battalion. Getting rid of minimi/ LMG was a mistake based on the assumption that medium to long range contacts will dominate future conflicts. Now that the GPMG has been returned to rifle sections, a separate, fourth fire support platoon is no longer needed. 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). For the rest of reserve infantry I would convert to home defence force non-deployable security force for the UK home base. The number . Is putting the GPMG back Into the section enough to ditch 12.7mm or 40mm GMG from a heavy machine gun platoon in the Support Company ? (c) distributed as required when regiment is broken-up in detachments. Weapons like the 12.7 mm HMG and 40 mm high velocity grenade machine gun are primarily vehicle-mounted systems. 1. Not being Guards and having never done public duties, how would this sound: I dont think I was spoken to once during my six years in the reserves. Other corps usually use the term "regiment" instead. 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. And sometimes Recruiting Team. Additionally, a Combat Medic (Specialist), Forward Observer (Sergeant), and Fire Support RTO (Specialist) are also typically attached, but are not integral to the unit. Without the operational Army, the institutional side has no purpose. If it isnt possible to reintroduce 51 mm, then a lightweight 60 mm mortar could be an option. In the UK. This is in the interest of reducing the standing commitment to one Guards battalion instead of two. Regimental Administration Office The different types of light infantry organizations were all consolidated into the one "Infantry" organization in 2007. I was wondering how you would fill that gap as a matter of urgency. Is that a firmed-up concept or is it still at the level of general discussion and possibilities? So providing extra seats at platoon level should be affordable. Teams with special functions may also include officers or warrant officers. The Sniper platoon usually consists of eight sniper pairs or 16 other ranks. 1. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. - light cannon, assigned to AT unit Automatic 120mm mortars have small crews for high firepower. The current infantry rifle platoon organization is identical to the infantry, air assault, and airborne rifle platoon organizations listed in the Change 1 of FM 7-8 published in 2001. This structure is ideal for counter insurgency operations where there is a focus on foot patrols and other dismounted operations. 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. This will also be sufficient to sustain Mechanised Infantry Battalions and Light Role Protected Mobility Battalions. Current divisions include airborne, armored, infantry and mountain divisions. 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. In a pinch, sure, but routinely just five or six. Storage space is hardly ample; the wagons were designed for blokes to fight from, not live in. You wouldnt task the Mortar No4 to act as CPO and lay and prep fuses and fire and correct all on his own as a matter of routine, would you? 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. C1: S: 9. Opportunity for Reservists too? Light Role battalions had 8-soldier sections. Battalion sizes vary between branches. An infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment (e.g., 1st Battalion, The Rifles, usually referred to as 1Rifles). 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. Forgive me if this is obvious but I dont know how much youve seen/been in a Warrior. 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. 2019-2023 Battle Order. Given the requirement, identify the elements and generic employment missions of a . 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? If they are vehicle commanders of two of the four section vehicles then when they dismount their vehicle gunner will have double workload. I just wanted to pick up on a comment by White Hackle. This structure also reflects the fact that most NATO IFVs accommodate a total of 9 soldiers, e.g. Police. For dismounted infantry, the US Army is looking at .338 (8.59 mm) medium weight machine guns to provide increased firepower and range. a crew of three (driver, gunner and commander) plus six dismounts. 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 ? Also such an all-mech-inf force would hinder the UK forces very much in the primary target to achieve critical mass of infantry in any combat. German Organization for Combat, 1944. The Combat Medic and Platoon Sergeant are generally paired as the Platoon Sergeant is responsible for coordinating CASEVAC. When it comes to ground combat, infantry mass matters. When studying World War 2, a common question that arises is what exactly each army group or unit name means? These new combined arms battalions are modular units, each consisting of a headquarters company, two mechanized infantry companies, two tank companies, and a forward support company attached from the battalion's parent brigade support battalion. 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. It has also been suggested that rifle companies should acquire 81 mm mortars. The battalion is usually part of a regiment, group, or brigade depending on the branch of service. We recommend you cite primary sources. A battalion in the Indian Army consists of four rifle companies. 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 That gives a reduction of 1590 from current strength that could be used for the new bronegruppa. It can also go by different names, depending on the function: Company-sized artillery units are called batteries, while in armor and air cavalry units, they are called troops. The size of this sub-unit must be sufficient to support the tracked vehicles of Armoured Infantry battalions, so a Detachment structure of 1 officer + 37 other ranks is proposed. We have discussed these in great detail in prior articles so we will not elaborate here. You have robbed Peter to pay Paul. Mechanised Transport Platoon Note(s) 6-10. The basic platoon structure of the Universal Battalion assumes that individual riflemen within sections will be equipped with the 5.56 mm L85A3 assault rifle (SA80) including two soldiers with 40 mm UGLs. INSIGNIA They would free up the Battalions and companies now assigned to this role to shore up the numbers in real Battalions . In between are the intermediate elements of Army organization, including the squad, platoon, company, battalion, brigade and division. Of course it is doable but cramming seven blokes in the back is a right palava not only for the troops but for all their kit! 