Pre 1943 United States Armored Battalions
As with the infantry, the armoured units of the US Army were reorganised in the latter part of 1943. The early war Armored Battalions were divided into Light and Medium dependent on the type of tank used.
The Armored Battalion, Light, circa 1942 to 1943
Battalion Headquarters (6 Officers, 47 men)
HQ Section (4 Officers, 17 men)
Reconnaissance Platoon (1 Officer, 21 men)
Tank Section (1 Officer, 9 men)
Headquarters Company (4 Officers, 86 men)
Company HQ (1 Officer, 7 men)
AM & S Section (18 men)
Maintenance Section (1 Officer, 6 men)
Assault Gun Platoon (1 Officer, 28 men)
Mortar Platoon (1 Officer, 27 men)
Three Light Tank Companies (5 Officers, 105 men), each comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 20 men)
AM & S Section (14 men)
Maintenance Section (1 Officer, 14 men)
Three Platoons, each comprised of (1 Officer, 19 men)
Total strength of 473 all ranks (25 Officers, 448 men)
The Armored Battalion, Medium, circa 1942 to 1943
Battalion Headquarters (6 Officers, 56 men)
HQ Section (4 Officers, 17 men)
Reconnaissance Platoon (1 Officer, 21 men)
Tank Section (1 Officer, 18 men)
Headquarters Company (4 Officers, 86 men)
Company HQ (1 Officer, 7 men)
AM & S Section (18 men)
Maintenance Section (1 Officer, 6 men)
Assault Gun Platoon (1 Officer, 28 men)
Mortar Platoon (1 Officer, 27 men)
Three Medium Tank Companies (5 Officers, 144 men), each comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 24 men)
AM & S Section (18 men)
Maintenance Section (1 Officer, 15 men)
Three Platoons, each comprised of (1 Officer, 29 men)
Total strength of 599 all ranks (25 Officers, 574 men)
Points of note
Both Light and Medium Battalions shared the same basic structure. An Armored Regiment of 1942-43 would field one Light and two Medium Battalions, and it was in this structure the US first clashed with the Panzers in North Africa. As with subsequent organisations some subunits were identical in both the Tank and The United States Armored Infantry Battalion, and so are already covered in those pages.
The elements of the Battalion
Battalion Headquarters - both the Light and Medium Battalion HQ included a Tank Section with three vehicles of the relevant type, along with the normal command staff in the HQ Section that also included a halftrack.
Reconnaissance Platoon - as in the Armored Infantry Battalion.
Mortar Platoon - as in the Armored Infantry Battalion.
Assault Gun Platoon - as in the Armored Infantry Battalion.
The Tank Company - both the Light and Medium Companies used the same format, differing only in their tank types.
The Tank Platoon used during the early part of the war provided the model for that used in the later Battalion, comprised of five tanks. The Platoon Commander, a Lieutenant, and two Sergeants commanded the three tanks of the 'heavy section, the Platoon Sergeant and a Sergeant the two tanks of the 'light section'. The Light Tank Platoon used the earlier variant of the Stuart, with a four man crew and mounting a 37 mm main gun, plus coaxial, hull and cupola machine guns. The Medium Tank Platoon operated the M3, with a six man crew serving both a 75 mm gun offset in the right hull front and a 37 mm gun in the turret, plus a similar machine gun array.
Company HQ added two more tanks of the relevant type, plus a Jeep and halftrack, while the AM&S Section was to deploy a 37 mm truck mounted anti-tank gun, as was the HQ of HQ Company.
Summary
The Battalion organisation outlined above was largely adhered to by the later incarnation of the Battalion, with several important differences. The reorganised Tank Battalion of late 1943 used three Medium and one Light Companies in a mixed unit, though the previous differentiation continued in use with the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions, both of which retained the Regimental organisation of 1942.
The United States Armored Infantry Battalion
United States Army Divisional Organisations