earlier organization of the light tank companies, except they were now equipped with M4 Shermans instead of the M5 Stuarts. Each company was still organized with three platoons of five tanks, plus the company headquarters tank section with two additional tanks for a total of 17 tanks per company. Each tank company maintenance section now had a dedicated M32 Tank Recovery Vehicle, also based on the M4 chassis. Each Company was also supposed to have an assault gun, but, as mentioned above, this was transferred to the battalion's assault gun platoon. Company D – the new Company D was the medium tank battalion’s light tank company. The light tank company mirrored the organization of the medium tank companies, but still had M5 Stuart tanks. Each company was still organized with three platoons of five tanks, plus the company headquarters tank section with two additional tanks for a total of 17 tanks. The company maintenance section was also equipped with an M32 Tank Recovery Vehicle in case—as sometimes happened—a platoon of medium tanks was attached to the company to provide heavier firepower. Heavy tank battalion The 70th Tank Battalion once again underwent massive reorganization when it was converted into a heavy tank battalion. The primary changes were in the tank companies, which were reduced to three. The Heavy Tank Battalion organization is as follows: Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) –This Company included the battalion staff and the battalion command headquarters section, including the two tanks in the headquarters tank section. The headquarters company still had a reconnaissance section and mortar platoon. The assault gun platoon was deleted from the organization. Service Company –This Company still consisted primarily of the battalion maintenance platoon and the battalion supply and transportation platoon. Companies A and C –These companies were equipped with M4A3E8 Sherman tanks. This tank was equipped with a high velocity 76 mm gun and a heavier horizontal volute suspension. The heavy tank companies were now organized into four platoons of five tanks, plus the two company headquarters tanks, for a total of 22 tanks in each company. The tank recovery vehicle was now an M74. Company B –This Company was equipped with M26 Pershing tanks, equipped with a 90 mm gun. Despite the heavier gun, the Pershing was not well liked as it was unreliable and difficult to maintain. While in Korea, the Pershings were withdrawn and replaced with M4A3E8 Sherman tanks.