Help me get the US order of battle straight

Factual Questions
1

Because of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I have had a renewed interest in the composition of US combat units. Due to the policy of roataing units into and out of Iraq, it seems every US ground combat unit will see action over there at some time or other. I’m trying to do a roster US combat units. Below is my best effort:

ARMY:

1st Armored Division, Germany
1st Armored Cavalry Division, Germany
1st Cavalry Division, Texas
Note: I may be confused by these units. If so, sorry.

2nd Infantry Division, South Korea (not likely to be moved!)

3rd Infantry Division, US (I don’t know which state)

4th Infantry Division, US (I don’t know which state)

7th Cavalry (regiment, brigade?), US

10th Mountain Division, New York

25th Infantry Division, Hawaii

82nd Airborn Division, (I don’t know which state)

101st Airborn Division, US (I don’t know which state)

173rd Airborn Regiment, Europe
MARINES:

1st Marine Division, US (I don’t know which state)

2nd & 3rd Marine Division (I’m not sure, is one an active division and one a reserve division?)

What is meant by a marine expeditonary force?

Which unit(s) is/are stationed in Alaska?

Which unit is stationed in Okinawa?

Which units am I missing?

Could some of you military dopers please help me refine my roster of US ground units? To those who take their respected units very seriously, please excuse my inaccuracies. It is my ignorance, not yours.

2

Strategypage.com maintain(ed) a list of where the brigades were, but it looks like it hasn’t been updates in some time. Globalsecurity.org used to have such a list as well, but I can’t find it.

A Marine Expeditionary Force is a Marine division, combined with a Marine Air Wing, and all the needed support units. A neat package which a amphibious task force can deliver where needed.

Much more common are Marine Expeditioinary Units (MEU), which is a combined-arms battalion and a Marine Air Group. A few of these are kept afloat throughout the world to deal with ‘instant emergencies’ (evacuating/reinforcing embassies, etc).

The 172 Infantry Brigade, formerly the 6th Light Infantry Division. The Airforce has the 57th Wing, and a bunch of NORAD/DEW type stuff.

The III MEF (Built on the 3rd Marine Division and 3rd Marine Air Wing) is based there. The Airforce has a wing there, but I can’t find which one, at the moment.

It’s tricky, since a unit of Brigade size and up is rarely completely deployed here or there. Even the units deploying to Iraq will leave a battalion or two behind, and other battalions will be in transit as a part of normal rotation. Generally, the battalion is smallest unit that the US Army will ‘move around’, and attach to other units.

The top links will give you a pretty good overview. Also, Globalsecurity has a complete list of National Guard and Reserve formations.

3

Well, I’ve been out of the service for quite a while, so i can’t really address the OP.

But the 82nd is at Ft. Bragg, NC and the 101st is out of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.

And the 173rd isn’t always in Europe (Vicenza, Italy) to be precise - SETAF (Southern European Task Force)'s ABCT (Airborne Battalion Combat Team) rotates among different units, as far as i know all out of Bragg.

When i was stationed there (early 90s), it was the 3/325. Before that I think it was the 4/325 and afterwards (prior to 173rd) I THINK it was the 1/508. (Guessing on the last, though)

You can find a lot of info here and here

4

3rd Infantry (Mechanized) is at Fort Stewart in Georgia. Link

5

Part of the problem is that as the military deactivates units, it often re-flags other units so that the units with the longest and “most glorious” lineages continue to exist. If the military needs another unit in a time of expansion, it will re-activate an older unit that already existed at one point in time. So, you need to get up-to-date data.

www.army.mil has the information that you are looking for as do other sources on the web. From Army.mil:
http://www.army.mil/organization/Divisions.html

Active divisions:
2 armored div (the cavalry div is really an armored div)
3 mechanized infantry divisions (1, 3, 4)
4 light infantry divisions (mountain, airborne and air assault) (2ID does not have a “MECH” in its name!)

Plus a whole bunch of reserve or mixed divisions on the same page.

This list also includes the brigades:
http://www.army.mil/organization/activeunits.html

Not all of the brigades in a division are co-located with the division headquarters. More often then or not, the constituent brigades are spread out geographically.

If you are trying to find out if a unit is deployed, go to their web pages. It will typically be clear right away according to the pictures or stories. (The link for strategypage.com above seems to be up-to-date also.)