A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is the specified organization, staffing, and equipment of military units. Also used in acronyms as 'T/O' and 'T/E'. It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of a unit as well as the unit's current status. A general TOE is applicable to a type of unit (for instance, an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

battalion) rather than a specific unit (the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment). Sometimes, all units of the same branch (such as Infantry) follow the same structural guidelines; much more often, there are a wide variety of TOEs to suit specific circumstances (Modified Tables of Organization and Equipment (MTOEs), in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, for example).

Soviet Union and Russia

In the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

the term used for TO&E since the 1930s is ''"Shtatnoe raspisanie"'' (''Штатное расписание'', literally translated as Shtat Prescription). It originates from the term ''"Shtat"'' (''штат'') which literally means "assignment" and in a secondary meaning as the synonym for TO&E itself. Note that in the Soviet Union and modern day Russia the term ''"Shtatnoe raspisanie"'' applied not only to military unit, but also to state organizations such as ministries, agencies, universities, hospitals etc. and even to the corporate structure of private companies. Many of the Red Army's rifle divisions at the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

were operating on Shtat 04/400 of 5 April 1941. This Shtat stipulated that an infantry division should consist of three infantry regiments, a light and a howitzer artillery regiment, other artillery units, a reconnaissance battalion, a

combat engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, Tunnel warfare, tunnel and l ...

battalion, signals, chemical company (decontamination/flamethrower), transport, medical, and logistics train units, an aviation flight, and a division staff seemingly consisting of the division commander (1/0/0), division staff (70, including 12 horses and 13 vehicles), a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

section of five officers (5/0/0), a military tribunal (

military justice Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

) of two officers, and a political section of 11 officers. Soviet rifle divisions were often forced to operate at far below their authorised strengths. For example, in the middle of the fighting on the Eastern Front, on July 20, 1942, a report on the 284th Rifle Division lamented: The commissar, Tkachenko, went on to urgently request vehicles (including ambulances, of which there were none), small arms and support weapons, draught horses, and a closer supply base. After the first day of fighting he further reported that the lack of high-explosive shells forced the artillery to fire armor-piercing rounds at enemy firing points and troops; there were no cartridges for the submachine guns; many of the men's uniforms and footwear were worn out; and it was impossible to commit the replacements into the fighting because of the lack of weapons. The actual personnel (field ration) strength of Red Army units and formations during the first 30 months of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

seldom if ever met the specified ''shtat'' totals. Manpower shortages were routine if not endemic. When

began, the average strength of divisions facing the Germans was about 67%; with enormous variations, the average totals began to rise before offensives as Stavka refilled the divisions in advance of operations, and then formations were ground down in battle. Several instances of divisions continuing to operate with only hundreds of men are recorded. On main attack axes in mid-1943, average personnel strengths reached 75-80% of the required ''shtat.'' After the Second World War, formations were held at a series of descending levels of strength, ("A," "Б," " В," "Г,") corresponding to the first four letters of the Russian

Cyrillic alphabet The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Easte ...

. The reason for the creation of reduced-strength (cadre) units and formations in the USSR Armed Forces was the need to reduce the Armed Forces while simultaneously maintaining officer personnel, stocks of military equipment, weapons and materiel. For example, in the 191st Motor Rifle Regiment of the "framed" (reduced-strength)

201st Motor Rifle Division The Russian 201st Military Base (; ) is a List of Russian military bases abroad, Russian military base based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, part of the Central Military District. It was originally raised twice in World War II as part of the Soviet Un ...

at the beginning of December 1979, there were 12 (twelve) people (the regiment was held at a state “G” strength). In connection with the deployment of the regiment to Afghanistan, in January 1980, the regiment's personnel were quickly increased to 2,200 people.

United States

Army

In the U.S. Army, there are four basic types of TOEs: *The Base Table of Organization and Equipment (BTOE) **An organizational design document based on current doctrine and available equipment. It shows the basics of a unit's structure and their wartime requirements (both for personnel and equipment). *The Objective Table of Organization and Equipment (OTOE) **An updated form of the BTOE, usually formed within the last year. It is a fully modern document and is up to date with current policies and initiatives. *A Modified Table of Organization and Equipment (MTOE) **A document that modifies a BTOE in regard to a specific unit. Used when a unit's needs are substantially different from the BTOE. *A Table of Distribution and Allowances (TDA) **A type of temporary TOE that is applicable to a specific mission. Used in an instance when there is no applicable TOE. Each TOE has a unique number that identifies it. When changes are needed, a table is not modified, instead, a new table is drafted from scratch. An example of an overall T/O change can be seen when the " Pentomic" organization was superseded by the Reorganization Objective Army Division (ROAD). During the 1950s, the Pentomic reorganization shifted the basic tactical unit from the regiment to the five-company battle group. Instead of brigades, an armored division had three

Combat Command A combat command was a Combined arms, combined-arms military organization of comparable size to a brigade or regiment employed by armored forces of the United States Army from 1942 until 1963. The structure of combat commands was task-organized ...

s designated: CCA, CCB, and CCC. On 16 December 1960, the Army Chief of Staff directed a reappraisal of division organization. Resulting studies were carried out between January and April 1961, and fully implemented by 1965.Wilson, John B. (1997). ''Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades''. Washington, DC: Center of Military History. The resulting Reorganization of Army Divisions (ROAD) changed all division types (Mechanized, Airborne, Armor, Infantry and Cavalry) to an identical structure of three brigades of three (sometimes four) battalions. The ROAD division consisted of a mix of nine to twelve armor and infantry battalions based on its Mission, the likely Enemy, the Terrain/weather, and other forces available or Troops (METT). Each brigade would be assigned or attached the mix of battalions and companies based on the division commanders estimate based on METT. As operations continued, the division commander could task organize subordinate units as needed by the flow of the battle.

Marine Corps

{{Unreferenced section, date=February 2019 Marine T/O&Es are based on a generic template for each specific type and size of unit, for example, a

weapons company A weapons company, sometimes called a manoeuvre support company, is a company-sized military unit attached to an infantry battalion to support the rifle companies of the battalion. It usually possesses some combination of machine-guns, mortars, an ...

of an infantry battalion, or a heavy helicopter squadron. These templates are then modified as needed by the individual unit. The Marine Corps also relies on other documents to report what personnel and equipment a unit actually possesses. The T/O section denotes every authorized

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

within a unit by rank and

Military Occupational Specialty A United States military occupation code, or a military occupational specialty code (MOS code), is a nine-character code used in the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to identify a specific job. In the United States Air Force, a sy ...

required to fulfill the necessary duties. The T/E section denotes authorized equipment by Line Item Number and quantity.

References

External links and sources