PHILANTHROPY. Battalions consist of four to six companies and can include up to about 1,000 soldiers. For all modern technology, gunning and commanding really require two people, else you have an ineffective platform. 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. That gives a reduction of 1590 from current strength that could be used for the new bronegruppa. There are also support battalions in the Dutch Army, which specialise on a specific task: for example, supplies and transport or communications. Company Training Wing US Army Infantry Battalion Numbers. Each have different jobs and roles each of which is necessary to keep the wagon fighting and surviving. However number of boots might make the difference for protected mobility (motorized) inf. They are numbered and assigned missions based on their structures. There are pouches hanging off the turret cage. There are apparently 11 demonstration versions of the Warrior being put through their paces in Dorset. 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). SVC - The battalion organization allows the commander to scale his force to accept like-type additional infantry or intelligence organizations. They are accompanied by the company First Sergeant, a Supply Sergeant, and a Supply Clerk who ride in a M1083 Standard Cargo Truck that tows a 400- or 800-gallon water tank. Organization of the formations and units of the German Army after the start of the Russian campaign until 1945. 3 regiments with 3 infantry battalions, plus supporting troops. This amounts to 1 officer and 38 permanent enlisted personnel, as well as 3 usually attached enlisted personnel. it would have a very vulnerable breaching capabilty and 105mm arty that is out ranged and very vulnerable to counter battery fire. These are only used in times of large-scale war, such as World War II. Man-portable drones and UAVs could be battle-winning assets. With IFVs, MIVs and MRVPs, the British Army will have a range of vehicles that can each carry a full section or 9 soldiers. 1. 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. of troops assigned than an infantry company . 2019-2023 Battle Order. If we have multi role divisions, then does this not theoritically make a third of your div redundant for any given operation? The 100th Infantry Battalion, initially made up almost entirely of Japanese Americans from Hawai'i already in the army prior to World War II, represented the first group of Japanese Americans to see combat during World War II. Total battalion headcount can be determined by considering how many soldiers are needed within each component unit type. This means wagons to have space for additional personnel and stores, are all properly crewed and that dismounted mass hits the desired 28 (plus crew 53=15 so 43 total). Given that kit is cheaper than people in the long run, do we need fire firepower to make up for lack of infantry mass ? This is will mean better effect of weapons and better for load distribution. 1 x Fire Support Sect: SC, two-man GPMG team, two-man CG/SPIKE SR/C90 anti-tank team and three-man 60mm mortar team. The Universal Infantry Battalion by Nicholas Drummond August 29, 2019 With a smaller army limited to just 82,000 soldiers, the organisational structure of its component units and the number of personnel within individual sub-units starts to become very important. Or fortunate, as you will. 40mm is under used in general in my opinion. The Civil War led to the establishment of the first American staff school in order to train officers in the art of order transmission and execution. That will make a massive difference. Officers Mess Staff Does this need a full battalion or just a Company? REME do not just fix vehicles, an Infantry Battalion has a huge amount of other equipment that REME have to support. 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. During the American Civil War, an infantry or cavalry battalion was an ad hoc grouping of companies from the parent regiment (which had ten companies, A through K, minus J as described below), except for certain regular infantry regiments, which were formally organized into three battalions of six companies each (numbered 16 per battalion vice sequential letter designations). The commander's staff coordinates and plans operations. For what its worth, I think it would be good to have a rotating other-arms presence. The size of a battalion could range from 500 to 1,500 troops. Battalion sizes vary between branches. [24] Normally a battalion is attached to a regiment of infantry, which is organized, as a general rule, of a number of battalions and the regimental centre battalion. And it is Soldier so of course Warrior 2 is the best thing that ever happened to the Army, https://gdls-aus.com/products/ajax-ifv/ajax-infantry-fighting-vehicle/. Weapons companies do not receive a letter designation. Battalion - A battalion comprised three or more companies and was commanded by a lieutenant colonel. If additional, theyll require their own wagon with the necessary extra personnel as crew. 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? Often these will be stored in vehicles until needed. Mechanised Transport Platoon In the 1980s, BAOR armoured infantry units mounted in the FV432 APC routinely had 10-soldier sections. Light Role battalions had 8-soldier sections. Often Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) officers are assigned to the battalion, to coordinate naval gunfire support. The Army overall is about 5000 under authorised strength and an increase to about 7000 under strength does not seem a good change. Infantry Regiments and Their Commanders 1792 - 1815 The Austrian infantry and their commanders. A Carl Gustav 84mm in the Coy. When you constantly need to juggle different group sizes, theres a risk of not knowing whether you have enough boots on the ground to complete allocated tasks. You have robbed Peter to pay Paul. Sniper platoons use the .338 L115A3 rifle. Four soldiers make up a team a noncommissioned officer and three junior enlisted soldiers. 