[r9etb]

You know, I’ve heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon — supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon.

Hmmmm..... Question for the Army types out there: is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?

[RexBeach]

Yes, 39 men sounds big for a platoon. But then, maybe not?

Answers?

[Soliton]

Platoons are headed by Lieutenants

[MNJohnnie]

No, a platoon would be commanded by a LT, Capts command companies.

[SwankyC]

Usually a Lt but I dont think Capt is unheard of. When I first joined, my arty battery (two full platoons) was commanded by a 1st Lt.

[Turborules]

#1 a Captain 03 does not command a Infantry Platoon, he commands a company, (Special Forces a Cpt commands a A Team Detachment of 12-14 men)and in todays Army unit cohesion is very important for moral and fighting strengths that you never have with replacement troops just rounding out a unit...lessons learned from VN

A Platoon is made up of 4-5 squads 9-12 men...you do not break up a company and send to different Areas unless they have critical skills needed for a special mission...this whole Obama thing as commander in chief is worse than the thought of Hillery as CIC

[PapaBear3625]

Question for the Army types out there: is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?

Lieutenants command platoons, which generally have 30 men. Captains command companies of about 100 men (generally 3 platoons plus a headquarters squad)

[vpintheak]

Absolutely not. The Captain would have to be the biggest crap bag int he millitary to be commanding an infantry platoon. These spots are filled by 2nd Lt’s; the ones fresh out of training and school, their first assignement in the Army. Not a Captain. I call BS Osama, er I mean omama.

[ridesthemiles]

This kind of a headline is bogus, IMO.

Combantants on opposite sides since the days of the cave men have been taking the other side’s equipment and weapons for thousands of years. It is good use of resources in two ways- the other side no longer has the weapon, and your side has more weapons.

[PapaBear3625]

The only circumstance where a Captain would command so few soldiers would be in a Special Forces team, of which we have a lot in Afghanistan, so maybe that’s what Obama was talking about. SF is also more likely to be comfortable using local arms

[Non-Sequitur]

Hmmmm..... Question for the Army types out there: is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?

A more appropriate questions would be does Obama even know what a captain is?

[Terabitten]

Hmmmm..... Question for the Army types out there: is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?

No, a platoon is generally led by a lieutenant. However, I think what he was trying to say was that the captain *had been* a platoon leader, not was currently leading said platoon.

Platoons being understrength for any number of reasons is pretty typical. When I was a platoon leader, I was supposed to have a 30 man platoon (18 dismounts and 12 Bradley crewmembers including me and the platoon sergeant), I only had 18 soldiers - 12 crewmen and 6 dismounts. It's the way things are sometimes.

[elpadre]

“..is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?”

back in my day (the 50’s):
Captains led rifle companies,
lieutenants led platoons,
sergeants led squads

maybe a special mission commando platoon or squad could have a captain.

[CIB-173RDABN]

Question for the Army types out there: is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?

---

Platoons are usually commanded by a 2nd Lt, sometimes a 1st but seldom by Captains. A Captain would be a Company commander.

When you run short of officiers, especially at the platoon level a sergent takes over.

[HenpeckedCon]

He’s full of sh_t! A butter bar or a 1st louie at best commands a platoon. Half the platoon is in Iraq and half in Afghanistan? What an a-hole!

[Ann Archy]

You know, I’ve heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon — supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Hmmmm..... Question for the Army types out there: is it usual for a platoon to be commanded by a captain?

Maybe it was an AFGHAN ARMY captian!! Or a SOMALIAN!