UNITED STATES ARMY

256th INFANTRY BRIGADE, 5th INFANTRY DIVISION (MECHANIZED) Cold War Organization  •  1988

Though formally designated as a separate brigade, the 256th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana Army National Guard was organized similarly to the other brigades of the 5th Infantry Division, with two mechanized infantry battalions (M113 APCs) and one armor battalion (M60A3 tanks armed with a 105mm gun). There was no field artillery battalion or combat engineer company, but the 256th did include an armored cavalry reconnaissance troop with M60A3 tanks and M113A1 cavalry reconniassance vehicles. This was the standard configuration for separate National Guard brigades earmarked as round-out units for divisions of the Regular Army. Infantry and armor battalions of the Army National Guard earmarked as round-out units for Regular Army divisions were organized under the Division 86 scheme with a headquarters company, four lettered maneuver companies and, for infantry battalions, an antiarmor company.