How Are Army Divisions Numbered?

MSN, explainer Answers to your questions about the news. ^ | march-29-2003 | By Phillip Carter

[green team 1999]

How Are Army Divisions Numbered?

By Phillip Carter
Posted Friday, March 28, 2003, at 3:18 PM PT

Anyone watching Iraq war coverage has seen a stream of numbers go by, identifying particular Army divisions—the 101st Airborne, the 3rd Infantry, etc. What do these numbers mean? And if there's a 101st Airborne, what happened to the 100th and 102nd?

The first thing to know is that the Army's divisions were numbered in the order they were created. So the 1st Division was actually the first division; then came the 2nd, 3rd, etc.

There are, of course, gaps in the sequence. Today's Army has eight infantry divisions: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, along with the 10th, 25th, 82nd, and 101st. What happened to the rest of them? Well, the military has cyclically expanded in wartime, creating lots of new units—during World War II, for example, the Army's had infantry divisions running all the way up to the 106th. But during peacetime, most of the war units are deactivated, which accounts for the holes.

How does the Army pick which divisions to keep? Each unit has its own customs and history, and the Army basically preserves the ones with the most glorious lineage. Take the 101st Airborne Division, which has been part of the Army since 1942. During World War II, the "Screaming Eagles" parachuted into Normandy and fought their way across Europe, making a heroic stand at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. The Army has kept the division on active duty ever since. During the same war, the Army's 100th and 102nd Divisions served no less bravely but somewhat less famously. Both were shuttered for good after the war.

TV coverage of Gulf War II also refers to various Army regiments (notably the 7th Cavalry Regiment, which has already tangled with Iraqi forces); but forget about trying to understand that numbering system. For a while, the Army issued regimental numbers in sequence. But the system gave out during the Civil War, when states raised and numbered their own regiments, and became further muddled during World War I, when newly formed federal regiments tried to reclaim the numbers of their Civil War forebears.

To make things more confusing, the Army has a habit of combining many regiments in the same unit. The 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, for example, includes parts of the 7th Infantry and 69th Armor regiments. It also includes a number of support units, whose numbers often bear little or no relation to the number of the combat unit they support.

Bonus Explainer: Division, regiment, battalion—what's the difference? Divisions have 10,000-to-15,000 soldiers divided in three-to-five combat regiments and a number of support units. Regiments have 3,000-to-5,000 soldiers and include several combat and support battalions. Each battalion has three-to-five line companies of 100-to-150 soldiers apiece. Companies break down into three-to-five platoons of 20-to-40 people, which in turn break down into squads of eight-to-12.

for information and discusion only,not for profit etc,etc.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Confusing - maybe to the enemy, too.

[ko_kyi]

OK but what is the difference between a regiment and a brigade?

[Grand Old Partisan]

The divisions were numbered in the order they were created. The last one created was the 106th. Most were disbanded after WWII. Incidentally, many never existed at all, but were part of Patton's fictitous diversion army in northern England prior to D-Day.

Cheers,

Grand Old Partisan
http://www.republicanbasics.com/

[green team 1999]

don`t ask me,i read it twice and will read it later again,is confusing.

[mattdono]

Interesting. Does any FREEPER have a listing of the command structure for each branch of the service?

I am generally familiar with the rankings, but with all the talking heads on the tube, it is nice to know the relative experience differences between the commentators (i.e., a Captain in the Army isn't the same as a Captain in the Navy).

[BlueLancer]

"OK but what is the difference between a regiment and a brigade?"

I'll take a stab at this ...

Regiments contain like-equipped, like-missioned units. The 7th or the 12th Cavalry are made up of squadrons or battalions of similarly-equipped men .. mech infantry or tanks .. but regiments haven't been used as "regiments" for many years. Battalions or squadrons within those regiments are divided between different brigades and divisions.

A brigade is the smallest unit which is designed to operate independently (to some degree). Artillery, transportation units, maintenance units, air assets, cav/scouting units, are attached to the brigade so as to make it quasi-independent for functional use.

Most of the time, any more, combat teams are created for combined arms maneuvers, usually bypassing brigade composition. Combat teams (the old WWII Regimental combat teams) are usually smaller than brigade-level in size but have the combined arms assets that make them a more functional unit than the regiment. Combat teams are also usually formed for specific assignments and the units comprising those teams usually maintain no lasting affiliation with one another. When their particular mission is done, the battalions or special units go back to their original formations, to be drawn out to form different combat teams as the situation requires.

That's just what I remember being explained to me when I asked the same question many, many .. many .. years ago when I was assigned to 2nd Battalion 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

[BlueLancer]

Look at their rank insignia on their shoulders ... for the most part, the insignia is mirrored between services.

A captain in the Navy wears eagles, comparable to a full colonel in the Army/Marines/Air Force.

An Army captain wears two silver bars, comparable to a full lieutenant in the Navy.

Army 2nd Lt = Navy Ensign
Army 1st Lt = Navy Lieutenant JG
Army CPT = Navy Lieutenant
Army Major = Navy Lt Commmander
Army Lt. Colonel = Navy Commander
Army Colonel = Navy Captain

[tictoc]

Thank you for this explanation.

[ZULU]

Sounds like a Legion equals a brigade, a Century equals a company, and a squad equals a mess of Roman legionnaires.

[Rebelbase]

Bump for later read.

[scott7278]

This is an exceptional link from the Department of Defense. They place the branches side by side, and it's interesting to see the differences -- a Navy Lieutenant is equal in rank to a Captain in the other brances, and a Navy Captain is equal in rank to a Colonel in the other branches.

The United States Military Rank Insignia

[green team 1999]

thank you for the assistance,much needed.

[holdmuhbeer]

bump

[KarlInOhio]

US Army Combat Arms Unit Histories.

Don't go there unless you want to spend an hour just browsing.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Army Colonel = Navy Captain...

I dunno, I remember a CPO being told that if he were in the Army, he'd be a sergeant to which he replied, "No, sir, I'd be a general."

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[vetvetdoug]

Before the Civil War there were two regiments of Dragoons, one mounted rifle regiment and two regiments of Cavalry. When the war broke out the first and second dragoons became the first and second cavalry, the mounted rifles became the third cavalry and the first and second cavalry became the fourth and fifth cavalry. A sixth cavalry was added during the Civil War. After the Civil War there were added more Cavalry Regiments to combat the Indians, the Tenth being that of the Blacks(this is from memory so I may be in error). It gets more confusing as the history of our Army continues. This is just the cavalry regiments and the Cavalry per se was disbanded in 1942. I even confused myself trying to regurgitate the history.

[BlueLancer]

"I dunno, I remember a CPO being told that if he were in the Army, he'd be a sergeant to which he replied, "No, sir, I'd be a general."

Ha-ha-ha ... it is to laugh ...
Har-de-har-har ...

(But, really, that's a good one. I did two years at Annapolis as a Midshipman, and then 20 years in the Army, first in the cavalry/infantry and then as a court reporter. I catch it from all sides .. and it makes it hard to decide who to root for when the Army-Navy football game comes around.)

[BlueLancer]

And the 12th Cavalry were the only lance-equipped unit ever organized in the US cavalry system.

That phase didn't last long, but it was enough to give them the nickname "Blue Lancers".