Platoon

A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads/sections/patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but typically, per the official tables of organization as published in U.S. military documents; a full-strength U.S. infantry rifle platoon consists of 39 Soldiers or 43 Marines (U.S. Army or U.S. Marine Corps , respectively). There are other types of infantry platoons (e.g., antiarmor, heavy machinegun, light armored reconnaissance, mortar, reconnaissance, scout, scout sniper, and weapons), depending upon service and type of infantry company/battalion to which the platoon is assigned, and these platoons may range from as few as 18 (USMC scout sniper platoon) to 69 (USMC mortar platoon). Non-infantry platoons may range from as small as a nine-man communications platoon (USA headquarters and headquarters company , airborne, air Assault, and light infantry battalions) to a 102-man maintenance platoon (USA HHC mechanized infantry/combined arms battalion). A platoon leader or commander is the officer in command of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer—a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer. A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads/sections/patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but typically, per the official tables of organization as published in U.S. military documents; a full-strength U.S. infantry rifle platoon consists of 39 Soldiers or 43 Marines (U.S. Army or U.S. Marine Corps , respectively). There are other types of infantry platoons (e.g., antiarmor, heavy machinegun, light armored reconnaissance, mortar, reconnaissance, scout, scout sniper, and weapons), depending upon service and type of infantry company/battalion to which the platoon is assigned, and these platoons may range from as few as 18 (USMC scout sniper platoon) to 69 (USMC mortar platoon). Non-infantry platoons may range from as small as a nine-man communications platoon (USA headquarters and headquarters company , airborne, air Assault, and light infantry battalions) to a 102-man maintenance platoon (USA HHC mechanized infantry/combined arms battalion). A platoon leader or commander is the officer in command of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer—a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer. Rifle platoons normally consist of a small platoon headquarters and three or four sections (Commonwealth) or squads (US). In some armies, platoon is used throughout the branches of the army. 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. A unit consisting of several platoons is called a company/battery/troop. According to Merriam-Webster, 'The term was first used in the 17th century to refer to a small body of musketeers who fired together in a volley alternately with another platoon.' The word came from the 17th-century French peloton, from pelote meaning a small ball. The suffix '-on' can be an augmentative suffix in French, but on the other hand is generally a diminutive suffix in relationship to animals, so the original intention in forming peloton from pelote is not clear. Nonetheless it is documented that it took the meaning of a group of soldiers firing a volley together, while a different platoon reloaded. This implies an augmentative intention in the etymology. Since soldiers were often organized in two or three lines, which were supposed to fire volleys together, this would have normally meant platoons organised with the intention of a half or a third of the company firing at once. The modern French word peloton, when not meaning platoon, can refer to the main body of riders in a bicycle race (as opposed to any riders ahead or behind the main body). Pelote itself originally comes from the low Latin 'pilotta' from Latin 'pila', meaning 'ball', and the French suffix '-on' derives from the Latin suffix '-onus'. The platoon was originally a firing unit rather than an organization. The system was said to have been invented by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1618. In the French Army in the 1670s, a battalion was divided into 18 platoons who were grouped into three 'firings'; each platoon in the firing either actually firing or reloading. The system was also used in the British, Austrian, Russian and Dutch armies. On 1 October 1913, under a scheme by General Sir Ivor Maxse, the regular battalions of the British Army were reorganised from the previous eight companies to a four company structure, with each company having four platoons as separate units each commanded by a lieutenant with a platoon sergeant as his deputy. Each platoon was divided into four sections, each commanded by a corporal. Due to a shortage of officers, a non commissioned officer rank of Platoon Sergeant Major was introduced from 1938 to 1940 for experienced non-commissioned officers who were given command of platoons. In the Australian Army, an infantry platoon has thirty-six soldiers organized into three eight-man sections and a twelve-man maneuver support section. A lieutenant as platoon commander and a sergeant as platoon sergeant, accompanied by a platoon signaller and sometimes a platoon medic (full strength of forty men). A section comprises eight soldiers led by a corporal with a lance corporal as second in command. 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 7.62mm Maximi GSMG and the other three armed with F88 Steyr assault rifles. One rifle per fireteam has an attached 40mm grenade launcher; one of the grenadiers is the lance corporal. Fireteam bravo has a HK417 7.62mm for the designated marksman role. More recently, the designated marksman of each Australian fireteam has been issued the HK417 in Afghanistan and possibly afterwards. 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 (a 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). This may not be the case for all British Infantry units, since the 51mm mortars are not part of the TOE post-Afghanistan. Under Army 2020, a platoon in the Heavy Protected Mobility Regiments will consist of around 30 soldiers in four Mastiff/FRES UV vehicles. As of March 2016, the British Army is reviewing whether to retain the FN Herstal Para Minimi 5.56×45mm light machine gun and the M6-640 Commando 60 mm mortar at platoon level in dismounted units.