Divisional Armored Cavalry

In preparing these pages I owe a debt of gratitude to two Veterans, Mr Jerry Headley, Commanding Officer, Bravo Troop, 3/4 Cavalry (1968-1969) and Mr Stanley Homiski, Communications Sergeant, Bravo Troop, 3/4 Cavalry (1968-1969), who, over a period of several weeks, corresponded with me regarding the organisational details of a Divisional Armored Cavalry Troop. I sent them literally dozens of emails to which I received prompt and detailed replies. Without their help and encouragement this section would have been neither as complete or as accurate as I believe it now is.

Bearing in mind that their recollections are based on service which took place 30 years ago at the time of writing, it is likely that there are some errors and omissions. I would ask that if you have details which you wish to add to this page or you believe it contains information which is incorrect, then please contact me

Much of the contents on these pages dealing with Armored Cavalry are based on the organisation of Bravo Troop, 3/4 Cavalry 1968-1969 and it has been constructed from the notes provided to me by Jerry and Ski. I am enormously indebted to both men for their patience and generosity. Thank you gentlemen.

It should be noted that there are considerable differences between the organisation of Divisional Armored Cavalry and that of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Divisional Armored Cavalry Organisation

TERMINOLOGY: A Squadron was the equivalent of an Infantry Battalion; a Troop was the equivalent of an Infantry Company. Both organisations used the term Platoon.

SQUADRON ORGANISATION: A Squadron consisted of an HQ and HQ Troop, 3 Line Troops ( Troops A, B and C) and an Air Cavalry Troop (Troop D). This page only concerns itself with the organisation of a Line Troop. For information on Troop D, see Air Cavalry Troop

A US Divisional Armored Cavalry Troop contained the following:

• Troop HQ:
  • Troop HQ Track
  • Troop Commo Track
  • 2 x Troop Radar Tracks
• Three Platoons, each consisting of;
  • Platoon HQ Track
  • Scout Section
  • Infantry Track
  • Mortar Track
  • Tank Section

Weapons & Ammo Loads

All APC's are depicted as ACAV's (see M113) unless stated otherwise, although, due to the problems associated with obtaining the ACAV kits as well as the damage inflicted on the vehicles by the bush/rubber it was often necessary to operate with standard M113's.

ACAV's were armed with 1 x .50-cal mounted on the Commander's cupola and 2 x M60 mounted one either side of the rear troop compartment. The standard crew for the ACAV was a driver, track commander (who manned the .50 cal), two M-60 gunners and two loaders. All crew were armed with an M-16 and, in addition, a single M-79 40-mm grenade launcher was also carried in the vehicle. Typical ammo loads consisted of about 3,500 rounds of M2 .50 caliber, 8,500 rounds of 7.62mm M-60, 5,000 rounds of 5.56mm M-16 and 150 M-79 40mm grenades.

Ammo loads for the tanks in the platoon typically consisted of; 500 rounds for the .50-cal, 45 rounds of cannister, 12 rounds HE, 7 rounds WP and 3 rounds of the 'new beehive'. As time progressed, the number of beehive rounds that were carried increased as the availability of this round grew.

Tank Section

The Tank section consists of 3 tanks. Originally the tank section consisted of the M48A3 but, as the war progressed, many units received the M551 Sheridan. 'B' Troop, 3/4 Cav received their Sheridans in late January 1969. By 1970 the tank section is likely to consist of Sheridan's. Prior to the arrival of the M551, some cavalry platoons of regimental cavalry squadrons, lacking M48A3's, were actually using ACAV's as substitutes for the tanks in this section.

Other Tracks

Communications Track: the Commo track was at the center of Troop communications. The crew of this track had primary responsibility for the Troop radio net and for the maintenance of all the radio equipment in the Troop.

Radar Tracks: both tracks of the Ground Surveillance Section carried PPS-4 radars. Although not listed in the official TO&E a ground-mounted, man portable PPS-5 radar was also carried. Ground Surveillance Radar were set up in front of the Troop's NDP or Laager and transmitted to a receiver in the Radar Track. It was intended to provide the Troop CO with early warning of enemy infiltration and their direction of approach.

