Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

254 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery
to be activated included one artillery battalion in support of two infantry battle
groups. The artillery battalion of one brigade was organized under the same tables
as the 105-mm. howitzer battalion in the infantry division, but with two instead of
five firing batteries, while the artillery battalion in the other brigade was organized
as a composite unit with two 105-mm. howitzer batteries, one 155-mm. howitzer
battery, and one Honest John battery. Three separate brigades were also organized
in the Army National Guard. 21
Combat Arms Regimental System
In conjunction with the reorganization of the divisions under the pentomic
structure and with the collateral demise of the infantry regiment, Secretary of the
Army Wilber M. Brucker on 24 January 1957 approved the new Combat Arms
Regimental System (CARS), developed by the Army staff to maintain the continuity
of distinguished combat units without restricting the organizational trends of
the future. Before CARS, the ebb and flow of warfare directly affected the size
and number of military formations. Whenever the United States entered periods of
military retrenchment, units were invariably broken up, reorganized, consolidated,
or disbanded; conversely, during periods of mobilization new units were created,
often in large numbers. Furthermore, changes in weapons and techniques of warfare
also produced new types of organizations to replace old ones. As a result, soldiers
frequently served in units with little or no history, while organizations with long
combat records remained inactive. CARS was created and adopted to alle viate some
of these problems. 22
Influenced by the British, the Army selected parent regiments as vehicles
for perpetuating lineage and honors, even though the regiment itself was no
longer a tactical unit (with the exception of the armored cavalry regiment). Field,
antiaircraft, missile, and coast artillery units were combined into a single branch
of seventy-five artillery regi ments. Each regiment provided a base for a varying
number of tactical elements, usually bat talions or batteries. The number and size
varied according to evolving force require ments. Each new regimental organization
traced its heri tage to an element of the regiment as it had existed prior to
World War II. When the new unit was a bat talion, its head quarters descended
from one of the old batteries, and its organic elements were constituted as new
units (Charts 4 and 5). Elements of the same parent regiment were assigned to
21 Ltr AGAO–O (M) 322 (11 Jun 58), DCSPER, 8 Jul 1958, sub: Change in Status of the 1st Infantry
Brigade and Other Units, copy in 2d Bn, 10th FA, fldr, CMH files; Ltr AGAO–O (M) 322 (5 Feb 58),
DCSPER, 12 Feb 1958, sub: Organization of the 2d Infantry Brigade, copy in 1st Bn, 76th FA, fldr, CMH
files. In 1959 the 29th, 92d, and 258th Infantry Brigades were organized, respectively, in Hawaii, Puerto
Rico, and Arizona.
22 CARS section based on AR 870–5, 22 Jan 1977; AR 672–5–1, 3 Jun 1974; AR 840–10, 23 Aug
1962; DA Cir 220–1, Oct 1960; DA Pam 220–1, Jun 1957; Janice E. McKenney, “Artillery Branches Out,”
Soldiers, December 1971, pp. 14–15; “The Combat Arms Regimental System: Questions and Answers”
(Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1978); and documents in Artillery
CARS Reorganization fldr, CMH files.