# of people in a unit...

[Nickdfresh]

@32Bravo

Do you know how that would pan out with, say, Company Sergeant Major and Regimental Sergeant Major?

Typically, British Sergeant and W.O ranks are as follows, in descending order:

Regimental Sergeant Major (battalion) - Warrant Officer class 1;

That would be just Sergeant Major, Command Sergeant Major, and the top enlisted man in the US Army is SGM of the Army…

Company Sergeant Major (job and description varies) Warrant Officer class 2;

Company First Sergeant, or “Top” --if you know him well enough…

Colour Sergeant (usually company quartermaster sergeant);

Usually the supply sergeant is a Master Sergeant (E-8). I’m not sure there is a direct equivalent to “color sergeant.”

Sergeant (platoon).

Usually a Sergeant First Class (SFC or E-7), but sometimes Staff Sergeants (SSG or E-6) perform the job as well…

The same would apply to squadron and troop etc.

Warrant Officers are considered to be ‘almost’ officers in the USA, and therefore have no direct equivalent in enlisted rank and are ranked WO1-WO4 with a WO4 being pretty close to a Colonel or even Brigadier in real terms, and a person that you do not want to piss off…

[32Bravo]

The link will take you to the British insignia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army_Other_Ranks_rank_insignia

[overlord644]

question: in the US or British armies, would you have to volunteer to be armored infantry (infantry in an armored division) or would you just be assigned there?

[32Bravo]

Until very recent times - the last year or so - Brtish Army battalions rotated through duties every two, three or four years. For example, a battalion might serve a two year stint in a place Like Cyprus, with a detatched company serving a six month tour in the Falkland Islands. The battalion’s next posting could be an armoured role in Germany, or it could be dismounted in the UK or Berlin. Individuals do not usually go elsewhere, but serve much of their time with their parent battalion. It is the battalion that takes on the various roles, not the individual.

With the amalgamations of 2007, it is envisaged that some of the two and three, battalion regiments will have one battalion serving in the UK and be available for service in various locations about the globe where Britain has interests, and the other battlion would be armoured and serving in Germany for the main part. With this new arrangement, soldiers will be offered the opportunity to transfer between battalions within the same regiment, depending on skills and career path.

Normally, if one was to Join a regiment such as the Rifles, for example, one would continue in the Rifles regardless of which battalion of Rifles one might serve with. British soldiers are usually somewhat parochial about their regiment and dislike transferring.

Each regiment has its own unique and proud history. Most British soldiers believe that they serve in the best Section/Squad; in the best Platoon; in the best Company; in the best Battalion; in the best Regiment in the best Arm; in the best Army; in the World! That’s ho it works.

http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regts/the_rifles/

[Uyraell]

@Nickdfresh

I think the US Army/Marines use the French style of ranks.

In that line, I think a US Army Sergeant would be more akin to a British Army Corporal, and a British Army Sergeant would be more of a “Sergeant First Class” in the US Army, roughly. I think.

I also believe up into the 1970s, the Army had an annoying system of enlisted pay grades for those at E-5 (now only sergeants) that was Specialist5/6, so a higher technical pay grade could be theoretically under the command of an NCO at the E-4 (corporal’s) rank. Today, only E-4s can be either corporals or “specialists”…

You’re correct, it existed `til circa 1979-80, though I was never able to unravel its’ intricacies enough to understand how all that fit together, despite my VN veteran friend patiently trying to enlighten me: in truth, I think the Pentagon dropped that aspect of the system because they could no-longer make sense of it either.:army::mrgreen:

Regards, Uyraell.

[Nickdfresh]

@pdf27

Don’t the US army have Sergeants as squad commanders?

‘Squad leaders’ actually…

And as a side note, squads can be split into “fire teams” depending on the situation and the given doctrine of the time…

Edit: Ha! Necropost!

[Churchill]

Wow, the last post(before the necropost) was one year ago…

[Iron_Yeoman]

As I seem to remember it it was supposed to be like this
section - 8 men
platoon - 3 sections (24) & HQ sect (6)
company - 3 platoons & HQ platoon (80 - 120)
battalion - 3 rifle companies, 1 support company (MG, Mortar, Anti-tank, Recce), HQ company (450-800)

It can get more complicated after that. Brigades are supposed to have 4 combat units (a combination of armoured regiments & infantry battalions) and several supporting units of signals, reme, rlc, engineers etc…

However, you’re more likely to find a brigade commanding 2 or 3 battlegroups. Battlegroups are based around a battalion with added on assets e.g. an armoured squadron.

So, in answer to the original question, there are laid down guidelines as to how many soldiers should be in each sub-unit but in practice this is rarely if ever the case.

[Schuultz]

In the British Army, that is. I’m pretty sure the numbers vary between countries. I remember reading about a French Battalion being bigger than a British one on average.

The (modern) German setup is probably very much like the American one… not a lot of traditions taken over from the Wehrmacht or the Reichswehr…

[Churchill]

@student-scaley

section - 8 men
platoon - 3 sections (24) & HQ sect (6)
company - 3 platoons & HQ platoon (80 - 120)
battalion - 3 rifle companies, 1 support company (MG, Mortar, Anti-tank, Recce), HQ company (450-800)

Hey! That’s what I was looking for in the first place!

[Iron_Yeoman]

Happy to oblige.