Battalion Commander
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United States Army, the commanding officer of a battalion is a Battalion Commander. The position is usually held by a lieutenant colonel, although a major can be selected for battalion command in lieu of an available lieutenant colonel. A typical tour of duty for this assignment is twenty four to thirty six months.
A battalion command is the first unit command position at which the commanding officer is given an appreciably sized headquarters and staff to assist him or her in commanding the battalion and its subordinate company units. The typical staff usually includes:
- a battalion executive officer, usually a major
- a battalion command sergeant major
- a personnel officer (S1), usually a captain
- an intelligence officer (S2), usually a captain
- an operations officer (S3), usually a major
- a logistics officer (S4), usually a captain
- a communications officer (S6), usually a captain
- a medical officer, usually a captain
- a JAG (legal) officer, usually a captain
- a battalion chaplain, usually a captain
In addition, the headquarters will include non commissioned officers and enlisted support personnel in the occupational specialities of the staff sections; these personnel will ordinarily be assigned to the battalion's headquarters and headquarters company.
