Evening star., 1946-12-21

Details OF the new ln1antry ana
armored divisions, greater In size.
tripled in firepower and shock ac-
ton, were announced today by Gen.
Jacob L. Devers in q sweeping re-
organization Of ground forces which
takes into account the requirements
OF the atomic age and hard lessons
learned in recent combat.
Goal OF ground forces planning,
he said, is an infantry division which
will be completely transportable by
air. In fact, he pointed out, the
infantry division OF the future will
be '.triphibious, capable OF swift
mechanical movement by land, sea
and air"
Terming the newly planned Amer
ican Army divisions unparalleled
as fighting machines, the AGF chief
disclosed: with an increase OF
only one-fifth in the strength Of the
infantry division, we have tripled
the number Of artillery weapons and
more than tripled our firepower.
Shock effect, striking power, dexibil-
ity and maneuverability are all in
creased"
The present strength of the in
fantry division will be $4,000 officers
and men-3, 900 more than World
War II strength-capable of being
increased to war strength OF be-
tween 1900 and $4,000.
The new armored division will
consist of 5000 officers and men,
compared with strengths ranging
from 10000 to 1900 in the last war.
The division will lose 2S light tanks,
but will gain 100 medium tanks FOR
total strength in mediums of 325.
Gen. Devers' announcement fol-
lowed approval of the new organ
ization plans by Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower, chief OF staff. The
changes in division organization
were based on recommendations
submitted by former division and
unit commanders, the General
Board of the European theater
which sat at Bad Nauheim in
l945-46, and the infantry, armored
and artillery conferences held at
service schools last spring. Combat
lessons learned in all theaters Of
the global war were incorporated in
the changes.
The strategic concept of infantry
warfare was unchanged by the Ger
man Va rocket attacks, Gen. Dev-
ers claimed, and in any future war
the mission of our ground forces
would be the same. That mission,
primarily, is to penetrate to the
sources of enemy attacks, destroy
the covering forces and stockpiles.
Atomic and other weapons will
not alter the nature of warfare to
such an extent that the ground
combat need for versatile, mobile
and hard-hitting division will be
diminished" he added.
Doubles Tanks in Division.
The more important changes in
the infantry division are the inclu-
sion of an organic tank battalion,
an organic anti-aircraft artillery
battalion, two more howitzers to
each of the II firing batteries of
the division artillery. increasing its
firepower so per cent; reduction of
the infantry squad from II to nine
men and the addition of a fourth
company and bridge platoon to
the engineer battalion
Eliminated as result of this new
alignment will be the anti-tank and
cannon companies.
The inclusion of a tank company
in each regiment as well as the di.
vision tank battalion doubles TIT
number of tanks working in a divi,
sion. There will be six tank com
panies, instead of three as before
armed with the big M-26 Genera
Pershing" tank mounting q 90-mil
limeter gun.
Division artillery will consist o.
three battalions of 105-millimetel
howitzers and a battalion Of the
bigger 155-milimeter howitzers. The
number of pieces in each firing bat.
terry viii be increased from four to
six, giving the division 81 of the
smaller howitzers and 18 of the
larger ones.
A reduction in the size of the
squad from IL to nine men was
made to give the squad leader bet
ter control in combat.
Tanks for Reconnaissance.
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