In the UK. 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. An MEB is one of the standard Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTF), is commanded by a brigadier general or major general, and consists of command element, a ground combat element (usually one reinforced Marine infantry regiment), an aviation combat element (a reinforced Marine aircraft group including rotary wing, fixed wing, and tiltrotor aircraft), and a combat logistics element (a Marine combat logistics regiment, which includes naval construction forces [Seabees] and naval medical elements). The battalion must have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days. This formation of three infantry battalions, an engineer battalion, an artillery battalion, a cavalry squadron, and a support battalion needs to be restructured to maximize an infantry . It would be no problem to fit 9 soldiers in a Warrior IFV, Boxer MIV or Bushmaster PMV. 1. The following is the current organization ofthe. 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. Maybe reserve Infantry can protect reserve loggies delivering stores and ammo. Does this need a full battalion or just a Company? 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. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. What capabilities are needed? Sometimes it appeared confusing so I am going to try to straighten it out. 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. 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). In addition, each section now has an organic 7.62 mm L7A2 GPMG gunner plus a designated marksman with the 7.62 mm L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle. The Specialised infantry battalions should be a separate discussion because of their different role and very different strength. Theyre generally headed by a four- or five-star general. General Frederick Weyand, from. An infantry battalion, logistical battalion, combat battalion, and the Netherlands Marine Corps all have a battalion structure. The armoured brigade would have Ajax Recce, Chally, Ajax IFV (bye bye Warrior! more machine guns. 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. Several battalions form a regiment or brigade. 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. So to summarize it up: my suggestion would be to create identical infantry bataillons, but without any organic protected mobility. The Table of Organization (T/O) of the Marine Corps lays out the organizational structure and the equipment required to function. For example, during the confusion and high casualty rates of both the Normandy Landings and the Battle of the Bulge, in order to bolster the strength of a depleted infantry regiment, companies and even battalions were moved around as necessary. Service The platoon could divide into two three wagon sub-platoons each having a dismounted mass of 1+6+6? Lynx can carry 8 dismounts and would allow us to really increase the mass of the armored infantry withot adding to vehicle numbers in any significant way. The total then is simply calculated as 18338. As a bonus I thought that a closer relationship with reserves at battalion might serve as a nice middle ground, with regulars perhaps choosing that as way out of the service as well as for reserves finding it a way in. So that the tanks can seperate from the infantry completly and then act as an force for their own. Have the shortfall taken up by a line battalion. VFHVe xC=E>wPK gk R$~(k: CQuu9#MN mb)jNE1>SCBC+l 1 a crew of three (driver, gunner and commander) plus six dismounts. The addition of the antitank platoon meant that a BTR battalion at full strength was 525 personnel and 60 BTRs, including three command variants, while a BMP battalion consisted of 497 personnel and 45 BMPs, including three command variants. Some armies are looking at 40 mm medium velocity grenades to reach-out to 800 metres. The other support company would have the assault pioneers and the 2-3 anti tank platoons. Not being Guards and having never done public duties, how would this sound: 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. And a Canadian infantry (rifle) battalion, in an armoured division, was organized, and consisted of: - a Battalion headquarters of six officers and 54 other ranks - a Headquarters company of five officers and 94 other ranks, within - a company headquarters - a signal platoon - an administrative platoon Did your article mention or show pictures of the benches being kept or are they being replaced by seats? The different types of light infantry organizations were all consolidated into the one "Infantry" organization in 2007. This structure is ideal for counter insurgency operations where there is a focus on foot patrols and other dismounted operations. There is a case for a light mortar to be carried by each Platoon HQ. To put it in perspective Ive never hit a target with 51/60mm and never missed with CG. It normally consists of a headquarters and three or more companies. INFANTRY AND RIFLE DIVISIONS Infantry divisions remained the backbone of both armies. Your email address will not be published. This articles argues that it would create a more flexible and potent force as well as making it easier to re-role battalions if a universal, multi-role structure was developed. AUTHORISED PERSONNEL: AUTHORISED EQUIPMENT - BATTALION LEVEL: Prev Next Interesting article on a subject I personally know little about. 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. Certainly turret-mounted 30 mm or 40 mm cannons are preferred. 01 Introduction Various members of the platoon will also carry a 9 mm Glock 17 pistol. For purposes of . A lieutenant general is in command. 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. 3 x Rifle Sect: eight soldiers. w!2]ca-wA w+J_i6lG!FUo;d!1OB/nz4JRqsLj$qi0|AHUT*x)soH0rr&G99WPvY:u8h. .?UF&-b4W[u&SgJ`/24$4jfbH@\t,#QG^*)W&HTSE|:=:pl9xp}u KNv The basic individual weapon in the light infantry battalion was the M14 rifle, while the airmobile unit was authorized M16 rifles. With this in mind, the objective of this discussion is to consider what a universal battalion size ought to be. And to the opposite for open terrain which is tank friendly the said general-purpose all-mech infantry would be more expensive than simple tanks without infantry which would dominate the open terrain against such infantry as the more numerous enemy infantry would rule the closed terrain against the to few of the general-purpose bataillons because the number of infantry outside the vehicles would become much lower if you include all this vehicles in an infantry bataillon. 