Editing Battalion (section)

== United States Armed Forces ==

=== United States Army ===
{{main|Battalion (United States Army)}}
In the [[United States Army]], a battalion is a unit composed of a headquarters and two to six batteries, companies, or troops.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Military Units: Army |url=https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Experience/Military-Units/Army/ |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=U.S. Department of Defense |language=en-US}}</ref> They are normally identified by ordinal numbers (1st Battalion, 2nd Squadron, etc.) and normally have subordinate units that are identified by single letters (Battery&nbsp;A, Company&nbsp;A, Troop&nbsp;A, etc.).<ref name=":0" /> Battalions are tactical and administrative organizations with a limited capability to plan and conduct independent operations and are normally organic components of brigades, groups, or regiments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battalion {{!}} Military Unit Structure & Organization {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/battalion |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

A U.S. Army battalion includes the battalion commander ([[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]), [[executive officer]] ([[Major (United States)|major]]), [[command sergeant major]] (CSM), headquarters staff and usually three to five companies, with a total of 300 to 1,000<ref name=DoDsize>{{cite web|title=Military Units: How Each Service Is Organized|url=https://www.dodlive.mil/2017/05/17/military-units-how-each-service-is-organized/|author=Katie Lange|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|DoD]] News, [[Defense Media Activity]]|access-date=2019-02-01|quote=Battalion: Consists of 4–6 companies and can include up to about 1,000 soldiers.|archive-date=2019-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215182330/http://www.dodlive.mil/2017/05/17/military-units-how-each-service-is-organized/|url-status=live}}</ref> (but typically 500 to 600) soldiers.<ref name=Britannica1>{{cite web|title=Battalion|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/battalion|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|access-date=2019-02-01|quote=In the early 21st century the typical U.S. Army battalion was a unit of between 500 and 600 officers and enlisted personnel divided into a headquarters company and three rifle companies.|archive-date=2018-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711020036/https://www.britannica.com/topic/battalion|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[American Civil War]], an infantry or cavalry battalion was an ad hoc grouping of companies from the parent regiment (which had ten companies, A through K, minus J as described below), except for certain regular infantry regiments, which were formally organized into three battalions of six companies each (numbered 1–6 per battalion vice sequential letter designations). After 1882, cavalry battalions were renamed squadrons and cavalry companies were renamed troops. Artillery battalions typically comprised four or more batteries, although this number fluctuated considerably.

During [[World War II]], most infantry regiments consisted of three battalions (1st, 2nd and 3rd) with each battalion consisting of three rifle companies and a heavy weapons company.<ref name=Britannica2>{{cite web|title=Battalion|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/battalion|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|access-date=2019-02-01|quote=After World War I the "square" infantry battalion of four companies was superseded by the "triangular" battalion of World War II and the Korean War, usually composed of three rifle companies, a heavy-weapons company and a headquarters company.|archive-date=2018-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711020036/https://www.britannica.com/topic/battalion|url-status=live}}</ref> That is, rifle companies A, B, C along with heavy weapons Company&nbsp;D were part of the 1st battalion, rifle companies&nbsp;E, F, G and heavy weapons Company&nbsp;H constituted the 2nd battalion, and rifle companies I, K, L and heavy weapons Company&nbsp;M were in the 3rd. There was no J&nbsp;Company: the letter ''J'' was traditionally not used because in 18th- and 19th-century old-style type, the capital letters ''I'' and ''J'' looked alike and were therefore easily confused with one another. It was common for a battalion to become temporarily attached to a different regiment. For example, during the confusion and high casualty rates of both the [[Normandy Landings]] and the [[Battle of the Bulge]], in order to bolster the strength of a depleted infantry regiment, companies and even battalions were moved around as necessary.

The U.S. Army also created [[independent tank battalion]]s to attach to infantry divisions during World War II in order to give them fire support.

