US Order of Battle, ETO and MTO

I know the US military establishment decided on the 90-division limit, to focus more on air forces as a decisive fighting and offensive force to make up for traditional ground attack offensives. I also know the US had many combat troops in non-divisional units as well. Does anyone know if there is an order of battle for the non-divisional units, the types, numbers, etc.? It had to be close to a million men in the non-divisional combat groups because I've seen the stat that up to 45% of combat troops were non-divisional.

 

[SIZE=12pt]On 31 December 1943 the strength of the AA Command peaked at 557 active battalions with 431,000 officers and men. [/SIZE]In effect, the mobilization of the Army Ground Forces ended in 1943. No new divisions were activated after 16 August 1943, and one, the 2nd Cavalry Division, was actually inactivated for a second time during 1944. The sole “growth” in the Army Ground Forces was in the mobilization of additional non-divisional combat support battalions – chiefly artillery. The number of non-divisional Field Artillery Battalions active increased between 30 June 1943 and 31 December 1943, from 212 to 231. The number of non-divisional tank battalions also grew in the same period, from 41 to 65. Engineer Battalions grew from 119 to 166 and AAA Battalions from 547 to 557. However, the number of Tank Destroyer Battalions shrank, from 106 to 101, as did the number of Separate Infantry Battalions, from 187 to 172. The overall number of combat support battalions grew from 1,212 to 1,292.

[SIZE=12pt]From 1 January-30 June 1944 the number of non-divisional Field Artillery Battalions increased sharply, from 231 to 315. The number of Engineer Battalions also increased, to 212. Tank battalions shrank slightly, to 64, while the number of Tank Destroyer Battalions shrank to 78. The other non-divisional battalion strengths decreased dramatically, AAA Battalions decreased by 78 to 479 and Infantry Battalions decreased by 28, to 144. Overall there were still 1,292 battalions, the same as on 31 December 1943.[/SIZE]

On 31 December 1944, the strength of the Field Artillery Battalions peaked at 346. Engineer strength also peaked, growing to 240 battalions. Tank Battalion strength returned to 65, while the Tank Destroyers lost another 5 battalions, leaving 73. Infantry Battalion strength remained the same, but the AA Command lost 132 battalions, reducing to 347. Overall the total number of combat support battalions shrank to 1,215. Much of this overall reduction was to provide replacement infantry for the divisions engaged in the European Theater of Operations.

The only modifications to the existing 1945 Troop Basis was to reduce slightly the number of non-divisional battalions, again mostly to provide replacement manpower for the remainder of the war in Europe and for the contemplated assault on the Japanese home islands. Field Artillery strength decreased to 326 battalions, Tank Battalion strength to 60, Tank Destroyer Battalion strength to 68, Engineer Battalion strength to 226, AAA Battalion strength to 331, and Infantry Battalion strength to 116. Overall, there were 1,127 non-divisional combat support battalions active on 31 March 1945, a decrease of almost 7.3 percent.

 

Did you type that all from memory? That's impressive knowledge. So we did have over one million men in non-divisional combat roles?

 

What types of weapons did AA command use vs. AAA battalions?

 

AA Command was the administrative headquarters of all AA troops in CONUS. It reported to Army Ground Forces and was responsible for doctrine, training, and organization. The AA Command fielded AA Brigade HQs, AA Group HQs, AA Battalions (Gun, AW, Balloon, and Searchlight), and companies (MG).

 

I know he's been dishonored a bit, but Stanton's "WW2 Order of Battle" will answer all your questions.

 

In that Stanton book it says "61 divisions assigned to the ETO" Does that include the MTO? Because I thought there were 29 divisions assigned to the Pacific, and 61 plus 29 is 90.

 

You thought wrong.

 

So how many divisions were in the Pacific?

 

21 USA and 6 USMC.

 

So that leaves 7 or 8 for the MTO.

 

Seven.

 

There's no need for that sort of behavior friend.

 

Spare me the public lecture, if you please. Say anything you want to me privately and I'll give it a fair hearing.

 

No lecture here, just friendly advice. There's just no need for the hostility. We're all here to learn.

 

Please stop with the passive/aggressive ploy. I asked you to direct any personal comments to me privately. Is that too much to ask?

 

You don't get respect, without showing respect.

Don't whinge about being called out for an inappropriate comment. You made that comment publicly.

 

I thought the thing to do when telling someone they were wrong , is why they were wrong & let them know the correct answer.

 

There's no ploy, just wondering why you post negatively most of the time. You don't have to be that way here or anywhere.