Brances Of The Army - By: David Bunch

The United States Army is divided into what are called Arms and Services. The Arms are the fighting branches of the Army, and the Services are the ones that are mainly connected with supplying the fighting branches. The Arms include the infantry, the field artillery, the anti-aircraft artillery, and the armored divisions. The Services include the chemical corps, the quartermaster corps, the finance department, the ordnance corps, the medical corps, the adjutant general's department, the corps of chaplains, the transportation corps, and the judge advocate general's department. The adjutant general's department is concerned with keeping the records of the Army. The judge advocate general's department is concerned with military law.

The ordnance corps furnishes the guns and weapons. The corps of engineers and the signal corps are considered both Arms and Services. Some of their duties are fighting or being at the front lines, and others are concerned with servicing and supplying the front-line troops. Each branch of the Army is divided into many types and sizes of units. Let's look at the infantry. The smallest group in the infantry is the squad, which consists of eight men, usually plus a sergeant, who leads it. Several squads make up a platoon, which is usually led by a second lieutenant. Three rifle platoons and a weapons platoon make up a company. A weapons platoon has machine guns and mortars. A company is commanded by a captain.

It is considered the soldier's home, since he eats, sleeps, trains and fights with his company. There are about two hundred men in a company. Companies are identified by letters-such as Company A, Company B, Company C, etc. Three rifle companies and a heavy weapons company make up a battalion, which is usually commanded by a major. Three battalions usually make up a regiment. A regiment is commanded by a colonel. It is the basic fighting force of the Army. A regiment may be selected to do a particular job of fighting.
Three regiments usually make up a division. A division is commanded by a major general, and it is the smallest unit of the Army that is virtually an army in itself. This is so because it combines all of the Arms and many of the Services In addition to the three infantry regiments, a division has a battalion of tanks, four battalions of field artillery, a battalion of anti-aircraft artillery, a battalion of engineers, a signal company, an intelligence company, and several other service units. There are also armored divisions, armored infantry divisions, and airborne divisions, which have particular jobs in a war. There are about 15 to 18 thousand men in each division. All the soldiers in a division wear the shoulder patch of that division.

An army is made up of several divisions and various Service groups. A lieutenant general is usually in command of an army, but during wartime an army may be commanded by a full general. During World War II, there were as many as a dozen different fighting armies in the United States Army. They were scattered over Europe and the Pacific. In peacetime, the United States is divided into six army areas. The headquarters of these six armies are at Fort Jay, N.Y.; Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort McPherson, Georgia; Fort Sheridan, Illinois; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and the Presidio, in San Francisco, California. There may also be one or more occupation armies overseas. For example, after World War II the United States kept one occupation army in Germany, and another in Japan and other parts of the Far East.

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