naissance squadron to the aviation company, providing a transportation aircraft maintenance detachment to support the aviation company, and reorganizing the reconnaissance squadron as in the infantry division. Observers also saw the need for an alternate, or backup, divisional command post, a larger staff for the artillery coordination center, and the establishment of a radiological center to detect radioactive contaminates. Minor alterations were also to be made in the service units to support these new alignments. All changes in the armored division were made without increasing its strength of 14,617.[1]
In 1959 and 1960 the Army placed Regular Army infantry and armored divisions under the revised tables that resulted from the field tests. Also, to meet a Department of Defense manpower ceiling of 870,000, the Army Staff decided to eliminate the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado. The Fifth United States Army reduced the division to zero strength and later inactivated it, cutting the number of active Regular Army divisions to fourteen. In Korea the Army continued to resort to the Korean Argumentation to U.S. Army (KATUSA) program, begun during the Korean War, to keep the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Infantry Division at full strength; each division was assigned about 4,000 South Koreans.[2]
The Army Staff had delayed reorganization of the reserves, but in 1959 it decided to realign National Guard and Army Reserve divisions under pentomic structures. A controversy immediately surfaced over the required number of reserve divisions. Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy decided on 37 divisions, 27 National Guard and 10 Army Reserve. By 1 September 1959 the twenty-one infantry and six armored divisions in the Guard had reorganized, and one month later ten Army Reserve infantry divisions completed their transition, but at a reduced strength. The eleventh combat division, the 104th, in the Army Reserve was converted to training, for a total of thirteen training divisions, all of which were in the Army Reserve.[3]
Following the pattern established by the regulars, the states eliminated nondivisional regimental combat teams from the Guard and replaced them with separate combined arms brigades. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Arizona organized the 29th, 92d, and 258th Infantry Brigades, respectively. These units had varying numbers of combat arms elements but lacked trains needed to support independent operations.[4]
When reserve units began to adopt pentomic configurations, the Continental Army Command developed separate organizational tables for training divisions. These tables permitted the Army Reserve to retain the existing authorization of three general officers—the commander and two assistant commanders—and ensured standardization of these noncombat divisions. Each training division consisted of a headquarters and headquarters company, five regiments (an advanced individual, a common specialist, and three basic combat training regiments),[5] a receiving company, and a band (Chart 33). Each division in reserve status had about 3,100 of all ranks and on mobilization would run a replacement training center capable of training 12,000 men. The continental armies reorganized the
- ↑ John A. Beall, "Revisions of ROCAD," Armor 68 (Mar–Apr 1959); 48–51: TOE 17D, Armored Division, 1960.
- ↑ Ltr, TAG to CG, Fifth U.S, Army, 14 Jul 60, sub; Reorganization of the 9th Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (27 Jun 60) DCSPER, and Ltr, TAG to CG, Fifth U.S. Army, 30 Jan 62, sub: Inactivation of 9th Infantry Division and 9th Military Intelligence Detachment, AGAO-O (M) 322 (23 Jan 62) DCSPER, 9th Inf Div file, DAMH-HSO; Historical Data Cards for the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 24th, and 2Sth Inf Divs, the 2d, 3d, and 4th Armd Divs, and 1st Cav Div, DAMH-HSO; United States Defense Policies in 1959 (Washington, D.C.; Government Printing Office, 1964), p. 32; Annual Report of the Secretary of the Army, July 1, 1959, to June 30, 1960, p. 143; Skaggs, "The KATUSA Experiment," p. 55.
- ↑ John W. Bowen, "Reorganizing the Reserve Components," Army Information Digest (Nov 1959): 11–15; Annual Report of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, FY 1960, p. 33; Fact Sheet on Department of the Army Revised Plan for Reorganization of the United States Army Reserve, undated, Army Reserve file; Ltr, TAG to CG, Sixth U.S. Army, 31 Mar 59, sub; Reorganization of the 63d Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (16 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, First U.S. Army, 7 Apr 59, sub: Reorganization of the 77th Infantry Division, AGAO-O 322 (20 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Second U.S, Army, 17 Mar 59, sub; Reorganization of the 79th Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (2 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Third U.S. Army, 10 Apr 59, sub: Reorganization of the 81st Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (26 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Second U.S. Army, 19 Mar 59, sub: Reorganization of the 83d Infantry Division AGAO-O (M) 322 (2 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Fourth U.S. Army, 19 Mar 59, sub: Reorganization of the 90th Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (3 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, First U.S. Army, 6 Apr 59, sub: Reorganization of the 94th Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (16 Mar 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Sixth U.S. Amy, 29 Apr 59, sub: Reorganization of the 96th Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (10 Apr 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Fifth U.S. Army, 11 May 59, sub: Reorganization of the 102d Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (1 May 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Fifth U.S. Army, 20 Apr 59, sub: Reorganization of the 103d Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (10 Apr 59) RES, Ltr, TAG to CG, Sixth U.S, Army, 30 Apr 59, sub: Redesignation and Reorganization of the 104th Infantry Division, AGAO-O (M) 322 (24 Apr 59) RES, all DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Information Paper, Separate Combined Arms Brigades in the Reserve Components, 30 Apr 85; Lir, NGB to AG, Hawaii, 23 Jan 59, sub: Troop Allotment, Consolidation, Conversion, Redesignation, and Reorganization, Army NG Units, NG-AROTO, Ltr, NGB to AG, Arizona, 4 Feb 59, sub: Reorganization of Army NG 1958–60, NG-AROTO 325.4 Arizona, Ltr, NGB to AG, Puerto Rico. 6 Feb 59, sub: Reorganization of the Army NG 1958–60, NG-AROTO 325.4-Puerto Rico, all National Guard state files, DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Regiments in training divisions were not tactical units, therefore fell outside the Combat Arms Regimental System.