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. I am not going into the argument about a Battalions manning however the REME manning is open to question. Guardsmen and women who get very basic training, plus drill. Encouraged by his children, Uchida began to write his memoirs when he was in his seventies . If youre looking to increase platoon strength without greatly increasing overall numbers Id eliminate the support company and draw its manpower and vehicles down from battalion, possibly adding two dedicated support sections to a 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. This structure also reflects the fact that most NATO IFVs accommodate a total of 9 soldiers, e.g. It is a genuine concern that the British Army lacks sufficient protected vehicles. MP - At least in tracked / wheeled armoured infantry ? Morale is low (not unique to Guards but across the Army) for a number of reasons, a big one being that Guardsmen feel they are stagging on without the return of getting a tour in. For purposes of . PHILANTHROPY. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. With a universal size, it is easy to see gaps and to fill them. A platoon consists of a few squads and up to a few dozen soldiers. Strike battalion If a rifleman receives the proper training and is skilled enough, they may be designated a squad designated marksman. & Organizations of the Italian Campaign for brief history 8 bazookas; 3 57mm anti-tank guns; 2 .50 cal and With the US Army planning to adopt a new 6.8 mm High Velocity Armoured Piercing Ammunition (HVAP), the rest of NATO may follow its lead. I need to add a section on weapons. The battalion is "the smallest infantry organization that can arrange for a concentration of support weapons of different kinds" (War Office training manual, 15 January 1944), and is usually grouped with other units such as armoured regiments or other infantry battalions into higher formations: brigades, divisions, corps, armies and army groups. A battle group consists of an infantry battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. 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. Are/were you Guards, Captain Nemo? These are: The Mortar Platoon typically operates 8 or 9 mortars each with a crew of 4 plus a Mortar Fire Controller for each detachment of 2 mortars. corporal. An important issue that has to be maintained are weapons then there are radios. I like your set up for the battalion except for the support company which I think itshould be split into 2. Our Army Structure in Vietnam. No, I hesitated on the TA bit because it sounded derogatory, but note that I said enhance their professionalism, not that they were unprofessional. 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. Platoons divided into multiples may opt for a different weapons mix, e.g. 300 BLK ). Maybe reserve Infantry can protect reserve loggies delivering stores and ammo. 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. 3 x Rifle Sect: eight soldiers. Four section vehicles each having six dismounts with three crew is 36. In this context, a BTG can be defined as a task-organised, combined arms, tactical formation created by a brigade or regiment commander to complete a specific, discrete mission. Have the shortfall taken up by a line battalion. A battalion may also contain a combat support company. I was wondering how you would fill that gap as a matter of urgency. 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. Fantastic comments. The battalion is usually part of a regiment, group, or brigade depending on the branch of service. An armor or air cavalry unit of equivalent size is known as a squadron. The problem the Army has is when it wants people to do two jobs at once in two different places at the same time . The Netherlands have four battalions that are permanently reserved for the United Nations, for the purpose of peacekeeping duties. A nominal structure of 1 officer + 19 other ranks is proposed. The Army is composed of an active duty component and a reserve component that comprises the Army Reserve and Army National Guard. Ill break my reply into a couple of comments. To deal with 3 points infantry mass, use of TA, and number of vehicles, which are all interconnected: 1. I appreciate Ive written a lot but have a few more broad questions on future infantry structures and would be curious to hear others views. At the armoured end, I believe Boxer is designed to also carry all the kit required for an 8 man section, which does not mean extra seats / space for more stores is not a bad thing with 6 dismounts which takes us right back round to mass of dismounts. It cant. Rifle Squad consisted of 9-12 men lead by one NCO(Sergeant) and a 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). The different types of light infantry organizations were all consolidated into the one "Infantry" organization in 2007. 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. During World War II, most infantry regiments consisted of three battalions (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) with each battalion consisting of three rifle companies and a heavy weapons company. Outline Organisation Structure of a Standard Infantry Battalion The following image shows the organisation structure of a standard infantry battalion in the Indian Army. