Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-07-21
BY Benz PRICE

the first time since the dawn of
atomic warfare. the United States
has revolutionary new Army di-
vision-fully trained and able to
move into nuclear war on four
hours notice.
In organization and battle tao
ties. the new pentomic Army. of
which this division is the forerun-
ner, will be almost totally unrec-
ognizable for survivors of any
American war, whether Spanish
American or Korean.
Although there is only the one
division trained now-the l0lst
Airborne-the Army plans to have
all divisions converted to the new
command and combat doctrine
within two years. 1t has already
begun the SD Airborne at Fl.
Bragg, N. C.
The 10lst is a five-sided division
OF parachutistS, packing it's own
atomic punch. That's where the
name pentomic comes from:
"Pent" for pentagon. or f1ve-sided;
"omic" from atomic.
Gone are the old battalions and
regiments. In their place is
new unit called the battle group.
Five battle groups make up the
division; each battle group has
five companies. The same general
outline will apply eventually to all
divisions. airborne, infantry or
armored.
The 101st, famed as the Scream
ing Eagles" of World War II, was
reactivated last September. 1t is
totally transportable by air, ready
to begin moving anywhere on the
globe within four hours--aSsum-
ing planes are available.
1t will carry four Honest John
rocket launchers and rockets with
atomic warheadS. The payload
of an Honest John is reported to
be about 1000 pounds of TINT, or
an atomic warhead with destruc-
tive capacity of between 10000
and 10000 tons of TINT.
For the Missile Age
In the 101st, the Army has de-
signed a division which looks for
ward to the end of the air age and
the beginning of the missile age.
Implicit in this is the employment
Of atomic weapons. missile des-
troying rockets and the use Of
launching sites as far as $500
miles away from target. These
missiles would be used as long
range artillery and tactical air.
craft.
The new battle groups call for
distribution of 1900 to 1.700-man
formations over an area 30 to 35
miles in diameter. Two major
combat techniqueS have evolved
with this development:
First, since wide dispersion in
vites enemy infiltration, the Army
has a family of atomic warhead
missiles of varied power which can
be used relatively close to our own
troops.
Second, the Army has developed
the air burst technique for its
atomic shells and missiles. This
minimizes the radioactivity in a
blasted area, permitting our own
troops to move into the area.
Right now the 101st is capable
Of fighting three types of wars:
. The so-called brush-fire war
of limited aggression, using con-
ventional weapons. as in Indo-
China and Korea.
. The limited war. calling for
atomic weapons only in and
around the battlef1elds.
. The about war in which every
thing goes, including the hydro
gen bomb.
More Firepower
BY eliminating assorted head
quarters, supply and special
troops, and shortening the chain
of command, this new division
manages to reduce overall man.
power but puts more men on the
firing line.
The current infantry division
contains II. 460 men, the new type,
13.748. Yet the latter contains
$50 more riflemen.
Despite the availability Of small
rockets, artillery still remains the
weapon used against targets where
pinpoint accuracy is necessary.
If the 101st went into battle it
would carry with it five batteries
of -millimeter howitzers of
five pieces each-the only flve-gun
batteries in the Army today. Four
is normal Battle groups would
always be close enough to support
each other.
Because the essence of the l0lst
is mobility and flexibility, in and
out by air. hit hard and hit fast,
the division has no tanks and few
trucks. Maj. Gen. Thomas L.
Sherburne, who put the l0lst in
its new formal. listed some Of its
accomplishments in less than
year in an Army Digest article:
. Making more parachute drops
in formation and airlifting more
personnel for redeployment than
all other Army units combined.
Development of revolutionary
engineering methods for rapidly