The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
Read The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War Online
Authors: David Halberstam
Tags: #History, #Politics, #bought-and-paid-for, #Non-Fiction, #War
America and the Korean War
For Jean, again
N
OTE ON
M
ILITARY
U
NITS
The size, composition, and leadership of military units varies with time, place, and circumstances. In the early fighting in Korea, almost every unit was always understrength. Therefore, these numbers are approximations.
Army | 100,000 soldiers Comprised of 2 or more Corps Normally commanded by a full General |
Corps | 30,000 soldiers Comprised of 2 or more Divisions Normally commanded by Lieutenant General |
Division | Up to 15,000 soldiers, often only 12,000 in Korea Comprised of 3 Regiments Commanded by Major General |
Regiment | Up to 4,500 men, with affiliated units, such as artillery, armored, and medical units, included Comprised of 3 Battalions Commanded by Colonel |
Battalion | 700 to 850 soldiers Comprised of 4 or more Companies Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel |
Company | 175 to 240 soldiers Comprised of 4 Platoons Commanded by Captain |
Platoon | 45 or more soldiers Comprised of 4 Squads Commanded by Lieutenant |
Squad | 10 or more soldiers Commanded by Staff Sargeant |
W
EAPONS AND
A
RTILLERY
M-1 Rifle .30-caliber | A 9.5-lb. rifle, with an 8-round clip, the basic American infantry weapon. |
Carbine .30-caliber | A short-barreled rifle with a 15-or 30-round clip with less range and accuracy. |
Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR .30-caliber | A two-man weapon—one to feed ammunition, one to fire—that was both semi-and fully automatic, capable of firing 500 rounds a minute. |
Machine Guns | The .30-caliber machine guns were capable of sustained fire of 450 to 500 rounds a minute. |
The .50-caliber gun was mounted on trucks, tanks, and other vehicles. It fired 575 rounds per minute to a range of 2,000 yards. | |
Rocket Launcher or Bazooka 2.36-inch and 3.5-inch | The ineffective 2.36-inch launcher was replaced by the 3.5-inch in 1950 even as the North Koreans drove south. The new bazooka was capable of penetrating thick armor plate; it had a range of up to 75 yards. |
Infantry Mortars .60mm .81mm 4.2mm | These front-loaded weapons fired shells at a high angle, able to reach into valleys and trenches, with a range of 1,800 to 4,000 yards. |
Howitzers 105mm 155mm 8-inch | Cannons with a range of 2 to 5 miles. |
1. The Korean Peninsula before Hostilities, May 1950
2. First Encounter with Chinese Communist Forces, November 1, 1950
3. The Unsan Engagement, November 1–2, 1950
4. The North Korean Invasion, June 25–28, 1950
5. Task Force Smith, July 5, 1950
6. Height of North Korean Advance, Late August 1950
7.The Pusan Perimeter, August 4, 1950
8. The Naktong Bulge, August 31–September 1, 1950
9. The Inchon Landings, September 15, 1950
10. The Drive to Seoul, September 16–28, 1950
11. UN Breakout and Invasion of North Korea
12. Chinese Attack at Chongchon River, on Second Division, November 25–26, 1950
13. Chinese Assault on Love Company, November 25–26, 1950
14. The Main Chinese Campaign in the West, November 25–28, 1950
15. The Marine Sector, October–November 27, 1950
16. The Gauntlet, November 30, 1950
17. Breakout from Chosin Reservoir, November 27–December 9, 1950
18. High Tide of the Chinese Advance, January 1951
19. The Fight for the Central Corridor
20. The Twin Tunnels—Chipyongni-Wonju Area, January–February 1951
21. Battle of Twin Tunnels, January 31–February 1, 1951
22. Battle of Chipyongni, February 13–14, 1951
23. McGee Hill, February 13–15, 1951
24. Task Force Crombez, February 14–15, 1951
25. The Korean Peninsula after the Cease-fire, July 27, 1953
Every effort has been made to update the maps in
The Coldest Winter
to a modified version of the standard MIL-STD-2525B common warfighter symbology used by the U.S. Military. This is a comprehensive system that gives a trained interpreter instant information about a military unit’s alignment, size, type, and identity.
In some cases, complete information was not available for specific military units, and rather than introduce inaccuracies, an easily legible shorthand has been applied. With clarity in mind, other modifications that aren’t standard MIL-STD-2525B have been made to improve readability.
While MIL-STD-2525B accounts for hundreds of military designations, only a few are necessary to understand the units employed in the Korean War.
U | | Artillery | | Division XX |
Friendly Unit | | Engineer | | Brigade X |
Hostile Unit | | Armor | | Regiment III |
U | | U | | Battalion II |
Infantry | | Army XXXX | | Company I |
Cavalry | | Corps XXX | | Platoon ••• |
The name of the unit can be displayed to the left of the unit symbol, the name of the larger group it is part of appears to the right of the unit symbol, and the size of the unit is indicated by the marking at the top. For example, the symbol for the Third Battalion of the Eighth Cavalry is:
Unless otherwise noted, a solid black line represents U.N. positions or a defensive perimeter.