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. C FT with SC and three riflemen, D FT with 2IC, UGL, SS, LMG (ASM/NLAWs if appropriate). Battalions are tactical and administrative organizations with a limited capability to plan and conduct independent operations and are normally organic components of brigades, groups, or regiments. . As I say Im just throwing ideas around, not trying to invade Poland. However, what about this suggestion with platoon manning lifted to 36 as follows: Pl HQ: Pl Comd, Pl Signaller, Pl Sgt, Pl Medic. The first use of the word in English was in the 1580s. Administratively, battalions are subdivisions of regiments. Born on the island of Kauai, he moved to Honolulu to go to high school but left before he graduated to take a job at the Halekulani Hotel where he was working when he was drafted in 1941. C1: S: 9. Catering Platoon Also, knowing that, whatever the role or the mission, you have 36 soldiers at your disposal is reassuring, because it the efficacy and potency of the platoon becomes a known quantity. Indeed, it is my opinion that four dismounts is all Warrior can really operate with for the dismounts to have any degree of comfort. Storage space is hardly ample; the wagons were designed for blokes to fight from, not live in. 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. Though I strongly disagree with replacing the Woodentops, it is always good to see non-Guards have a turn. On each side behind the benches is a shelf for personal kit (actually designed as a rack for a couple of LAWs). I was throwing around the idea of top slicing the TA and just plugging companies into existing battalions with the intention that it would enhance their professionalism and that they could pull through the three regular companies as casualty replacements. 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. @whitehaxkle I like this idea, keeps the flexibility of providing vehicle crews while improving the firepower ! Indeed, I can see Warrior being used for the next ten, fifteen, even twenty years. I have done a similar analysis and share your view that a companys optimal size is 36, after that we deviate for the following reasons: I have a company size of 180 that includes 4 combat combat platoons and a single combat support group (platoon), This replicates at the Battalion level so a battalion 4 combat companies and a single Combat Support Company. Section commanders can step back without having to control 3 privates whilst planning his sections manouver. Infantry Battalion Structure - Bharat Rakshak - Indian Army & Land Forces Units Infantry Battalion Structure Email Created: 12 October 2006 Written by Table of Equipment Hits: 69412 Note: Figures in Red denote the number of personnel in that particular section. INSIGNIA Its a conundrum for,sure. A standard U.S. Marine infantry battalion is typically supported by an artillery battery and a platoon each of tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, light armored reconnaissance vehicles, reconnaissance Marines, and combat engineers. Cross Reference Table that lists the numbered regiments and artillery within a Battalion was designated as a Heavy Weapons Company and it was These are: The Communications Platoon (formerly the Signals Platoon) is primarily designed to support Battalion HQ by providing C4I services and radio operators. Here to Germany Army Unit Organisation 1939-41. I really like your idea of sharing public duties! 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. Light infantry Battalion There is a case for a light mortar to be carried by each Platoon HQ. 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). 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. Instead, why cant be we be open to moving beyond the status quo of four vehicles per platoon? The U.S. Army's Infantry Rifle Platoon consists of a platoon headquarters, 3 rifle squads, and 1 weapons squads. Such companieslack integral motorization or mechanization, but are all capable of air assault operations and often operate motorized, although the entire IBCT cannot motorize all at once. Welfare Office A weapons company with 160 men and a medical detachment with 30 men. In January 2006, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry was reactivated at Fort Riley under the U.S. Army's new "modularity" concept as an element of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. They can range from a few dozen soldiers to up to 200. The mortar section consists of two Mortar Squads, each with a Squad Leader, Gunner and Ammo Bearer. So that the tanks can seperate from the infantry completly and then act as an force for their own. , 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. I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. What capabilities are needed? Finally, a REME Detachment will provide repair and recovery services for all Battalion Armoured Vehicles. Meanwhile the support echelon is led by the Executive Officer, a First Lieutenant who is second-in-command of the company with administrative duties. If you want to replace all kind of different types of specialised infantry with only one type of general purpose infantry, the latter will only be as good as the more specialised types today, if not only the structure and size of the bataillons is changed, but also the overall equipment and its underlying doctrine and you also must invest much more in the training of this infantry. I cant upload pics but their SOIs are on AKX if you have access to it and are interested. Have a great day. My Army 2020 would see 1XX and 3XX each have an armoured brigade, mechanised brigade and motorised bridges. 