Hi There

Just because the various books I've read over the years have raised the following questions, and just because I can...

I was wondering about the hierarchy of US Army regiments and the 'jobs' they get...

So a recruit joins the Army, goes through basic training and then... what?

He/She 'chooses' a section of the army? infantry? Armour? Engineers?

For the more elite combat branches, what is the order of 'elitism'?
Airborne, Rangers, Green Berets, Delta?

Where does 10th Mountain Division fit into this? is it Elite?

Back to the earlier 'jobs' question? What Tasks to Green Berets do? in comparison to Delta or the Rangers?

What do Rangers do in comparison to Airborne? there appear to be many layers in the US Army, is this so?

No real game relevance to this question, as yet, I'm just intrigued.

Thanks

Hedgehog

There isn't really a hierarchy of regiments, as the Army doesn't work on a regimental system. The basic deployable unit is the Brigade Combat Team which typically contains 2 combat battalion + whatever support elements it needs, such as Signal, Engineer, Aviation, Medical, Service Support, etc.

The recruitment and Initial Entry Training process is this:

The prospective recruit visits a recruiter who sells him on the idea. The recruiter has a list of jobs that are short and will spend his time trying to get the prospect to pick one of those. Eventually, the prospect goes to a Military Entrance Processing Station where they are given a brief physical (mine was given by a 2,000 year old Methuselah who spoke Sumerian as a native language). Assuming they pass the physical, which isn't hard, the prospect is put in front of a Career Counselor. The Career Counselor listens to what the prospect wants and then, like the recruiter, tries to convince the prospect into taking one of the critical shortage jobs. It is here that the prospect picks what Military Occupational Specialty, as well as any sign-on or extra training packages. I walked out with a $2,000 bonus, Airborne school, and Ranger school in my contract. At this point, the soldier's initial training is pathed out.

There is usually a bit of time between signing on and actually reporting for training. Mine was 6 months so I could finish a semester of junior college. After reporting for training, the individual is processed at their assigned Basic Combat Training post (I was Ft. Jackson, South Carolina). For the first 2 weeks, or so, the prospect is in what is called a Reception Battalion where their military pay is started, more physicals, immunizations, uniforms are issued, some very basic instruction on how to follow commands, dog tags, etc.

Once Reception is over and, believe me, Reception is the worst part about being in the Army, the recruits are picked up by their Drill Sergeants and Basic training begins. The training has changed since I went through, so I can't tell you what it's like, but I can say that my training was woefully inadequate and disappointing.

After Basic, the soldiers are distributed amongst the country to report to their respective postings for Advanced Individual Training (AIT). AIT is where the soldier learns their military skill. Training time ranges from 2 months to over a year, but typically, not longer than 6 months. This was also pretty disappointing training. After 2 months, we left learning very little about the equipment, which was okay, because I never performed my actual job anyways. Tabula rasa.

For most soldiers, they report to their first duty station after AIT. I had two additional schools in my contract, so I did those. Airborne school is 3 weeks. Ground Week, Tower Week, and Jump Week where the Airborne recruit learns the basics of static-line parachute jumping. Airborne school isn't hard, but the failure rate is very high because they have so many recruits that they aren't allowed to pass all of them. For example, my Airborne class began with over 650 students, but graduated less than 300. Most who failed, failed for dumb reasons and not because they couldn't finish the training.

Ranger School is hard, but rewarding, and this was the best School-House training I received in the Army. The primary purpose of Ranger school is to train soldiers in small-unit leadership, while also developing light infantry and fieldcraft skills. Counting Assessment Week (, the school is 9 weeks long. During Assessment Week, the Ranger students are taught the basics of a patrol, receive brief instruction on Military Operations in Urban Terrain, engage in a tough PT program, a PT test, a 5+ mile run, a pretty tough land nav course (I failed the first time and had to re-test), a water survival test, airborne refresher for airborne qualified students, combatives, and some other stuff, and a one mile rough-terrain obstacle course called The Darby Run.

