From Themarshallwiki

The United States Army is the land component of the United States armed forces. It is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities in support of the National Security and Defense Strategies."

It is the largest, and by some standards, the oldest established branch of the armed forces of the United States and is one of seven uniformed services. Like all armies, it has the primary responsibility for land-based military operations. The modern Army had its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on June 14, 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress created the United States Army on June 14, 1784 after the end of the war to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The Army considers itself to be descended from the Continental Army, and thus dates its inception from the origins of that force.

Control and operation of the Army is administered by the Department of the Army, one of the three service departments of the Department of Defense. The civilian head is the Secretary of the Army and the highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff, unless the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Army officers. As of August 31, 2007, the Regular Army reported a strength of 819,472 soldiers. By the end of 2006, the Army National Guard (ARNG) reported 546,288 and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) reported 289,975, putting the approximate combined component strength total at 1,655,735.

Contents 1 Structure 1.1 Combat Maneuver Organsiations 1.2 Commands 1.3 Special Operations Forces 1.4 Opposing Forces 2 Doctrine 3 Equipment 3.1 Small Arms 3.1.1 Pistols 3.1.2 Rifles 3.1.3 Carbines 3.1.4 Submachine Guns 3.1.5 Machine Guns 3.1.6 Sniper Rifles 3.1.7 Shotguns 3.1.8 Heavy Weapons 3.2 Armoured Vehicles 3.2.1 Tanks 3.2.2 Armoured Personnel Carriers 3.2.3 Light Combat Vehicles 3.2.4 Patrol Vehicles 3.2.5 Support/Engineering Vehicles 3.2.6 OPFOR vehicles 3.3 Artillery 3.3.1 Mortars 3.3.2 Guns/Howitzers 3.3.3 Rockets/Missiles 3.4 Anti-Tank Weapons 3.5 Air Defence 3.6 Aircraft 3.7 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 3.8 Support Vehicles 3.9 Aerial Weapon Systems 4 Uniforms 5 Rank Insignia 5.1 Officers 5.2 Warrant Officers 5.3 Enlisted Men 6 Flag

Structure

The US Army has three components, the Regular Army (officially known as the United States Army), the Reserve (officially known as the United States Army Reserve), and the Army National Guard (42 Army National Guards in total, 38 States, 3 Territories, and the District of Columbia).

The Commander in Chief of US Army is the President of the United States (currently Chris W. Marshall). The Army itself is led by a civilian Secretary of the Army (SECARMY), who reports to the Secretary of Defence. The Secretary of the Army provides civilian oversight for the Chief of Staff of the US Army, who is the US Army's senior military officer, and is a four-star General who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act mandated that operational control of the services follows a chain of command from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the Unified Combatant Commanders, who have control of all armed forces units in their geographic or function area of responsibility. Thus, the Chief of Staff of each service only has the responsibility to organize, train and equip their respective service component. The services provide trained forces to the Combatant Commanders for use as they see fit.

The Army is currently undergoing a period of transformation, which is expected to be finished in 2009. When it is finished, there will be six geographical commands which will line up with the five geographical Unified Combatant Commands (COCOM), and USSOCOM.

• United States Army Central headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia
• United States Army North headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
• United States Army South headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
• United States Army Europe headquartered at Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany
• United States Army Pacific headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.
• United States Army Special Operations headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky (USASOC)

Another goal of the transformation is to flatten the US Army's structure, in other words, to reduce the number of layers of command between the Combatant Commander and the Soldier.

The transformation is producing an information age Army.

US Army recruiting logo

Combat Maneuver Organsiations

The main combat maneuver organisation of the US Army is the Line Combat Brigade, of which the US Army has 83.

Divisional insignia are currently maintained for the sake of tradition, however the Divisional headquarters no longer exists. Three brigades will wear the same Divisional insignia. The US Army have a three stage Rotational Readiness System, conisting of Training, Deployment, and Reconstitution. It has been decided that the three Brigade 'division' will be in that cycle. For example, 3 Heavy Brigades will wear the Norman Shield insignia of the 1st Cavalry Division. At any given time, one Brigade wearing this badge will be in the Training phase, one in the Deployment phase, and one in the Reconstitution phase.