9 man sections work very well, in effect the section commander is freed up to command 2 Lcpls who then command thier fire teams. This adds-up to 2 officers +14 other ranks. This creates a requirement for 1 officer + 44 other ranks. Its important that they are volunteers as far as possible. 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. The UK is likely to do the same, but only a limited number of vehicles will get it presumably Anti-tank and Reconnaissance platoons. [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. This where I would fit the reserve infantry into the mix, sticking with 1 inf battalion providing 1 Coy on the 1 in 3 rotation to their twinned regular battalion for the regular motorized inf Battalions. Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a 13th (infantry howitzer) and 14th (antitank) company. They may be armed with a M4A1 Carbine with a high power optic, Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR), M110 SASS, or newer M110A1 CSASS (as of 2018-9). It offered HE, WP, smoke and illuminating bomb types. In the most recent issue of Soldier magazine, there is an item headed New Warrior stays on track, in which the proposed new incarnation of the vehicle receives quite a lot of praise , including the statement On paper the platform looks impressive and offers a raft of refinements and upgrades over its long-serving predecessor. These apparently include not only the new 40mm cannon but also enhanced mechanical underpinnings, beefed-up armour and better comfort for the crews. 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. 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? They can conduct independent operations of limited scope and duration and are usually commanded by a lieutenant colonel. more machine guns. There are ways and means around problems though, if I recall correctly when they introduced warrior with its seven seats, they split a section into a four man squad and a three man squad and the warrior became a fire support squad, but therell have to be some very creative thinking with twenty four seats unless you shrink your platoon or fund a fifth and sixth vehicle. No, I am asking us to attack the sacred cows of ceremonial roles to put troops in combat formations ! Teams with special functions may also include officers or warrant officers. It will include the Commanding Officer, 2IC, Adjutant, Operations Officer, Intelligence Officer, and Training Officer. (e) 1 combatant and 1 from auxiliary service per battalion; one of the combatants may be a corporal. 6 Javelins for dismounts might be enough if we had them fitted to Warrior turrets or RWS, but we dont. That said, mounting guard for a month would I think be novel and exciting and interesting, not least because of the opportunity for the junior ranks to live it up in London. It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers (before they switched to regiments), and was also used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps and Royal Pioneer Corps. It just seems a bit of an own goal to me youve got a big powerful IFV that you cant exploit fully. To differentiate them from field armies, groups are usually written with Arabic numerals (example - 12th Army Group) as opposed to having their number written out. (just to muddy the waters). 05 Weapon requirements 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 UK bought the 60 mm Hirtenburger mortar as a UOR weapon, but, in standard form, it proved to be too heavy and needed too much ammunition to get on target. Getting rid of minimi/ LMG was a mistake based on the assumption that medium to long range contacts will dominate future conflicts. Combat medic is attached from the Infantry Battalion Medical Platoon. It is a proposal discussed at length already by a host of military commentators including UKLP. While the US army will no doubt eventually start fielding thier new 6.8mm super calibre I think 2 rifle calibres in sections will remain wise. Prior they would have travelled in an M1165A1 HMMVW, although any mark of HMMVW that was available likely would have been used. The battalion must have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days. This assumes light-role units are geared towards lower-intensity than the operations which Armd/Mech Inf will conduct: higher-intensity warfighting with an increasingly potent air threat. This new structure eliminated the need to task-organize companies between battalions; each combined arms battalion was organically composed of the requisite companies. 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. An infantry fire team might include two riflemen, one of whom is the team leader; a grenadier and an automatic rifleman, who is used when small reconnaissance or special missions are required. Forgive me if this is obvious but I dont know how much youve seen/been in a Warrior. 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. This structure was used during Operation Banner in Northern Ireland for many years and proved to be extremely effective. This would imo truly increase flexibility, fighting power and would it make even more easier to re-role the units. The Table of Organisation and Equipment (TOE) is based on document from the early 80s. Theyre generally run by a lieutenant, often with a noncommissioned officer as second in command. Ser. Infantry Organization. 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. An infantry battalion, logistical battalion, combat battalion, and the Netherlands Marine Corps all have a battalion structure.