That gives a reduction of 1590 from current strength that could be used for the new bronegruppa. Because of the protected mobility this general purpose infantry would become to slow, to few and to dependent on specific logistical assets. I am not sure I would even attempt to provide reserve reinforcements to Warrior or Boxer based units. The armoured brigade would have Ajax Recce, Chally, Ajax IFV (bye bye Warrior! A field army consists of two or more corps and is run by a general or lieutenant general. Could we not then consider having whole crews staying with the vehicle rather than depleting them when the section has to dismount? For context Ive remembered where my TA train of thought originated, it was during the general discussion on strike brigades and a resurgent Russia. With caveats. Ser. In addition to the primary mission companies, a battalion typically includes a headquarters staff and combat service support which may be combined into a Headquarters and service company. 338 MMGs are going to make GPMG SF obsolete. Does this need a full battalion or just a Company? Sergeants Mess Staff The motorised (Light) brigade would have MRVP/Bushmaster. I think we missed a trick not going for the much lighter 7.62 version of the Minimi, buts a new purchase and would cost a lot more than just re-issuing old stocks of L7. Dubbed Infantry Battalion Experiment Campaign Plan, or IBX30, the three-battalion effort is part of the Corps' push to reorganize for conflicts with near-peer adversaries by 2030, which the. its principal allies and enemies. Light Role Battalions are likely to need fewer mechanics, so there is room for downward adjustment. Our Army Structure in Vietnam. "[3] The standard NATO symbol for a battalion consists of a pair of vertical lines placed above a framed unit icon. This means that you have moved a battalion of Foot Guards out of LONDIST and back into the deployable force thats good, right? Police. German Organization for Combat, 1944. Co. - What I have a problem with is your suggestion to pull one guy out of the turret. Operating in pairs, the No.2 will have a L129A1 DMR. The proposed universal battalion of 690 gives a total of 22080 for 32 battalions, an increase of 3742. To be true general purpose infantry they would be trained to act together with the tank units which can transport them and then assist them in the fight, but this tank units would be a world for them own and would even in the case of an unit of IFV be an complete seperate unit which could and should also fight for its own if the need arises. These were divided up in the HQ Company with 120 men. Between 1939 and 1943 the German standard infantry division contained three regiments with a total of nine rifle battalions. For dismounted infantry, the US Army is looking at .338 (8.59 mm) medium weight machine guns to provide increased firepower and range. The newer light weight medium/ long range calibres ( eg. Have the shortfall taken up by a line battalion. A lieutenant general is in command. An important issue that has to be maintained are weapons then there are radios. Is this concept outdated ? In recent years the Royal Welsh, RAF, Royal Navy, Gurkhas and even the Royal Malay Regiment have done it. Welfare Office 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. The article gives the numbers and personnel strengths of each type of battalion. Does it belong to WW1 and before ? Service The size of this sub-unit must be sufficient to support the tracked vehicles of Armoured Infantry battalions, so a Detachment structure of 1 officer + 37 other ranks is proposed. As I say Im just throwing ideas around, not trying to invade Poland. 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). The basic platoon structure of the Universal Battalion assumes that individual riflemen within sections will be equipped with the 5.56 mm L85A3 assault rifle (SA80) including two soldiers with 40 mm UGLs. NOTE: This summary of Army Tables of Organization and Equipment includes only combat and directly related major support units. I agree fully that each section should have its own vehicle for so many reasons. Each Guards Regt have an incremental coy (so 500 troops). 6 Javelins for dismounts might be enough if we had them fitted to Warrior turrets or RWS, but we dont. What capabilities are needed? With the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling (which translates to "section"). Training Wing The Fire Support Company HQ structure is the same as a rifle company, except that it will have1 officer + 15 other ranks. A staff sergeant is often in charge. 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. A company is commanded by a captain with a first sergeant as the assistant. Ref It was common for a battalion to become temporarily attached to a different regiment. Are/were you Guards, Captain Nemo? 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. Its more the lack of balance than PD itself. 1. This would fit the MoD whole fleet management. Often Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) officers are assigned to the battalion, to coordinate naval gunfire support. We have discussed these in great detail in prior articles so we will not elaborate here. These included air assault, light infantry, infantry, mountain infantry, airborne, and the Rangers. Infantry Battalion. So back to my original question , can firepower and manoeuvre replace infantry mass, at least for armoured infantry units for the missions they will be used for, while maximizing boots on the ground for protected mobility Battalions which would have a different primary mission set ?? 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. So Rifle Sections of 9 soldiers would work well. Armored DivisionTable of Organization and Equipment. Medical Centre The Infantry Battalion was the basic tactical unit of the ground forces of the Canadian military throughout the 20th Century. While we. The infantry organizational structure existing in 1969 was well suited to the strategy and tactics of flexible . US Army Infantry Battalion Numbers. There are apparently 11 demonstration versions of the Warrior being put through their paces in Dorset. A platoon consists of a few squads and up to a few dozen soldiers. @Captain Nemo worn on US uniforms. This is because the Army Reserve Infantry works to a 1 in 3 model whereby a battalion-strength Reserve unit is expected to muster one third of its strength for a deployment. It is important to include drivers and vehicle gunners in section ORBATs, because so often they are not specifically catered for in organisational structures. 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. Higher levels are concerned with administration rather than operations. C1: S: 9. Man-portable drones and UAVs could be battle-winning assets. You have robbed Peter to pay Paul. Select A Unit From the Menu to Learn More: There are a few distinct exceptions in the structure of each military service. INSIGNIA It also gives Platoon HQ additional firepower that can be allocated to individual sections as required. Are your Pl Comd and Pl Sgt vehicle commanders or are they additional? Currently, infantry companies have a fourth fire support platoon equipped with 7.62 mm L7A2 GPMGs. They are numbered and assigned missions based on their structures. So providing extra seats at platoon level should be affordable. 1945-1950. I dont think I was spoken to once during my six years in the reserves. 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. Why is it that everyone thinks being a Medic is something easily relegated to a part time role? 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 fourth MG platoon in each rifle company is removed as GPMG is returned to other platoons. 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. 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). 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. The first use of the word in English was in the 1580s. 3 regiments with 3 infantry battalions, plus supporting troops. 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. Four section vehicles each having six dismounts with three crew is 36. 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. And sometimes Recruiting Team. My conclusion out of this is therefore that the UK infantry should be an general-purpose trained force and also that the headcore and structure of all bataillons should be the same, but that the protected mobility should not be an organic part of the infantry, but organised in an complete different and independent form, in own and indipendent units. For the light infantry company the building blocks are: Soldier>Fire Team>Squad>Platoon. Personnel will primarily be drivers. Remember this guy? The captain is responsible for the direction, training, and welfare of those below him. If so, what would this look like? The three commanders of the U.S. forces during the Vietnam War were: General William Westmoreland, from 1964 to 1968. Traditionally, most British regiments have had more than one battalion. Public duties are despised and dont help Guards recruitment really? 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. Those in IFVs or MIVs will have an RWS with a Javelin attachment so that it can be fired under armour. 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. If so, the Army Reserve has undergone an immeasurable transformation over the past ten years. A step in the right direction? 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. A nominal structure of 1 + 35 soldiers is proposed. Short answer: Ajax IFV has six seats (link at bottom). The company overall is led by a Captain infantry officer who travels with a Forward Signal Support NCO and two Radiotelephone Operators (RTOs) who operate and maintain the communications equipment in the company commander post. 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. They are normally identified by ordinal numbers (1st Battalion, 2nd Squadron, etc.) Option B creates three sections of 10 soldiers plus a smaller Platoon HQ of 6 soldiers. 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. I have been asked many times about our Army infantry structure in Vietnam. This structure is ideal for counter insurgency operations where there is a focus on foot patrols and other dismounted operations. 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. 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. Starting in 20052006, the U.S. Army's mechanized and tank battalions were reorganized into combined arms battalions (CABs). As we begin to look towards autonomous vehicles, REME support across all battalion types will become more important. & Organizations of the Italian Campaign. Are ~1,200 troops really needed?? Certainly turret-mounted 30 mm or 40 mm cannons are preferred. The Forward Observer and Fire Fupport RTO work as a team to direct fire support, including but not limited to company mortars, battalion mortars, and field artillery. A nominal structure of 1 officer + 19 other ranks is proposed. These mortars can be fired either from anM170 Bipod or by hand. 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. endstream endobj 3744 0 obj <>stream Of course it is doable but cramming seven blokes in the back is a right palava not only for the troops but for all their kit! Meanwhile the support echelon is led by the Executive Officer, a First Lieutenant who is second-in-command of the company with administrative duties. Infantry mass do we have to give up on this concept ? A dedicated anti-armour team can provide overwatch and have a capability to bridge the section-level short-range NLAW and the Jav Platoon which is overworked and undergunned in the current ORBAT. 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. , 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. One of the most significant changes in military structure was the introduction of the United States Colored Troops in 1863, the first official military integration policy. Cross Reference Table that lists the numbered regiments and artillery Company HQ will be extremely lean with just one officer and five other ranks. I hope so. 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 . Ground Combat Element (GCE) = Marine Infantry Battalion Landing Team (BLT) Aviation Combat Element (ACE) = Composite . . Such a capability is definitely still needed and there is a strong case to re-instate the 51 mm exactly as it was. The overall structure defined by sub-unit organisation reflects the fact that protected mobility is now needed more widely. 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. PHILANTHROPY. Teams can serve as a base-of-fire or as a maneuver element. Gimpy is too big and heavy for a section weapon, its hard going over walls/fences/through buildings etc and shouldnt really be fired from any position but the prone, unlike the lighter and more agile LMG. Rocket launcher artillery battalions consisted of a headquarters and headquarters platoon, a service battery and three firing batteries equipped with BM-21 Grads for a total of 255 personnel.[29][30]. In the 1980s, BAOR armoured infantry units mounted in the FV432 APC routinely had 10-soldier sections. 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. 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. [27][28], A Soviet artillery battalion in the late 1980s consisted of a battalion headquarters, a headquarters platoon, a maintenance and supply platoon and three firing batteries, each with six artillery pieces, whether the self-propelled 2S1 Gvozdikas or the towed D-30 howitzers, and numbering 260 personnel or 240 personnel respectively. So while I have experience of this, and the food ol Gimpy, I have never carted them around In the field. This would give the UK forces also more (and smaller and therefore faster, more agile, better deployable etc) units overall and would therefore increase their flexibility enormous. Artillery battalions typically comprised four or more batteries, although this number fluctuated considerably. 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 Army overall is about 5000 under authorised strength and an increase to about 7000 under strength does not seem a good change. The battalion was a standard tactical organization throughout the 20th Century, and overseas deployments were usually done with formations . Total battalion headcount can be determined by considering how many soldiers are needed within each component unit type. The number in blue is the number of men within that level of command. Signals Platoon While Light Role battalions will primarily operate on foot, they will still need all-terrain vehicles that support them in the field. (b) In principal belongs to the auxiliary service. An armor or air cavalry unit of equivalent size is known as a squadron. The Netherlands have four battalions that are permanently reserved for the United Nations, for the purpose of peacekeeping duties. - corporal. This is will mean better effect of weapons and better for load distribution. It normally has a headquarters company, support company, and three rifle companies (usually, but not