Independent combat units of the United States Army

The independent combat units of the United States Army (English: "Combat maneuver organizations") refers to the totality of the independently deployable combat units of the US Army .

Divisions and Brigades

The Army currently has ten divisions and various smaller independent units . The following operational structure ( Order of Battle ) should finally be implemented by 2009 in accordance with the army reform .

All divisions will have four combat brigades, at least one army aviation brigade and a staff battalion .

With the introduction of three new standardized types of Brigade Combat Teams , the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), and the Stryker Armored Combat Brigade ( Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT)), a special brigade with up to 300 Stryker wheeled armored vehicles that can be air deployed within 96 hours , the Army has managed to ensure that all combat brigades of the same type in the individual divisions always have the same structure, equipment and combat strength. Additional support brigades from higher-level command posts are subordinate to them for use.

As part of the Grow the Army program, four more large associations are to be set up by 2013 , which corresponds to an increase in personnel of 74,200 men.

List of associations

Divisions

The headquarters of the 1st US Armored Division in Wiesbaden was the only divisional headquarters of the United States Army on German soil until it moved to Fort Bliss in May 2011. The division, which is part of the Seventh United States Army , has two heavy brigades of the new structure Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), which are stationed at Fort Bliss, a heavy brigade at Baumholder and, for the time being, the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment ( 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team ) in Vilseck . The latter and the brigade remaining in Baumholder are now directly subordinate to the US Army Europe as independent units .

The headquarters of the 1st U.S. Cavalry Division is in Fort Hood , Texas. All four brigades assigned to her are of the Armored Brigade Combat Team type and are stationed there.

The U.S. 1st Infantry Division is a mixed division headquartered in Fort Riley , Kansas , and consists of HSBT Heavy Brigades and Infantry Brigades. Two heavy brigades and one infantry brigade, according to the new Army diction, are stationed at Fort Riley and one infantry brigade at Fort Hood , Texas . The Fort Hood brigade will move to Fort Knox , Kentucky in 2009 .

The US 2nd Infantry Division is subordinate to the United States Forces Korea and is led from its headquarters in Camp Red Cloud in South Korea . A heavy brigade is also in South Korea at Camp Casey . With three Stryker Brigade Combat Teams ( SBCTs ) in Fort Lewis, Washington, the division is one of two divisions with a focus on operations in the Pacific region.

The 3rd US Infantry Division is fully stationed in the state of Georgia . The division's headquarters, along with three heavy brigades, make up the majority of all forces concentrated at Fort Stewart . The fourth heavy brigade is based in Fort Benning, Georgia. One of the three heavy brigades at Fort Stewart will be converted into an infantry brigade by 2010.

The U.S. 4th Infantry Division is entirely stationed in the United States. The division's headquarters are located in Fort Hood , Texas , along with a heavy brigade . The three other brigades of the same type are located in Fort Carson , Colorado . By 2009 the entire division will be concentrated in Fort Carson.

The 10th US Mountain Infantry Division consists of four infantry brigades and has therefore remained a light infantry division. Its headquarters and three infantry brigades are concentrated in Fort Drum , New York State . The fourth brigade is based in Fort Polk , Louisiana .

The 25th US Infantry Division is subordinate to the United States Pacific Command and is therefore housed with its headquarters and an infantry and a Stryker brigade in the Schofield Barracks , Hawaii . The other two brigades are based in Alaska (a Stryker brigade in Fort Wainwright , an airborne brigade in Fort Richardson ).

With its four airborne brigades, the 82nd US Airborne Division, including its headquarters, is located in Fort Bragg , North Carolina . Because of its quick air relocation and its operational concept, it is preferred in the event of a crisis.

The 101st Airborne Division consists of four infantry brigades and is concentrated along with its headquarters in Fort Campbell , Kentucky . The association no longer conducts classic paratrooper missions, as it has taken over the tasks and structures of an air cavalry association from the Vietnam War .

Brigades

The 173rd Airborne Brigade , headquartered in Vicenza , Italy , is the only airborne unit to which the US European Command has direct access. It was reactivated for the third time in December 2000 and opened a second front in Iraq at the end of March 2003 with an airborne operation, because Turkey had refused to use the 4th US Infantry Division on its territory.

The independence of the 2nd US Cavalry Regiment , new name (2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment) , with headquarters in Vilseck , Germany, is planned by 2009 and will come into effect when the activation of the 4th HBCT of the 1st US Armored Division has been completed . The de facto brigade has the Stryker armored car.

The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment ( U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment ) is based in Fort Hood, Texas. Although a regiment in name, it is in fact a reinforced tank brigade with an army aviation division. It is the only unit of this formerly common name that remains and is the smallest tank unit in the US Army that is capable of independent overseas missions - but with an incomparably high firepower

The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment ( 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment ), with headquarters at Fort Irwin , California , serves as a so-called Opposing Force ( OPFOR ) the enemy representation in all maneuvers in the local National Training Center ( NTC are held).

1st Battalion 4th Infanry Regiment (Warriors) as Opposing Force Regiment in JMRC Hohenfels.

Special forces

The units of the Special Operations Forces , stationed with one exception in Fort Bragg, South Carolina, operate independently of the divisions and are not subject to the Combat Brigade Team structure.

They include the following special forces :

• Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) (USASFC), Special Forces (Division), headquartered in Fort Bragg, North Carolina

• 75th Ranger Regiment (75th RGR RGT), ranger, headquartered in Fort Benning , Georgia

• Delta Force (1st SFOD-D), Counter-Terrorism Force , headquartered in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Web links

• Official website of the United States Army (English)
• Divisions (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Feickert, Andrew: (Stationings) US Army's Modular Redesign: Issues for Congress  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Page 11f. Congressional Research Service, January 6, 2005 (English>).  
2. ↑ see also Transformation of the United States Army
3. ↑ Tom Clancy: Armored Cav - A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment , pp. 183 ff., Berkley Books, New York, 1994, ISBN 0-425-15836-5