Mortar Track: the Mortar Track was a modified M113 (not an ACAV) and could be either an M106 (4.2-inch mortar) or an M125 ( 81-mm mortar). Irrespective of the mortar type, the crew of five actually served the mortar itself.

TO&E Personnel

Troop HQ (SABER BRAVO 6): 1 x Captain (Troop Comdr), 1 x E6 (Vehicle Comdr), 1 x E4 (Driver), 1 x 1st Lt (Forward Artillery Observer), 1 x E4 (FAO's RTO)

Troop Commo (SABER BRAVO 65): 1 x E8 (1st Sgt. Track Comdr), 1 x E5 (Commo Chief, RTO), 1 x E4 (Driver), 2 x E4 (Radio Operator), 3 x E4 (Radio Mechanic)

Radar Track (SABER BRAVO 40): 1 x E6 (Section Ldr), 1 x E5 (Snr Radar Op), 1 x E4 (Radar Op, Driver)

Radar Track (SABER BRAVO 41): 1 x E5 (Snr Radar Op), 1 x E4 (Radar Op, driver)

Platoon HQ (SABER BRAVO 16): 1 x Lt (Platoon Comdr), 1 x E6 (Vehicle Cmdr), 1 x E4 (Driver), 1 x E3 (Observer), 1 x E4 (Plat Medic), 1 x E4 (Radio Operator)

Scout (SABER BRAVO 11): 1 x E6 (Section Leader), 1 x E4 (Driver), 2 x E3 (Observer)

Scout (SABER BRAVO 12): 1 x E5 (Asst. Sqd Ldr), 1 x E4 (Driver), 2 x E3 (Observer)

Scout (SABER BRAVO 13): 1 x E6 (Squad Leader), 1 x E4 (Driver), 2 x E3 (Observer)

Scout (SABER BRAVO 10): 1 x E5 (Asst. Sqd Ldr), 1 x E4 (Driver), 2 x E3 (Observer)

Infantry Track (SABER BRAVO 18): 1 x E6 (Sqd Ldr), 2 x E5 (Team Ldr), 2 x E4 (M-60 Team), 2 x E4 (Grenadier), 1 x E4 (Driver), 2 x E3 (Rifleman), 1 x E4 (Radio operator)

Mortar Track (SABER BRAVO 19): 1 x E5 (Sqd Ldr), 1 x E4 (Mortar Gunner), 1 x E4 (Driver), 1 x E3 (Asst. Mortar Gunner), 1 x E3 (Ammo Bearer), 1 x E4 (Radio Operator)

Tank (SABER BRAVO 14): 1 x E7 (Plat Sgt, Tk Comdr), 1 x E5 (Gunner), 1 x E5 (Driver), 1 x E3 (Loader)

Tank (SABER BRAVO 15): 1 x E6 (Tk Comdr), 1 x E5 (Gunner), 1 x E5 (Driver), 1 x E3 (Loader)

Tank (SABER BRAVO 17): 1 x E6 (Tk Comdr), 1 x E5 (Gunner), 1 x E5 (Driver), 1 x E3 (Loader)

Attached Personnel

Medics: medics were usually assigned from Squadron. Several medics (E4, Medical Aidman) often rode on one of the Radar Tracks (Saber Bravo 40 or 41). This was because when the Troop was in action the Troop casualty clearing station was often secured by the Radar Tracks and the Commo Track.

RTO's: in addition to the RTO's on the Commo Track, attached to the Troop HQ, each Platoon also had 3 RTO's distributed amongst the vehicles as the Platoon CO saw fit. These RTO's were not part of the Troop Commo Section but were basically Infantrymen (11B20's) who may have had a secondary MOS of RTO (05B20) or, just by the luck of the draw, were volunteered for that slot. In the TO&E example above I have attached an RTO to each of the Platoon CO track, the Infantry track and the Mortar track.

Combat Engineers: it was quite common for a Combat Engineering Team of 4 men (1 x E5, 3 x E3) to be assigned to the Troop. The engineers were invariably assigned as passengers with the Scout Section and were responsible for sweeping in front of the Troop for mines and for jobs requiring demolitions with the use of C4 explosives.

Infantry Squad: the personnel of the infantry squad were quite often split amongst the various tracks of the Troop in order to provide those tracks with extra security.