The US Army has 5 types of Line Combat Brigades:

• 35 Cavalry/Armour (Heavy) Brigades
• 20 Infantry (Medium) Brigades
• 16 Light Infantry Brigades
• 6 Airborne Infantry Brigades
• 6 Air-Mobile Infantry Brigades

All of these Brigades are fully integrated units combining maneuver, fire support, IISR (information, intelligence, surveillence, and reconnaissance), combat mobility (engineers), sustainment, and aviation.

They are distinguished primarily by the vehicles used for infantry mobility. Heavy Brigades all use the M2 Bradley, Medium Brigades use the M113A4 (MTVL), Light Brigades predominantly use the RG-31, RG-33, and Cougar series. Airmobile and Airborne Brigades do not use organic mechanised or motorised infantry transport.

Combat Support Brigades are units provided to theatre commanders which are not intended to fight the enemy in close combat. They provide long range nuclear strike, missile defence, engineering services, information and intelligence, and sustainment services. Combat Support Brigades include Theatre Air and Missile Defence Brigades, Theatre Ballistic Missile Brigades, Advanced Engineering Brigades, and Theatre Deployment and Sustainment Brigades. The TDSB is intended to move into a theatre quickly, and establish facilities and infrastructure for a US Army to operate, as well as keep the US Army operating once it is in theatre. Advanced Engineering Brigades give the theatre commander more comprehensive capabilities for construction, and bridging.

Combat Support Brigades:

• 15 Theatre Air and Missile Defence Brigades
• 9 Theatre Ballistic Missile Brigades
• 10 Theatre Deployment and Sustainment Brigades
• 10 Advanced Engineering Brigades
• 8 Battlefield Surveillence Brigades

Commands

The US Army has a number of Component Commands responsible for providing training, evaluation, testing, doctrine development, and specialised services to the Army. Some of these commands are new. Particularly the Financial and Auditing Command which is now a three-star command reflecting President Marshall's drive for greater accountability, and financial transparency in the Federal Government.

• United States Army Materiel Command
• United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)
• U.S. Army Test & Evaluation Command
• U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• U.S. Army Medical Command
• United States Army Military District of Washington
• U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC)
• United States Army Legal and Justice Command
• U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command
• United States Army Financial and Auditing Command
• U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM)
• U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC)

Special Operations Forces

Special Forces exist outside this structure, and are part of United States Army Special Operations, which is in turn part of United States Special Operations Command. USASO consists of the following units:

• United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets)
• 75th Ranger Regiment (Airborne)
• 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)
• 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne)
• 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne)
• Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne)
• United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School

Opposing Forces

The Opposing Forces units, or OPFOR are US Army units intended to simulate enemy equipment and tactics in order to train US and friendly forces. The need for these forces was realised after a series of RAND corporation studies revealed that a soldier who survived his first dozen fights had a 75% chance of surviving a tour of duty. The aim of OPFOR is to give a soldier those experiences in a non-lethal, high-stress setting as close to real combat as possible.

There are three Major Training Centers that utilize home-based OPFOR units for the US Army:

• The National Training Center or NTC in New Mexico with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment or Blackhorse (also known as the 11th Motor Rifle Regiment) simulating a Soviet conventional unit.
• The Joint Readiness Training Center or JRTC in Texas with the the 1st Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment or Geronomos (also known as Al OPFOR) simulating Islamofascist terrorists in an urban setting.
• The Joint Multinational Readiness Center or JMRC in France with the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment (Separate) or Warriors (also known as the 1st Battalion, 4th Motor Rifle Regiment)

Doctrine

The US Army currently maintains a flexible response doctrine. It emphasises attack as the best form of defence, and has tried to maintain a decentralised method of fighting. A key component is the need to shift fighting as quickly as possible on to the territory of the enemy.

US ground forces try to maintain a 'belt and braces' approach to attack, and defence. Even though the information age has revolutionised land warfare, the US Army maintains that physical advantage must be kept, and that high situational awareness cannot compensate for a lack of mobility, armoured protection, and firepower.

