NationStates Jolt Archive

I don't know how military organizatio works. Like how many men are in a battalion, battle group, platoon, etc. I hate saying "10,000 Stormvermin armed .....". To me, it sounds like one big mob of soldeir. Please I need help.

Squad - 9 to 10 soldiers. Typically commanded by a sergeant or staff sergeant, a squad or section is the smallest element in the Army structure, and its size is dependent on its function.

Platoon - 16 to 44 soldiers. A platoon is led by a lieutenant with an NCO as second in command, and consists of two to four squads or sections.

Company - 62 to 190 soldiers. Three to five platoons form a company, which is commanded by a captain with a first sergeant as the commander's principle NCO assistant. An artillery unit of equivalent size is called a battery, and a comparable armored or air cavalry unit is called a troop.

Battalion - 300 to 1,000 soldiers. Four to six companies make up a battalion, which is normally commanded by a lieutenant colonel with a command sergeant major as principle NCO assistant. A battalion is capable of independent operations of limited duration and scope. An armored or air cavalry unit of equivalent size is called a squadron.

Brigade - 3,000 to 5,000 solders. A brigade headquarters commands the tactical operation of two to five organic or attached combat battalions. Normally commanded by a colonel with a command sergeant major as senior NCO, brigades are employed on independent or semi-independent operations. Armored cavalry, ranger and special forces units this size are categorized as regiments or groups.

Division - 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Usually consisting of three brigade-sized elements and commanded by a major general, divisions are numbered and assigned missions based on their structures. The division performs major tactical operations for the corps and can conduct sustained battles and engagements.

Corps - 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers. Two to five divisions constitute a corps, which is typically commanded by a lieutenant general. As the deployable level of command required to synchronize and sustain combat operations, the corps provides the framework for multi-national operations.

Army - 50,000 + soliders. Typically commanded by a lieutenant general or higher, an army combines two or more corps. A theater army is the ranking Army component in a unified command, and it has operational and support responsibilities that are assigned by the theater commander in chief. The commander in chief and theater army commander may order formation of a field army to direct operations of assigned corps and divisions. An army group plans and directs campaigns in a theater, and is composed of two or more field armies under a designated commander. Army groups have not been employed by the Army since World War II.

Hope this helps

Depends whose structures you want to use. Check the stickies in this and the NS forum, at least one has some sites with guides to military organisational structures. Personally I use Soviet terms to a great extent. 10,000 men would be, to me, a slightly depleted division.

Here. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=147312) Use the infantry organization as a guide.

Oh, and obviously for tanks the numbers are lower. IIRC:

Platoon: 4 tanks
Company: 16 tanks
Battallion: 30 tanks
There are no large pure-tank units any more, as far as I know. On;ly Soviet-type armies maintain the Tank division, which has about 330 tanks and 150 IFVs, compared to 220 tanks and 300+ IFVs (these are from memory and so not very accurate).

Thank you for your help.
The time of furry mobs is at an END.

Wikipedia has some excellent ones that I use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_unit
That is the chart on Wikipedia.

Oh, and obviously for tanks the numbers are lower. IIRC:

Platoon: 4 tanks
Company: 16 tanks
Battallion: 30 tanks
There are no large pure-tank units any more, as far as I know. On;ly Soviet-type armies maintain the Tank division, which has about 330 tanks and 150 IFVs, compared to 220 tanks and 300+ IFVs (these are from memory and so not very accurate).

And also according to Wikipedia, a 'platoon' on DontPissUsOff's list is a 'troop', a squadron is equivalent to a 'company', and... that's all I can find. :oops:

Damn! Knew my figs were off! Thanks man!

Actually, is that US terminology?

Well, I myself still use those terms, and mroe. Except different numbers are used.

See, use what you feel confertable with, if you choose, make up your own.

My Army is slightly unconventional; for each group over the size of a Platoon, troop, or whatever, I have an attached Tech Officer whose job is to ensure connection with the higher ups in command, and a Political Officer whose job is to spread propaganda and organize the spreading of it in units under him.

As for breaking down those numbers even more, I think a firesquad typically has one commander, 2-3 riflemen (think of them nowadays as holding M-16A4s or something), 1-2 scouts, and a base of fire guy that lays down covering fire with a BAR (which is still used in the US Army, if I am not mistaken). Scouts protect the flanks, the commander orders you around, and riflemen actualy do the attacking.

This subject is too complicated for me to give you a good answer, but here (http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/) is a site with unit organizations for the British, Americans, Russians, Germans, Japanese, and Italians from World War II.
BAR (which is still used in the US Army, if I am not mistaken)It is not.

I find modern army unit sizes to be difficult to remember and of odd sizes (44 guys? bleh). Coincidentally, all my units are in increments of ten. For example, squads are 10, and divisions are 10,000 (I haven't quite figured out the inner-ranks). As an added plus, this makes my army seem much larger on paper. Since most people's divisons are 15-25K, my 500 divisions seem like alot more than they are

OOC: I do my army in increments of ten, too.