Transportation Company Question

[Webstral]

Army Sgt, thanks for posting these. I read the ARTEP earlier, but it doesn't address TO&E. FM 55-30 covers operations but doesn't actually say how many trucks there are per squad. I saw Table 5-6 in the Global Security link for authorized end items for the truck squad. Ten trucks and trailers are authorized per squad. There appear to be twenty personnel authorized. I just had trouble believing that a single squad, led by a staff sergeant, includes 20 soldiers driving 10 vehicles. A platoon of three squads would have 30 trucks. That's a lot of trucks for a butterbar to manage, considering that a tank platoon has four tracks.

[Legbreaker]

I think the difference here is that trucks are not combat vehicles. Think of a typical small civilian freight company, you're not likely to see a lot of middle and upper management clogging up the works, just enough pencil pushers and supervisors to ensure the freight gets where it's supposed to be on time.
The same general principles would have to apply to military logistics.

[Raellus]

Web, unless you're looking at the TOEs for an early-war unit, I'd say just about anything goes. Late in the war, transportation unit organization would vary greatly. It would really depend on available vehicle and manpower, and what size of unit the group is supposed to be supporting. Is it operating in a cantonment or is it supporting a unit on the move?

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by Webstral

Army Sgt, thanks for posting these. I read the ARTEP earlier, but it doesn't address TO&E. FM 55-30 covers operations but doesn't actually say how many trucks there are per squad. I saw Table 5-6 in the Global Security link for authorized end items for the truck squad. Ten trucks and trailers are authorized per squad. There appear to be twenty personnel authorized. I just had trouble believing that a single squad, led by a staff sergeant, includes 20 soldiers driving 10 vehicles. A platoon of three squads would have 30 trucks. That's a lot of trucks for a butterbar to manage, considering that a tank platoon has four tracks.

Well the Lieutenant isn't running it by himself. That is why he has a Platoon Sergeant and Squad Leaders.

I think the smallest bit operating Normally will be an entire squad with all ten trucks. They don't operate independently. The Lieutenant is getting his marching Orders from his Company Commander. The Company Commander is getting his Orders from Movement Control as directed by the Assistant Division Commander for Support ADC (S) (S4 Staff).

*Edit* Read that as Section Leader. In some of the Non Combat MOS's units are Sections and Detachments.

[Webstral]

I’m surprised by the numbers because I was combat arms focused. Started as a 12B (combat engineer), went to 34D (garden variety MI), and then to 11B (straight leg infantry, though in Iraq my battalion was converted to motorized). Oddly enough, I’ve never stopped to ask about transportation TO&E. The size of a platoon is comparable to the size of an infantry platoon. There are just so many more vehicles!

Rae, I’m on the second draft of a piece on gun trucks in northern New England. I’ve been fleshing out the details on the Vermont State Guard Civil Defense Brigade in regards to motor transport. The transportation company that supports the Green Jackets Regiment, which is the combat component of the VSGCDB, is a post-1998 organization. The mobilization of resources for the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest left Vermont with very little for her own needs. Civilian vehicles, including cargo trucks, now comprise the entirety of the motor transport of the VSGCDB. (Montpelier and Manchester did a swap in 1999 in which the remaining military trucks of Vermont and spare parts went to Manchester in exchange for civilian vehicles.) In most ways, pre-war TO&E doesn’t matter. However, I wanted a starting point that matched reality.

[ArmySGT.]

and so how did it work out?

[Webstral]

I put a first lieutenant in charge of the transportation company serving the Vermont State Guard Civil Defense Brigade. Lots of legwork for a minor detail that probably won't appear in my finished product. Still, knowing the answer makes me write with more confidence.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Webstral

Lots of legwork for a minor detail that probably won't appear in my finished product.

Why? We love the details, Web. Or at least, I do.

[mcchordsage]

Hm, from what I remember reading about line haul operations in Vietnam, a convoy of up to fifty or sixty trucks was typically under the control of a Lieutenant. The convoy itself was a mix of 5 ton, 2 1/2 ton, trailer trucks, tankers, and flatbeds protected by a few gun trucks (something I agree you'd see a lot of in T2K) plus the convoy commander's armored/armed jeep. Throw in a sizable wrecker for any good sized convoy.

Also: From a (Vietnam) era TO&E:

a. The mission of the 572d Transportation Company was to provide motor transportation for the movement of general cargo, petroleum products and ammunition in both line haul and local haul operations within I Corps Tactical Zone of operations. This unit is capable of hauling 1,080 short tons of equipment with it's authorized 60 5 ton tractor task vehicles.

b. The unit is organized into 3 truck platoons, a maintenance section, and a headquarters platoon.

c. The authorized strength of the company is 178 enlisted men and 5 officers.

So, twenty trucks a platoon for a Medium or Light Truck company seems to have been standard at one point.