156:
into a small number of large battalions was found to be undesirable as it reduced the number of deployable units in the Army. As a result of these factors the
Australian Government decided to return the Army to the tropical establishment in November 1964 as part of a wide-ranging package of reforms to the Australian military, which included increasing the size of the Army. The Army returned to the tropical establishment in 1965, and many of the CMF battalions were re-established as independent units.
92:, field artillery regiment, engineer field squadron and other combat and logistic elements, including armoured, aviation and armoured personnel carrier units as required. These battle groups would be commanded by the commanding officer of their infantry battalion and report directly to the headquarters of the division as
57:
The decision to adopt the
Pentropic organisation was driven by a desire to modernise the Army and ensure that Australian units were able to integrate with those of the United States Army. While the US Pentomic organisation had been implemented in 1957 to improve the Army's ability to operate during a
17:
155:
remained on the tropical establishment, the
Australian Army was unable to provide forces which were suited for the forms of warfare it was likely to experience or which were organised along the same lines as units from Australia's main allies. In addition, concentrating the Army's limited manpower
131:
The
Pentropic organisation was trialled during exercises in 1962 and 1963. These exercises revealed that the battle groups' command and control arrangements were unsatisfactory, as battalion headquarters were too small to command such large units in combat situations. While the large Pentropic
128:. As part of this reorganisation the Army replaced its outdated weapons with more modern weapons, most of which were supplied from the United States. It was believed that these new weapons would further improve the Army's combat power and the ability of sub-units to operate independently.
136:
48:
organisation and involved reorganising most of the Army's combat units into units based on five elements, rather than the previous three or four sub-elements. The organisation proved unsuccessful, and the Army reverted to its previous unit structures in early 1965.
119:
which remained unchanged. There was a similar effect on the other CMF units, with most being merged into new, larger units. The other regular infantry battalion remained on the previous tropical establishment as it formed part of the
132:
infantry battalions were found to have some operational advantages over the old tropical establishment battalions, the divisions' large number of vehicles resulted in traffic jams when operating in tropical conditions.
147:
The experience gained from exercises and changes in
Australia's strategic environment led to the decision to move away from the Pentropic organisation in 1964. During the early 1960s a number of small
151:
wars broke out in South East Asia, and the large
Pentropic infantry battalions were ill-suited to these sorts of operations. As the US Army had abandoned its pentomic structure in 1962 and the
111:
divisions) into two
Pentropic divisions (the 1st and 3rd). While two of the Army's three regular infantry battalions were expanded into the new large Pentropic battalions, the 30 reserve
99:
When the
Pentropic organisation was implemented in 1960 the Australian Army was reorganised from three divisions organised on what was called the Tropical establishment (the
143:
in
Morotai, September 1945. As Chief of the General Staff, Wilton later commissioned a review that ultimately recommended a return to the triangular formation.
78:. The Australian Pentropic division was intended to be air portable, capable of fighting in a limited war and capable of conducting anti-guerrilla operations.
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in Korea, 1953. As Chief of the
General Staff, Pollard oversaw the restructure of the Australian Army along pentropic lines.
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668:
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108:
104:
100:
112:
521:
Horner, David (1997). "From Korea to Pentropic: The Army in the 1950s and early 1960s". In Dennis, Peter;
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33:
21:
464:. Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence. Vol. No. 50. Canberra: Australian National University.
115:(CMF) battalions were merged into just nine battalions. This excluded the University Regiments and the
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might be used. Both structures were designed to facilitate independent operations by the sub-units of
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577:'Putting Your Young Men in the Mud'. Change, Continuity and the Australian Infantry Battalion
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The key element of the Pentropic organisation was the reorganisation of divisions into five
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504:
Australian Centenary History of Defence: Volume I – The Australian Army
294:
89:
639:"The Atomic Division: The Australian Army Pentropic Experiment, 1959–1965"
125:
45:
93:
633:– special edition focused on the equipment issued to Pentropic units
620:– special edition setting out the Pentropic organisation in detail
557:
The Australian Army: A History of its Organisation 1901–2001
134:
15:
538:
Red Coats to Cams. A History of Australian Infantry 1788 to 2001
531:. Canberra: School of History, University College, UNSW, ADFA.
