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 172 Regular Army horse divisions to mechanized cavalry because there was no foreseeable role for horse-mounted units. Maj. Gen. Mark W. Clark, Chief of Staff of Army Ground Forces, disagreed, as did Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. The latter opposed the conversion because the war was worldwide, and he believed that horse cavalry could be useful in many places, particularly in areas where oil was scarce, a reference to the other types of divisions that required large quantities of petroleum products. He also opposed the conversion because of the time required to train new horse cavalry units. Nevertheless, because of a shortage of men in the summer of 1942, the 2d Cavalry Division was inactivated to permit organization of the 9th Armored Division. White cavalrymen were assigned to the 9th, and the all-black 4th Cavalry Brigade became a nondivisional unit. Later, when preparing troops for operations in the North African theater, the engineer and reconnaissance squadrons and the 105-mm. howitzer battalion were withdrawn from the 1st Cavalry Division and sent to North Africa.

With the activation of additional armored divisions, General Twaddle decided to convert some infantry divisions to motorized divisions. He selected the 6th, 7th, and 8th Divisions for reorganization, which was accomplished by August 1942. The staff planned to form three more such divisions that year, but Army Ground Forces reorganized only the 90th because of shortages in personnel and equipment. On 9 April 1942 the adjutant general officially redesignated the 6th, 7th, and 8th Divisions as motorized. The 4th Division issued general orders adopting the "motorized" designation under an Army Ground Forces directive.

From the fall of 1939 to the end of 1942 divisional designs fluctuated as the nation prepared for war. The War Department revised infantry and cavalry divisions, developed and revised armored and motorized divisions, and created airborne divisions. During this period of organizational upheaval, the Army retained the basic idea of three regimental combat teams for the infantry division and adopted the same concept for the motorized and airborne divisions. The armored division was held to two fighting teams, as was the horse cavalry division. Many officers, however, wanted to eliminate the latter because they saw no role for the horse on the modern battlefield. The trend within all types of divisions was to increase firepower and standardize divisional elements so that they could be interchanged. Organizational questions remained, however, such as the nature and location of antitank weapons or the amount of organic transportation in any tactical unit. The period proved fruitful, for the Army organized the divisions needed to pursue the war. By 31 December 1942 the Army had fielded 1 cavalry, 2 airborne, 5 motorized, 14 armored, and 51 infantry divisions, for a total of 73 active combat divisions.