The tables contained in Part II of this book are the Marine Corps Tables of Organization approved by the Commandant 27 March, 1944 (with changes of 22 July, 1944). 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. 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. Have a great day. In the Royal Netherlands Army, a mechanised infantry battalion usually consists of one command- and medical company, three mechanised infantry companies, and one support company, which has three platoons with heavy mortars and three platoons with anti-tank missiles (TOW). This can either be decided before hand by the squad, or when contact is made the team that makes contact first becomes the supporting element. Battalion - A battalion comprised three or more companies and was commanded by a lieutenant colonel. Option C Platoon divides the platoon into three groups (or multiples) of 12 soldiers. Also the logistics and training burden of all the various disposable rocket systems could be removed with CG. I do think the reserves however have a huge role to play in defending airfields, HQs, dockyards, ammo dumps etc etc. I know that the manning requirement is already verging on fantasy but maybe pushing it a bit further could give your battalion valuable additional potency? You say this would enhance their professionalism. This will lead to higher costs per bataillon and therefore to higher overall costs. Losing this space (currently in the Pl HQ wagon) is a big problem. They are not man-portable. Does it have to be infantry? The overall structure defined by sub-unit organisation reflects the fact that protected mobility is now needed more widely. & Organizations of the Italian Campaign for brief history In actuality, I agree that Ajax IFV replacing Warrior is highly unlikely. consists of a platoon headquarters, 3 rifle squads, and 1 weapons squads. Your email address will not be published. Not combat troops at all, maybe all wearing a common foot guards uniform with the same number of buttons. There are combat arms battalions, as well as combat support and combat service support battalions. - light cannon, assigned to AT unit. Jed touched upon it earlier, rekindling Think Defences rather outlandish proposal to create a non-deployable ceremonial unit. I think its generally accepted that reserves simply cannot be expected to attain or maintain the same level of professionalism as regular soldiers, because its not their day job, so I posit their embedding with regular formations and should the need arise, the two diluting. 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. Culling BHQs may be good for the budget, but by nowhere near enough to justify trading such depth. 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. A common structure with an identical headcore for each bataillon and protected mobility for each of it would therefore create an force which in the case of the UK forces would be to small to fight in closed terrain and would not achieve the necessery critical mass there and to the opposite would not have enough fighting power to achieve victory in open terrain against an more tank heavy but despite of its higher fighting power smaller and therefore more faster and agile enemy force. . Between 1939 and 1943 the German standard infantry division contained three regiments with a total of nine rifle battalions. 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. 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]. Officers Mess Staff I just wanted to pick up on a comment by White Hackle. Required fields are marked *. Units A battalion in the Indian Army is commanded by a colonel. The infantry organizational structure existing in 1969 was well suited to the strategy and tactics of flexible . 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. Returning to three standard rifle platoons with organic GPMGs, avoiding the need for a fourth fire support platoon, streamlines the overall battalion structure and reduces the administrative burden of bringing soldiers from Army Reserve units. For purposes of . Officially, Warrior carries three on the left bench and four on the slightly longer right bench. Artillery battalions typically comprised four or more batteries, although this number fluctuated considerably. @UKLP I fully agree that the infantry platoon needs a manpower uplift. Thisproposal is in-line with what rifle companies already have. With successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion (others were amalgamated to form large regiments that maintained multiple battalions, e.g., the Royal Anglian Regiment). Given the requirement, identify the elements and generic employment missions of a . This new structure eliminated the need to task-organize companies between battalions; each combined arms battalion was organically composed of the requisite companies. On the LMG, I am sooo old that the LMG imteained on the in the RN was the 7.62 version of the Bren ! Or what is not getting done in the modular battalion ? General Frederick Weyand, from. I like your set up for the battalion except for the support company which I think itshould be split into 2. Both 12.7 mm BMGs and 40 mm GMGs are vehicle mounted systems. I hope so. Weapons companies do not receive a letter designation. Radio operators, medics and anti-tank weapon operators would carry assault rifles with shorter barrels for reduced weight and increased convenience. Ground Combat Element (GCE) = Marine Infantry Battalion Landing Team (BLT) Aviation Combat Element (ACE) = Composite . Light infantry Battalion The Army currently has 13 Active Component and 20 National Guard IBCTs. Battle Order is for informational purposes only. Infantry Headquarter Companys have the following elements: battalion. The battalion organization allows the commander to scale his force to accept like-type additional infantry or intelligence organizations. This means instead of giving every infantry unit organic protected mobility, i would even take the units that have such now this vehicles and would create own fighting units out of them which are then part of the tank troops. Total battalion headcount can be determined by considering how many soldiers are needed within each component unit type. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer and reconnaissance platoons. Each have different jobs and roles each of which is necessary to keep the wagon fighting and surviving. These include light infantry (foot), airborne and air assault units. I would also go with an old suggestion from Think Defence to use reduced numbers of RM and Para as enablers for light infantry brigades which would provide the bulk of air assault / heliborne ops and amphibious ops. So providing extra seats at platoon level should be affordable. 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. [32] A regiment consists of between two and six organic battalions, while a brigade consists of between three and seven separate battalions. 1945-1950. Catering Platoon The discussion has been first -rate too. 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 . Various members of the platoon will also carry a 9 mm Glock 17 pistol. I like your idea: dismounted mass needs to be maximised. Option A allows the platoon to be divided equally between four combat vehicles. An infantry battalion, logistical battalion, combat battalion, and the Netherlands Marine Corps all have a battalion structure. In a pinch, sure, but routinely just five or six. Armored DivisionTable of Organization and Equipment. If it isnt possible to reintroduce 51 mm, then a lightweight 60 mm mortar could be an option. I see that you failed to include the Adjutant Generals Regimental Administration Office Platoon with around 20 personel. Changes: Type: Pages. Indeed, I can see Warrior being used for the next ten, fifteen, even twenty years. Its more the lack of balance than PD itself. Man-portable drones and UAVs could be battle-winning assets. Tri-Service? (c) distributed as required when regiment is broken-up in detachments. If we have multi role divisions, then does this not theoritically make a third of your div redundant for any given operation? 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. Maybe reserve Infantry can protect reserve loggies delivering stores and ammo. (RP0102) 2. 07 Personnel summary. One of the most readable and enjoyable articles on defence I have read recently. Service The article gives the numbers and personnel strengths of each type of battalion. The Army overall is about 5000 under authorised strength and an increase to about 7000 under strength does not seem a good change. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Four soldiers make up a team a noncommissioned officer and three junior enlisted soldiers. The Light Infantry Company. It has also been suggested that rifle companies should acquire 81 mm mortars. 06 Vehicle requirements Ill break my reply into a couple of comments. Commando Battalion (joint para/RM group) Co. - 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. With eachJavelin vehicle requiring a driver and commander, t. As noted above, there is no reason why other weapon types and combinations could not also be used. A Logistics Platoon (formerly the Motor Transport Platoon) will be responsible for operating resupply and replenishment trucks. 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#| The Medical Platoon (which establishes a Regimental Aid Post when deployed) will be comprised of 1 medical officer + 19 other ranks. , Specialist (OR-4), armed with 1 60mm Mortar and 1 M9/M17 Pistol, , Private First Class (OR-3), armed with 1 M4A1 Carbine, , Sergeant (OR-5), armed with 1 M4A1 Carbine. and engineer battalions for each Infantry Division. So while I have experience of this, and the food ol Gimpy, I have never carted them around In the field. Mortar platoons with 8 or 9 x 81 mm tubes has been proven on many occasions to be sufficient. This coincided with the U.S. Army's reorganization and implementation of the Brigade Combat Teams (BCT). HQ for direct fire support would also be nice (dont forget those 10 man BAOR sections in their FV432 had a lot more of them). ~T,=y-2ZxKx FrV{^=bB&T* u \' UUplpD_&e\ With common ORBATs, marine battalions can quickly be prepared for the allocated mission. It allows Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) to be generated quickly. SAAB has produced a lightweight version of the Carl Gustav 84 mm recoilless anti-tank weapon. Those in IFVs or MIVs will have an RWS with a Javelin attachment so that it can be fired under armour. Whilst I absolutely do not think that that is the right way to go, perhaps a shake up of public duties manning is in order? There are pouches hanging off the turret cage. Infantry Organization. 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. I have manunauch silly ideas I can assure you. Is this concept outdated ? Fantastic comments. 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. The armoured brigade would have Ajax Recce, Chally, Ajax IFV (bye bye Warrior! 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). Many regiments of all types are operating well below their headcount caps, meaning that very few battalions operate with the same number of soldiers. However unlikely it is, I think it is desirable though: replacing CVRT, Warrior and Bulldog with a common base platform would be hugely beneficial. [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.