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. 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). [27][28], A Soviet artillery battalion in the late 1980s consisted of a battalion headquarters, a headquarters platoon, a maintenance and supply platoon and three firing batteries, each with six artillery pieces, whether the self-propelled 2S1 Gvozdikas or the towed D-30 howitzers, and numbering 260 personnel or 240 personnel respectively. 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. [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. MPSA is a jointly-staffed organization, headquartered in the National Capital Region, which serves as the single point of contact with the United States Postal Service and oversees the Military. 07 Personnel summary. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some corps including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and Intelligence Corps. on Bushmaster as their ride. Im not sure that he can wave farewell to Warrior so easily. equipped with heavy Machine Guns and 81mm Mortars(See chart for 1 Combat Support battalion. 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. Teams can serve as a base-of-fire or as a maneuver element. A company has anywhere from a few dozen to 200 soldiers. In Northern Ireland, infantry platoons were often divided into multiples of 12 soldiers. (e) 1 combatant and 1 from auxiliary service per battalion; one of the combatants may be a corporal. No, I am asking us to attack the sacred cows of ceremonial roles to put troops in combat formations ! 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). .?UF&-b4W[u&SgJ`/24$4jfbH@\t,#QG^*)W&HTSE|:=:pl9xp}u KNv 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. A U.S. Army battalion includes the battalion commander (lieutenant colonel), executive officer (major), command sergeant major (CSM), headquarters staff, and usually three to five companies, with a total of 300 to 1,000[31] (but typically 500 to 600) soldiers. Required fields are marked *. 6.5 grendel or creedmore) for DMR type weapons. The Reconnaissance Platoon usually operates 6 vehicles, with each crewed by four soldiers, or 8 vehicles, with each crewed by 3 soldiers. Light Aid Detachment If the light battalions have the current strength of 560 then 28, with the specialised infantry unchanged at 267, gives a total of 16748. In 1944 an US Army infantry battalion roughly consisted of 900 men. The GPMG requires a No 2 with binos to maximise the guns effect which is not going to be realised by the crow given the big heavy gun in a section. Pins of regiments and artillery battalions that served in As we begin to look towards autonomous vehicles, REME support across all battalion types will become more important. The size of a battalion could range from 500 to 1,500 troops. It also gives Platoon HQ additional firepower that can be allocated to individual sections as required. One company I advocate that dressing up and waving the Colours to the sound of the drums enhances and instils pride and camaraderie tremendously. Losing this space (currently in the Pl HQ wagon) is a big problem. 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. In Platoon HQs that have 9 soldiers, the same structure would be adopted, providing an additional machine gun and designated marksman rifle. Again, organisational structure is important. They are not man-portable, so will usually only accompany a platoon when mounted on MIV, MRVP, MWMIK (Jackal) or other vehicles. This means that you have moved a battalion of Foot Guards out of LONDIST and back into the deployable force thats good, right? Infantry Regiments and Their Commanders 1792 - 1815 The Austrian infantry and their commanders. In the TA i carries both L85A1 and Browning 9mm. . Each can conduct major tactical operations and sustained battlefield operations. I appreciate Ive written a lot but have a few more broad questions on future infantry structures and would be curious to hear others views. Some armies are looking at 40 mm medium velocity grenades to reach-out to 800 metres. Sergeants Mess Staff 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 . There are four companies to a battalion and four battalions to a regiment. With successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion (others were amalgamated to form large regiments that maintained multiple battalions, e.g., the Royal Anglian Regiment). On each side behind the benches is a shelf for personal kit (actually designed as a rack for a couple of LAWs). Use tab to navigate through the menu items. No one wants a similar video of their cap badge. An armor or air cavalry unit of equivalent size is known as a squadron. SVC - 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. UK Infantry battalions have a Fire Support Company with five elements. HQ Company is comprised of five supporting elements. The corps is the highest level of command that can provide operational direction for actual combat. At least in tracked / wheeled armoured infantry ? Each type of brigade ( infantry or airborne infantry) has the same basic organization. I can understand not having an SF Pl in armoured and mechanised battalions because the loss of firepower is offset by 30mm but in light-role battalions it is a battle-winner, especially in the defensive battle! I have always been rather sceptical that public duties require two battalions plus the incremental companies. 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?) Public duties are despised and dont help Guards recruitment really? The UK is likely to do the same, but only a limited number of vehicles will get it presumably Anti-tank and Reconnaissance platoons. Officially, Warrior carries three on the left bench and four on the slightly longer right bench. 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.