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Today a train came into the depot with 67 M1A1's from the 278th ACR (Tennessee Nat'l Guard). Did they get new ones or are they converting to Stryker?

Here is what I found on the 278th ACR;
Tennessee has been known as "The Volunteer State" since 1780 when Colonel John Sevier called for "100 good men" - and 200 answered. The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment is the only enhanced Armored Cavalry Regiment within the National Guard, and one of only two Armored Cavalry Regiments in the United States Army. It is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, with units throughout the East and Middle Tennessee Area.

The three Cavalry Troops of each Squadron are each equipped with nine M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, 13 M3A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and two 120mm Mortar carriers. The Howitzer Battery, is equipped with six of the 155mm M109 SP Howitzers. The Tank Company is equipped with 14 M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks. Rounding out this combat power are two more M3A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles for the Squadron Commander and his S-3.

An Armored Cavalry Regiment is organized for the specific purposes of reconnaissance, surveillance, and security. Depending on the factors of mission, enemy, terrain, troops available, time and weather, a Cavalry unit may be given one mission or several simultaneous missions. It must be organized, equipped, and trained for continuous combat operations in all types of terrain under all weather conditions. Cavalry's firepower, mobility and shock effect make it one of the Army's most flexible organizations.

...ah....(cough, cough)....

I can look into this.... (snicker)....

I'll let you know

Don

Hi Mark! Hi Folks!

- MarkHolloway

Today a train came into the depot with 67 M1A1's from the 278th ACR (Tennessee Nat'l Guard). Did they get new ones or are they converting to Stryker?

The 278th ACR is not on the list (AFAIK) to get Strykers. The only NG unit getting them is the Pennsylvania 56th BCT.

The last news I heard about the 278th was their were converting from an ACR TOE to the new Unit of Action (UofA) type of heavy brigade combat team (BCT) TOE. That should mean a lot less M1s were needed. That also means there are no heavy ACRs left in the current forces. The 11th ACR doesn't count because it is only an ACR in name only. As the 3rd ACR stands up at Ft. Hood, it is also converting into a Heavy UofA BCT.

Follow up edit/post:
Per the US Army's 2005 Modernization Plan, the 278th was one of four NG (116th, 256th, & 155th) BCTs converting to the Heavy type of (UofA) BCTs, along with 29th converting to an Infantry (UofA) BCT, and the 56th converting to a Stryker BCT.
Per the 2006 Modernization Plan, "Most combat formations and headquarters will be completed by 2008: theater Army headquarters will be completed by 2009, and Support Brigades will be completed by 2011".

Spot Report!
Sgt, Scouts Out!

PS
army.mil/features/MODP...05main.pdf

army.mil/features/MODP...20Main.pdf

Does anyone have a TO&E for an HBCT?

No more UAs or UEs, that terminology has been dropped - the brigades are now classed as Heavy, Infantry (ie Light) and Stryker, so otherwise what you said still holds.

Neil

Hi HF6! Hi Folks!

- Hellfish6

Does anyone have a TO&E for an HBCT?

This is what little I have put together from news articles:

Six battalions:
Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB) with five companies -
Bde/Bn Hq&Hq Co, Intelligence Co, MP/Security Co. Medical Co. and Commications Co.
BSB battalion. (I think the 'B' and 'S' stand for Brigade Support Battalion-?)
Possible made up of Engineers, Chemical, and Logistics companies.
Reconnaissance, Surveillance & Target Acquisition Squadron (RSTA). The Brigade Recon battalion. The Cav Troop (or Troops) has mixed platoons of Hummers and Bradleys. It has other elements like a Stryker RSTA has.
Tank Battalion with two tanks companies, four platoons of four tanks each, plus two Hq tanks per company (18 tanks per company? with 36 tanks in the battalion?)
Mech Infantry Battalion with two infantry companies four platoons per company (?).
Artillery Battalion with ? batteries with ? 155 howizters per battery.

If the new HBCT has 36 tanks, and 67 ex-278th ACR tanks are now over where Mark works, that should leave 20 some tanks unaccounted for, maybe. Maybe they took some with them to Iraq in 2004 and didn't bring them back or turned them in for overhaul and repairs.

Anyone else have anything better?
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Last I heard the HBCTs had hybrid tank-infantry battalions. Two companies of tanks, two of infantry in each of the two hybrid battalions.

