Division (military)
Smaller combined arms units, such as the American regimental combat team (RCT) during World War II, were used when conditions favored them.
In recent times, modern Western militaries have begun adopting the smaller brigade combat team (similar to the RCT) as the default combined arms unit, with the division to which they belong, being less important.
A similar word, divizion/divizijun/dywizjon, is also used in languages such as Russian, Serbian, Croatian and Polish, for a battalion-size artillery or cavalry unit.
Aboard ships of British Royal Navy tradition, the terms "division" or "department" are often used interchangeably and refer to the administrative organization used to manage personnel.
Aboard US navy ships (including US coastguard vessels), in shore commands and in US naval aviation units (including US navy, marine corps, and coastguard aviation) it refers to an administrative/functional sub-unit of a department (e.g., fire control division of the weapons department).
Alternatively it refers to a sub-unit of several ships within a flotilla or squadron, or to two or three sections of aircraft operating under a designated division leader.
Lazare Carnot of the Committee of Public Safety, who was in charge of military affairs, came to the same conclusion about it as the previous royal government, and the army was organised into divisions.
The Soviet Union's Red Army consisted of more than a thousand division-sized units at any one time, and the number of rifle divisions raised during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 is estimated[by whom?]
A notable change to divisional structures during the war was completion of the shift from square divisions (composed of two brigades each with two regiments) to triangular divisions (composed of three regiments with no brigade level) that many European armies had started using in World War I.
All divisions in World War II were expected to have their own artillery formations, usually (depending upon the nation) the size of a regiment.
The modern division became the primary identifiable combat unit in many militaries during the second half of the 20th century, supplanting the brigade; however, the trend started to reverse since the end of the Cold War.
The former was pioneered by the 11th Air Assault Division (Test), formed on 1 February 1963 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The development of the tank during World War I prompted some nations to experiment with forming them into division-size units.
This required both high-quality equipment and training, creating elite units in the process and usually crewed by volunteers rather than conscripts.
Nicknames are often assigned or adopted, although these often are not considered an official part of the unit's nomenclature, with divisions of the Italian Army being one of the exceptions.
This also helps in historical studies, but due to the nature of intelligence on the battlefield, division names and assignments are at times obscured.
During World War I, a total of six infantry divisions were raised as part of the all-volunteer Australian Imperial Force: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th.
[16] In the inter-war years, on paper the Australian Army was organised into seven divisions: five infantry (1st through to 5th) and two cavalry, albeit on a reduced manning scale.
[17] During World War II, the size of Australia's force was expanded to eventually include 12 infantry divisions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th.
The Australian divisions were used in various campaigns, ranging from North Africa, Greece, Syria and Lebanon, to the South West Pacific.
[citation needed] The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) is divided into five Theater Commands.
The remaining scarce artillery and the other support formations were withdrawn from the Division and were held at Corps or Army level or even higher.
The Israeli Defense Forces operates 11 divisions of various sizes that are separated into three categories: regular, territorial and reserve.
Currently, the Pakistani Army has 29 divisions: 20 infantry, two armoured, two mechanized, two air defence, two strategic and one artillery.
From 1970 to 1983, a motor rifle regiment was added to tank divisions and an independent tank battalion to motor rifle divisions, and major increases in artillery, mortars, and armoured personnel carriers, in line with the evolution of Soviet doctrine, which began to recognise the need for a conventional phrase, away from the previously expected purely nuclear operations.
A typical Soviet "frontal aviation division" consisted of three air regiments, a transport squadron, and associated maintenance units.
South Africa has fielded several infantry and armoured divisions in its military history: In the British Army, a division is commanded by a major general with a WO1 as the Command Sergeant Major and may consist of three infantry, mechanised and/or armoured brigades and supporting units.
In 2014, divisional artillery (DIVARTY) organizations began to re-appear, with some fires brigades reorganizing to fill this role.
Though similarly formed, the 1st ROK Marine Division is specialized to perform amphibious landing operations while the 2nd ROK Marine Division performs more security operations and mans a sector of the DMZ facing the North Korean border.
There are very few articles discussing ROK Marine Corps tactical organization, but an active duty force of 29,000 is divided into two divisions, two brigades, and its supporting units.
