Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne
Once we're talking about mobilizing multiple divisions, are there pretty much guaranteed to be Bradleys on the scene... I'm not entirely sure I understand how US ground forces are organized, but it looks like at least some infantry divisions include "cavalry" and artillery regiments (the former meaning Bradleys in a modern context, IIUC).
|
Yes. A mechanized infantry rifle platoon has 3 9-man squads, plus 4 Bradleys (3 soldiers each), plus the platoon leader, for a total of 40. So, about one Bradley for every ten infantrymen.
Cavalry units also have Bradleys. Armor or infantry brigades usually have an extra cavalry squadron for scouting and recon. That has two tank platoons (4 M1 Abrams each) and two scout platoons (6 Bradleys each).
"Light infantry", like the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions or Rangers, don't have nearly as many vehicles.
Just for reference, if this isn't your thing, the unit size hierarchy currently in use by the US Army goes:
- Division
- Brigade
- Battalion
- Company
- Platoon
- Squad
They largely got rid of "regiments", which historically would be where "battalion" is -- made out of "companies", a component of "brigades" -- though they keep changing their mind, particularly with cavalry. And the cavalry units tenaciously cling to old terminology like "squadron" and "troop".
Assume each time you move up the list, you have several of the smaller units (typically 3, though that sometimes varies), plus a headquarters unit (more vehicles), plus a few other units of other types for support. For example, that infantry brigade has artillery, helicopters, and engineers, as well as a bunch of infantry battalions. So each level is usually a bit more than 3x as large as the one below it.
The FAS website (fas.org) or GlobalSecurity.org can be good places to research this kind of thing. FAS's text-only version of the US "Tables of Organization and Equipment" is
here. Looks like GlobalSecurity requires a subscription these days after the first few page views. For that matter, I think PDFs of the Army's Field Manuals are available on the army.mil website.