The first phase of actual training is called Benning Phase, or Darby Phase, and is held at Camp Darby, Georgia. THe emphasis on the first phase is learning small unit movements and tactics. THe OpFor is very simple, and the techniques needed to defeat him are basic. The land movement is not too challenging, and there is some Airborne/Air Assault training that gets reinforced at later phases. There is also a combat jump for the Airborne qualified students into Mountain phase. At the end of this phase, we conducted a peer review, and the Ranger who scored the worst was removed from the course.

Mountain Phase is concerned with conducting combat operations over rugged terrain, more air assault training, more complex patrol problems. AT this stage, our OpFor was using simple booby traps against us, and we began our first night patrols. There is a combat jump into Florida.

Jungle/Florida Phase is the hardest portion of Ranger school. At this time, the Rangers have been subjected to extreme sleep deprivation (1-3 hours / night) while the amount of food / day decreases. The field problems go up another level of complexity, and the patrols are long over confusing terrain. I went through during the Summer and there were parts of Florida that were freezing cold, I can only imagine what Winter Rangers go through. Jungle Phase concludes with a pretty tough ruck march on a hardball road. I don't remember how long it was, somewhere in the 8-12 mile range. It was probably the hardest march I had ever been on because my feet felt and looked like hamburger meat, and most of my muscle and fat mass was gone by that time. Once back at Camp Rudder, there is another peer review -our guy who was peered out was allowed to recycle to the beginning of Florida phase and do it over again. Rangers also receive their final evaluations and told whether they will graduate or not. Yes! In Ranger School, one can complete the course but not graduate -don't screw up your patrol!

Following notice of graduation, the Rangers jump back into Ft. Benning for graduation. We started with over 260 Rangers and graduated 47. 5 others finished, but did not graduate.

During the course of the whole school, the Ranger is placed in every position in the patrol from patrol leader, to compass man, to pace man, to map man, SAW gunner, machine gunner (m240b), to RTO. Ammo bearers, casualty, and Enemy Prisoner of War teams are also mandatory. I usually volunteered to be RTO because it made me look better when I did something right and it kept me from carrying one of the machine guns. One cannot graduate without scoring a "Go" as a patrol leader, compass, map, and pace man. The Patrol Leader is the most important position, and you depend a lot on the other Rangers to not act like assholes and do what they're supposed to do.

The only difference between an infantryman from the 82nd and one from, say 3rd ID, is that the guy from the 82nd went to Airborne school and the guy from 3rd rides in a Bradley. Though the 82nd guy will protest mightily at this, there is no difference in "elitness".

It's hard to rank the special operations community because they have different missions. The Ranger mission is different from the Special Forces mission and "Delta" is similar to, but above, the Special Forces mission. The Ranger mission is to act as a light infantry force emphasizing quick and violent raids. Special Forces' mission is to conduct unconventional war; assist in foreign defense; recruit, train, and lead indigenous forces in unconventional war against a hostile enemy state; to reconnoiter; and some other things. "Delta" does what they need to do.

Typically, when it is learned that a Ranger has gone to Special Forces, most guys ask "What for?" When it is learned they have gone to Delta, most guys say "Oh, cool"

10th Mountain Division is a Light Infantry division that does not, despite the name, specialize in Mountain warfare. Like the 82nd and 101st, there isn't anything particularly special about them. The Army has exactly 1 battalion of National Guardsmen in the entire force who are specialized in Mountain warfare (not including SOF). Doesn't seem too smart to me since we've been engaged in mountain warfare for 9 years, but the Army never asked for my opinion.

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Sine Pari

The US Army has a deep and complex organizational history since the end of the Second World War. It has changed its basic understanding of tactical unit organization across the entire force some four times in the last 60 years. While this might seem relatively small, it has meant that the force has changed relatively dramatically every 15 years, and this doesn't even count all the test organizations that never made.

Similarly, the US Army has changed its understanding of how it designates units three times, with the last being far less dramatic than the first two. The most notable of these was the decision to remove the regiment as a tactical unit in 1957. Under what is known as the Combat Arms Regimental System, regiments were reassigned to the Department of the Army with a personnel authorization of zero. There they remained only as the source of lineage and honors for units activated concurrently at that time. The Armored Cavalry Regiment was the sole exception, and remains the sole exception among combat arms units today.

