| Chain of Command of the British Army | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|||||
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the platoon leader or platoon commander, usually a lieutenant. He is usually assisted by a senior non-commissioned officer—the platoon sergeant.
In some armies, platoon is used throughout the branches of the army. In others, such as the British Army, most platoons are infantry platoons, while some carry other designations such as tank, mortar, or heavy weapons platoons. In a few armies, such as the French Army, a platoon is specifically a cavalry unit, and the infantry use "section" as the equivalent unit.
The word is derived from the 17th-century French peloton, meaning a small detachment of soldiers. The word came from pelote meaning a small ball. The suffix "-on" is in principle an augmentative suffix in French, so peloton is an augmentative of "small ball". Thus peloton may have originally meant "volley" (of musket balls).The modern French word peloton, when not meaning platoon, means a little ball (used for various games), so peloton may have originally indicated a single musket ball.
In either case, the name corresponds to the original purpose of a platoon which was to be the basic unit for volley firing.
Pelote itself originally comes from the Latin "pillula", meaning "little ball", and the French suffix "-on" derives from the Latin suffix "-onus".
In the Australian Army, a platoon has twenty-four soldiers organized into three eight-man sections plus a lieutenant as platoon commander and a sergeant as platoon second in command, accompanied by a platoon radioman and medic (full strength of twenty-eight men).
A section comprises eight men led by a corporal with a lance corporal as second in command, similar to the British Army platoon. Each section has two fireteams of four men, one led by the corporal and the other by the lance corporal. Each fireteam (also called a "brick" by Australian soldiers) has one soldier with a F89A1 light machine gun and the other three armed with F88 assault rifles. One rifle is equipped with an attached M203 grenade launcher for the grenadier's role while another has a C79 optical sight for the designated marksman role.
The platoon may also have three MAG 58 general-purpose machine guns, one M2 Browning heavy machine gun or a Mk 19 grenade launcher at its disposal.
In the British Army, a rifle platoon from an infantry company consists of three sections of eight men, plus a signaller (radio operator), a platoon sergeant, the platoon commander (either a second lieutenant or lieutenant) and a mortar man operating a light mortar (full strength of 27 men and one officer).
Each section is commanded by a corporal, with a lance corporal as second-in-command and six privates divided into two four-man fireteams. Other types of platoons (such as mortar or anti-tank platoons) are generally smaller and are commanded by a lieutenant or captain.
An armoured platoon consists of four tanks, fifteen men and one officer.
In Bangladesh Army infantry regiments, platoons are commanded by a major or a captain, assisted by two to four lieutenants (or combination of lieutenants and Junior Commissioned Officers) and at least two sergeants.. The platoon strength is typically thirty to fifty soldiers.
These platoons are equipped with at least one heavy machine gun, rocket launcher or anti-tank gun, with the crews of these weapons commanded by a corporal. In addition, there are at least two light machine guns, each commanded by a lance corporal. Each soldier is armed with an automatic or semi-automatic rifle and all commissioned officers carry a side arm.
In the Canadian Army, the infantry Platoon Commander is a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, assisted by a Platoon Warrant (who may hold the rank of Warrant Officer, but is often a Sergeant). It is usually divided into three eight man sections and a heavy weapons detachment which will deploy a GPMG, Carl Gustav, and/or 60 mm mortar depending on mission requirements. Sections are commanded by a Sergeant or Master Corporal with a Master-Corporal or Corporal in the second in command, or 2IC, position; 6 of the eight soldiers in a section will carry C7 or C8 assault rifles fitted with either optics or a grenade launcher and two members will carry C9 LMG's. A section is broken into two fireteams (or assault teams) of 4 with one LMG and three assault rifles, similar to British and Australian organization.
Three to five infantry platoons will make up a typical infantry company, sometimes with a heavy weapons or support platoon in addition. Specialist platoons like reconnaissance, or "recce", platoons that may be attached to a battalion may be led by a Captain and assisted by a Warrant Officer. Some very large specialist platoons will actually have a Lieutenant as the second-in-command. In many corps, platoon-sized units are called troops instead.
Within the Colombian Army a training platoon (in Spanish pelotón) is often commanded by a higher-ranking soldier known as a dragoneante, who is selected for his excellence in discipline and soldiering skills. However, a dragoneante is still a soldier and can be removed from his position if his commander sees fit. For combatant platoons (platoons engaged in combat with guerrilla rebels), a corporal or sergeant would be the most likely commander.
In the French military, a peloton is a unit of cavalry or armor corresponding to the platoon, equivalent in size to an infantry section, and commanded by a lieutenant or sergeant. It may also mean a body of officers in training to become noncommissioned officers, sous-officiers or officers (peloton de caporal, peloton des sous-officiers). Finally, "peloton d'exécution" is the French term for a firing squad.