37mm 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. As the job of the Supply Sergeant is to coordinate supply with higher echelons, their duty position is with the battalion trains although they may ride with the cargo truck in a company march. Regiment). The Puma HC2 support helicopter, for example, carries 12 personnel, while a CH-47 Chinook can carry an entire platoon. And yes, this is my ideal platoon properly-resourced as I see it based on recent indeed, current experience. Theyre generally run by a lieutenant, often with a noncommissioned officer as second in command. A regiment consists of a regimental headquarters, a headquarters company (or battery), and two to five organic battalions (Marine infantry regiments three battalions of infantry; Marine artillery regiments three to five battalions of artillery; Marine combat logistics regiments one to three combat logistics battalions). They can conduct independent operations of limited scope and duration and are usually commanded by a lieutenant colonel. The UK has a problem with air defence. 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. Moving from the micro to the macro, the organization of the army overall is a little wacky, given the number of infantry battalions youd expect to see simple structures equivalent to ten brigade combat teams, but you dont; Id say this is a worry not just operationally but because it lends itself to questions and to cuts, the fighting and the support units should explain and justify each others existence. Are ~1,200 troops really needed?? This would prevent your rifle sections from becoming overburdened and also allow greater autonomy at company level, perhaps creating miniature battlegroups akin to French SGTIAs. The psychological impact of fighting against a platoon with immediate indirect fire capability should not be disregarded nor should the effect of hearing its noise and seeing its explosion. Another question I have concerns the mention in one of UK Land Powers tweets (I do not use Twitter) that the BAE Rheinmetall Joint Venture could lead to the AS90 155mm self-propelled howitzer being upgraded to Braveheart standard. MP - 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. 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. Secondly, top-slicing the Army Reserve and a Regular-Reserve integrated ORBAT: I struggle to see what the problem is you seek to solve and what the advantages are of integrated Reserve companies compared to the current system. Why did / do we need mass, as in large numbers of infantry boots on the ground ? @Captain Nemo Option B creates three sections of 10 soldiers plus a smaller Platoon HQ of 6 soldiers. Instead of an ISTR platoon it there would be a mort company with 3 platoons with 120mm mortars, plus a patrol platoon combining the sniper and recon platoons, and finally a UAV company. Battalion HQ will usually be comprised of 6 officers + 10 other ranks. If so, the Army Reserve has undergone an immeasurable transformation over the past ten years. 3743 0 obj <>stream 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? I advocate that dressing up and waving the Colours to the sound of the drums enhances and instils pride and camaraderie tremendously. The fourth MG platoon in each rifle company is removed as GPMG is returned to other platoons. This said i think such an general purpose infantry would make much sense especially for the UK despite the higher costs but: i think also, that one of the main arguments with which the author started is a problem here: He said, that the now universal threat of IEDs leads inevitable to the logical result to equip all infantry units with protected (and therefore expensive, heavy, less mobile etc) mobility. The Company Headquarters is also allocated one senior company Combat Medic who provides second-line, company-level tactical casualty care. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. The commander's staff coordinates and plans operations. C1: S: 9. This is an interesting idea, but would impose an increased weight and logistical burden on rifle companies. The Army overall is about 5000 under authorised strength and an increase to about 7000 under strength does not seem a good change. of the U.S. Army as it exists within the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT). Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a 13th (infantry howitzer) and 14th (antitank) company. 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? Culling BHQs may be good for the budget, but by nowhere near enough to justify trading such depth. Anti-Tank platoons do that but thats because in the anti-tank variant the left bench is replaced by racks for Javelin LTAs so there really is NO space for personal kit. My preferred direction is to to look at a common organisation for the Armoured and Mechanised infantry, and a different organisation for light infantry including air assault. Other corps usually use the term "regiment" instead. corporal. There are combat arms battalions, as well as combat support and combat service support battalions. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer and reconnaissance platoons. 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. The division had also an antitank and . consists of command and support personnel for the company. 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.. My idea would be here to adept and develope the russian/soviet idea of the Bronegruppa to the extreme. 1. This reduces each company by 20 personnel. Table of US Divisions The heavy battalions on Boxer and Warrior would be different. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Sniper platoon usually consists of eight sniper pairs or 16 other ranks. The US Marine Corps already adopts a similar approach to the one described here. There are apparently 11 demonstration versions of the Warrior being put through their paces in Dorset. Infantry Headquarter Companys have the following elements: This means for the same total numbers as today we have a far more agile and deployable total force. So while I have experience of this, and the food ol Gimpy, I have never carted them around In the field. It also gives Platoon HQ additional firepower that can be allocated to individual sections as required. fire missions, instead the mortar team is at his immediate disposal. IBCTs also are organized to be airborne or air-assault capable. $1.50. With caveats. My Army 2020 would see 1XX and 3XX each have an armoured brigade, mechanised brigade and motorised bridges. A staff sergeant is often in charge. 