I see and hear army units being referred to as “3rd of the 7th” or “1st of the 1st”. I understand that the 7th Cavalry is a unit of some defined size. I’m guessing that a unit the size of the 7th (for example) would be analogous to a Carrier Air Wing? And the “3rd” would be similar to a squadron within the wing? Am I even close? Also, the 3rd what?
SWAG:
3rd Brigade of the 7th Infantry
or, more likely,
3rd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment which is itself part of the 1st Marine Division, which is currently in Iraq.
In this particular case, it’s the 3rd Squadron, 7th “Garryowen” US Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry “Rock of the Marne!” Division (Mechanized), XVIII Airborne “Contingency” Corps.
Because the 3/7th is a cavalry unit which traces its history back before the Civil War, they retain some of their historical quirks. They call themselves a squadron instead of a battalion, and it is subdivided into troops instead of companies.
But, as paperbackwriter suggests, the number-number designation usually designates a battalion-regiment relationship.
I say “usually” because I’m certain there are exceptions.
Marines do not use that terminology for unit designations. 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment would be “3/7” (pronounced “three seven”), or “3rd Battalion, 7th Marines”. Not to say the newsies wouldn’t screw that up, but as far as I know that is purely a US Army term.
I see that the unit divisions are described in this thread. I’ll have to print it out when I get to work tomorrow to see how everything fits. Thanks for the info. 