Organizational History and Unit History - The Difference

Organizational History and Unit History - The Difference


As you read the different histories of the Mohawk units presented here on this site, you'll find statements about the history of a unit that contradicts itself. Different pages reflect different dates and statements. Also, years ago, you were standing there when they told you that your unit now had a different name. So how can there be all this confusion over a simple thing as a history?

To begin, you have to understand the Organizational History of a unit. Every unit in the United States Army is first Constituted. This is when the unit is first placed on the rolls of the Army. For purposes here, it is the day when the unit is conceived.

During the life of a unit, it may be:

Once a unit has been Activated, it may be Reorganized many times, it may even be Redesignated many times. The Organizational History follows the unit at every step.

There may come a point where the unit is Inactivated, as it is no longer needed. The Organizational History then stops at the Inactivation of the unit. This period of inactivity might be ten or twenty years, until the Army decides to Activate the unit once again. The unit may be Redesignated, to change it's name, and Reorganized to change it's equipment and authorized strength or both. When this is done the Organizational History is dusted off and continues as if nothing happened.

Additionally, the unit may be Disbanded because of no further need. At some later date, the Army decides it wants the unit back. The process starts all over again. The unit is Reconstituted and placed on the rolls of the Army and it's Organizational History is once again dusted off.

In all the years that a unit may be active, it may be doing many things. At one point it may be a Quartermaster Truck Company, then ten years later it may be an Assault Helicopter company and ten years after that it may be an Air Traffic Control Company or even a Mohawk Company. It doesn't matter what the Army decides to do with the unit, the Organizational History will follow it regardless of what name or purpose the unit had.

The United States Army refers to this as a unit's Lineage.

Unit History is completely different. This history takes into account it's entire past, of who it was, and what is was. Nothing is left out. If two units come together to form a third unit, then it's Unit History is also comprised of the two previous unit's Organizational and Unit Histories. This is an easier history for us to understand, as you would track your own familys' tree by it.

So what we end up with can be confusing. As an example: The 23d Special Warfare Aviation Detachment was Inactivated on December 26, 1964 and the 73d Aviation Company was Activated on December 26, 1964. Everyone woke up that December morning to a new unit designation. Nothing changed other than the name. It still had the same personnel and the same aircraft as the day before. But what changed was the Organizational History of the 23d stopped and the Organizational History of the 73d started. Are the units related? No, according to Lineage. Yes, according to Unit History.

Hopefully now, you'll understand that there are two very distinct type of histories here on this site. Both are correct, but both go about it in different ways. We present both types here for your information. We'll leave it to the historians to argue over which is the 'more' correct way!


Glossary of Lineage Terms

ACTIVATE. To bring into being or establish a unit that has been constituted. Usually personnel and equipment are assigned at this time; however, a unit may be active at zero strength, that is, without personnel or equipment. This term was not used before 1921. It is never used when referring to Army National Guard units, and only since World War II has it been used in connection with Army Reserve units. (See also ORGANIZE.)

ALLOT. To assign a unit to one of the components of the United States Army. The present components of the Army are the Regular Army (RA), the Army National Guard (ARNG), and the Army Reserve (AR), which was formerly known as the Organized Reserves and the Organized Reserve Corps. During World War I units were also allotted to the National Army, and during World War II to the Army of the United States. A unit may be withdrawn from any component except the Army National Guard and allotted to another. The new allotment, however, does not change the history, lineage, and honors of the unit.

ASSIGN. To make a unit part of a larger organization and place it under that organization's command and control until it is relieved from the assignment. As a rule, only divisional and separate brigade assignments are shown in unit lineages.

CONSOLIDATE. To merge or combine two or more units into one new unit. The new unit may retain the designation of one of the original units or it may have a new designation, but it inherits the history, lineage, and honors of all of the units affected by the merger. In the nineteenth century, consolidation was frequently a merger of several under-strength units to form one full-strength unit. At the present time, in the Regular Army and the Army Reserve, units are usually consolidated when they are inactive or when only one of the units is active; therefore, personnel and equipment are seldom involved. In the Army National Guard, on the other hand, active units are often consolidated, and their personnel are combined in the new unit.

CONSTITUTE. To place the designation of a new unit on the official rolls of the Army.

CONVERT. To transfer a unit from one branch of the Army to another, for example, from infantry to armor. Such a move always requires a redesignation, with the unit adopting the name of its new branch; however, there is no break in the historical continuity of the unit. If the unit is active, it must also be reorganized under a new table of organization and equipment (TOE).

DEMOBILIZE. To remove the designation of a unit from the official rolls of the Army. If the unit is active, it must also be inactivated. This term is used in unit lineages only when referring to the period during and immediately after World War I. (For other periods, see DISBAND.)

DESIGNATION. The official title of a unit, consisting usually of a number and a name.

DISBAND. To remove the designation of a unit from the official rolls of the Army. If the unit is active, it must also be inactivated.

ELEMENT. A Unit that is assigned to or part of a larger organization. (See also ORGANIC ELEMENT.)

INACTIVATE. To place a unit that is not currently needed in an operative status without assigned personnel or equipment. The unit's designation, however, is retained on the rolls of the Army, and it can be reactivated whenever needed. Its personnel and equipment are reassigned to one or more active units, but its organizational properties and trophies are put in storage. When the unit is activated again, it is assigned new personnel and equipment, but it keeps its old history, honors, and organizational properties and trophies. This term has been used only since 1921. Before that time, units either remained active or were removed from the rolls of the Army.

ORDER INTO ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICE. To place an Army Reserve unit on full-time active duty usually during a war or a major crisis, such as the Berlin crisis of 1961-62. After completing its active duty, the unit may be inactivated or it may be released from active military service, reverting to reserve status. This phrase does not apply to Army Reserve units on annual active duty training.

ORGANIC ELEMENT. A unit that is an integral part of a larger organization, for example, a lettered company of a battalion or regiment.

ORGANIZE. To assign personnel and equipment to a unit and make it operative, that is, capable of performing its mission.

RECONSTITUTE. To restore to the official rolls of the Army a unit that has been disbanded or demobilized. The reconstituted unit may have a new designation, but it retains its former history, lineage, and honors.

REDESIGNATE. To change a unit's official name or number or both. Redesignation is a change of title only; the unit's history, lineage, and honors remain the same. Active as well as inactive units can be redesignated, but personnel and equipment of an active unit are not changed unless it is reorganized at the same time.

REORGANIZE. Too change the structure of a unit in accordance with a new table of organization and equipment (TOE), or to change from one type of unit to another within the same branch of the Army, for example, from mechanized to airborne infantry. (For reorganizations involving a new branch, see CONVERT.) When referring to the Army National Guard, however, this term also means to organize an active unit again.

TRANSFER LESS PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT. To move a unit from one place to another without its personnel and equipment. The transfer is, therefore, merely a move on paper. The unit is usually reorganized at its new location with newly assigned personnel and equipment, but it retains its own lineage, honors, and organizational properties and trophies. The original personnel and equipment are reassigned to one or more units.


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