h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: US Army Unit Nomenclature - A1007650
Author: Two Bit Trigger Pumping Moron - U35376

I wrote this as a guide to help people understand how a unit name describes what a unit does.

I got a little tired of the news people screwing up unit titles on the news recently. For instance 3/7 Cavalry is a squadron in the 3rd Infatry Division (Mechanized). Saying that elements of the 7th Cavalry are crossing a river imply that the entire 7th Cavalry Regiment is present, and that's not the case. 4/7 Cavalry is currently assigned to the 2nd Infatry Division in Korea.

I am pleasantly surprised to see that the US Army has reorganised on Battalion Lines. It seems to be a cross between German (3 battalions per regiment) and British (Battalion=regiment)

I am still confused over the 7th Cavalry. Are they split between divisions? We tend to keep major units together in the British Army rather than split them up.

We (the Brits) have similar unit divisions but call them different names. A Regiment refers to an armour (Royal Lancers), artillery (26 (Commmando) Regt, Royal Artillery) or engineer battalion. A battalion is an infantry regiment (1st Bn Green Howards) these days. Infantry have companies and platoons, artillery have batteries and troops, armour have squadrons and troops. All ours are smaller than the US equivalent.

Good timing, Two-bit.

will help us to get an idea on what sort of size of units are being sent where.

I also find it confusing trying to work out what type of troops the reporters are talking about. If I've understood what I'm hearing on the news, the third Infantry Division seem to be a heavy unit, which isn't what I would have guessed intuitively.

Is there a standard for how many companies you get in a batallion?

Sprout

When they started the CARS I think the idea was that a soldier would spend their career in one regiment. However, soldiers are usually reassigned every three or so years.

You might have 1/42 Infantry in the 11th Infantry Division in the US. After a tour there, the soldier is transfered overseas to 2/42 Infatry in the 4th Armored Divison in Germany. After two years there, he rotates back to 1/42 Infantry. Then maybe a tour as a drill sergeant or a recruiter. Then he goes back to 1/42, and so on.

There are usually four or five line companies plus a headquarters company per battalion.

Things I still need to address:
Reflagging units
A note on Marine regiments

I went through and linked in all the units that were possible. I also added and changed some stuff.

New text:
Soldiers wear patches on their left shoulder to show which unit they're in. They're called Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI). Usually, only seperate brigades or larger units will have SSIs. Much of the time, whn you ask a soldier who he served with, he'll refer to the unit whose patch he wore. For example: 'When I was in Desert Storm, I served with the 24th Infantry Division.' In some circumstances, a more specific answer is called for, and the soldier will identify his company. To identify a numbered company, you refer to the number and the company (eg, 202nd Ordnance Company (EOD)). If the company is part of a battalion then you refer to the letter of the company and the battlion. 'Easy Company 1st of the 506th' would refer to someone in E Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry1.

Added the last line about Marine Regiments:
For convenience sake, Regiment is often dropped from the name of a unit, so the 24th Infantry refers to the 24th Infantry Regiment not the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized). The Marnies use the same convention. If someone refered to the 5th Marines, they're refering to the 5th Marine Regiment.

A bit more about companies:
Most battalions and higher level organizations will have a headquarters unit. This will usually be a Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC). Depending on the type of unit (Cavalry, Artilery, or Support) the headquarters unit may be a Troop (HHT), Battery (HHB), or Detachment (HHD). These companies will handle adminstrative functions for the battlaion staff and usually command the battalions organic support units, like a mortar platoon, scout platoon, or miantanince platoon. There are usually four line companies plus an HHC per battalion.

Things to address:
Reflagging units
Commands
Spellcheck

Looking good. Is it there yet? A Scout's picked this and I agree with the recommendation. Let me know when you're happy for it to go in.

I need to start putting my own incubation period on these things. I generally want a month or so before my entries get picked up. I crave comments and questions that I can address. Besides, I'm still working on an entry on US Army Rank [A1012898] and I've been thinking about one on Decorations and Medals.

I want to have my wife look this over to make sure there aren't errors. I'll get her to look at it tonight.

This has been a fun entry to write. I've been looking through Army web sites all. While it's not at all clear in the entry, I've been telling some of the story of my miltary career. It's been nice to check in on the Army.

I have done the three things I had yet to do. Here's the new text:

Reflagging Units

From time to time, units are redesignated. They retire the colors of an old unit, and take on the colors of a new one. This is called reflagging. In the Army's draw down in the mid-90s, the Third Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Germany was being closed down. Their colors were retired, and its units were dispersed. In order to perpetuate the unit, it was decided to reflag the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia USA. At Fort Stewart, the soldiers of the 24th ID, who had recently returned from Desert Storm, cased there old colors. They uncased the colors of the Third Infantry Division.

Reflagging is not an unusual event. It's done for a variety of units. It's often done to keep the unit alive, and perpetuate the history of distinguished units. Sometimes it's done when force structure changes. In 1995, the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) field was restrucured. It had been made up detachments. Adminsited by regional control teams, who were overseen by an office at Forces Command (FORSCOM). The detachments were transformed into companies, the control teams were made battalions, and the office at FORSCOM was turned into the 52nd Ordnance Group (EOD).

And:

Commands

While the list above covers the traditional units, there are many non-traditional units. There are commands, like the 1st Corps Support Command a unit with 10,000 soldiers that supports the XVIII Airborne Corps. Commands can be of different sizes. Forces Command (FORSCOM) is in overall command of all operational units in the Continental United States (CONUS). Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is responsible for all Army schools and for developing the way the Army fights. In addition to commands, there are numerous other kinds of units, schools, activities, offices, etc throughout the Army.

OK TBTPM (that kind of rolls off the tongue.) I'll make sure this one stays here in PR for a while. It's shaping up nicely. Good luck with the rest of it.

Assuming I can get Bev to stay home tonight I should be able to get her to read over it, make corrections, and I should be finished with it tomorrow.

We have a new Sebring convertable, and we've been going for rides whenever we can. When I'm at work at night, she calls friends to see if they'll go for rides with her.

Ha! Sounds great. I've just checked one out on Google. Very cool. I hope you've got the weather for it.

It's wonderful down here. I just got back from the firing range. I stopped by the store for some beer on the wya back. I need to mow the lawn a bit, but after that, we may go riding again.

I just got a thought that it might be illistratuve to have a the units of a division broken down. I don't know if I should do it as a separate entry or add it here. One thing I do need to add is about Task Forces and Combat Teams.

I'm sort of tempted to take the thing out of Peer Review, put those other entries together and make this a University Project. There's a lot more to write, and I've been lusting over the badge for years.

Bev gave me a lot of things to work on in the entry. It's going to be delayed at least a week. I'm pulling it from Peer Review, and I'm probably going to do a project on the Army.

Right you are, TBTPM. If you do decide to do a Uni project, this is the place to go: A338915

I've told Mina that you're considering this.

Cheers.