US Forces
In the Second World War era US Army, 75 mm howitzers were issued to airborne and mountain units.
An airborne division, according to the organization of February 1944, had three 75 mm howitzer battalions – two glider field artillery battalions (two six-gun batteries each) and one parachute field artillery battalion (three four-gun batteries), in total 36 pieces per division. In December 1944, new Tables of Organization and Equipment increased the divisional firepower to 60 75 mm howitzers (as an option, in glider battalions 75 mm pieces could be replaced with more powerful 105mm M3).
The only mountain division formed, the 10th, had three 75 mm howitzer battalions, 12 pieces each. The gun was also used by some separate field artillery battalions.
In the US Marine Corps, under the E-series Tables of Organization (TO) from 15 April 1943 divisional artillery included three 75 mm howitzer battalions, 12 pieces each. The F-series TO from 5 May 1944 reduced the number of 75 mm battalions to two, and the G-series TO removed them altogether, completing the shift to 105 mm and 155 mm howitzers. Although the G-series TO was only adopted on 4 September 1945, in practice in some divisions the change was introduced early in 1945.
As of 2012, the M116 was still used by the US Army for ceremonial purposes.
Read more about this topic: M116 Howitzer, Organization and Service
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