The regiment had previously been a headquarters for a number of companies. With the shift, the companies (and troops and batteries in cavalry and artillery units respectively) were redesignated almost universally as Headquarters and Headquarters Companies of newly activated battalions between 1957 and 1958 (with some conversions occurring later, or not at all). The battalions drew their initial lineage and honors from the actions of their parent regiment, and specifically their HHC. For instance, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment had been A Company, 1st Infantry Regiment until 1958. The rest of the companies, troops, and batteries in the battalions had no history prior that time.

This also changed how units were abbreviated in text. Traditionally units are written with a slash indicating an organic relationship (ie, it is part of the unit in question). Prior to CARS, the regiment was a tactical unit's highest headquarters. To use the previous example, A Company, 1st Infantry Regiment would have been abbreviated A/1st Infantry. With the removal of the regiment as a tactical unit, the relationship to the parent regiment was subsequently to be designated with a dash to represent a non-organic relationship. A Company of the newly activated 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment would be abbreviated A/1-1st Infantry. This holds true for the Marines too. In the Marines, where the regiment is still a tactical unit, you can still find things like A/3/5th Marines.

In 1983, the method under which units were designated changed again, to the US Army Regimental System (USARS). While there has been a single minor change since, this is the system the Army uses today to designate units. The important changes were the decision to allow training units to re-establish a physical regimental identity and the formation of branch regiments for branches, such as Signals, which had not previously had any regimental identity at any level. These are non-tactical administrative entities, but maintain a physical presence, unlike parent regiments, which remained unchanged under the USARS.

In 2005, the decision was made to formalize the word "regiment" in the unit name. Prior to 2005, the technical name for units left this out. 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry was correct, while 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment would not technically have been. Regiment is now officially part of the name.

Now, why did I explain this first? Because its easier to explain changes (which I will now decidedly gloss over) with unit naming better understood. The short lived Pentomic Army I will completely leave out. The Army switched from the Pentomic organization to the ROAD organization (standing for the Reorganization of Army Divisions) in 1957 at the same time the CARS was instituted. The resulting triangular divisions (divisions with three brigades) have remained more or less constant since then. The basic thing to know is that brigades and divisions are largely administrative entities, controlling tactical units. They came into being to control what were referred to as brigade combat teams, consisting of the brigade's regiment and other attached units on operations. When the regiment ceased to be a tactical headquarters, the brigade continued essentially doing what it had always been doing.

Prior to the ROAD division and the removal of the regiment from the tactical space under CARS, the brigade and regiment were often indistinguishable. In many cases afterwards, this remained the case. Each ROAD division brigade often had the three brigades that had been activated from a parent regiment. What is important to not is that this was not required. ROAD Divisions featured three of these brigades, plus various support units assigned to the division and attached to brigades during operations. A separate headquarters for Division Artillery (DIVARTY) had been a fixture in some divisions since the 1940s. Under the ROAD division, there were four artillery battalions in the DIVARTY, one to support each brigade, and a fourth general support battalion.

Division Support Commands and Division Aviation Battalions came about in the 1960s. The Division Aviation Battalion would eventually be replaced by an Aviation Brigade in many divisions. The Separate Brigade also came into being in the 1960s, and continues, albeit in modified form, to this day.

Various changes and attempts at changes were made throughout the 1970s and 1980s to allow the US Army to better take part in a wider array of conflict scenarios. At some point in this period (at least if I understand things correctly), the light-heavy-light configuration was adopted for mechanized infantry divisions (and I think armored divisions, which had long previous ceased to be 100% armored), by which each of their three brigades featured two brigades with two mechanized infantry battalions and an armor battalion, and one with two armor battalions and a mechanized infantry battalion. The 10th Mountain Division was reactivated after almost 30 years as a new type of light division, with only two brigades. Other light reaction units, like the Battalion Combat Team, an organization similar to the separate brigade, but based around only a battalion, was also experimented with.

