To the credit of the Americans, they very quickly drew conclusions from the successes of the German tank formations in Poland and France. July 10, 1940 began the creation of armored troops of the U.S. Army - Armored Force, led by General A. Chaffee (English word "armoured" - armored, armored - in the "American" version of the language is spelled "armored") Five days later, on the basis of existing tank and mechanized units, the formation of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions (Armored Division) began. Each consisted of two regiments of light tanks and one medium, reconnaissance battalion (Reconnaissance Armored Battalion), infantry battalion (Infantry Armored Battalion), artillery (Field Artillery Battalion Armored) and engineering (Engineer Battalion Armored) battalions .. The formation of the divisions was completed by the summer of 1941. In each of them there were more than 24 thousand .. personnel, 375 tanks, 42 75-mm self-propelled guns, 54 self-propelled howitzers, 126 self-propelled anti-tank guns . Such a division was cumbersome and difficult to manage.