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Newspapers, books, articles, and web sites
often refer to so-and-so-many Brigades, Divisions, or Armies deployed
to such and such a place by such and such a country. This has
always bugged me since I couldn't understand from it how many men were
invovled.
When David Storrie lectured us on the German occupation of Norway in
WWII, he did it again. The Germans, he said were obliged to keep 5
Divisions in Norway just in case the British decided to invade through
there. (The more you conquer the bigger the perimeter you must
defend.)
So I asked David what a Division might be. And what are the sizes of
other components of armies. He came up with the following. Each level
expands one of the components on the level above. In practice,
every Army has Corps, every Corps has Divisions, and so on.
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5th Army
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6th Corps
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10th Corps
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15th Corps |
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5th Division |
24th Division
Headquarters
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36th Division |
45th Division |
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10th Brigade
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22nd Brigade
Headquarters
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28th Brigade |
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1st Battalion
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2nd Battalion
Headquarters
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22nd Artillery
Regiment |
5th Engineer
Company
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22nd Logistic
Regiment |
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Headquarters
Company
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'A' Company
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'B' Company
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'C' Company
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Support Company
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1 Platoon
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2 Platoon
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3 Platoon
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1 Section
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2 Section
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3 Section
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Approximate sizes of the various type of unit:
| Unit type |
Comprised of | Nominal Size* |
|---|
| Rifle Section |
Corporal and 9 men |
~10 men
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| Platoon |
Lieutenant, Sergeant, and 3
sectionss |
~35 men
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| Rifle Company |
Captain, Warrant Officer, CSgt,
and 3 platoons |
~120 men |
| Battalion |
Lieutenant Colonel, Maj, HQ
company, Support
Company, 3 or 4 rifle companies |
600-800 men |
Brigade
|
Colonel or Brigadier General, 3
Battalions, Artillery
Regiment, Engineer Company, Logistics Regiment
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2800+ men
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Division
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Major General, 3 Brigades,
Divisional Artillery
Regiment (Heavy guns), Engineer Regiment, Brigade Headquarters, Staff
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say 15,000 men
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Corps
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Lieutenant General, 4 Divisions
and a Headquarters
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~70,000 men
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Army
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General, 3 or 4 Corps
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200-300 thousand men
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(*The unit of size is "men".
Women do not exist or do not count.)
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