Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

192 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery
decreased by 1952, reducing the former to 3,541 and the latter to 3,572, although
the artillery firepower remained unchanged. 4
As field artillery officers had recommended in 1945–46, countermortar radar
sections were added to each of the light artillery battalions, and antiaircraft artillery
automatic weapons battalions were added to the divisions. A countermortar radar
section was authorized for the headquarters battery of each light artillery battalion
for locating enemy mortars and adjusting friendly fire on them. In anticipation of the
merger of field, antiaircraft, and coast artillery, the antiaircraft artillery automatic
weapons battal ion, armed with thirty-two self-propelled quadruple .50-caliber machine
guns and thirty-two dual 40-mm. guns, was assigned directly to the divi sion
artillery rather than to the division headquarters. 5
The changes in organization and equipment that occurred after World War II
added considerable personnel to the divisions and made it possible for the divisions
to have permanently assigned units under their direct control. In addition, the
firepower of the infantry division was increased by a half and that of the armored
division by a third.
Reorganization of the infantry divisions in the Regular Army began in the fall
of 1948, followed by those in the National Guard and Organized Reserve Corps,
but only the 1st Infantry Divi sion in Germany and the 2d Infantry Division at Fort
Lewis, Washington, were authorized at full war strength. Nation al Guard divisions
were authorized at reduced strength, with some field artillery batteries having only
four howitzers instead of six; the Organized Reserve Corps divisions were authorized
officers and cadres only. The same year saw the reorganization of the armored
divisions. The process started with the 2d Armored Division in the Regular Army,
followed by the two National Guard and three Organized Reserve Corps divisions
the next year. The National Guard armored divisions were also authorized at reduced
strength, and the Organized Reserve Corps divisions were authorized only officers
and enlisted cadres. 6
New tables for the airborne division artillery did not appear until 1 April 1950.
Reflecting the desire for a unit that could withstand sustained combat and the general
trend toward uniformity among the different types of divisions, the airborne division
artillery structure was the same as that in the armored and infantry divisions except
that each firing battery contained four howitzers instead of six and the automatic
weapons battalion comprised three firing batteries instead of four. Altogether, an
airborne division could field thirty-six 105-mm. howitzers in its three parachute
battalions, twenty-four 40-mm. guns, and twenty-four .50-caliber machine guns.
Each 105-mm. howitzer battery also had four 75-mm. pack howitzers, but no crews
for them. The authorized aggregate strength of the division artillery was 2,862; the
division as a whole numbered 17,490. 7
4 TOE 7N, 2 Jun 1948, and related tables; TOE 17N, 8 Oct 1948, and related tables; TOE 7, 15 May
1952, and related tables; TOE 17, 30 Dec 1952, and related tables.
5 Antiaircraft artillery units will be discussed in more detail in Air Defense Artillery, a future volume
in the Army Historical Series.
6 Wilson, Maneuver and Firepower, pp. 225–27.
7 TOE 71, 1 Apr 1950, and related tables.