Information AboutOrder Of Battle |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ORDER OF BATTLE | |
| orders of battle | |
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The United States Army breaks down an order of battle entry by the following factors:
The collection of order-of-battle data is the responsibility of the unit commander, through the G-2 / J-2 (intelligence) section. An U.S. Army Military Intelligence Group maintains an Order of Battle Section. The rule of thumb used by American military intelligence is that each unit should follow enemy subunits two echelons down: that is, a division should monitor enemy Battalion , a brigade should monitor enemy Companies , and a Battalion should monitor enemy Platoons . General George S. Patton was one of the first to recommend this practice. The United States military's intelligence capabilities in the 21st century have allowed for monitoring even further than two echelons down the chain. It is quite common for a US battalion sized force to be able to identify the location and activities of not only squad level enemy forces but even individual vehicles. This "situational awareness" provides a more complete picture of the battlefield for US forces. The term is also used by historians and war gamers to list the organization and unit structure of both sides in a battle. Up until and through the Cold War, order of battle was generally an orderly process because both NATO and Warsaw Pact nations had well known order of battle, tactics, techniques and procedures. However, on the modern battlefield against a non-traditional enemy (insurgents, terrorists, etc) order of battle requires a lot of data and analysis to provide an accurate and timely picture to the combat commander. The British Army and UK forces use ORBAT to describe the structure of both friendly and enemy forces. SEE ALSO |
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