Military The infantry battalion was a key structure in the Royal Army and thus its structure went through a fair few changes during the course of the war. A second issue is the now universal threat of IEDs, which means that all deployed infantry units need some form of protected mobility. 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.
Company 6.5 grendel or creedmore) for DMR type weapons. General Creighton Abrams, from 1968 to 1972. Specifically, the transition from the failed 1940 organization to the improved 1941 organization that served the army until the spring of 1943 when finally, the 1943 organization was established. Police. Each Rifle Company had a Heavy Weapons Platoon that was divided into a 06 Vehicle requirements It is estimated that a typical Armoured infantry or Mechanised Battalion will operate around 90 IFVs or MIVs and have an additional 60 support vehicles including MRVPs for command and liaison, MAN 44 trucks plus MAN 44 fuel trucks for resupply, and MAN Recovery vehicles. 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. If Warrior was to go, is there a reason for not looking at the KF41 Lynx rather than Ajax? If additional, theyll require their own wagon with the necessary extra personnel as crew. Thisproposal is in-line with what rifle companies already have. 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. 1. 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. Thanks for the idea. Section commanders can step back without having to control 3 privates whilst planning his sections manouver. 9 man sections work very well, in effect the section commander is freed up to command 2 Lcpls who then command thier fire teams. . Arty - Artillery The operational Army conducts full-spectrum operations around the world, supported by institutional units. I need to add a section on weapons. Armored DivisionTable of Organization and Equipment. This would fit the MoD whole fleet management. 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. This structure is also suitable for Air Assault infantry operating in helicopters. How would they operate together from a logistical view point? Ok thats a long post so short range air defences, and infantry use of drones later !! Some armies are looking at 40 mm medium velocity grenades to reach-out to 800 metres. 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. 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. This will also be sufficient to sustain Mechanised Infantry Battalions and Light Role Protected Mobility Battalions. No, I hesitated on the TA bit because it sounded derogatory, but note that I said enhance their professionalism, not that they were unprofessional. At a higher level, each armored brigade (formerly designated 'heavy brigade') is now composed of three CABs (versus the two CABs of a former heavy brigade), one reconnaissance squadron, one artillery battalion, one brigade engineer battalion (BEB), and one brigade support battalion (BSB). In the 1980s, BAOR armoured infantry units mounted in the FV432 APC routinely had 10-soldier sections. A nominal structure of 1 + 35 soldiers is proposed. of troops assigned than an infantry company . The LMG is a good belt-fed weapon up to 400m, perfect for D FT. Leave the general as a pl asset for depth targets and to join the suppressing section to give it big licks when needed. Also the logistics and training burden of all the various disposable rocket systems could be removed with CG. At least in tracked / wheeled armoured infantry ? This is an interesting idea, but would impose an increased weight and logistical burden on rifle companies. British Army Infantry Battalions are a hodgepodge of different unit sizes and structures. 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. Unfortunately, it is only attached if a battalion deploys and may not train often enough with the battalion to which it is allocated to achieve the desired level of integration. Yn
a|FKtpW"[I'nJpbR].VB`8~q}RBTw'#g( Traditionally, most British regiments have had more than one battalion. 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. * Each squad is authorized two disposable shoulder-fired munitions (general AT-4s) which would go to the Riflemen. A lieutenant general is in command. Personnel will primarily be drivers. Option C Platoon divides the platoon into three groups (or multiples) of 12 soldiers. 1 Combat Support battalion. For what its worth, I think it would be good to have a rotating other-arms presence. iRO$[>_kw(y@tpKJd+D82;^*K|3sld\,xAZ|hskBA 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. I have been asked many times about our Army infantry structure in Vietnam. The armoured brigade would have Ajax Recce, Chally, Ajax IFV (bye bye Warrior! 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). I think this ORBAT with this weapon allocation redresses the balance of infantrymen equipped to assault and those equipped to suppress as well as giving greater flexiblity and lethality by bridging the gap between it and support weapon platoons. These are: The Communications Platoon (formerly the Signals Platoon) is primarily designed to support Battalion HQ by providing C4I services and radio operators. This means units/sub-units pinged would spend a colossal amount of time rehearsing at cost of other training and tasks. Certainly turret-mounted 30 mm or 40 mm cannons are preferred. confronting an adversary such as the Russians in eastern Europe would require heavy and medium armour with the ability to mount a mobile defence via mobility and counter mobility along with long range fires etc what would the light brigade bring to this party? The Puma HC2 support helicopter, for example, carries 12 personnel, while a CH-47 Chinook can carry an entire platoon. 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/. Important figures in a battalion headquarters include: Battalions of other corps are given separate cardinal numbers within their corps (e.g., 101Battalion REME). 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 battalion must have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days. It is a genuine concern that the British Army lacks sufficient protected vehicles. The mortar section consists of two Mortar Squads, each with a Squad Leader, Gunner and Ammo Bearer. A battalion in the Indian Army consists of four rifle companies. In the U.S. Marine Corps, an infantry or "rifle" battalion typically consists of a headquarters and service company, three rifle, or "line", companies (designated alphabetically A through M depending upon which battalion of the parent regiment to which they are attached) and a weapons company. I understand the need to count drivers and gunners in overall numbers, but in an armoured infantry platoon the actual number you put in the field is 28 because your vehicles might want to go away again, whereas (if I understand you correctly) paras would land and fight with 36, so platoon combat effectiveness is going to vary by up to 25% by unit. The commander can also accept augmentation of units. A weapons company with 160 men and a medical detachment with 30 men. 2 Officers and 18 Othr ranks and the RLC Catering Platoon again a similar number commanded by a WO2 and then the SASC Sergeant and the RAPTC 2 to 3 SNCO/WO all those also add to a Battalions strenth as attached arms. Weapons like the 12.7 mm HMG and 40 mm high velocity grenade machine gun are primarily vehicle-mounted systems. To put it in perspective Ive never hit a target with 51/60mm and never missed with CG. Service Company, a support unit of a Regiment 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. 