In the 1990s, the decision was made to start work on a new force structure. This became known as the modular force structure. Most notable of the changes were the shift from a triangular to squad division, the inactivation of division level commands, replacing on the support elements with a new Sustainment Brigade, and the making of artillery organic to the new Brigade Combat Teams (not to be confused with the term previously used to denote a task organization for combat). The division cavalry squadron was also inactivated with the decision to include these assets in each brigade. All modular brigades had the same basic components. Two maneuver battalions of the appropriate type, an artillery battalion, a cavalry squadron, and a brigade support battalion. Separate brigades were similarly reorganized. Each brigade has a special troops battalion, which includes functional elements that used to only be attached during operations from division level assets. The division has a similar battalion for various assets that used to be seperate units (military intelligence, etc). This is where we are now.


Division naming is funny. Units are generally organized in accordance with their names. However, many are allowed to retain their names because of a historical significance. Why not just reactivate more appropriate divisions? Well, in 1983 when the USARS was instituted, the US Army's Center for Military History was asked to draw up a list of all units, active and inactive, and create a hierarchy of precedence. When a unit of a certain type is needed and to be activated, they go to this list and find the appropriate unit highest on the list. Some units you will probably never see again.

Divisions can be any type of division, so they have been preserved with their historical names and modifiers to point out what they actually are when it doesn't mesh. That we don't have a need for the number of divisions we had during the second world war, means you will likely never see some divisions ever again. The 11th Airborne Division is a good example.

As it stands, the 10th Mountain was reactivated in 1985 as an Infantry Division (Light), bearing the name 10th Mountain (Light). Now its just like any other infantry division under the modular force structure, but it retains its name as the 10th Mountain Division. The 101st Airborne and 1st Cavarly Divisions are also good examples. The 101st Airborne is an Air Assault Division (an outgrowth of the Airmobile Division developed in the early 1960s) and the 1st Cavarly Division is a Heavy Division (which subsumed the differences between mechanized infantry and armor divisions at some point).

The 1st Cavalry Division was a true "Cavalry" Division with 3 cavalry regiments for two decades before World War II, before never returning to that organization again. It was reorganized as an Infantry Division for World War II, converted to an Airmobile Division in 1965, reorganized under a test structure to include armor, infantry, and airmobile elements in 1974 (Triple Capability Division or TRICAP), before being converted to an armor division and then finally a heavy division.

When I was with the 10th Mountain Div (1989-1992) we did get specialized training in things like cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, 12 mile ruck marches with 50lb rucks and a 3 hour time limit, etc, etc. Being a light division means the emphasis is on foot movement more than vehicles and no indigenous armor to speak of though the Division did have what we called a "round-out" National Guard armor brigade that could augment the division if needed.

While they are not really "elite" forces in the way that Special Forces, Rangers, Delta etc are, there is a sense of elitism that seems to be fostered by the commands of these "light" divisions. I do believe there are currently only two light divisions, 10th Mountain and the 25th. They used to have a school called Light Fighters school at 10th Mountain back then that would teach unit leadership and field craft skills specific to colder environments such as that that Ft Drum was in and specific to the challenges faced by "light infantry". The amusing thing about that is that early all of the real-world deployments that elements of the Division has gone on has been to arid or tropical environments.

The light divisions are very good for urban and rough terrain environments but not very good going head to head with armor. In 1989 we did our first rotation of the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at the time located at Ft Chafee Arkansas. The exercise progresses from low intensity conflict to heavy intensity conflict during it's course. That first year we did very well up until the heavy intensity conflict kicked in and we got our asses kicked so bad and so fast by the OPFOR that they had to stop the exercise and restart the heavy intensity conflict phase. That would normally be embarrassing for a unit but we were in the process of actually rewriting or pioneering army doctrine for how to utilize the light divisions in combat. We did get a slogan out of the deal though:

10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry): Too light to fight, too heavy to run!

We did finally beat the heavy intensity conflict phase by having anti-tank teams with AT-4s and Dragons dig into hide sites until the armor passed them then engage them from behind where they were much more vulnerable.

Anyway, the light divisions, airborne divisions, air assualt divisions etc are not really any more elite than others just more specialized in the specific type of mobility or warfare that they are set up to conduct.