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. There are also support battalions in the Dutch Army, which specialise on a specific task: for example, supplies and transport or communications. 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. This would see infantry platoons switch from two calibres (5.56 mm and 7.62 mm) to a single one (6.8 mm) for rifles, machine guns and DMRs. 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. Each Rifle Company had a Heavy Weapons Platoon that was divided into a The structure outlined translates into an overall battalion size of 32 officers + 658 other ranks or 690 soldiers in total. A nominal structure of 1 officer + 19 other ranks is proposed. This would give the heavy infantry battalions more fire power when dealing with more formidable foes. none: 6-10-1 . Nominally, an extra GPMG and DMR are proposed, but a light mortar or multi-role 40 mm AGL could be carried instead. These are only used in times of large-scale war, such as World War II. Italy. Reconnaissance Troop, company-size unit Exellent article and I just thought Id add some thoughts. Also in such an modular overall force you can also much more easily deploy and re-role then only tank units or only infantry units and this would the increase the strategical mobility and the overall flexibility of the UK forces imo very much. Weapons listed in this article are what has been effective as of 2020. 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. Four soldiers make up a team a noncommissioned officer and three junior enlisted soldiers. Hence a few questions. With IFVs, MIVs and MRVPs, the British Army will have a range of vehicles that can each carry a full section or 9 soldiers. Is that a firmed-up concept or is it still at the level of general discussion and possibilities? Item No. 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? Ser. There are four companies to a battalion and four battalions to a regiment. Nagy, Istvan Austrian Cavalry Units 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. 338 MMGs are going to make GPMG SF obsolete. An armor or air cavalry unit of equivalent size is known as a squadron. 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. Sniper platoons use the .338 L115A3 rifle. 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. 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? 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. A platoon of 1 + 35 divides neatly into four sections of 9 soldiers, allowing 7 dismounts per section or your magic number of 28 dismounts total per section. BTGs are part of Russia's tiered combat readiness system. Your fantasy FF2020 is pretty much identical to mine, but I want three brigades of each type, for 1 in 3 rotation cycle. And modeling and simulation. These included air assault, light infantry, infantry, mountain infantry, airborne, and the Rangers. 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. 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. DUI 6.5 grendel or creedmore) for DMR type weapons. A field army consists of two or more corps and is run by a general or lieutenant general. What I have a problem with is your suggestion to pull one guy out of the turret. But different battalions of the same regiment have seldom fought together. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Nominally, an extra GPMG and DMR are proposed, but a light mortar or multi-role 40 mm AGL could be carried instead. I dont understand what problem having a light, medium and heavy brigade in a division solves. Combat enemy fast air? Are your Pl Comd and Pl Sgt vehicle commanders or are they additional? UK Infantry battalions have a Fire Support Company with five elements. Automatic 120mm mortars have small crews for high firepower. Almost as potent as 12.7 mm HMGs, .338 MMGs are man-portable, so could help to increase overall platoon lethality, especially when operating dismounted. We have discussed these in great detail in prior articles so we will not elaborate here. For historical reasons, armor and Ranger units of brigade size are called regiments, and the equivalent Special Forces units are called 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. 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. We recommend you cite primary sources. With a universal size, it is easy to see gaps and to fill them. A heavily loaded German infantry unit marching into a new position on the Eastern Front in 1943. Battalion - A battalion comprised three or more companies and was commanded by a lieutenant colonel. The way my unit does it is to strip kit down to belt kit and daysack for fighting and then have gonk bag in a canoe bag and a single rocket pouch containing admin kit. I further agree that 28 is a good number: four six-strong sections and a four-strong Pl HQ has sufficient flexibility, lethality and survivability (it can absorb casualties, something current AI platoons struggle to do). Is heating/air con being installed? This would increase the size of fighting infantry men in the bataillons heavily so that they become numerically sufficient enough for infantry combat and would protect them to become mech-infantry only troops. published by the Department of the Army, May 2018, published by the Department of the Army, April 2016, published by the Department of the Army, October 2016, MCoE Supplemental Manual 3-90 Force Structure Reference Data ". On the LMG, I am sooo old that the LMG imteained on the in the RN was the 7.62 version of the Bren ! Artillery battalions typically comprised four or more batteries, although this number fluctuated considerably. - Those in IFVs or MIVs will have an RWS with a Javelin attachment so that it can be fired under armour. Option A allows the platoon to be divided equally between four combat vehicles. @MikeW AT - I like the idea of having more fire support in Platoon HQ. The central idea in proposing a universal battalion structure is to build it around platoons of 1 + 35 soldiers.

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