Silly idea ? Some would argue that the 40 mm low velocity grenade is a substitute for 51 mm mortars, but maximum range is 300-400 metres not 700-800 metres. (b) In principal belongs to the auxiliary service. Arty - Artillery This size of unit would do much to increase the deployability and resilience of UK infantry battalions, especially if we could field at least 18 out of 32 battalions with some form of organic protected mobility. I dont think I was spoken to once during my six years in the reserves. - light cannon, assigned to AT unit 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 ?? INFANTRY AND RIFLE DIVISIONS Infantry divisions remained the backbone of both armies. INSIGNIA 1. Training Wing This creates a requirement for 1 officer + 44 other ranks. It also gives Platoon HQ additional firepower that can be allocated to individual sections as required. Part of a wider CRAM matrix? My Army 2020 would see 1XX and 3XX each have an armoured brigade, mechanised brigade and motorised bridges. It cant. 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. Often Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) officers are assigned to the battalion, to coordinate naval gunfire support. It has also been suggested that rifle companies should acquire 81 mm mortars. Over time, the regiments were turned into battalions, the reserve units amalgamated and more regular units raised and disbanded. In actuality, I agree that Ajax IFV replacing Warrior is highly unlikely. And modeling and simulation. 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. I do think the reserves however have a huge role to play in defending airfields, HQs, dockyards, ammo dumps etc etc. 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. Did your article mention or show pictures of the benches being kept or are they being replaced by seats? Light Role Battalions are likely to need fewer mechanics, so there is room for downward adjustment. In the U.S. Marine Corps, the brigade designation is used only in "Marine Expeditionary Brigade" (MEB). Welfare Office Whilst I absolutely do not think that that is the right way to go, perhaps a shake up of public duties manning is in order? Every review mentions making increased use of the reserves which sets alarm bells ringing for me. However, two of the infantry regiments were reduced to two battalions each and their supporting artillery battalions had only two firing batteries. 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 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. . Ser. If so, what would this look like? The Puma HC2 support helicopter, for example, carries 12 personnel, while a CH-47 Chinook can carry an entire platoon. You have robbed Peter to pay Paul. This would lead directly to an to small infantry force wich would not be able to create the said necessary critial mass and also such an infantry would simply not have the overall size which is necessary to fight in an infantry-terrain (like woods, urban etc). Light Machine Gun Section and a Mortar Section. Finally, a REME Detachment will provide repair and recovery services for all Battalion Armoured Vehicles. These included air assault, light infantry, infantry, mountain infantry, airborne, and the Rangers. Ultimately, this discussion is about maximising Boots on the ground. It can best be achieved by ensuring that British infantry units are structured around ground combat roles that ensure responsiveness and efficiency, rather than being organised according to financial constraints. Maybe if you feel they have to, actual Infantry roled Guards Battalions could have more establised posts for SNCOs and junior Officers, who could do rotations with these ceremonial Battalions. This would truly maximise the boots on the ground and moreover at the same time the tanks in the open and moreover the overall agility, speed, deployability and so on because of smaller units sizes for both the infantry and the Bronegruppa Tank Units (which are complete seperate independent units) which then can assist them if the need arises. The newer light weight medium/ long range calibres ( eg. 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. If we have multi role divisions, then does this not theoritically make a third of your div redundant for any given operation? The Bushmaster I believe is a 2 crew, 10 pax vehicle with some room for stores and kit. The central idea in proposing a universal battalion structure is to build it around platoons of 1 + 35 soldiers. 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. So it is a very flexible number. 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. VFHVe xC=E>wPK gk R$~(k: CQuu9#MN mb)jNE1>SCBC+l 1 One company 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. * Tows 400-gallon water tank trailer (1-1/2 ton), 1 per company, or M1082 flat bed trailer, 2 per company. Same for Mech Inf, if you are happy to reduce dismounted infantry mass to 22 (36 + 4). With eachJavelin vehicle requiring a driver and commander, this creates a headcount requirement of 1 officer + 31 other ranks. 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. This coincided with the U.S. Army's reorganization and implementation of the Brigade Combat Teams (BCT). A Logistics Platoon (formerly the Motor Transport Platoon) will be responsible for operating resupply and replenishment trucks. An infantry battalion, logistical battalion, combat battalion, and the Netherlands Marine Corps all have a battalion structure. Co. - In the late 1980s, there was a fourth "line" company added (DCompany) in most infantry and tank battalions. I have proposed just what you suggest in your comment. 2019-2023 Battle Order. 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. Therefore, there may be a case to standardise all infantry battalions around a common structure with an identical headcount for each. Guardsmen and women who get very basic training, plus drill. This amounts to 1 officer and 38 permanent enlisted personnel, as well as 3 usually attached enlisted personnel. This is an interesting idea, but would impose an increased weight and logistical burden on rifle companies. Company - A company was made up of three or more platoons and was commanded by a captain. These included heavy anti-tank TOW missile platoons, ground surveillance radar sections and man-portable air-defense system sections. But war is not about comfort, I know. ORGANIZATION OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY COMPANY . The Units As we addressed in an earlier article, any unit is a sum of its parts. In a trentch or a building 5.56mm belt feds are superb. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Anti-drones? I dont mean to bash your idea but I do think that the current system, despite its flaws, is generally fit for purpose. 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. Short answer: Ajax IFV has six seats (link at bottom). (Please click on the image for a larger version) 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. All infantry ideally would then become mechanised infantry. of the two vehicles seem to vary somewhat according to which source you use. The 60mm Mortar is a tremendous asset we retire at our peril: not only does it have impressive reach and devastating impact (for a man-portable weapon) but the Boss doesnt have to arrse about queuing (should it be cueing?) Unless, of course, you want to really shake up what the AR is for and how it works. Contrarily, in my experience the Gaaards are very proud of their role and it forms an important part of their ethos, setting them apart from the rest after all, they havent much else to boast about! 2) Would it work for the role of the specialised infantry battalions? (e) 1 combatant and 1 from auxiliary service per battalion; one of the combatants may be a corporal. 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. Total raised: $5,448,951.00 Total includes user, company, and offsite donations. But each platoon then gains four or five extra soldiers. 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. 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. What capabilities are needed? 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. 6 Javelins for dismounts might be enough if we had them fitted to Warrior turrets or RWS, but we dont. Equally, it can be used for vehicles that have a larger carrying capacity than IFVs, e.g. 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? Ideally infantry should be carried in tracked IFVs or wheeled MIVs, but even light PMVs are preferable to MAN trucks and Land-Rovers that offer no protection. The battalion organization allows the commander to scale his force to accept like-type additional infantry or intelligence organizations. At that time, as it is now, the battalion was organized under the Tables of Organization (TOE) shown below. One suggestion might be to convert the light-role battalions GPMG SF Pl into a MANPADS Pl? No, I hesitated on the TA bit because it sounded derogatory, but note that I said enhance their professionalism, not that they were unprofessional. This would give the heavy infantry battalions more fire power when dealing with more formidable foes. It was the only infantry organization from the reserve components to participate in the war. The Table of Organization (T/O) of the Marine Corps lays out the organizational structure and the equipment required to function. Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a 13th (infantry howitzer) and 14th (antitank) company. Starting in 20052006, the U.S. Army's mechanized and tank battalions were reorganized into combined arms battalions (CABs). Theyre usually responsible for planning and directing campaigns in particular geographic areas. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer and reconnaissance platoons. British Army Infantry Battalions are a hodgepodge of different unit sizes and structures. 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. Strike battalion That will make a massive difference. It offered HE, WP, smoke and illuminating bomb types. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men; as of 2012, a British battalion had around 650 soldiers. The proposed universal battalion of 690 gives a total of 22080 for 32 battalions, an increase of 3742. Given the requirement, identify organizational structure and chain of command within the Marine Corps, per the references. 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. On each side behind the benches is a shelf for personal kit (actually designed as a rack for a couple of LAWs). Combat enemy fast air? Fireteam A fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. A company is commanded by a captain with a first sergeant as the assistant. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some corps including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and Intelligence Corps. The structure outlined translates into an overall battalion size of 32 officers + 658 other ranks or 690 soldiers in total. Their highly publicized exploits in basic training and combat in Italy helped . The question of multi-shot 6 round revolver type 40mm grenade launchers with MV rounds versus the UGL is a good one. Do we need to simplify the rank structures of UK Armed Forces? In Northern Ireland, infantry platoons were often divided into multiples of 12 soldiers. This will also be sufficient to sustain Mechanised Infantry Battalions and Light Role Protected Mobility Battalions. The figures given for the number of soldiers carried, number of dismounts etc. HQ for direct fire support would also be nice (dont forget those 10 man BAOR sections in their FV432 had a lot more of them). These are only used in times of large-scale war, such as World War II. %PDF-1.6 % 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? This allows each platoon to have a total of four GPMGs and 4 DMRs. The Specialised infantry battalions should be a separate discussion because of their different role and very different strength. The Artillery Gun Module (AGM) on tracks (Donar) or on Boxer has only 3 crew ? A battalion is a military unit with 300 to 1,200 soldiers that usually consists of two to seven companies and is commanded by either a lieutenant colonel or a colonel. Thinking about the need to operate from IFVs, Mechanised infantry vehicles (MIVs), from helicopters, and on foot, the first proposal is to standardise all Infantry Rifle Platoons around a common size that provides some degree of flexibility. We already have two dedicated battalions for public duties and what youre really asking is could we make do with just one? Infantry mass do we have to give up on this concept ? Steven Aftergood Prior they would have travelled in an M1165A1 HMMVW, although any mark of HMMVW that was available likely would have been used. 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. , 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. Company For dismounted infantry, the US Army is looking at .338 (8.59 mm) medium weight machine guns to provide increased firepower and range. Their light cavalry troops are even bigger: 50 soldiers in eight LOVs (Pinzgauers). A weapons company with 160 men and a medical detachment with 30 men. 