The German Army equivalent of the platoon is the Zug, consisting of a platoon headquarters (HQ) squad (Zugtrupp, which exactly is no Squad) of four to six men, and three squads (Gruppen) of eight to eleven men each. Three Züge make up a company (Kompanie), with the first platoon usually commanded by a company-grade officer (Kompanieoffizier), usually a first (Oberleutnant) or second lieutenant (Leutnant), who is also the company's second-in-command. The second and third Zug are led by experienced NCOs, usually master sergeants (Hauptfeldwebel). In the first platoon a master sergeant is assistant to the platoon leader, with this role filled by a sergeant (Feldwebel) in the second and third platoons. Each squad is led by a corporal (Unteroffizier) and its size corresponds to the typical passenger capacity of its squad vehicle (either wheeled or armoured). The task of the platoon HQ squad is to provide support for the platoon leader and as a reserve force (such as two additional snipers or an anti-tank weapon crew.)
Fallschirmjäger (airborne infantry) platoons (Fallschirmjägerzug) have special operations responsibilities, and have command positions one rank higher compared to their corresponding position in a standard infantry platoon. A captain (Hauptmann) is the platoon leader, assisted by a first lieutenant and each squad has a second lieutenant or a master sergeant in charge, often supported by a long-service sergeant or skilled senior corporal.
In the New Zealand Army, an Infantry Platoon is commanded by a 2nd Lieutenant or a Lieutenant with a Platoon Sergeant, a Platoon Signaller and a medic (where relevant) comprising the Platoon Headquarters. The Platoon is sub-divided into three section of between 7-10 soldiers, each commanded by a Corporal with a Lance-Corporal as the Section 2iC. Each section can be sub-divided into two fire-teams, commanded by the Section Commander and 2iC respectively, as well as normal two man Scout, Rifle and Gun Teams.
There are three Platoons in a Rifle Company, which is commanded by a Major, and Three Rifle Companies within an Infantry Battalion, which is commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel. An Infantry Battalion will also contain an organic Support Company (Mortars, Machine-Guns etc.) and a Logistics Company (Transport and Stores).
In the Singapore Army, a platoon is a Lieutenant billet. In practice, usually a Second Lieutenant is appointed the platoon commander, and will eventually be promoted to this rank. A typical infantry platoon consists of three seven-man sections of riflemen and a machine gun team, both commanded by Third Sergeants, a platoon sergeant and a medical orderly for a total of 27 soldiers. As of 1992, the Singapore Armed Forces allowed warrant officers to be appointed as platoon commanders, Company Second-in-Commands and even Officer Commanding / Company Commanders. In Feb 2011, the SAF made history by appointing SWO Lee Sung Cheng as Commanding Officer of the Specialist and Warrant Officer Advanced School, the very first non-commissioned officer in the history of the SAF to be handed the baton from a lieutenant-colonel http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/mindef_websites/atozlistings/army/army_news/News_Archive/2011/Feb2011/WO_SWAS_CO.html.
In the Royal Thai Army, a platoon is commanded by a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant assisted by a Platoon Sergeant, usually of the rank of sergeant major. In infantry units, rifle platoons are generally made up of five squads (three rifle squads, one machine gun squad and command squad).
In the United States Army,[1] Rifle Platoons are normally composed of 42 soldiers. They are led by a Platoon Leader (PL), usually a second lieutenant (2LT), and with a Platoon Sergeant (PSG), usually a Sergeant First Class (SFC, E-7). Rifle Platoons consist of three nine-man Rifle squads and one nine-man Weapons squad each led by a Staff Sergeant (E-6). The Platoon Headquarters includes the PL, PSG, along with the PL's Radio-Telephone Operator (RTO), Platoon Forward Observer (FO), the FO's RTO and the Platoon Medic.
In the United States Marine Corps, rifle (AKA infantry) platoons are led by a platoon commander, usually a second lieutenant. The billet of Platoon Sergeant is a position intended for a Staff Sergeant(E-6). Rifle platoons usually consist of three rifle squads of 13 men each, usually led by a Sergeant(E-5). Each squad is further divided into three fireteams of four Marines. A Weapons platoon will usually have a Gunnery Sergeant(E-7) because of the larger number of Marines and the more complex employment of the weapon systems included in these platoons. A weapons platoon has three 60mm mortar sections, an assault section, and a medium machine gun section. The assault section consists of dual-purpose rockets such as the FGM-172 SRAW.
The United States Air Force Security Forces have a similarly sized and configured unit called a flight. It is made up of three 13-member squads, a flight commander (a second lieutenant, first lieutenant or captain), a flight sergeant (usually a non-commissioned officer of technical sergeant or master sergeant rank), and three other NCOs (usually staff sergeants) for a total of 44 members. The three extra NCOs are an acting Supply NCO, an acting Communications NCO, and an acting Intelligence NCO.