Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!att!att!cbnewsc!cbnews!cbnews!military From: graham@cs.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Military Units Message-ID: <1991Mar6.041129.24347@cbnews.att.com> Date: 6 Mar 91 04:11:29 GMT References: <1991Mar4.210659.7340@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (william.b.thacker) Organization: University of Washington, Computer Science, Seattle Lines: 125 Approved: military@att.att.com From: graham@cs.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) Regimental and Brigade Numbering Currently in the US Army, regiments are administrative and honorary units. Brigades form the intermediate combat unit between battalions and divisions. Thus, you will hear of a unit designated as 1/3, or the 1st Battalion of the 3d Infantry Regiment. Combat regiments come from one of three arms, Infantry, Artillery, or Armor/Cavalry. Prior to WWI, this was not the case. The primary combat unit was the regiment. The standard organization was ten companies make up a regiment of approximately 1,000 men. Regiments in the Regular Army were the 1st US Infantry, 1st US Cavalry, etc. Regiments in the National Guard were called 1st Massachusetts Infantry, etc. However, during the reorganizations around the turn of the century, the US Army switched to a three battalion regiment of 2,500-3,000 men. Regular Army regiments simply added two new battalions. For the National Guard, this change took place during mobilization for WWI by combining several old National Guard regiments. At this point, regimental numbers were allocated in the following blocks: 1-100, Regular Army; 101-300, National Guard; 301- draftee regiments. Each branch (Artillery, Cavalry, Engineers, Infantry, etc.) followed this system, so that you would have a 1st Artillery, 1st Cavalry, 1st Engineers, 1st Infantry, etc. Regimental numbers in the National Guard were allocated in order about the country, with Massachusetts having the 101st Infantry, etc., until Hawaii was allocated the 298th and 299th. Not all the numbers were used, nor were all National Guard regiments strictly numbered inside their allocated sequence. For example, the 72d Infantry is descended from the 72d New York National Guard. The Regular Army raised the 1st-65th Infantry regiments during WWI. The National Guard provided the 101st through 189th Infantry Regiments, and the National Army (draftees) provided the 301st - 405th+ Infantry. An excellent example of the applicability of the numbering scheme to all branches was the raising of the 301st to 310th Cavalry from draftees. During WWI, the US Army (and most European armies) organized their divisions on the square model: each division had two infantry or cavalry brigades, each with two regiments, for a total of four regiments per division. The brigades were numbered according to divisional number, thus the 1st Division had the 1st and 2d Infantry Brigades. National Guard brigades started with the 51st, and National Army brigades with the 101st. WWII followed the same pattern. Armor regiments were formed, partially from cavalry regiments (the 1st Cavalry became the 1st Armor). However, they didn't last, being unwieldy units for American armor doctrine. Instead the armor and mechanized infantry regiments were broken down into battalions (presaging the reorganizations of the 1960s). Those cavalry regiments that fulfilled the traditional screening and reconnaisance functions were also broken up, and reformed as cavalry groups (with the same numbers). The only cavalry regiments to serve as regiments were the 5th, 7th, 8th, 12th, and 124th Cavalry, all of which served as infantry. The advent of paratroops saw the formation of new Parachute Infantry regiments, numbered from 501 up. However, the Glider Infantry regiments were taken from the former infantry regiments of the 82d and 101st Divisions (thus giving us today's 325th Parachute Regiment, a former unit of the 82d Division in WWI). I have no idea as to why the 187th and 188th Infantry Regiments were formed as Glider troops. In any case, all regiments assigned to Airborne duty were transferred to the Regular Army. Brigades were phased out with the shift to a triangular (three regiment) structure. They still remained on the roles of the National Guard, as the National Guard divisions had been mobilized as square divisions and then stripped of additional units. This structure remained in place throughout the 1950's and into the 1960's. Mention should be made of the Pentagram divisional organization, when all regiments were reorganized into Battle Groups of five battalions each of five companies. This supposedly allowed for a more flexible response to the Nuclear Battlefield. However, the Battle Groups retained the same numbers as the regiments. It was only with the advent of the ROAD division in 1965 that the regiment as a combat unit passed away (except for in the cavalry, where cavalry regiments were reformed as operational units). From this point on, a division would be composed of three brigades, which would control a variable number of battalions, armor, infantry, cavalry, and artillery as needed. Regiments were retained under the Combat Arms Regimental System to perpetuate the honors and traditions of the old regiments. Each CARS regiment would have a number of battalions affiliated to it. However, the battalions were independent of each other, and might be posted to several different divisions, whereas a division had usually had regiments assigned to it permanently, e.g., the 1st Division, which had been assigned the 16th, 18th, and 26th Infantry in 1917 and still had them assigned in 1965. It also ended the (by this time almost theoretical) affiliation on an individual solder to a particular regiment throughout his career. (Previously, entire units had been rotated at once.) Brigades were formed in all divisions. Within a division, brigades were simply numbered 1st, 2d, 3d, and/or 4th. Certain independent brigades were formed in the Regular Army, numbered 196th, 197th, 198th, and 199th. I have no idea why these numbers in particular were chosen, other than to avoid confusion. Simultaneously, brigades were reactivated in the National Guard. These brigades derived their numbers from one of two sources: 1) The number of their former divisions. By this point, the National Guard had shrunk in size, and could no longer support all the divisions that it had had. Therefore, the 45th Division (Texas and Oklahoma National Guard) was redesignated the 45th Infantry Brigade (Oklahoma National Guard). [The Texas troops went to form the 49th Armored Division.] 2) Numbers derived from former National Guard brigades. The Washington National Guard provided the 81st Infantry Brigade to the 41st Division, and now provides the 81st Independent Infantry Brigade. By 1986, it had become apparent that this system presented some problems, particularly in terms of morale and unit cohesiveness. At this point, the US Army implemented the Cohort system, which linked battalions more firmly to parent regiments, and assigned soldiers to a single regiment for their career. Troops now rotate between battalions of the same regiment, when possible. Interestingly, this is the same mechanism that the British Army arrived at in 1886 for overseas service. -- Steve Graham graham@isis.ee.washington.edu (206) 543-8115