[ Home | Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Jasper
Date: 10/3/01
Time: 7:51:14 PM
I just heard on the news that the strike force I called a brigade is actually a division.
A United States Army brigade usually consists of about four thousand men at full strength, depending on what it is organized to do. A division at full strength is roughly twice that size.
When you hear reports about a combat unit, all it really tells you is its relative size and how it fits into an organizational structure. For instance, a squad normally has ten men and is led by a sergeant. A platoon has four or five squads (again, it depends upon what the platoon is set up to do). It is led by a lieutenant. A company, led by a captain, has four of five platoons and a battalion, led by a major, normally has four companies. A regiment (or battle group) has two battalions led by a lieutenant colonel or a full bird colonel and a brigade led by a brigadier general (one star) has two regiments. The next largest unit is a division commanded by a major general (two stars) and a corps (sometimes called an army) is made up of two or more divisions commanded by a lieutenant general (three stars). The entire Marine corps has only three divisions (one army).
The United States Army has several armies in a theater of command and a four star general commands a theater.. All four-star generals including the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of staff answer to the Secretary of the Army (a civilian appointed by the President). All of the Chiefs answer to the Secretary of their branch of service who answer to the Secretary of Defense. The President is the Commander in Chief of the entire Armed Forces.
When the Army's mission changes so does its structure. All kinds of mixing and matching goes on within the Army and between the Armed Forces to accomplish a given mission. When I was in the Army, regiment's didn't even exist as such and brigades came and went depending on what they were formed to do. The 173rd was a brigade specifically trained and equipped in 1963 for jungle warfare. The best trainers were marines, so that's where they got their initial training. The best jump school is run by the Army so that's were everyone goes for jump school. The Air Force runs the best survival school so that's where everyone in the Armed Forces of the United States with a need for that level of training gets what they need. Diver training? Navy.
The Army has its own "air force" and "navy." The Navy has its own "army" and air "force," etc. Again, it's the mission that determines who will do what and the mission is decided by our elected officials. Our elected officials are decided by us. Our political system is, therefore our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. What we say and how we vote as a people makes all the difference in determining what our Armed Forces can and will do.
Our Armed Forces have a command and control structure that can withstand the slings and arrows of the most outrageous fortunes, from disastrous battles to incompetent leadership at any given place at any given time. If a general gets killed and there are no generals in sight to take his place, a colonel will step in and do his job, if he gets knocked off, the job goes to the nest ranking officer and so on down the line. If a squad leader is an idiot the odds are his lieutenant won't be. If the lieutenant is an idiot, chances are that his captain will know what to do. And a field grade officer (major or above) who can't do his job is not likely to last very long.
Moreover, the American Armed Forces are not hampered by the rigid structure of other armies (like the old Soviet Army) and the internal politics that determine who will lead which unit from top to bottom. Therefore, there is less chance to begin with of a catastrophic structural failure or incompetent leadership at any level. That's why a one hundred percent successful attack on the pentagon or the annihilation of an entire division can't stop it. And that's why a clearer understanding by the American people and our potential foes of what our military capabilities are can stop a whole lot of you know what before it hits the fan.
I am not talking about a "perfect" fighting machine but I am talking about one that adjusts quickly to mistakes and rapidly changing conditions, and one that you don't want coming after you if its mission is to wipe you out. --Jasper