What Are The Differences Between Army Divisions?

Question

Other than where they are located

Specifically toward

1st Armored Division
1st Cavalry Division
1st Infantry Division
2st Infantry Division
3st Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Army#Combat_maneuver_organizations

I've been looking at this and why are some brigades and regiments by themselves?

I know the difference between

10th Mountain Division
82nd Airborne Division
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
101st Airborne Division

Answer 1

Today, it doesn't really matter. With the new modular Army, its the Brigades that count. Divisions are now just division HQs and brigades are plugged in under them.



For example, they will tell 3rd ID HQ that they are the HQ that will take charge of Northern Iraq. Then they tell them you will get for example, 2 Heavy Brigade Comat Teams, 1 Striker Brigade Comat Team, and 1 Infantry Brigade Team. Generally 2-3 of those Brigades will be from 3rd ID and the rest could come from anywhere. It depends who is ready to deploy. So its not like the old day's when we had whole division.



In the old days:

1AD, 1 CAV were Armor Divisions. That means they had 2 Brigades that were Armor Heavy (2 Armor battalion and 1 Mech Infantry battalion, so a total of 5 Armor Battalions, 4 Infantry Battalions).



1 ID, 3ID, and 4ID were Mech Infantry DIvisions with 5 Armor Battalions and 4 Tanks Battalions.



10th Mountain, 25 ID, 82nd ABN, were all regular light infantry (9 Light infantry battalions). 101st had the same organization as the light infantry divisions, but they had extra helicopter battalions giving them more helicopters then other divisions to include heavy divisions.



2nd ID was an exception. They had 1 Armor Brigade, 1 Mech Brigade and 1 Light Brigade because of the Korea missions.



All Mech and Heavy Brigades had a lot of things, support units, engineers, signal assets etc because they had more equipment and could move a lot faster on the ground.



The two brigades were light infantry brigades that were seperate from the divisions (3 light infantry battalions). Today I know 172nd is a Striker Brigade.



Thats it without getting detailed, but like I said, today its the brigade that matters more then the division with the modular concept.

Answer 2

The link tells you the exact differences as best as anyone here could without repeating themselves. If you read to the right of the name you will see the description and composition of each unit. Some of the mechanized divisions such mine, the 1st Infantry Division, has a mixture of HBCT and IBCT. Dismounted and Humvee mounted troops in the light. M-1A2 tanks and M-2 Bradleys in the heavy. Others like the 2nd Infantry Division have Strkyer Brigades, HBCTs (Korea) and IBCTs.,



There isn't much more to elaborate unless you want the unit's history. Some brigades are separate because of their either not with their parent division on the same base or they just don't have one like the 172nd or future 170th (currently 2/1 AD) both in Germany.



Alot of these have been activated and deactivated over the last 65 years. Some have move bases a half-dozen times in 30 years. The few regiments out there are the same. Most are cavalry or Stryker except the 75th Ranger Regiment which is an infantry one. Mind you I am just talking about active ones and combat arms units.



So instead of typing a bunch of opinions or thoughts, read the actual links and you will understand. It can be confusing in 2009, but it was just as bad in 1942 or 1957 when we changed the structures.





More about the details of the units themselves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformation_of_the_United_States_Army

Answer 3

The link has a history of the Brigade concepts of the past, current and future. I read an article a year or more back that defined the Brigade Combat Teams as interchangeable between Divisions. If you look at the structure most now are close to the same. Some have a heavy Brigade meaning M1 Abrams some do not. The names of all the Divisions have remained the same for historical reasons. Even the Old 7th Cav is split between TX, GA and Korea with a Bn in each location. The 10th is not a Mt Divisions any more. The 25th is in HI and AK. The 25ths 4th Brigade Combat Team (Ft. Richardson AK) is Airborne.



The only thing permanent is change!



SSG US Army 73-82

Answer 4

when calling something "cavalry" opposed to "armored" division its mainly a traditional difference. the army moved away from its older style of units and now has 2 types of BCTs: heavy and light. cavalry, stryker, armor, and mechanized infantry all fall under heavy. the only light infantry unit on your list is the 25th, 10th, 82nd, 173rd, and 82nd.

as far as their being lone brigades out there, just needs of hte army.

Answer 5

Marines go in first and secure the area. Army next for clean up and long term stability. Army is more of the "babysitters" if you will. Marines go in and make sure it's safe for the Army to go in. For the other poster about the uniforms, everyone takes a bullet the same way. Who cares what they are wearing. If you really care then the Marines dress blues trump anything the Army has to offer. :)

Answer 6

1st armored- old ironsides is an armored division (relies on tanks mostly) based out of ft.bliss TX (near el passo).



1st cav- simular to 1st armored, have more bradleys (infantry fighting vehicles) based out of hood tx, (near dallas ft worth)



1st ID- big red one, mechinzed infantry, relies on vehicles to do the majority of the fighting, then dismounts clean up the rest.



2nd ID- indianhead- based in S. Korea (mechanized infantry 2nd brigade) and ft. lewis WA 3,4,5 brigades (near seattle) (stryker). 3,4,5th brigade 2nd INF rely on the stryker family of vehicles to get the infantry near the fight then provide a base of fire for the dismounted infantry to close with and destroy the enemy.



3rd ID- rock of the marne, mechanized infantry based out of stewart and benning both in GA



4th ID- ivy division, mech infantry based out of fort carson CO



25th ID- tropic lightning based in Alaska and HI. one is an airborne brigade (simular ot the 82nd) the rest are stryker.



172nd IBCT- based in germany i am pretty sure that they are also mech infantry.



some brigades and regiments are by themselves becuase the army has been switching from a divsion centered force to brigade combat teams. also some regiments (specifically 75th Ranger) are specialized units.

Answer 7

to confuse people.

thats why they are different

j/k

Answer 8

do you think i know?