346:
From Korea to Pentropic: The Army in the 1950s and early 1960s
96:
headquarters were abolished as part of the reorganisation.
322:
320:
461:
Organising an Army: The Australian Experience 1957–1965
540:. Sydney: Australian Military History Publications.
528:
The Second Fifty Years: The Australian Army 1947–97
164:The main elements of the Pentropic divisions were:
442:. Australian Department of Defence. Archived from
399:. Australian Department of Defence. Archived from
62:, the Australian organisation was optimised for
88:. These battle groups consisted of an infantry
239:Supply, transport, ordnance and other services
8:
40:between 1960 and 1965. It was based on the
267:. Canberra: National Centre of Biography,
259:"Pollard, Sir Reginald George (1903–1978)"
583:. Canberra: Land Warfare Studies Centre.
338:
336:
334:
332:
249:
625:"Equipment for the Pentropic Division"
559:. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
506:. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
487:
477:
434:Australian Army History Unit (2004).
391:Australian Army History Unit (2004).
7:
436:"The Pentropic Organisation 1960–65"
393:"The Pentropic Organisation 1960–65"
264:Australian Dictionary of Biography
14:
117:Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
70:in which there was a chance that
269:Australian National University
196:Five field artillery regiments
1:
685:
180:Five reconnaissance troops
637:Chadwick, Justin (2021).
440:Army History Unit website
397:Army History Unit website
326:Kuring 2004, pp. 263–264.
314:Kuring 2004, pp. 261–262.
209:Five infantry battalions
122:28th Commonwealth Brigade
612:"The Pentropic Division"
555:Palazzo, Albert (2001).
201:Field engineer regiment
171:Reconnaissance Squadron
168:Divisional Headquarters
643:Australian Army Journal
629:Australian Army Journal
616:Australian Army Journal
458:Blaxland, John (1989).
193:Artillery Headquarters
113:Citizens Military Force
420:Blaxland 1989, p. 119.
233:Light aviation company
212:Administration Company
144:
30:Pentropic organisation
25:
618:(129). February 1960.
218:Five rifle companies
138:
34:military organisation
19:
536:Kuring, Ian (2004).
368:Blaxland 1989, p.83.
359:Kuring 2004, p. 265.
204:Five field squadrons
188:Three tank squadrons
174:Administration Troop
574:Ryan, Alan (2003).
379:The Australian Army
221:Four rifle platoons
669:1960s in Australia
446:on August 30, 2007
403:on August 30, 2007
185:Armoured Regiment
149:counter-insurgency
145:
42:United States Army
26:
631:(134). July 1960.
278:978-0-522-84459-7
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224:Weapons platoon
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72:nuclear weapons
68:South East Asia
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38:Australian Army
20:Then Brigadier
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444:the original
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405:. Retrieved
401:the original
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298:. Retrieved
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177:Survey Troop
163:
153:British Army
146:
130:
98:
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64:limited wars
56:
36:used by the
29:
27:
649:(1): 45–60.
141:John Wilton
60:nuclear war
22:Reg Pollard
658:Categories
596:2008-08-23
471:0731505301
450:2008-06-30
428:References
407:2008-06-30
480:cite book
287:1833-7538
160:Structure
90:battalion
76:divisions
525:(eds.).
502:(2001).
381:, p. 209
295:70677943
126:Malaysia
46:pentomic
94:brigade
53:History
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510:
468:
377:Grey,
293:
285:
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32:was a
581:(PDF)
300:2 May
244:Notes
647:XVII
585:ISBN
561:ISBN
542:ISBN
508:ISBN
492:help
466:ISBN
302:2015
291:OCLC
283:ISSN
273:ISBN
107:and
28:The
124:in
109:3rd
105:2nd
101:1st
66:in
44:'s
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