Armored Brigade Combat Team

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Tactical sign of an Armored Brigade Combat Team

An Armored Brigade Combat Team (known as the Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) before 2012 ) is a heavy armored combat brigade and a major unit of the US Army . This new unit concept was first postulated in the army reform of the Army in 1997 and was fully implemented by 2010. An ABCT corresponds to a modularly structured tank brigade, which, however , combines all weapons of other branches of arms , such as reconnaissance, artillery , pioneers and support units .

history

M1A1 Abrams at Camp Fallujah

The implementation of this new brigade concept since 1997 should actually be completed by 2005, but is still ongoing and is expected to be completed by 2009. The usual approval procedures as well as the military conflicts that were going on at the time led to delays in procurement. It led and leads not only to a standardization of the individual combat brigades within the divisions , but also to a reduction in "frictional losses" in the command structure and in the flow of information between the individual branches of the military within the major military unit. By streamlining the communication channels, for example through its own reconnaissance and fire support elements within the brigade, target setting and combat strength were optimized so that parts of the support elements could also be saved. The only combat support the division still needs from outside is that of the Air Force or the US Navy .

organization

Structure of an ABCT in 2013

An ABCT is an integral part of either a tank or an infantry division of the Army. The separation into different division types ( tanks , armored infantry and infantry ) was de facto abolished as a result of the implementation of the army reform until 2009/10 and only exists by name for reasons of tradition. Each ABCT will have three combat and three support battalions, consisting of an artillery, a special brigade and a logistics battalion .

At the same time, this new concept will standardize the tank brigades. Every ABCT , regardless of which division, will have the same structure, equipment and combat strength. The same applies to the other two types of US combat brigades, the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) and the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) .

An Armored Brigade Combat Team with around 4,200 soldiers is the largest combat brigade type in the Army, ahead of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team with around 3900 soldiers. By incorporated combat support troops has a ABCT a larger rod as a brigade classical style and a deputy commander (Deputy Commander) , rather than a first officer (XO) .

Original composition

  • a Cavalry Squadron (reconnaissance battalion with three reconnaissance companies each with ten armored personnel carriers M3 Bradley and a battlefield surveillance company with HMMWVs (with sensors)).
  • a Field Artillery Battalion (artillery battalion) having a battery stick, three batteries each with eight howitzers type M109 155 mm, a fire and a Feuerunterstützungszug.
  • a Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) (logistics battalion with a staff company, a medical company , a transport company, a maintenance company and four supply companies (FSC)) to support the combat battalions.

Current composition

  • Two tank battalions (headquarters company, two tank companies, one mechanized infantry company)
  • Mechanized infantry battalion (headquarters company, two mechanized infantry companies, one tank company)
  • Reconnaissance battalion (headquarters company, three reconnaissance companies, one tank company)
  • Artillery Battalion
  • Engineer Battalion
  • Logistics battalion

literature

Web links