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. Platoon-size unit per Division (c) distributed as required when regiment is broken-up in detachments. 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 usually consists of 1 officer + 27 other ranks. This is why the dismount numbers vary a bench seats however many can fit, a seat is for one. The Army overall is about 5000 under authorised strength and an increase to about 7000 under strength does not seem a good change. Interesting thoughts and ideas covering a few topics. Where does firepower fit into the manning equation ? Significantly, you would reduce the Reserve Infantry from 16 battalions to just 33 rifle coys and so lost not just 15 rifle coys but lost all the support weapons specialists and G1/4/6 troops. Encouraged by his children, Uchida began to write his memoirs when he was in his seventies . 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. The U.S. Army's Infantry Rifle Platoon consists of a platoon headquarters, 3 rifle squads, and 1 weapons squads. Perhaps I am just projecting after all as I am one of those who quietly enjoys drill. Building on Captain Nemos comments: in solving the problem of dismounted infantry mass the starting point should be what is the minimum number of dismounts sufficient not how do we fit more troops and firepower into four vehicles. Infantry Regiments and Their Commanders 1792 - 1815 The Austrian infantry and their commanders. 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). Recon 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. 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) Mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment (LAD) of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Combat Medic is attached from the Combat Medic Section of the Battalion's Medic Platoon while the Forward Observer and their RTO are attached from the Field Artillery Battalion. 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 first use of the word in English was in the 1580s. Operating in pairs, the No.2 will have a L129A1 DMR. AUTHORISED PERSONNEL: AUTHORISED EQUIPMENT - BATTALION LEVEL: Prev Next Exellent article and I just thought Id add some thoughts. Required fields are marked *. I must ask though 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. If you look only at the bataillon here one should realize that a bataillon because of its small size is very insufficient for any real infantry combat in terrain which is suited for infantry. They are normally identified by ordinal numbers (1st Battalion, 2nd Squadron, etc.) 1. 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. 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. The basic individual weapon in the light infantry battalion was the M14 rifle, while the airmobile unit was authorized M16 rifles. If it isnt possible to reintroduce 51 mm, then a lightweight 60 mm mortar could be an option. The next level up is the Infantry Battalion (IBCT) which consists of a Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3 Rifle Companies (this) and a Weapons Company. 05 Weapon requirements Four soldiers make up a team a noncommissioned officer and three junior enlisted soldiers. Also the logistics and training burden of all the various disposable rocket systems could be removed with CG. A HIMARS trucker mounted single pod MLRS rocket launcher has only a crew of 3. It has been estimated that only 1/3 of a division actually served as combat infantrymen---the remainder were command, support, artillery, etc. With the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling (which translates to "section"). A corps includes two to five divisions with anywhere between 20,000 and 45,000 soldiers. I am not sure I would even attempt to provide reserve reinforcements to Warrior or Boxer based units. The tables contained in Part II of this book are the Marine Corps Tables of Organization approved by the Commandant 27 March, 1944 (with changes of 22 July, 1944). Not combat troops at all, maybe all wearing a common foot guards uniform with the same number of buttons. The infantry community has a problem. With all these components, a battalion is the smallest military unit capable of "limited independent operations".[1]. The problem the Army has is when it wants people to do two jobs at once in two different places at the same time . 1945-1950. However, what about this suggestion with platoon manning lifted to 36 as follows: Pl HQ: Pl Comd, Pl Signaller, Pl Sgt, Pl Medic. Ref The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. This is will mean better effect of weapons and better for load distribution. 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. This is because Reserves are not expected or asked to deploy more than once per five-year period. (RP0102) 2. 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"). Total battalion headcount can be determined by considering how many soldiers are needed within each component unit type. 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. Company HQ will be extremely lean with just one officer and five other ranks. Is heating/air con being installed? Usually commanded by a major general, divisions are made up of three or four brigades and include 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. 1 Combat Support battalion. 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. Sergeants Mess Staff 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). To take, and then hold ground is the usual answer. 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. The battalion headquarters is supported by a headquarters and service company (battery). Both were organized along similar lines. They are not man-portable. Someone pointed out that US stryker brigades had been gamed against Russian motorized and were looking at I think 50% casualty rates in under a week. With that in mind Id suggest four sections of six, so that everyone off a given platform is on the same page, four sections could also divide neatly down the middle with its vehicles to give two patrols of twelve under a platoon sergeant and a platoon leader respectively. With caveats. A second issue is the now universal threat of IEDs, which means that all deployed infantry units need some form of protected mobility. 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. 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. No one wants a similar video of their cap badge. The basic building block of military capability is the infantry section. The nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. 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.