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8 division, 42 to the field artillery and 3 to the air service. Artillery and air service commanders to whom these machine guns are issued are prone, it is believed, to consider them as mere accessories to their regular equipment and to concern themselves but little in training personnel to handle them. Better training and better results in antiaircraft defense would be undoubtedly be obtained if all the antiaircraft machine guns pertaining organically to the division were grouped into a single organization. This is particularly advisable for now that the .50 caliber machine gun is replacing the .30 caliber weapon as the standard small caliber antiaircraft machine gun throughout the service. Such an organization could be used as a unit to cover the division, or detachments therefrom could be made whenever conditions warranted such action. The fact that the division, when in the presence of the enemy, will have use for its antiaircraft weapons particularly all the time, day and night, on the march, during combat, and in bivouac, indicates that the organization should be an organic part of the division and not one that is attached from the corps when needed. (2) Antiaircraft weapons of caliber greater than the .50 caliber machine gun should be available to the division from the corps in case of need, but they are not required as organic elements of the division. (3) It is recommended therefore that the 45 antiaircraft machine guns now provided for in the division be replaced by an antiaircraft machine gun battalion organized into three batteries and a battalion combat train; each battery to consist of three platoons, and each platoon, of four .50 caliber machine guns, -- a total of 36 machine guns in the battalion. c. (1) The corps has need of antiaircraft weapons to cover the corps troops on the march and in bivouac, to reinforce the antiaircraft defense of the division and at the same time cover the corps in combat, and to reinforce the weapons of the divisions at such other times as may be advisable. (2) Tables of Organization show a total of 123 antiaircraft machine guns now distributed throughout the corps artillery brigade and corps air service. It is believed that the efficiency of these weapons in antiaircraft defense would be greatly increased by uniting these weapons in one organization. (3) A strict adherence to the figures and methods assumed in paragraph 7 above indicates that the corps should have 108 37-mm antiaircraft machine guns to reinforce the 108 .50 caliber machine guns of the three divisions, such additional machine guns (say 7s) as would be needed to cover corps troops and establishments in rear of the division areas, and 12 3-inch antiaircraft guns, together with the necessary searchlights and sound-locating apparatus. Practically, however, it is believed that 190 antiaircraft machine guns in the corps troops would be excessive, and that a total of 108, or three battalions of 36 machine guns each, would be a safe minimum. (4) It is recommended therefore: (a) that the antiaircraft machine guns now issued to units of corps troops other than the present antiaircraft machine gun battalion, be replaced by the machine guns of the antiaircraft regiment described below. (b) that the antiaircraft regiment be included among the corps troops as at present, but organized so as to include:
