Battalion - A battalion comprised three or more companies and was commanded by a lieutenant colonel. In an infantry squad, the teams divide duties: one serves as a base-of-fire element, while the other serves as the maneuver element. New Zealands cavalry (which would be considered mechanised infantry in the British Army) do this, having 46 soldiers and six NZLAVs per Cav Tp. For historical reasons, armor and Ranger units of brigade size are called regiments, and the equivalent Special Forces units are called groups. (e) 1 combatant and 1 from auxiliary service per battalion; one of the combatants may be a corporal. [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. Generally, the RTO sticks with the Platoon Leader to keep them in constant communication with their squads and company headquarters. This option also ensures that each section within a platoon has a dedicated vehicle driver and gunner. If not six wagons as I suggested previously, maybe four section vehicles plus a Pl HQ wagon? General Creighton Abrams, from 1968 to 1972. iRO$[>_kw(y@tpKJd+D82;^*K|3sld\,xAZ|hskBA I really disagree with the LMG being retired. 3 x Rifle Sect: eight soldiers. I am not sure I would even attempt to provide reserve reinforcements to Warrior or Boxer based units. Thisproposal is in-line with what rifle companies already have. Beginning in the early 1980s, some elements of the combat support companies (the mortar and scout platoons) were merged into the headquarters company with the staff and support elements, others were moved to their parent type organization (ground surveillance radar and air defense), and in infantry battalions the heavy anti-tank missile platoon was organized as a separate company (ECompany). Without the operational Army, the institutional side has no purpose. Provost Staff 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. Do we need to simplify the rank structures of UK Armed Forces? 6 Battalions of Foot Guards (armoured infantry), 6 battalions of The Light Infantry 6 Battalions of The Fusilliers (Mech infantry in Boxer) and 18 Battalions of The Rifles ? (c) distributed as required when regiment is broken-up in detachments. It will include the Commanding Officer, 2IC, Adjutant, Operations Officer, Intelligence Officer, and Training Officer. So while I like your idea of a standard, basic, modular structure, it seems very typically British in that it appears under-gunned compared to allied nations ? The overall structure defined by sub-unit organisation reflects the fact that protected mobility is now needed more widely. One concern about the existing structure is that the third rifle platoon in each infantry company is furnished by the Army Reserve. 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). While it cant do indirect fire into dead ground the CG is very acccurate and very lethal which I think more than makes up for the reduced number of rounds plts will be able to carry for them. Is that a firmed-up concept or is it still at the level of general discussion and possibilities? Losing this space (currently in the Pl HQ wagon) is a big problem. When it comes to ground combat, infantry mass matters. 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. The United States Navy has construction battalions and navy cargo handling battalions. Where does firepower fit into the manning equation ? INSIGNIA A brigade consists of a few battalions and anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. I hope so. I really like your idea of sharing public duties! Light Aid Detachment [32] A regiment consists of between two and six organic battalions, while a brigade consists of between three and seven separate battalions. A heavily loaded German infantry unit marching into a new position on the Eastern Front in 1943. Because of the protected mobility this general purpose infantry would become to slow, to few and to dependent on specific logistical assets. ORGANIZATION OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY COMPANY . 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. BTGs are part of Russia's tiered combat readiness system. Teams can serve as a base-of-fire or as a maneuver element. From the 1960s through the early 1980s, a typical maneuver (infantry or tank) battalion had five companies: headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) and A, B, and CCompanies, plus a combat support company (CSC), with a scout platoon, 107mm (4.2 inch) heavy mortar platoon, along with other elements that varied between organizations. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. At present, infantry battalions have a fourth platoon that provides fire support via GPMGs. 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). The Warrior has two benches how many can you squeeze on? I like your idea: dismounted mass needs to be maximised. 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. Tank battalions and mechanized infantry battalions no longer exist. The size of a battalion could range from 500 to 1,500 troops. The battalion organization allows the commander to scale his force to accept like-type additional infantry or intelligence organizations. 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. An infantry battalion, logistical battalion, combat battalion, and the Netherlands Marine Corps all have a battalion structure. 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. Fireteam A fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. There was no JCompany: the letter J was traditionally not used because in 18th- and 19th-century old-style type, the capital letters I and J looked alike, and were therefore easily confused with one another. Individual sections may carry between one and four NLAW disposable ATGMs. Company Headquarters The other support company would have the assault pioneers and the 2-3 anti tank platoons. The nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Weapons like the 12.7 mm HMG and 40 mm high velocity grenade machine gun are primarily vehicle-mounted systems. Exellent article and I just thought Id add some thoughts. A nominal structure of 1 officer + 19 other ranks is proposed. 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 that you have moved a battalion of Foot Guards out of LONDIST and back into the deployable force thats good, right? If Warrior was to go, is there a reason for not looking at the KF41 Lynx rather than Ajax? 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). 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 ? 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. 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. What it does do is massively hollow out the capability and capacity of the Reserve Infantry for little tangible gain beyond having a structure which is more aesthetically pleasing on an ORBAT chart. Units I was wondering how you would fill that gap as a matter of urgency. Light Role Battalions are likely to need fewer mechanics, so there is room for downward adjustment. Headquarters Section (2Officers, 6 Enlisted, 5 Attached), , Sergeant(OR-5), armed with 1 M4A1Carbine, , First Lieutenant (OF-1), armed with 1 M4A1Carbine, , First Sergeant or Master Sergeant (OR-8), armed with 1 M4A1Carbine, , Sergeant (OR-5), armed with 1 M9/M17 Pistol. Does it have to be infantry? Regimental Administration Office 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. The Reconnaissance Platoon usually operates 6 vehicles, with each crewed by four soldiers, or 8 vehicles, with each crewed by 3 soldiers. Changes: Type: Pages. is the close combat element of the Infantry Battalion, with this article specifically covering the Rifle Company as it exists in the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT). That idea could be developed but I dont think it is right for all British infantry. It has been estimated that only 1/3 of a division actually served as combat infantrymen---the remainder were command, support, artillery, etc. It just seems a bit of an own goal to me youve got a big powerful IFV that you cant exploit fully. 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). Bear in mind that you have to fit everybodys kit in thats not just kit to fight but to live from. Gary Uchida was an original member of the 100th Infantry Battalion. 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? One suggestion might be to convert the light-role battalions GPMG SF Pl into a MANPADS Pl? I agree on the close relationship between regs and reserves, having been in a specialist reserve unit, I have seen it work really well. In the brochure it is seven. Not combat troops at all, maybe all wearing a common foot guards uniform with the same number of buttons. General Frederick Weyand, from. of the two vehicles seem to vary somewhat according to which source you use.
