1st Battle Group 22d Infantry

1st Battle Group 22d Infantry

Fort Lewis, Washington 1962

On April 1, 1957, the 22d Infantry Regiment became the 1st Battle Group, 22d Infantry of the 4th Infantry Division.

In 1962 both units were part of STRAC (Strategic Army Corps)

Developments in nuclear weapons after World War 2 changed Army planning to fight on the battlefield.
The nuclear battlefield was viewed as being much larger than battlefields of the past.
The Army believed that heavy divisions would be too slow moving to deal with this new situation.
Added to this were the massive cuts in the Army budget which came from the "massive retaliation" policy
of the Department of Defense.
As a result, the Army reorganized its divisions under the Pentomic Plan of 1957-1959.
Under this plan a division would have five Battle Groups of 1400 men each, making each Group larger than a Battalion,
but smaller than a Regiment.
The 1st Battle Group 22nd Infantry had five companies of infantry, a headquarters company and
a combat support company.
It was felt that these small, self-contained Battle Groups could move faster and deeper across the larger operational area,
giving the speed necessary to deal with the nuclear or post-nuclear battlefield.
The concept of the Pentomic Division was not well received by Army staff organizations,
from the Company level to the highest levels of Command.
The Battle Group concept also proved to be inadequate for the Army to use in dealing with non-nuclear battlefields
and "limited war" scenarios, which became the norm as the super powers backed away from
full nuclear confrontation.
Thus, the Pentomic Plan was relatively short lived, as under the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions (ROAD)
plan of 1962-1964, the Army's divisions were once again reorganized, this time into heavier divisions
utilizing Brigades and Battalions much as before.