always, A, B and C companies). [33] That is, rifle companies A, B, C along with heavy weapons CompanyD were part of the 1st battalion, rifle companiesE, F, G, and heavy weapons CompanyH constituted the 2nd battalion, and rifle companies I, K, L, and heavy weapons CompanyM were in the 3rd. I dont understand what problem having a light, medium and heavy brigade in a division solves. This option maximises dismounted mass. However, it differed from the light infantry platoons, which lacked a weapons squad and had 2 M240 teams in the platoon headquarters, and the ranger rifle platoon, which lacked Javelins in its weapons squad. The basic platoon structure of the Universal Battalion assumes that individual riflemen within sections will be equipped with the 5.56 mm L85A3 assault rifle (SA80) including two soldiers with 40 mm UGLs. I think were missing a trick with not using the reserve transition from regular service. Units Forgive me if this is obvious but I dont know how much youve seen/been in a Warrior. Price. In Northern Ireland, infantry platoons were often divided into multiples of 12 soldiers. Service Company, a support unit of a Regiment Infantry Organization. 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 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. To put it in perspective Ive never hit a target with 51/60mm and never missed with CG. Battle Order is for informational purposes only. To solve this problem, and to give flexibility through spare seats (needed for terps, picking up dismounts whose wagons are elsewhere and any atts and dets), to build on your idea would it be an idea to give the Pl Sgt and Pl Comd their own wagon each? Option A allows the platoon to be divided equally between four combat vehicles. No one wants a similar video of their cap badge. The ideal solution is to have a 30 mm cannon turret with twin ATGM boxes. Battalion ), probably Boxer SPH.. An infantry platoon might include a weapons squad, which is divided into two M240 machine gun teams, and two close-combat missile teams armed with Javelin missiles. Maybe Armoured Infantry on Warrior dont need that due to their cannon, maybe Mech Infantry on a Boxer with 12.7mm HMG or 40mm GMG RWS dont need these support weapons, but general purpose Light role do, even if their MRV-P ends up with a 7.62mm RWS, as these are not Armoured fighting vehicles but battle taxis with an MG for self defence. INFANTRY AND RIFLE DIVISIONS Infantry divisions remained the backbone of both armies. Not combat troops at all, maybe all wearing a common foot guards uniform with the same number of buttons. 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). Technical Quartermasters Department I must ask though Vehicle tools, pegs for the troop shelter and bits like that that dont live in the side or back bins usually go under the left bench, the right has the hydraulic ram for the back door under it and a big tray for the rations. Its a conundrum for,sure. The organization here has been valid since approximately 2012, although weapon systems have changed over time. 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. 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. Section commanders can step back without having to control 3 privates whilst planning his sections manouver. a crew of three (driver, gunner and commander) plus six dismounts. Thanks for the idea. The size of a regiment could range from 1,000 to 5,000 troops. They will win, or loose. Interesting article on a subject I personally know little about. United States Marine Corps infantry battalions are task organized into Battalion Landing Teams (BLTs) as the ground combat element (GCE) of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Why did / do we need mass, as in large numbers of infantry boots on the ground ? Regiment). The nomenclature varies by nationality and by branch of arms, for instance, some armies organize their infantry into battalions, but call battalion-sized cavalry, reconnaissance, or . 9 man sections work very well, in effect the section commander is freed up to command 2 Lcpls who then command thier fire teams. Catering Platoon With all these components, a battalion is the smallest military unit capable of "limited independent operations".[1]. 01 Introduction The Army currently has 13 Active Component and 20 National Guard IBCTs. 1. For purposes of . HQ Company is comprised of five supporting elements. Automatic 120mm mortars have small crews for high firepower. The following is the current organization ofthe. In 1944 an US Army infantry battalion roughly consisted of 900 men. I agree on the close relationship between regs and reserves, having been in a specialist reserve unit, I have seen it work really well. Tri-Service? (RP0102) 2. 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? and normally have subordinate units that are identified by single letters (BatteryA, CompanyA, TroopA, etc.). A battalion may also contain a combat support company. The commander's staff coordinates and plans operations. morton's steakhouse dress code,