From the 1960s through the early 1980s, a typical maneuver (infantry or tank) battalion had five companies: [[headquarters and headquarters company]] (HHC) and A, B and C&nbsp;Companies, plus a combat support company (CSC), with a scout platoon, 107&nbsp;mm (4.2 inch) heavy mortar platoon, along with other elements that varied between organisations. These included heavy anti-tank [[TOW missile]] platoons, [[ground surveillance radar]] sections and [[man-portable air-defense system]] sections. Beginning in the early 1980s, some elements of the combat support companies (the mortar and scout platoons) were merged into the headquarters company with the staff and support elements, others were moved to their parent type organisation (ground surveillance radar and air defence), and in infantry battalions the heavy anti-tank missile platoon was organized as a separate company (E&nbsp;Company). In the late 1980s, there was a fourth "line" company added (D&nbsp;Company) in most infantry and tank battalions.

In this older structure, U.S. Army mechanised infantry battalions and tank battalions, for tactical purposes, task-organised companies to each other, forming a battalion-sized [[task force]] (TF).

Starting in 2005–2006, the U.S. Army's mechanised and tank battalions were reorganised into [[Brigade combat team#Combined Arms Battalion (×3)|combined arms battalions]] (CABs). Tank battalions and mechanised infantry battalions no longer exist. These new combined arms battalions are modular units, each consisting of a headquarters company, two mechanized infantry companies, two tank companies and a forward support company attached from the battalion's parent brigade support battalion.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} This new structure eliminated the need to task-organize companies between battalions; each combined arms battalion was organically composed of the requisite companies. At a higher level, each [[Brigade combat team#Armored brigade combat team|armored brigade]] (formerly designated 'heavy brigade') is now composed of three CABs (versus the two CABs of a former heavy brigade), one reconnaissance squadron, one artillery battalion, one brigade engineer battalion (BEB) and one brigade support battalion (BSB).

=== United States Marine Corps ===
{{see also|List of United States Marine Corps battalions}}
A [[United States Marine Corps]] battalion includes the battalion headquarters, consisting of the commanding officer (usually a lieutenant colonel, sometimes a colonel), an [[executive officer]] (the second-in-command, usually a major), the [[sergeant major]] and the executive staff (S-1 through S-4 and S-6). The battalion headquarters is supported by a [[headquarters and service company]] (battery). A battalion usually contains two to five organic companies (batteries in the artillery), with a total of 500 to 1,200 Marines in the battalion. A regiment consists of a regimental headquarters, a headquarters company (or battery) and two to five organic battalions (Marine infantry regiments – three battalions of infantry; Marine artillery regiments – three to five battalions of artillery; Marine combat logistics regiments – one to three combat logistics battalions). In the U.S. Marine Corps, the brigade designation is used only in "[[Marine Expeditionary Brigade]]" (MEB). An MEB is one of the standard [[Marine Air-Ground Task Force]]s (MAGTF), is commanded by a [[brigadier general]] or [[major general]], and consists of command element, a [[ground combat element]] (usually one reinforced Marine infantry regiment), an [[aviation combat element]] (a reinforced Marine aircraft group including rotary wing, fixed wing and tiltrotor aircraft) and a combat logistics element (a Marine combat logistics regiment, which includes naval construction forces [Seabees] and naval medical elements).

In the U.S. Marine Corps, an infantry or "rifle" battalion typically consists of a headquarters and service company, three rifle or "line" companies (designated alphabetically A through M depending upon which battalion of the parent regiment to which they are attached) and a weapons company. Weapons companies do not receive a letter designation. Marine infantry regiments use battalion and company designations as described above under World War II, with company letters D, H and M not normally used but rather held in reserve for use in augmenting a fourth rifle company into each battalion as needed.

United States Marine Corps infantry battalions are task organised into Battalion Landing Teams (BLTs) as the ground combat element (GCE) of a [[Marine Expeditionary Unit]] (MEU). A standard U.S. Marine infantry battalion is typically supported by an [[artillery battery]] and a platoon each of tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, light armoured reconnaissance vehicles, reconnaissance Marines and combat engineers. The battalion structure is designed to readily expand to include a fourth rifle company, if required, as described above under battalion organisation. Often [[Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company]] (ANGLICO) officers are assigned to the battalion, to coordinate [[naval gunfire support#United States|naval gunfire support]].

=== United States Navy ===
The [[United States Navy]] has [[Seabee (US Navy)|construction battalions]] and [[Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (United States)|navy cargo handling battalions]]. They are structured roughly analogous to an Army or Marine Corps battalion with staff and commanding officers of similar grade and experience.