Evening star., 1940-08-11
Division Compactnes,
Goal Set for Army
Nearing Completion
Also Approaches New
Limit Of 375, 900 Men
Against 1895 10000

A little over year after the be-
ginning of its expansion and re-
organization, the United States
Army is rapidly nearing the goal for
divisional compactness and eff
cheney which 1t has set for itself.
The War Department., as it re-
leased a new map yesterday show
ing the location of the IL Army di-
visions, revealed that six of them
are now fully formed, that the sew
enth is rapidly nearing completion,
the eighth and ninth are well un-
der way" the two amored divisions
are about so per cent formed, and
that the 1st Cavalry is fully or
ganized.
At the same time officers at the
department pointed out that critics
of the old United States Army di-
vision system are being answered.
Up until June 30, 1899, there were
but three infantry divisions in the
Regular Army, and it was thus
necessary that each division sprawl
over many posts and many square
miles of territory.
Nears 375,0O0 Limit.
Now, however, all the divisions are
drawn close together, and five of
them are centrally located in but
one post apiece. And this compact
ness Is more noteworthy in view of
the fact that the Army is at present
approaching its new limit of 375 900
men, while last year the total stood
at 10000 men before the various
increases were voted.
The advantages of closely knit
divisions has been well illustrated
by Hitler's successes in Europe,
where his divisions-especially those
armored-moved ahead with the
precision and speed of the much
smaller battalion.
The United States new armored
divisions, the 1st and I'd, in Fort
Knox, KY, and Fort Benning, Ga,
respectively, In their location and
concentration are an example of
the lessons learned from Germany.
From Fort Benning, in Western
Georgia, the armored units could
speed rapidly forth to repel pos
sible blitzkrieg aimed at the South
Atlantic seaboard or the Gulf of
Mexico. From Fort Knox the
armored division could command a
central area of the country ex-
tending north to the Great Lakes
and east to Washington and the
Atlantic Ocean.
More Than 400 Tanks.
The corps headquarters of these
two powerful armored divisions is
at Fort Knox. The combined
strength at present is 400 light
tanks, l8 medium tanks and about
ITS scout cars. Eleven hundred
officers and approximately 1880 en-
listed men make up the corps.
An example of the scope of the
recent reorganization is to be found
at Camp Ord, Calf, the 7th Divi-
sion Headquarters, which reached
out as far as Nebraska and Kansas
in its assembling of units. Fort
Benning gathered much of its
mechanical equipment from Fort
Meade, Md, and Fort Knox went
west to Fort Riley, Kans., to aug
ment its forces. To Camp Jackson,
S. c., went elements of the 28th
Infantry Fort Niagara, N. Y.
The single posts divisions are
as follows: Seventh, Camp Ord ::
Eighth, Camp Jackson; Ninth, Fort
Bragg, N. c., and the two armored
divisions
Others Being Compressed.
However, other divisions, with
more than one post, are being COM
pressed. A distance of less than
200 miles separates the extremities
OF the 4th Division, Fort Mcclellan,
Ala, and Fort Mcpherson, Ga. The