29th Infantry Division

[Graebarde]

Originally Posted by The Rifleman

Not so fast. First, look at the numbers. You've got 12 training divisions that were doing nothing but inital entry training (basic). Thats a lot of NCOs, and they were keeping the officer structure for it too. There were quite a few qualified captains and colonels that were doing all the administrative work and planning the logistics there. If you had 12 divisions, all active, all doing nothing but cranking out basic training recruits, you'd see a lot of opened reserve posts (which happened in the war on terror) like shelby, dix, attabury, so on. There are a lot more recruits coming then there are divisions to put them in.

Those training divisions do MORE than just BCT, they also do the AIT for combat arms and some of the less technical support skills. The trainee undergoes 16 weeks of training, such as the OSUT units do today. The 16 weeks can be reduced with some less tactical or important skills being less emphasised. The cadre of the training units that house the trainees is also minimal. Cadre strenghts of company, battalion and brigade are minimal at best. At the company level there are TWO officers for the company, each platoon has maybe three NCO cadre, plus the cooks, clerks and supply personnel. Battalion is a short staff that is very austure, maybe 25 in the HHC doing admin mostly, and brigade is as bare. The committee group is the largest assembly of cadre personnel as they do the field training and classroom instruction. Company NCOs do the D&C, discipline, etc.

There are NOT a lot of NCO and officer to strip from these divisions.

AND many of the cadre can be convelescent (sp) assignments as the war progressed. I remember the NCO cadre in my BCT and AIT in '68 (taken at two locations btw). The fact they were combat veterans and invoked 'lessons learned' on us (at least my perception) had and influence.

Yes they could bring in more convelecent NCO to form the units into 'line units' in the later phases, but I think they would keep the divisions functioning as they were designed as LONG as possible, and the schools would as well. The schools would be putting out new officers and NCOs, such as they did during 'Nam with accelerated OCS and NCOES courses kicking out sergeants (though I think rather than sergeants and staff sergeants they would be better making them corporals and sergants. I was NOT impressed with the honor graduate staff sergeants I came across, and one cost me a stripe after I kicked his ass, but that's another story.)