Although US ground forces are highly integrated with aerial support from Army Aviation, carrier aviation, and the Air Force, the US Army still believes it needs a large amount of organic fire support, which is to say the fact that troops can virtually directly vector support from fighter-bombers does not remove the need for conventional artillery.

The US Army has had a renewed appreciation of the need for air defence, and today US ground forces have a large amount and variety of air defence weapons. Every Line Combat Brigade deploys a battery of MIM-23 HAWK or MIM-120 SL-AMRAAM missiles, every battalion has either mobile FIM-92 Stinger missiles or MIM-146 Liberty missiles, and every Infantry Company has FIM-92 Stingers (either man-carried, or vehicle mounted.

Equipment

Small Arms

Pistols

• M9 9mm pistol
• M11 9mm pistol
• Mk 23 Mod 0 .45 ACP pistol (Special Forces)
• Heckler & Koch USP Tactical .45 ACP pistol (Special Forces)

Rifles

• M16A2/A3/A4 5.56mm rifle
• M14 7.62mm rifle
  • M14 SMUD (Stand-off Munition Disruption rifle)
• M1903 Springfield Rifle .30'06 rifle (US Army Drill Team)

Carbines

• M4/M4A1 Carbine 5.56mm carbine
• Mk 18 Mod 0 CQBR 5.56mm carbine (Special Forces)
• Colt Model 723/725/727 5.56mm carbine (Special Forces)
• HK 416 Carbine 5.56mm carbine (Special Forces)

Submachine Guns

• HK MP5/MP5N 9mm submachine gun
• HK MP5SD3/5/6 9mm submachine gun (Special Forces)
• HK MP5K/MP5K-N 9mm submachine gun (Special Forces)
• HK UMP .45 ACP submachine gun (Special Forces)

Machine Guns

• M249 Minimi 5.56mm light machine gun
• M240 7.62mm general purpose machine gun
• M60 7.62mm general purpose machine gun
• M2 Browning .50 BMG heavy machine gun

Sniper Rifles

• M24 Sniper Weapon System 7.62mm sniper rifle
• M110 SASS 7.62mm sniper rifle
• M21 7.62mm sniper rifle
• M82 .50 BMG sniper rifle
• M107 .50 BMG sniper rifle

Shotguns

• Mossberg 500 & 590 12 gauge shotgun
• M1014 12 gauge shotgun
• KAC Masterkey 12 gauge shotgun (Special Forces)
• Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun

Heavy Weapons

• M203A1/A2 40mm grenade launcher
• M32 40mm Multiple Grenade Launcher
• M3 MAAWS 84mm recoilless rifle
• M72 66mm rocket launcher
• M136 AT4 84mm disposable rocket launcher
• Mk 153 Mod 0 SMAW 83mm rocket launcher
• M202A1 Flash (Flame Assault Shoulder Weapon)
• FGM-172 SRAW anti tank missile
• FGM-148 Javelin anti tank missile
• FGM-153 Spike assault missile [1];[2]
• FIM-92 Stinger surface to air missile

Armoured Vehicles

Tanks

• M1 Abrams
  • M1 Abrams
  • M1A1 HA Abrams
  • M1A1 AIM Abrams
  • M1A2 SEP Abrams [3]
  • M1 Grizzly Engineer Vehicle
  • M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge [4]
  • M105 Abrams Recovery Vehicle [5]
  • M108 Liberty Abrams Air Defence System [6]
• M8 Buford Armoured Gun System
• M60A3 Patton
  • M60A4 Patton [7]
  • M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle
  • M60A1 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge
• M48A5 Patton (National Guard only)
  • M88A2 Hercules Recovery Vehicle
• M551 Sheridan

