Light Infantry Forces

This annotated bibliography was initially developed in conjunction withthe initiative of the Department of the Army in 1983 to develop the forcestructure for 10000-man light infantry divisions. Its goals were toprovide annotated historical references for the combat experiences ofprevious light divisions and to list historical sources on the force designprocess especially in regard to attempts to lighten the force or to respondto improvements in technology on the battlefield. The first draft of thisbibliography was distributed in September and October 1983 as a quickreference to force planners across the Army.Since that time the bibliography has been expanded but the generalfocus remains the same historical light divisions and the force designprocess. It addresses light infantry forces of the twentieth century withprimary emphasis on World War II and later. This document can serve as astarting point for force designers' research into the originsorganizations capabilities and combat experiences of light infantry forces.In order to permit widespread distribution of this bibliography onlyunclassified sources have been cited. However additional classifieddocuments on the subject exist particularly in regard to technical analysesof force capabilities. A number of these are available in the Combined ArmsResearch Library (CARL) at Fort Leavenworth Kansas.The enclosed charts describe light infantry and close combat forces ofWorld War II as well as some of those in being today.