existing structure is that the third rifle platoon in each infantry company is furnished by the Army Reserve. Id integrate a fourth rifle company from the TA into your battalion too, to train alongside it and to be fully conversant with its people and its methodology. After all, the Army Reserve is not the job which pays the bills. The problem the Army has is when it wants people to do two jobs at once in two different places at the same time . Ultimately, this discussion is about maximising Boots on the ground. It can best be achieved by ensuring that British infantry units are structured around ground combat roles that ensure responsiveness and efficiency, rather than being organised according to financial constraints. Man-portable drones and UAVs could be battle-winning assets. 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? Ill add defence inflation here, everything costs a fortune and will cost more, all the time do more with less, how much will the reserves get? Same for Mech Inf, if you are happy to reduce dismounted infantry mass to 22 (36 + 4). If additional, theyll require their own wagon with the necessary extra personnel as crew. Armored DivisionTable of Organization and Equipment. Therefore, this exercise will commence by considering how platoons and rifle sections should be organised and how this determines overall rifle company size and structure. As I say Im just throwing ideas around, not trying to invade Poland. Weapons like the 12.7 mm HMG and 40 mm high velocity grenade machine gun are primarily vehicle-mounted systems. Whereas In a peer conflict youre going to lose and need a lot of people very quickly and youre probably going to find the army reserve faster than youre going to find the regular reserve. (d) 3 from auxiliary service. I of course being TA/Army reserve would have any idea how to be a Regular Army medic keep my medical competencies up etc as I do the job five days a week and not spend an inordinate about of time counting tent pegs. The overall structure defined by sub-unit organisation reflects the fact that protected mobility is now needed more widely. A group consists of four or five field armies and between 400,000 and 1 million soldiers. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. The current active corps are I Corps at Fort Lewis, Washington; III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas; and XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Ser. In the United States Army, a battalion is a unit composed of a headquarters and two to six batteries, companies, or troops. battalions Considering something like Mali or from our experience Afghan what would the heavy bring to the party? iRO$[>_kw(y@tpKJd+D82;^*K|3sld\,xAZ|hskBA Boxer and Bushmaster. 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. I think that wider structures, instead of ten BCTs we should look at the French and Australians. Organization of the formations and units of the German Army after the start of the Russian campaign until 1945. However, forces in Eastern Europe began to standardize to a smaller formation with 135 personnel and 31 tanks total, with each tank company consisting of 10 tanks total. A battalion comprises two or more primary mission companies which are often of a common type (e.g., infantry, tank, or maintenance), although there are exceptions such as combined arms battalions in the U.S. Army. Why is it that everyone thinks being a Medic is something easily relegated to a part time role? Outline Organisation Structure of a Standard Infantry Battalion The following image shows the organisation structure of a standard infantry battalion in the Indian Army. corporal. These were divided up in the HQ Company with 120 men. Building on Captain Nemos comments: in solving the problem of dismounted infantry mass the starting point should be what is the minimum number of dismounts sufficient not how do we fit more troops and firepower into four vehicles. My preferred direction is to to look at a common organisation for the Armoured and Mechanised infantry, and a different organisation for light infantry including air assault. Unless, of course, you want to really shake up what the AR is for and how it works. The total then is simply calculated as 18338. 07 Personnel summary. The operational Army conducts full-spectrum operations around the world, supported by institutional units. They can range from a few dozen soldiers to up to 200. Following the mid-2010s, they typically ride in anOshkosh M-ATV mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle. Your email address will not be published. It allows Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) to be generated quickly. And sometimes Recruiting Team. Combat medic is attached from the Infantry Battalion Medical Platoon. Mortar platoons with 8 or 9 x 81 mm tubes has been proven on many occasions to be sufficient. Combat enemy fast air? [26], Prior to the late 1980s, Soviet tank battalions consisted of three tank companies of 13 T-64, T-72 or T-80 tanks each, along with a battalion headquarters mounted in a command tank and a headquarters and service platoon, for a total of 165 personnel and 40 tanks; battalions using the older T-54, T-55 or T-62s tanks had 31 or 40 additional enlisted personnel. 02 Infantry Platoons built around 36 soldiers Important figures in a battalion headquarters include: Battalions of other corps are given separate cardinal numbers within their corps (e.g., 101Battalion REME). 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). The Combat Medic is attached from the Combat Medic Section of the Battalion's Medic Platoon while the Forward Observer and their RTO are attached from the Field Artillery Battalion. The T/O started out as a chart-like document published by the War Department during WWII, prescribing the organic structure and equipment of units from divisional strength on down to the smallest operational entities . Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a 13th (infantry howitzer) and 14th (antitank) company. Each can conduct major tactical operations and sustained battlefield operations. The UK has a problem with air defence. It offers a range of new ammunition natures from anti-tank rounds to bunker-busting HE. Reconnaissance Troop, company-size unit Light infantry Battalion Not combat troops at all, maybe all wearing a common foot guards uniform with the same number of buttons. They are also Emergency Care Sergeants and can maneuver with either the Company Commander or First Sergeant. The GPMG requires a No 2 with binos to maximise the guns effect which is not going to be realised by the crow given the big heavy gun in a section. The article gives the numbers and personnel strengths of each type of battalion. [1] So it is a very flexible number. The organization here has been valid since approximately 2012, although weapon systems have changed over time. Do we need to simplify the rank structures of UK Armed Forces? I am not sure I would even attempt to provide reserve reinforcements to Warrior or Boxer based units. It has also been suggested that rifle companies should acquire 81 mm mortars. If not six wagons as I suggested previously, maybe four section vehicles plus a Pl HQ wagon? INSIGNIA @Captain Nemo This would lead directly to an to small infantry force wich would not be able to create the said necessary critial mass and also such an infantry would simply not have the overall size which is necessary to fight in an infantry-terrain (like woods, urban etc). Officers Mess Staff However, your suggestion of four rifle sections will require even greater manpower to maximise effect. 300 BLK ). The Units As we addressed in an earlier article, any unit is a sum of its parts. 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. Sometimes it appeared confusing so I am going to try to straighten it out. (c) distributed as required when regiment is broken-up in detachments. The Puma HC2 support helicopter, for example, carries 12 personnel, while a CH-47 Chinook can carry an entire platoon. Your fantasy FF2020 is pretty much identical to mine, but I want three brigades of each type, for 1 in 3 rotation cycle. Eight is hard enough (the driver helpfully stows his away in the tunnel between him and the gunner although that is likely a death sentence if the wagon brews up or goes underwater). Battle Order is for informational purposes only. .?UF&-b4W[u&SgJ`/24$4jfbH@\t,#QG^*)W&HTSE|:=:pl9xp}u KNv Light Role battalions had 8-soldier sections. This structure was used during Operation Banner in Northern Ireland for many years and proved to be extremely effective. It cant. Four soldiers make up a team a noncommissioned officer and three junior enlisted soldiers. Each infantry brigade is equipped and capable of air assault operations. (b) In principal belongs to the auxiliary service. It also gives Platoon HQ additional firepower that can be allocated to individual sections as required. I suppose they might have a home defence role or be trained as medics or something, but they would be on a specific contract and would not be deployable. 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. 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]. 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. The other support company would have the assault pioneers and the 2-3 anti tank platoons. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. The infantry brigade combat team, as of 2014, contains 4,413 soldiers and is organized around three battalions of infantry. Administratively, battalions are subdivisions of regiments. They can conduct independent operations of limited scope and duration and are usually commanded by a lieutenant colonel. After 1882, cavalry battalions were renamed squadrons and cavalry companies were renamed troops. Now that the GPMG has been returned to rifle sections, a separate, fourth fire support platoon is no longer needed. This structure also reflects the fact that most NATO IFVs accommodate a total of 9 soldiers, e.g. I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. Perhaps, but only if we reduced the commitment. @Captain Nemo PHILANTHROPY. The basic Intelligence Cell This question arises a fair bit with readers of WorldWar2Facts.org, so we have compiled a table to help explain what the unit or group names mean, what units made up larger WW2 army units, the rough size of the unit, and what rank of officer or NCO was normally in charge. On a related subject, getting more Infantry into standard modular structured Battalions; how would you feel about an idea I think that was first floated over on Think Defence many years ago moving the ceremonial role over to a specific, non-regular setup ? The Table of Organization (T/O) of the Marine Corps lays out the organizational structure and the equipment required to function. To deal with 3 points infantry mass, use of TA, and number of vehicles, which are all interconnected: 1. A company consists of 3-4 platoons and is part of a battalion. 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). Finally, a REME Detachment will provide repair and recovery services for all Battalion Armoured Vehicles. And a Canadian infantry (rifle) battalion, in an armoured division, was organized, and consisted of: - a Battalion headquarters of six officers and 54 other ranks - a Headquarters company of five officers and 94 other ranks, within - a company headquarters - a signal platoon - an administrative platoon 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. Life would be easier if we had nets so boys could just strap bergens to the outside of the wagon. (e) 1 combatant and 1 from auxiliary service per battalion; one of the combatants may be a corporal. Personnel will primarily be drivers. Fireteam A fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. Are/were you Guards, Captain Nemo? A brigade consists of a few battalions and anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. Marine infantry regiments use battalion and company designations as described above under World War II, with company letters D, H, and M not normally used but rather held in reserve for use in augmenting a fourth rifle company into each battalion as needed.