Armoured Personnel Carriers

• M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle [8]
  • M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle [9]
  • M6 Bradley Liberty Air Defence Vehicle [10]
  • M2 Bradley AMEV (Armoured Medical Evacuation Vehicle) [11]
  • M4 Bradley AMTV (Armored Medical Treatment Vehicle) [12]
  • M6 Bradley Blazer Air Defence Vehicle [13]
  • M7 FIST (Fire Support Team Vehicle) [14]
  • M10 Bradley Medium Tank (Bradley chassis with new hull and turret mounting a 105mm gun to serve as a medium tank)
• M113A4 series [15]
  • M113A4 Armoured Personnel Carrier [16]
  • M113A4 Reconnaissance Vehicle [17]
  • M163A4 Blazer Air Defence System
  • M1064A4 120mm Mortar Carrier
  • M577A4 Command Vehicle [18]
  • M981A4 FIST-V
  • M113A4 Engineer Support Vehicle [19]
  • M113A4 Medical Evacuation Vehicle
  • M901A4 Improved TOW Vehicle [20]
  • M113A4 Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle [21]
  • M696A4 Recovery Vehicle [22]
  • M579A4 Fitters Vehicle [23]
  • M727A4 HAWK AMRAAM Launcher
  • M548A4 Universal Load Carrier [24]
  • M1015A3 Tracked Electronic Warfare Vehicle
• Legacy M113 series
  • M113A3 Armoured Personnel Carrier
  • M163A3 Vulcan-Stinger Air Defence System [25]
  • M548A3 Tracked Carrier
  • M577A3 Command Vehicle
  • M579A3 Fitters Vehicle
  • M696A3 Recovery Vehicle
  • M727A3 HAWK AMRAAM launcher
  • M727A3 HAWK launcher
  • M730A3 Chaparral launcher
  • M901A3 Improved TOW Vehicle
  • M981A3 FIST-V
  • M1015A3 Tracked Electronic Warfare Carrier
  • M1064A3 120mm Mortar Carrier

Light Combat Vehicles

• M1097 Weasel Weapon Carrier [26]
  • M1097 Weasel TOW Vehicle
  • M1097 Ocelot Stinger Vehicle
  • M1097 Ocelot Radar Vehicle
  • M1097 Ocelot Command Vehicle
  • M1097 Weasel Reconniassance Vehicle
  • M1097 Weasel E-FOGM Launcher
• M1117 Guardian
• M1097 Avenger Air Defense System
• M1099 HUMRAAM Air Defence System
• M1087 Liberty Air Defence Vehicle
• M44 E-FOGM Launch Unit [27]

Patrol Vehicles

• Cougar H
• Cougar HE
• BAE Caiman
• RG-31
• Cheetah MMPV
• RG-33
• RG-33L
• MaxxPro XL Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV)
• Buffalo (mine protected vehicle)
• Meerkat Mine Detection Vehicle (MDV)
• Husky Metal Detecting and Marking Vehicle

Support/Engineering Vehicles

• M9 Armored Combat Earthmover
• M93 Fox Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical reconnaissance vehicle
• M578 Recovery Vehicle
• M973 Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV)
  • M973A1 (Cargo) Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV)
  • M1065 (Command Control) Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV)
  • M1066 (Ambulance) Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV)
  • M1067 (Flatbed) Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV)

OPFOR vehicles

• M551 NTC (National Training Centre)
  • M551 VISMOD T-72
  • M551 VISMOD T-80
  • M551 VISMOD ZSU-23
  • M551 VISMOD 2S1
• M113A3 VISMOD BMP-1
• M1025 HMMWV VISMOD BRDM-2
  • M1025 HMMWV VISMOD BRDM-2 ATGW
• T-54
• T-55
• MT-LB
• BTR-50
• BTR-70
• BTR-80
• BRDM-2
• Technical (Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with M2 0.50 Heavy Machine Gun)

Artillery

Mortars

• M224 60 mm mortar
• M252 81 mm mortar
• M120 120 mm mortar
• M121 120 mm mortar

Guns/Howitzers

• M40 (106mm Recoilless Rifle)
• M101 (105 mm Towed Howitzer)
• M102 (105 mm Towed Howitzer)
• M119 (105 mm Towed Howitzer)
• M198 (155 mm Towed Howitzer)
• M777 (155 mm Towed Howitzer)
• M109 (155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer)
  • M109A5 (155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer)
  • M109A6 Paladin (155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer)
  • M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle (FAASV)
  • M992A2 Fire Direction Center Vehicle (FDCV)

