Divisional StructureThe 2nd Armored Division was one of the earliest Armored Divisions to form up prior to the start of the war. As it was formed, trained, and eventually shipped off to war, the Division was formed with two regiments of three tank battalions each. It was also given one regiment of Armored Infantry of three battalions. Later, in 1943, after action in North Africa and the defeat of the 1st Armored Division at Kasserine Pass came changes in how many tanks an armored division should have. The result was a division of three tank battalions and three armored infantry battalions. It also restructured how these battalions were formed as by the end of North Africa, it was becoming obvious that Light Tanks were no longer as useful. Light and medium tank battalions, all tank battalions were balanced so that they all had the same number of each type, with medium tanks being the main force. Also, Combat Commands were to be used (to replace the now missing Regimental Headquarters) and these commands could pull the resources it needed from the division to complete their missions. Three Combat Commands were created for each Division: A, B, and a Reserve (or R). |
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2nd Armored's Divisional Structure. |
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However, 2nd Armored (along with 3rd Armored) was stationed in England at the time training and awaiting for the planned invasion of France. Further, the U.S. Commander of the European Theater of Operations did not like the new organization and thus these two divisions stuck to the old table of structure (1st Armored also stayed with the old structure until it was pulled off the line in Italy in July of 1944). The old table of organization was labeled, Armored Division (Heavy). 2nd Armored still blended its medium and light tank battalions to make them more balanced as well as the three created Combat Commands despite there already being regimental HQs, and often the HQ of the Armored Infantry Regiment would form the Combat Command Reserve. |
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Headquarters Subsections |