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. 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. A brigade consists of a few battalions and anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. 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. Go to Units On the LMG, I am sooo old that the LMG imteained on the in the RN was the 7.62 version of the Bren ! However I dont think any future peer to peer (or near peer) conflict will allow us to stand up reserve units as reinforcements, we will go with what we have, they will fight. Life would be easier if we had nets so boys could just strap bergens to the outside of the wagon. US Army Infantry Battalion Numbers. The battalion-level system we have used since WW2, with mortars organised in a separate platoon, still seems to work well. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. The HQ company contains signals, quartermaster, catering, intelligence, administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. I just wanted to pick up on a comment by White Hackle. It normally has a headquarters company, support company, and three rifle companies (usually, but not always, A, B and C companies). The reorganization of the infantry battalion is supported by a campaign of learning, to include wargaming, studies. 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. 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. A corps includes two to five divisions with anywhere between 20,000 and 45,000 soldiers. 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. 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. Perhaps, but only if we reduced the commitment. As far as anti-tank weapons are concerned, these tend to be issued according to the threat faced. I thought of this after reading your article on assault guns. Is it time to recognise that for platoons to have sufficient dismounted mass in lower-capacity IFVs we now require five or six vehicles per platoon? Units Its more the lack of balance than PD itself. The newer light weight medium/ long range calibres ( eg. The United States Navy has construction battalions and navy cargo handling battalions. ), probably Boxer SPH. Prior they would have travelled in an M1165A1 HMMVW, although any mark of HMMVW that was available likely would have been used. This would inevitable change their way of fighting and therefore hinder them to be an true general purpose infantry. The question of multi-shot 6 round revolver type 40mm grenade launchers with MV rounds versus the UGL is a good one. 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. 27 Sep 44. 3) What about the Royal Marines and the RAF Regiment, which tend to work at company group size? 6 Javelins for dismounts might be enough if we had them fitted to Warrior turrets or RWS, but we dont. Select A Unit From the Menu to Learn More: There are a few distinct exceptions in the structure of each military service. 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. If so, what would this look like? Thisproposal is in-line with what rifle companies already have. However, the usage of designated marksmen not too common. Italy. How about a Corps of Infantry ? Maybe have the armoured corps supplying the vehicle crews in a similar way to the Mastiff group on Telic? Platoons moving around the battlefield in MIVs may additionally get the 30 mm M230LF chain gun (the same light cannon used in the Apache attack helicopter). Warrior can only carry four dismounts comfortably with full scales and definitely not more than six so manpower is neutral in armour (you could even have a two man surplus (9+9+9+7=34) who could crew the Coy HQ wagons. The Army overall is about 5000 under authorised strength and an increase to about 7000 under strength does not seem a good change. 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. Rotate one Guards Bn posted as public duties resident Bn (another 560 troops under current ORBAT or 690 under UKLPs Universal ORBAT) 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#| Mortar platoons with 8 or 9 x 81 mm tubes has been proven on many occasions to be sufficient. That will make a massive difference. Doing this has massively increased the company in vehicles (+6) and personnel (platoon now being 9+9+9+9+4+4=44 without a Signaller or medic). There is also the fact that its not just about seating the troops but stowing all their personal kit and still having room for all the extra section kit and all the spare ammunition and stores and all the vehicle stores. Why are we tethering ourselves to four? The Table of Organisation and Equipment (TOE) is based on document from the early 80s. Genuine question because I do not think that Guardsmen do dislike public duties to the extent you suggest. Exellent article and I just thought Id add some thoughts. He says at one point that in his Army 2020 organization, The armoured brigade would have Ajax Recce, Chally, Ajax IFV (bye bye Warrior! 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. (RP0102) 2. The HQ Company was equipped with. In the U.S. Marine Corps, the brigade designation is used only in "Marine Expeditionary Brigade" (MEB). 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. 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. 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. Combat medic is attached from the Infantry Battalion Medical Platoon. Army Infantry Division Infantry Battalion (AEF) of the Infantry Regiment Rifle Company (1917 1921) Army Air Service Monoplace Pursuit Group of the Monoplace Pursuit Wing Monoplace Pursuit Squadron (1918) Marine Regiment Infantry Battalion (AEF) Rifle Company (Sep. 1918) Army Regular Division Regular Brigade Regular Infantry Regiment (1861 1867) 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 ? ), probably Boxer SPH.. Both featured the same support units as well, with a signal platoon, supply platoon, repair workshop and medical aid station. Anti-tank platoons usually have 6-8 dismounted Javelin ATGM launchers. No one wants a similar video of their cap badge. The word battalion came into the English language in the 16th century from the French language (French: bataillon meaning "battle squadron"; Italian: battaglione meaning the same thing; derived from the Vulgar Latin word battalia meaning "battle" and from the Latin word bauttere meaning "to beat" or "to strike"). I like your set up for the battalion except for the support company which I think itshould be split into 2. These included heavy anti-tank TOW missile platoons, ground surveillance radar sections and man-portable air-defense system sections. In the Canadian Army, the battalion is the standard unit organization for infantry and combat service support and each battalion is divided into one or more sub-units referred to as companies.