Question on Military Unit Sizes

[thoughtomator]

Can someone with some experience explain to me what the different unit descriptions mean in terms of manpower?

E.g., a company is what, 120 men? And 3 companies to a brigade? How many brigades in a division, etc.

Someone who knows this stuff please spell it out for me!

Thanks

[6ppc]

bump for later cause I'm curious as well

[Tallguy]

3 companies, plus attachments, to a Battalion or Squadron.
3 battalions to a Brigade or Regiment.
3 Brigades to a Division
2, or more Divisions to a Corps.

[Cyrano]

Question on Military Unit Sizes

This brought to mind a picture that is I'm sure NOT what you were talking about!

[Tallguy]

...also, Divisions & Corps have many attached units that add greatly to their manpower -- Extra artillery battalions, and so forth.

[LibWhacker]

It's the old mulitply by four rule:

A squad is roughly 8 to 12 men
A platoon is 4 squads
A company is 4 platoons
A battalion is 4 companies
A brigade is 4 battalions
A division is 4 brigades (roughly 15,000 men)
An army is 4 divisions

These numbers vary widely. Active combat units tend to be more fully manned than rear echelon units, etc. (This stuff only applies to the Army. Don't know about the other branches.)

[wideawake]

Depends on which army, but a squad is about ten men, a platoon is four squads, a company is two or more platoons, a battalion is two or more companies, a regiment is two or more battalions, a brigade is two or more regiments, a division is two or more brigades, a corps is two or more divisions and an army is two or more corps.

[XJarhead]

Sizes also vary a bit between units. A Marine Rifle Company is larger than its army equivalent. Or at least it was when I was on active duty. Also, the "attachments" thing is very important. You can really bolster the strength of a unit by attaching some ofther units. For example, a Marine division may have its normal complement of troops plus an extra battalion of tanks attached.

[D. Brian Carter]

If you go here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74845,00.html, it's all spelled out for you. I chose the US Army as the example here, but there are links on the right that go into detail for each of the branches of service.

Army Formations

• Squad: The smallest groupings in the army structure, squads are made up of 8 to 11
soldiers and are normally led by a sergeant.
• Platoon: Usually consisting of two to four squads, platoons are typically led by a
lieutenant, with a senior sergeant second in command.
• Company (in the infantry), battery (in the artillery) or troop (in the cavalry): The company,
battery or troop is made up of three to five platoons and is typically commanded by a
captain. It usually has a first lieutenant as the second in command and a first sergeant as
the senior non-commissioned officer.
• Battalion: The primary combat maneuver element of the Army, the battalion or squadron
is composed of four to six companies and is commanded by a lieutenant colonel with a
sergeant major as the senior non-commissioned adviser. A major acts as the executive
officer and second in command. The battalion is tactically and administratively
self-sufficient and can conduct independent operations of a limited scope. An armored or
air cavalry unit of similar size to a battalion is called a squadron.
• Brigade: The brigade or regiment is made up of two to five battalions under the
command of a colonel with a sergeant major as the senior non-commissioned officer.
Armored calvary and ranger units of similar size to a brigade are called regiments, while
special forces units are known as groups.
• Division: Typically made up of three maneuver brigades, as well combat support
brigades, they are commanded by a major general. The division performs major tactical
operations for the corps and is capable of sustained operations.
• Corps: A corps is made of two or more divisions commanded by a lieutenant general. At
this level, national intelligence assets are analyzed and command and control of the
whole theater operations are coordinated.
• Army: Armies can be identified as theater armies, field armies, or army groups.

[thoughtomator]

Cool! Thanks for the info. Can I question you a little more?

- where does a 'platoon' fit in?
- are there any other unit size designations used in the US armed forces?
- how many men exactly are in a company?
- what is an 'attachment', specifically?
- is there any consistent difference between a battalion and a squadron, or between a brigade and a regiment?

[Boston Capitalist]

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/blarmychainofcommand.htm

[ladtx]

Depends on unit and mission. I was in a regiment that had 5 squadrons.

