View all newsletters > Squad. A small military unit consisting of ten to eleven soldiers, normally led by a staff sergeant. Platoon. A platoon is four squads: generally three rifle squads and one weapons squad, normally armed with machine guns and anti-tank weapons.
List of names and ranks of the men in a certain battalion; the names are divided into different platoons: 1st Rifle Platoon, 2nd Rifle Platoon, 3rd Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Platoon, HQ Platoon. The names of the men are listed to the right of their rank underneath their assigned platoon name.
REGIMENT: Do not use the shorthand for these units. For example, instead of writing 1/120th Infantry, write out the full name: 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment. Always list the subordinate unit before the name of the regiment: 1st Battalion, 2nd Squadron.
A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer. The platoon leader is usually a junior officer—a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant.
Company, Battery or Troop
A company in the U.S. Army is normally made up of three platoons, which means 60 to 200 soldiers, but it can have more.
PLATOON. A platoon consists of a few squads and up to a few dozen soldiers. They're generally run by a lieutenant, often with a noncommissioned officer as second in command.
Battalions / squadrons
The standard US Army usage is that Battalions and Squadrons are given numbers within their Regiments. Example: "1st Battalion, 384th Infantry Regiment".
The smallest unit in an army is the squad, which contains 7 to 14 soldiers and is led by a sergeant. (A slightly larger unit is a section, which consists of 10 to 40 soldiers but is usually used only within headquarters or support organizations.)
In the United States Army, a battalion is a unit composed of a headquarters and two to six batteries, companies, or troops. They are normally identified by ordinal numbers (1st Battalion, 2nd Squadron, etc.) and normally have subordinate units that are identified by single letters (Battery A, Company A, Troop A, etc.).
Three or four squads make up a platoon,…
A squad is the smallest unit in an army. A group of squads make up a platoon. Two or more platoons make up a company. Naval ships of the same type are organized into a squadron, and such a group of squadrons form a flotilla, several of which, in turn, form a fleet.
Squads/sections are given numerical/color designations eg 1st, 2nd, 3rd or red, white, blue. Squads are not typically given "nick names". What does a beret mean in the military?
The most elite special operations forces in the U.S. are known as the Green Berets, and while that alone is enough to spark debate, there's great reasoning behind it. Training includes harsh mental and physical undertakings, including the school that's widely regarded as the hardest: Combat Diving.
Today, the descendants of these first regiments - the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery, and the 101st Engineer Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard – share the distinction of being the oldest units in the U.S. military.
Army. In the United States Army, a brigade is smaller than a division and roughly equal to or a little larger than a regiment.
After you created the squad, you can no longer change its name - you have to leave and create a new squad under a new name instead. When you create a squad, you will automatically be its Squad Leader (SL). It is highly recommended that the squad leader uses one of the Squad leader kits.
In the United States Army the TO&E rank of a rifle squad leader is staff sergeant (E-6, or OR-6) and in the United States Marine Corps the TO rank is sergeant (E-5, or OR-5), though a corporal may also act as a squad leader in the absence of sufficient numbers of sergeants.
There are 13 enlisted Army ranks: private, private second class, private first class, specialist, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, master sergeant, first sergeant, sergeant major, command sergeant major and sergeant major of the Army.
STAFF SERGEANT (SSG)
A staff sergeant commands a squad (nine to 10 Soldiers). Often, a staff sergeant will have one or more sergeants under his or her leadership. They are responsible for developing, maintaining and utilizing the full range of a Soldier's potential.
The platoon sergeant takes charge of the platoon in the absence of the platoon leader. As the lowest level senior NCO involved in the company METL [Mission Essential Task List], and individual tasks to soldiers in their squads, crews or equivalent small units."
A company typically has 100 to 200 soldiers, and a battalion is a combat unit of 500 to 800 soldiers. Three to five battalions, approximately 1,500 to 4,000 soldiers, comprise a brigade.
A squadron is a sub-unit of a battalion-sized formation (usually a regiment), and is usually made up of two or more troops.
Each company is identified by a letter in alphabetical order. The platoon is identified by a four-digit number, with the first number indicating which battalion they are from.
A section is a military sub-subunit. It usually consists of between 6 and 20 personnel. NATO and U.S. doctrine define a section as an organization "larger than a squad, but smaller than a platoon." As such, two or more sections usually make up an army platoon or an air force flight.