July-August - Air Defense Artillery

THE AIRBORNE DIVISION
ANTIAIRCRAFT' officers are now
indicating interest in the airborne division's
organic antiaircraft battalion. The
questions most frequently asked are:
\VlIat is the mission of the antiaircraft
battalion?
How is it organized and equipped?
How is it employed?
How can I get in it?
To answer these questions well, It IS
necessary to give a brief background on
the mission, organization and tactical
employment of the airborne division.
IVhssJON
The mission of the airborne division is
to seize and hold important objectives by
airborne assault; to close with the enemy
by fire and maneuver in order to destroy
him; or to repel his assault by fire and
close combat. The division is capable of
engaging in airborne assault by means of
paradrop and air landing. It can also
conduct all types of ground operations,
acting either alone or as a part of a
larger force. Under the latest reorganization
the airborne division is capable of
sustained operations in combat for an
extended period of time.
ORGANIZATION
The division is organized as shown in
Fig. 1. Note that it is organized essentially
the same as the standard infantry
division. It has three airborne infantry
regiments of three battalions each; a division
artillery with three airborne light
field artillery battalions, one airborne
antiaircraft battalion, and one medium
field artillery battalion; two medium tank
Col. Smith is currently assigned to the Artil.
lery Inspector's Office, AFF, Fort Monroe, Va.
A qualified porachutis~, he served in World
War II in combat with the 17th Airborne
AAA Battalion and with G3 in the Chino
Theater. With intervening service as an in.
structor at the C&GS School, the AAA School
and the Army Intelligence School, he recently
commanded the B8th Airborne AAA Battalion.
By Lt. Col. Page E. Smith, Arty.
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battalions; an airborne engineer battalion;
and the normal technical and administrative
service support.
Some of the differences between the
standard infantry division and the airborne
division result from the inability of
present-day aircraft to air drop or air land
certain items of heavy equipment. For
example, the airborne infantry regiment
does not have an organic tank company
such as is found in the standard infantry
regiment.
There are some other major differences.
At division level you will find
that an antitank platoon, equipped with
six 90mm antitank guns, has been added
in order that some degree of antitank protection
will be available in the initial
stages of an airborne assault. A parachute
maintenance company is included
for the purpose of packing and maintaining
personnel and equipment parachutes.
Note that there are two tank
battalions instead of the conventional
one battalion found in the infantry
~aniu.tionaJ cbart
Abn div
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Figure 1.
OTltsnlzatJonal ('bart
Figure 2.
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EMPWYMENT
Moo hn
division: This change was necessary in
order to give the airborne division the
same tank support when conducting
normal ground operations as the infantry
division possesses.
At regimental level, the conventional
heavy mortar company and tank company
are replaced by a support company.
This company has a heavy mortar pIa:
toon, and an antitank platoon similar to
the one at division level. See Fig. 2.
In the division artillery, the major difference
between the airborne and infantry
divisions is that each field artillery
battery has only four pieces instead of
the conventional six. The antiaircraft
battalion has towed weapons rather than
the self-propelled found in the infantry
division, and has only three firing batteries
instead of the conventional four
batteries. See Figs. 3 and 4.
As stated previously, an airborne division
may be employed in any of the con-
JULY-AUGUST, 1951 57