Joint Task Force Pope

[panzergator]

I assume GHQ's auto correct changed "Pentomic" to "pentagon" in your question. The Pentomic organization came along in the 1950s as the Army was trying to figure out how to fight in a nuclear warfare environment. Under the Pentomic system,the division's three brigades were reorganized into five battle groups, each of five companies. The idea was that units would be more dispersed, but more able to rapidly move around the battlefield to respond to developing challenges. Battle groups were bigger than battalions, but smaller than brigades to retain combat power but be less vulnerable to tactical nuclear weapons. The first problem for the Pentomic infantry division was that it was not fully mechanized. There were only sufficient armored personnel carriers (necessary to protect troops from radiation on a nuclear battlefield and RAPIDLY move around the battlefield) to move two of its five battlegroups at a time, and the APCs were retained in the divisional transportation battalion, not immediately available for a response. In addition, the battle groups proved unwieldy, as did the number of battle groups (5) for the division. These deficiencies were corrected by the subsequent ROAD organization with the adoption of mechanized divisions, each of its infantry battalions fully equipped with APCs sufficient for the entire battalion and modelled along the lines of the armored division, which had not been reorganized during the Pentomic era. Battalions returned, as well, with three line companies and combat support elements. The battle group lives on in the British Army as a descriptor for its equivalent of a US task force - a battalion-sized combined arms team of infantry and armor units.

Just for info - There were no mechanized divisions in the US Army prior to ROAD. They were all armored, infantry, or airborne infantry. The mechanized infantry were the armored infantry battalions assigned to armored divisions. There were also independent tank battalions assigned to infantry divisions, usually just one, with more available from armored groups at corps or army level. Most armored divisions emerged from WWII as light divisions - three tank battalions, three armored infantry battalions, and three artillery battalions. Post-war ** CENSORED ** resulted in adding to the armored divisions, usually 4 tank and 4 armored infantry, which carried through the '50s until ROAD. ROAD saw the armored division get 6 armor battalions and 5 mech battalions, the mechanized divisions with 5 and 5, sometimes 5 tank and 6 mech, depending on location. For a while, 8th ID in West Germany had an airborne brigade, just to make things interesting. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Armored Divisions were formed as heavy divisions for WWII. 2ND and 3rd remained heavy divisions throughout the war. 1st converted to a light division when it moved from Italy to Europe. Heavy divisions had two armored regiments, each with three battalions, an armoured infantry regiment, and a rivalry with three battalions.

Following the evolution of US Army organization makes for interesting, if somewhat specialized reading. Quite a bit of information can be found in books from the Center for Military History

[redleg]

Thanks for all the great info PG!

Just wen I think I have a particular TO&E nailed down, somebody has to throw some paratroopers in there to mix it up! LOL

[chrisswim]

PG, thank you for the helpful info and I.D. the correction.

[panzergator]

By the '70s, the airborne guys were gone and it was just armor, mech, arty, cav, and aviation.

[panzergator]

If you want to look at some of this stuff, search for USAREUR Units and Kasernes. It's A website with extensive information. Otherwise, you are left with making a personal visit to my library, which, incidentally, is a hard hat area in my basement.

[chrisswim]

PG, I thought it was a ‘hard head’ area….
Am I wrong?

[panzergator]

Either will do, Chris.

The Pentomic divisional tank battalion had 5 tank companies. Divarty had two composite battalions. You can search on "Pentomic division" for details. I'm still looking for the number of rifle platoons in a Pentomic infantry company. The whole Pentomic " thing" was a real mess politically, tactically, conceptually, and in implementation. Captains commanded companies, colonels commanded battle groups. Lieutenant colonels really had nothing to do, and when folks have nothing to do, they make trouble. There was a lot of hollering going on. Westmoreland was involved, politically, of course. I've read of his description by senior officers as "malleable.". Anybody care to speculate on his selection for Cdr, MACV? He shoved Pen to if down everyone's throat for Maxwell Taylor, commanded the 82nd, and, upon leaving, recommended Pen to mix be abolished.

Well, I better quit ranting and get back to research.

[redleg]

I’m just about finished with the entire JTFP headquarters. Like the building itself, the landscaping has many flaws and I re-did it several times, but I learned a lot in the process. I have been having trouble with the lawn, and when I try to fix it I seem to mess it up even more!

So I will be trying to get the lawn back in shape in a few spots, and I’m going to glue the building down, but other than that I am eager to move on to the next project. I may come back to the HQ and just re-do the landscaping on a new base (this one was too thin and warped slightly when I got the paint on it), but for now I will be applying all the lessons I learned here as I tackle the maintenance building and motor pool. Construction begins tonight!

[chrisswim]

Looks awesome. Very well manicured lawn. Great result.
The commander of the base is meticulous!

[Hoth_902]

Redleg,

Dude.. That looks amazing.. For a scratch built Its incredible. Great project and great results.

[redleg]

Thanks for the comments guys! Hopefully the next one will be much better!

[Mortis57]

Thanks for the comments guys! Hopefully the next one will be much better!

Looks good as it is though.

Maybe for the next one (or even this one) have the gate guardians and flags changeable for different nationalities. Of course, for a truly British base, the lawn needs to be striped and it also needs to have a bunch of white painted stones lining the road to give the squaddies something to do.

[redleg]

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend!

I got a little painting done this weekend and I finished up some vehicles for my 17th Field Artillery Brigade. Originally I wasn’t going to do any support vehicles for the artillery brigades, but I thought it might be an excuse to get some vehicles that I don’t normally have in my inventory. Since the time frame for my 17th FA Bde is 1986, I thought I could squeeze a few older vehicles in. Here are some Jeeps and Gama Goats that will support the M109 and M110 firing batteries!

[Olfarty]

.

[chrisswim]

Great look Mike, love the armor and artillery in the yard.
Very nice painting for the Jeeps and gamma goats.