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A combat command was a
combined-arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects (for example by using infantry and armour in an urban environment in which each supports the other) ...
military organization of comparable size to a
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...
or
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
employed by armored forces of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
from 1942 until 1963. The structure of combat commands was task-organized and so the forces assigned to a combat command often varied from mission to mission.


Abbreviations

Combat command is most often abbreviated by one of the related derivative notations: * CCA, or CC-A or CC A * CCB, or CC-B or CC B * CCC, or CC-C or CC C (an older convention for " reserve formation") * CCR, or CC-R or CC R (for Combat Command Reserve)


History

The concept of the combat command was developed by General
Adna Chaffee Adna Romanza Chaffee (April 14, 1842 – November 1, 1914) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army. Chaffee took part in the American Civil War and Indian Wars, played a key role in the Spanish–American War, and fought in the Boxe ...
during the 1930s. Chaffee's concept envisaged
combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects (for example by using infantry and armour in an urban environment in which each supports the other) ...
mechanized units with no formal structure. When the first U.S. armored divisions were organized a few years later, Chaffee's concepts for the combat command were incorporated into the divisional structure. The combat command was a flexible organization that did not have dedicated
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...
s. Instead, tank, armored infantry, and armored field artillery battalions, as well as smaller units of
tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often ...
s, engineers, and mechanized cavalry were assigned as needed in order to accomplish any given mission. During a U.S. Army reorganization in the 1960s, the term ''combat command'' fell out of favor and was replaced by the designation ''brigade''. While flexible, this task-force organization lacked the high cohesion characteristic of traditional regiments that always kept the same group of battalions together. The organization of the combat command contrasted with that of the infantry, who employed reinforced infantry regiments with permanently assigned infantry battalions. This type of infantry organization was called a regimental combat team. Use of combat commands was first specified in ''Armored Force Tentative Table of Organization A'', for armored divisions, dated December 22, 1941. The initial organization envisioned two combat command headquarters at the disposal of the armored division. The combat command headquarters themselves were small, fielding only five
light tank A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease ...
s and 56 men. Revisions to this structure in 1943 resulted in a headquarters of three light tanks and 99 men. The 1943 structure also allowed for three combat command headquarters in an armored division. Within the armored division, the combat commands were named "A", "B", and later, "R" (for Reserve). Thus, historical accounts of U.S. armored divisions of this period refer to "Combat Command B" or "CCB" and so forth. During the latter stages of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in Europe, armored divisions tended to fight with CCA and CCB, while moving worn-out battalions into CCR for rest and refit, though this was not always the case. In 1954, CCR was redesignated "Combat Command C" (CCC). The combat command proved to be the forerunner of modern U.S. Army organizational structure for divisions. In the early 1960s, divisions were restructured as part of the
Reorganization Objective Army Division The history of the United States Army began in 1775. From its formation, the United States Army has been the primary land based part of the United States Armed Forces. The Army's main responsibility has been in fighting land battles and military ...
(ROAD), in which all divisions, including infantry, were organized with three brigades which also did not have dedicated battalions and could be assigned as many battalions as needed for a mission. With the transition to ROAD divisions, the term ''combat command'' was no longer employed by the U.S. Army.


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* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Combat Command Military units and formations by size Armor units and formations of the United States Army