Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 75-200 soldiers. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure. Several companies are grouped to form a battalion or regiment, the latter of which is sometimes formed by several battalions.
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British Army
Rifle companies consist of three platoons and a Company Headquarters. An infantry Battalion will also include a Headquarters Company and a Manoeuvre Support Company.
The British Army infantry normally identifies its rifle companies by letter (usually, but not always, A, B and C) within a battalion, usually with the addition of a headquarters company and a support/heavy weapons company. Some units name their companies after regimental battle honours, this is commonly the case for composite units, for example the London Regiment with its Somme, Messines and Cambrai companies. The Foot Guards Regiments use traditional names for some of their companies, for example Queen's Company, Left Flank, Prince of Wales's Company etc.
Royal Marines companies are designated by a letter that is unique across the Corps not just within their Commando. The Intelligence Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, Royal Military Police and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers all have companies uniquely numbered across their corps.
The Household Cavalry, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Engineers, Royal Corps of Signals, Army Air Corps, Special Air Service, Honourable Artillery Company and Royal Logistic Corps use the term squadron instead of company (although the Royal Engineers and Royal Signals had companies until after the Second World War, except in armoured divisions). The Royal Artillery use the term battery.
The defunct Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Pioneer Corps and Royal Army Ordnance Corps had companies; the Royal Corps of Transport had squadrons.
British companies are usually commanded by a Major, the Officer Commanding (OC), with a Captain or senior Lieutenant as Second-in-Command (2i/c). The company headquarters also includes a Company Sergeant Major (CSM) normally holding the rank of WO2 and a Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) of Colour Sergeant rank, the two most senior soldiers in the company.
It should be noted that the Honourable Artillery Company is in fact a Regiment, not a Company in terms of organisation and size.
Canadian Army
Canadian Forces organisation is modelled after the British. However, a Canadian infantry battalion consists of three or four rifle companies identified by letter (A Company, B Company, etc), a Combat Support Company, and an Administration Support Company. A notable exception is The Royal Canadian Regiment which names its companies sequentially throughout the regiment from the Duke of Edinburgh's Company (instead of A Company) in the First Battalion to T Company in the Fourth Battalion.
The Combat Support Company administratively contains the specialized infantry platoons such as Recce Platoon, Pioneer Platoon, HQ and Signals Platoon, Anti-Armour Platoon, and Mortar Platoon. The Administration Support Company contains the support tradesmen which a battalion requires, such as cooks, vehicle technicians, supply, medics, etc.
Irish Army
In the Irish Army, a company usually consists of three platoons. Companies are usually identified by letters in an infantry battalion (A, B, C... etc)
United States Army
In the United States Army, infantry companies are usually made up of three rifle platoons and a heavy weapons platoon; tank companies are usually made up of three tank platoons and a command element. A company is usually commanded by an Army captain, although in rare cases they may be commanded by a 1st lieutenant or a major. By tradition, the corresponding unit of artillery is always called a "battery." Similarly, the term "troop" is used for cavalry units, including both the horse-mounted units of history as well as modern armored cavalry and air cavalry units. Companies which are not separate from their parent battalion, are identified by letter - for example, "A Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment". The letters are usually pronounced using the NATO phonetic alphabet or, before that, the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet, resulting in names such as "Bravo Company" and "Echo Company" (formerly "Baker" and "Easy" Companies, respectively). Companies with a separate Table of Organization and Equipment are identified by a number, and are able to operate completely independently from any other unit's support. Company-sized units which are organized under a Table of Distribution and Allowance are identified with a name.
Company-sized units usually consist of four to six platoons (each commanded by a Lieutenant), although there are examples of Combat Service and Combat Service Support companies that have seven or more platoons. For example, a Transportation Terminal Service Company normally has two Ship Platoons, two Shore Platoons, one Documentation Platoon, one Maintenance Platoon, and the Headquarters Platoon. These platoons are led by first lieutenants, while the company is commanded by a major.
There are some special units that have platoons commanded by captains, such as some aviation platoons and many special forces units. This is not a punishment, but rather an honor, as those platoons usually have some special operational capacity that requires them to be commanded by an officer with more experience than a lieutenant. A captain reports to his commander, usually the battalion commander (a lieutenant colonel). However, there are some administrative and other duties at battalion level and larger (brigade or division) which are also handled by captains, for example the S-1 through S-4 officers of a battalion, or some staff positions in the G shops at division
A company is typically commanded by a captain, although there are certain Combat Service and Combat Service Support companies that are large enough, and specially configured to require the command of a major. The senior non commissioned officer of a company is called a first sergeant, and this job is usually assigned to an NCO who holds the first sergeant rank. At times, however, a master sergeant (E-8) or sergeant first class (E-7) will be appointed to the job in lieu of a qualified first sergeant. In such situations, the NCO holds the duty position title of "First Sergeant," while their military rank remains master sergeant or sergeant first class respectively.
United States Marine Corps
A Marine Corps rifle company consists of:
- three rifle platoons
- a weapons platoon
- four Navy medical corpsmen (one attached to each rifle platoon and the senior corpsman with the company headquarters)
- an administrative clerk
- a police sergeant (typically holding the rank of corporal or sergeant)
- a training NCO
- a company gunnery sergeant
- a first sergeant
- an Executive Officer (XO), typically a first lieutenant
- a Commanding Officer (CO), typically a captain
A weapons company has in place of the three rifle platoons, an 81 mm mortar platoon, an anti-armor platoon, and a heavy machine gun platoon.
The following depicts the structure of a Headquarters and Service Company:
- Headquarters Platoon consists of Marines from S-1, S-2, S-3, the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defense section, and the Chaplain section (one Navy chaplain and an enlisted religious program specialist).
- Communications Platoon, consisting of Radiomen, Wiremen, Techs, Data Marines, and the associated staff.
- Service Platoon, consisting of S-4, Motor Transportation, Food Service, armorers, and Supply.
- Scout/Sniper platoon.
- Battalion Medical Platoon which provides the Battalion Aid Station, or BAS. The BAS is staffed entirely by Navy Medical Officers (two medical doctors) and Corpsmen.
Disambiguation
Some companies were well enough known that they have been identified with their company letter. Examples include:
- Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division which became the focus of the BBC/HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.
See also
- Military organization
- British Army Infantry
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