Faster, Tougher Panzers

The five U.S. Armored Divisions are fast and tough, but they are going to be more so. Within the next fortnight, they will be provided with twice as many medium (30-ton) tanks as they now have, with self-propelled artillery and armored cars, which they never had before. Under the new setup, each Armored Division will have 232 mediums, 39 self-propelled 75-mm. howitzers, 27 self-propelled 37-mm. anti-tank guns. Light (13 1/2-ton) tanks will no longer predominate.

Besides stepping up the fire power of the tankers, the Army is making some major changes in their organization. Man power in an Armored Division will remain the same: 12,697 officers and men. Tank regiments within an Armored Division will be reduced from three to two, and Field Artillery units will be increased from seven firing batteries to nine.

Idea behind the changes is to permit the easy formation within an Armored Division of two powerful combat teams, each consisting of a tank regiment with an artillery battalion (three batteries), and still have an artillery battalion in divisional reserve--a more flexible organization for getting things done.

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