Rockets/Missiles

• M270 MLRS
  • M26 Rocket
    • M26A1
    • M26A2
  • M29 Rocket with Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM)
  • M30 Guided MLRS (GMLRS)
  • M31 Guided MLRS (GMLRS)
  • MGM-140 ATACMS
  • MGM-164 ATACMS II
  • MGM-168 ATACMS Block IVA
• M142 HIMARS High Mobility Artillery Rocket System
  • M26 Rocket
    • M26A1
    • M26A2
  • M29 Rocket with Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM)
  • M30 Guided MLRS (GMLRS)
  • M31 Guided MLRS (GMLRS)
  • MGM-140 ATACMS
  • MGM-164 ATACMS II
  • MGM-168 ATACMS Block IVA
• MGM-31C Pershing II

Anti-Tank Weapons

• M40 (106mm Recoilless Rifle)
• FGM-172 SRAW
• FGM-148 Javelin
• MGM-51 Shillelagh
• BGM-71 TOW
• MGM-157 EFOGM

Air Defence

• M167 Vulcan Air Defense System (VADS) 20mm Air Defence Cannon
• FIM-92 Stinger
• MIM-146 Liberty (US-version of Crotale)
• MIM-23 HAWK
• MIM-120 AMRAAM
• MIM-104 Patriot
  • Patriot PAC (Patriot Advanced Capability 1)
  • Patriot PAC-2 (Patriot Advanced Capability 2)
  • Patriot PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability 3)
• THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)

Aircraft

• OH-58 Kiowa
  • OH-58C Kiowa (National Guard)
  • OH-58D Kiowa
  • OH-58D Kiowa Warrior
• ARH-70A Arapaho
• AH-64 Apache
  • AH-64A Apache
  • AH-64D Apache
  • AH-64D Apache Longbow
• AH-1 Cobra
  • AH-1P Cobra
  • AH-1S Cobra
  • AH-1E Cobra
  • AH-1F Cobra
• UH-1 Iroquois (Reserve/National Guard)
  • UH-1H Iroquois
  • UH-1V Iroquois
• UH-60 Black Hawk
  • UH-60A Black Hawk
  • UH-60L Black Hawk
  • UH-60M Black Hawk
  • UH-60Q Black Hawk
  • HH-60L
  • MH-60A Black Hawk
  • MH-60K Black Hawk
  • MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator (DAP)
  • EH-60L Black Hawk
• CH-47 Chinook
  • CH-47D Chinook
  • MH-47D Chinook
  • MH-47E Chinook
  • CH-47F Chinook
  • MH-47G Chinook
• MH-6 Little Bird
  • AH-6 Little Bird
• OV-1D Mohawk
• RV-1D Mohawk
• RV-11B ARLM
• UV-18 Twin Otter
• UV-19 Turbo Porter
• RC-12 Guardrail
• RC-12 Aerial Common Sensor
• C-31 Troopship (US Army Parachute Team)
• C-23 Sherpa
• C-12 Huron
• C-20 Gulfstream
• C-26 Metroliner
• C-37 Gulfstream
• Mi-8 Hip (OPFOR)
• Mi-24 Hind (OPFOR)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

• RQ-7 Shadow
• RQ-11 Raven

Support Vehicles

• HMMWV series
• Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) series
• Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) series
• Palletized Load System (PLS)
• Heavy Equipment Transport System (HETS)
• M3 Amphibious Bridge
• Improved Ribbon Bridge
• LARC-V
• LARC-15
• LARC-60
• GKN Aquatrack

Aerial Weapon Systems

• AGM-114 Hellfire
• AIM-92 Stinger
• Mk 40 FFAR

Uniforms

The US Army's dress uniform hasn't changed much since 1945. The so-called 'pinks and green' (named because the beige of the shirt and tie has a slight pinkish hue) has withstood the test of time. The only major change was in the short service dress jacket (the Ike Jacket) in which buttons were replaced with a zip.

The US Army's combat uniforms on the other hand have changed significantly in the last 60 years, and the current Army Combat Uniform, which replaced the M81 Battle Dress Uniform in 2007 is a thoroughly modern combat uniform.

US Army Service Uniform

Army Combat Uniform

Rank Insignia

Officers

Warrant Officers

Enlisted Men

Flag

Flag of the United States Army