I also seem to remember that there were 10 155mm guns in the Fires battalion, plus 3 MLRS or HIMARS?

According these slides, albeit 2 years old, an HBCT has 2 Combined Arms battalions, a Recon Squadron, a Fires Battalion and a Support Battalion - 58 Abrams, 95 Bradleys, 16 Paladins.

asc.army.mil/docs/brie..._Brief.ppt (see page 15).

Neil

Hi HF6! Hi Folks!

- Hellfish6

I also seem to remember that there were 10 155mm guns in the Fires battalion, plus 3 MLRS or HIMARS?

I don't know about those. The 4th Long Knifes Bde stood up here at Ft. Bliss and their artillery unit only has M109A6s per an article in the base newspaper. As far as MLRSs, I haven't seen any of those sense the last time a battalion dropped by to use the ranges for their annual live fire.

Haven't seen any HiMARS around here (doesn't mean some are not here), but the last I heard was the 82nd Abn Division was the only unit that has some of those.

I noticed in the Slide Show Neil linked to that Rocket Artillery units only show up in the Fires Support Brigades.

My 2 cents,
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Hi Neil! Hi Folks!

- Neil_Baumgardner

According these slides, albeit 2 years old, an HBCT has 2 Combined Arms battalions, a Recon Squadron, a Fires Battalion and a Support Battalion - 58 Abrams, 95 Bradleys, 16 Paladins.
Neil

Thanks Neil! Very interesting slide show!

58 Abrams would account for those missing 20 tanks in my count about.
I have been wonderng about that two battalion with only two companies newspaper article I have.

I noticed something very interesting in the layout for the Infantry BCT. Six Infantry Companies with six Assault Platoons (Motorized).

Assault? Motorized?

Has anyone heard anything about how those platoons are equiped?

The Aviation Brigade has something that seams a bit odd to me.
The Army has been using OH, AH, and CH type helicopters for years.
The Marines, the Navy, and the Air Forces have been using HH types forever, but not the Army. The slide lists 12 HH's in each type of Aviation Brigade. Has anyone heard anything about the Army picking up a new heavy type of helicopter?

Very interesting!
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Hi Folks!

I was reading over the slide show again. The first time though I notice a LACK of Air Defence units in the new Fires Brigade. I had noticed the battalion of "Rocket/Missile"s and was thinking at first the AD units were some how a small part of that unit.

After all, the Air Defense Branch is going to move to Ft. Still to combine with the Field Artillery Branch to form a new Fire Support Branch.

During my second read, I was looking over the new "Maneuver Enhancement Brigade". Interesting name, figured I would find lots of engineers with a name like that. I found engineers along with MPs, Chemical, EOD, CA, MAN (what is that?) and AIR DEFENSE units.

Under the latest BRAC plan, the Air Defense and Field Artillery Branchs are being combined into a new single branch.

I just think it is a bit odd that with the branchs being combined, the ex-field artillery units and the ex-air defense units would be placed in different types of Brigades just like they are now.

Sorry for driffing a bit of the AFV topic folks.
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Hold on... The branch schools & centers are moving to centralized locations... And we seem to be getting combined arms battalions - in all but name, they're still called X Battalion, X Infantry or Armor, etc... But the branches havent quite been merged yet... Although many can see the handwriting on the wall...

neil

Dontos,
I see the snicker and coughing comments, I kinda hee hee'd too. BTW, Yambo should be at Hood by now and will be home shortly.

Joe D

- Roy_A_Lingle

Reconnaissance, Surveillance & Target Acquisition Squadron (RSTA). The Brigade Recon battalion. The Cav Troop (or Troops) has mixed platoons of Hummers and Bradleys. It has other elements like a Stryker RSTA has.
Sgt, Scouts Out!

The Canadian variation of this grouping is called I-STAR "Intelligence Survellance Targeting (?) and Reconnaissance" just about every forward element that is not part of the rifle companies, tanks, guns and engineers - snipers to UAVs to mast-mounted sensors in 8-wheeled Coyotes.

It seems to be doing well in AFG where the conventional linear battlefield doesn't exist and tasks have to be shared across very wide organizations.

As for the M1A1 tanks in Tennessee, y'all have a good day, eh?