[thoughtomator]

whoops never mind, looks like I got my questions answered already - what great and knowledgable folks we have here!

[AgentEcho]

From About.com

Squad - 9 to 10 soldiers. Typically commanded by a sergeant or staff sergeant, a squad or section is the smallest element in the Army structure, and its size is dependent on its function.

Platoon - 16 to 44 soldiers. A platoon is led by a lieutenant with an NCO as second in command, and consists of two to four squads or sections.

Company - 62 to 190 soldiers. Three to five platoons form a company, which is commanded by a captain with a first sergeant as the commander's principle NCO assistant. An artillery unit of equivalent size is called a battery, and a comparable armored or air cavalry unit is called a troop.

Battalion - 300 to 1,000 soldiers. Four to six companies make up a battalion, which is normally commanded by a lieutenant colonel with a command sergeant major as principle NCO assistant. A battalion is capable of independent operations of limited duration and scope. An armored or air cavalry unit of equivalent size is called a squadron.

Brigade - 3,000 to 5,000 solders. A brigage headquarters commands the tactical operation of two to five organic or attached combat battalions. Normally commanded by a colonel with a command sergeant major as senior NCO, brigades are employed on independent or semi-independent operations. Armored cavalry, ranger and special forces units this size are categorized as regiments or groups.

Division - 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Usually consisting of three brigade-sized elements and commandeed by a major general, divisions are numbered and assigned missions based on their structures. The division performs major tactical operations for the corps and can conduct sustained battles and engagements.

Corps - 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers. Two to five divisions consitute a corps, which is typically commanded by a lieutenant general. As the deployable level of command required to synchronize and sustain combat operations, the corps provides the framework for multi-national operations.

Army - 50,000 + soliders. Typically commanded by a lieutenant general or higher, an army combines two or more coprs. A theater army is the ranking Army compoenent in a unified command, and it has operational and support responsibilities that are assigned by the theater commander in chief. The commander in chief and theater army commander may order formation of a field army to direct operations of assigned corps and divisions. An army group plans and directs campaigns in a theater, and is composed of two or more field armies under a designated commander. Army groups have not been employed by the Army since World War II. Æ

[SLB]

The answer to your question is found in what is known as the "order of battle" which was posted here sometime earlier. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/870366/posts

Follow the link on the thread. (I didn't make it easy for you). This is totally unclassified information on the public domain. There are some units not listed for obvious reasons.

[wideawake]

I think the practice among the US Marines was to subdivide squads into even smaller groups called "fire teams" consisting of four of five men.

[clamper1797]

I believe that the Navy generally has larger "Units" than any of the other services and especially compared to "Units" owned by Marines :<) ... USN

[WhiskeyPapa]

Well, start with a fire team -- 4 guys.

Three fireteams make a squad, three squads make a platoon, three platoons make a company, three companies make a battalion, three battalions make a regiment and three regiments make a division.

Brigades are either puny divisions or beefed up regiments.

These are maneuver elements -- grunts. At the company level add a fourth platoon for weapons. Same at the battalion level. A Marine division has a fourth regiment for artillery.

The company weapons -platoon- is going to have machine guns, some sort of anti-tank element, and small mortars. The battalion weapons -company- is going to have heavier mortars, heavier machine guns and more capable anti tank. Engineers and tanks (and civil affairs and yadda yadda) are going to be at the division level; that is a division will have a tank battalion and engineer battalion with it.

This is all very general, and the Army is different to some degree, but these "triangular" units have been a staple since WWII at least.

So:

Company @ 155

Battalion @ 700

Regiment @ 3,500- 4,000

Division @ 20,000.

In the air, a squadron parallels a battalion. An Air -Wing- pairs up with a divison.

A tank battalion will have 40-50 tanks, again organized in triangular fashion. I think they've got 4 tanks per platoon now, so 14 (one for the CO, one for XO/forward air/arty observers) per company and @ 45 for the whole battalion.

Walt

[D. Brian Carter]

lmao

[Laura Earl]

Not sure about military standards, but I definitely have mine.