# Military organization numbers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 24, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789 "2003-12-24T04:47:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789/1 "2003-12-24T04:47:15Z")

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Does anyone have a handy defination for the number of forces in any given military unit?

Say, How many men in a division vs. a brigade vs. a company vs. a battalion, etc, etc, etc?

Am I using the wrong terminology? Anyway, for some reason it’s hard to find a handy reference.

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789/2 "2003-12-24T04:50:31Z")

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[http://www.militarydial.com/army-force-structure.htm](http://www.militarydial.com/army-force-structure.htm)

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**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789/3 "2003-12-24T04:54:22Z")

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Thank you. That’s exactly what I was looking for.

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789/4 "2003-12-24T13:34:48Z")

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Bear in mind that the terms used and numbers involved vary enormously from country to country and between branches of the military.

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789/5 "2003-12-24T13:37:15Z")

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**HPL** I hope you don’t mind my riding your coattails here…

What does it mean when they say “82nd” Airborne Division, or “103rd” Infantry Division. The 82nd has been around a long time. Will there be an 83rd?

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**Author:** ![Fernmeldetruppe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fernmeldetruppe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fernmeldetruppe)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-organization-numbers/220789/6 "2003-12-24T14:27:19Z")

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There already was:  
[http://www.atomic.pair.com/wwii/](http://www.atomic.pair.com/wwii/)

(BTW: These topics have previously been covered in GQ.)

WWII was a huge mobilization so there were a lot of divisions created. With some exceptions, they were just counting when naming divisions. (The 82nd was the 82nd Infantry Division (Airborne).

These days, if the army wants to create a new division, it will look for the most decorated inactive division and re-activate it. (This was probably the last was deactivated.) These old divisions have an existing history around which the new division leaders can create an esprit-de-corps.