Weapons company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A weapons company, sometimes called a manoeuvre support company is a company-sized military unit attached to an infantry battalion to support the rifle companies of the battalion. It usually possesses some combination of machine-guns, mortars, anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, reconnaissance vehicles, and sometimes assault pioneers (infantrymen specially trained in the assault role).
[edit] British Army
In the British army, the manoeuvre support company possesses a MILAN platoon, a reconnaissance platoon, a mortar platoon (with 81 mm mortars), a machine gun platoon (with 9 GPMGs) and an assault pioneer platoon (attached from one of the rifle companies).
[edit] US Marine Corps
In the USMC the weapons company is tasked with providing supporting fire for the three rifle companies that make up the balance of the battalion. The Weapons Company provides fire support coordination, medium mortars, anti-armor weapons, and heavy machine gun support.
The company is often organized into four distinct elements: company headquarters, mortar platoon (utilizing 81 mm mortars), anti-armor platoon (utilizing either the M47 Dragon or FGM-148 Javelin weapons system, SMAW rocket system, and the TOW missile weapons system), and a heavy machine gun platoon (utilizing the M2 Browning .50 Cal and MK-19 mod3 40 mm automatic grenade launcher).
Often the TOW gunners are pulled from the anti-armor platoon and combined with the heavy machine gun platoon to form a Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT). These CAATs are mobile with humvees and are organized into three squads with five vehicles each; the squad organization being three vehicles with machine guns (both M2 & Mk. 19) and two vehicles with the TOW IIb. The remaining anti-armor unit is often trained as an ad-hoc assault and demolitions unit furthering the organic capabilities of the battalion commander.
The 81 mm mortar platoon also gives the battalion a heavier organic artillery, as it supplements the 60mm mortars found in the rifle company's weapons platoon. Company commanders can utilize 81's in half the time it would take to get a 155 mm howitzer up.