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Echo5Hotel
aka Jim Hunsinger (Another one of the Jims)
aka Darth Jim Dark Dude of the Sith

I don't think there are any true "light divisions" left, at least not in the sense of the 10th Mountain as it existed during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Modular divisions need not even have 100% commonality between their brigades as in previous force structures. 10th Mountain currently has the requisite four brigades of the modular division, though all are regular Infantry Brigade Combat Teams. The 25th has two Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (1st SBCT and 2nd SBCT), an Infantry Brigade Combat Team (3rd IBCT), and an Airborne Brigade Combat Team (4th ABCT).

1st Armored and 2nd Infantry are also mixed right now. 2nd Infantry will probably be mixed for the foreseeable future, with its forward deployed Heavy Brigade Combat Team (1st HBCT) in Korea. The rest of the division are all Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (3rd, 4th, and 5th SBCTs), with the 2nd Brigade being inactive. 5/2nd Infantry is supposed to reflag sometime soon as 2/2nd Infantry, which will remain an SBCT.

The 1st Armored Division will no doubt see some changes after whatever happens in Iraq in 2011. As it stands now, the 3rd and 4th Brigade Combat Teams of the 1st Armored Division are configured as Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (Advise and Assist). 1st Armored Division also has Army Evaluation Task Force (5th Brigade Combat Team), which was activated serve as the the Future Combat Systems test unit. With the major manned components of the FCS canned for the time being its unclear what will happen to them.

It's hard to call your guys light infantry when they're carrying over 100lbs of crap wherever they go.

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Sine Pari

I know right!?



Wow! A lot has changed in the almost 20 years since I was there...That just made me feel real old. When I was with the 10th MTN there was only 2 main brigades in the division: 1/22 and 2/22. I guess constant warfare and the "lessons learned" will bring about massive changes in order of battle.

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Echo5Hotel
aka Jim Hunsinger (Another one of the Jims)
aka Darth Jim Dark Dude of the Sith

The 4 brigades is relatively new. 10th Mtn was still only fielding 2 brigades when they did their best to screw up Op. Anaconda. 10th Mtn was, at the time, one of the most heavily deployed Regular Army formations juggling the different UN missions with only 2 Brigades.

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Sine Pari

It gained 3rd Brigade in 2004 and 4th Brigade in 2005. So relatively new heh. The 10th Mountain is rotating the deployment of its four brigades just like the most of the other divisions. Rarely do entire divisions deploy anymore. The Division Headquarters do, in order to take over a task force command, but generally not with all their brigades.

The globalsecurity.org page on the 10th Mountain is pretty up to date as far as the new order of battle goes. It was one of the first units I updated (I'm still working on it if that's not clear, but I'm only one man hehe).

Also, people interested in official Lineage and Honors information, it can be found online here for most units. Hopefully at some point they'll get more serious about updating it.

Thanks Guys, that was interesting, it has certainly clarified quite a few points for me.

Hedgehog

lots of good points their hedgehog ...

thomas

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owner of the yahoo group for WW1 ,WW2 and Modern TO&Es
(Tables of organisation & equipment or Unit of action )

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TOandEs/

http://falkirkwargamesclub.org.uk/

I protest mightily at this!

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"When the enemy comes, welcome him. When he goes, send him on his way"

Immediately prior to Operation Anaconda, that battalion was performing security checkpoint duties at Dulles and National airports in DC. A brilliant use of a valuable resource. Paging General Clausewitz...

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"When the enemy comes, welcome him. When he goes, send him on his way"

I was in the 7th Infantry Division (Light) at Fort Ord, California when I first entered the army. We too had the motto "Too light to fight, too heavy to run" and we added "too tired to care." As a 60mm mortar gunner, when we went to Chaffee for our JRTC rotation, my weapon, ruck, and LBE were weighed in at 152 lbs. I walked all night, covering about 8 miles, set my mortar up to support an attack on a village, and went right to sleep. My company commander, an excellent officer in all other regards, knew nothing about employing mortars, so I lugged that dang thing for three weeks without ever actually employing it.