Page:John Banks Wilson - Maneuver and Firepower (1998).djvu/376

354 17,000 men, The project, entitled AIM (armored, infantry, and mechanized infantry divisions), would occupy Army planners' attention for the next several years and focus primarily on the European battlefield.

In their final form the new AIM tables neither altered the overall ROAD doctrine nor radically modified divisional structures but addressed ways to counter various types of Soviet threats, To defend against low-altitude hostile aircraft and surface targets, the tables provided each division with an air defense artillery battalion equipped with Chaparral missiles and Vulcan guns, weapons that had been under development since 1964. The new battalion gave divisions the first dedicated antiaircraft artillery unit since pentomic reorganization. Aviation companies reappeared in mechanized infantry and armored divisions to enhance air support. In the divisional support command, adjutant general and finance companies replaced the administration company to improve personnel services, and automatic data processing equipment was added to provide centralized control of personnel and logistics. Eventually automatic data processing led to the introduction of a materiel (supply and maintenance) management center in each division.

In infantry, mechanized infantry, and armor battalions, the tables concentrated combat support (scouts, mortars, air defense and antitank weapons, ground surveillance equipment, and maintenance resources) into a combat support company. Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missiles (TOWs) replaced ENTACs and 106-mm. recoilless rifles as antitank weapons in the infantry and mechanized infantry battalions. Since the TOW was only just emerging from its developmental stage, the tables approved the retention of the 106-mm. recoilless rifle as a temporary measure.

Modernization of armored, infantry, and mechanized infantry divisions became an ongoing process primarily to due to shortages of equipment. Because of the need for antiaircraft weapons in the divisional area, the Air Defense Artillery School at Fort Bliss, Texas, inaugurated a program in the spring of 1969 to activate and train Chaparral-Vulcan battalions, which were assigned to divisions upon completion of training. After the new divisional tables were published in