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| Topic Started: Sep 29 2008, 09:19 PM (24 Views) | |
| United States | Sep 29 2008, 09:19 PM Post #1 |
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Command Relationships A Commander is defined as someone appointed as a leader in charge of two to five subordinate units who has the sole responsibility for every person in his command and everything that his command either does or fails to do. Subordinate Command is a lower echelon command that works with the Commander in order to accomplish his goals following the commander’s single unified vision. The Subordinate commander only answers to his immediate Supervisor/Commander. Theatre is the region of the world where military operations are taking place. Depending on the size of the operation typically a General (O-10) will be theatre Commander. If more than five armies exist in theatre Civilian Authorities (ie: Parliament, Congress) may deem it necessary to promote a General to General of the Army (O-11), the highest ranking soldier in the Army. One person can only be in command of two to five subordinate units. If only one subordinate unit exists, then no higher commander is required, the subordinate commander is in command. If six subordinate units are available then two commanders will be needed creating two newly formed subordinate commands to an even higher single unified command. Experience has shown that one person can safely and efficiently control and monitor the activities of no greater than five subordinate units. Therefore the numbers 2-5 are used in determining Command Relationships. This model can also be applied to the civilian world in managerial relationships. If a company has several departments within their organization, two to five departments which work along similar lines can be grouped under one overseeing manager and so forth. A Regional manager may be placed in charge of two to five Retail outlets. If he is given responsibility for a sixth outlet, the work becomes overwhelming and his attention is distracted thereby providing substandard performance. Let’s get back to the military Command relationships. The US Army model of echelons (levels) exists as such: Fire Team = 4 men with a Sergeant (E-5) leading. It could be 2-5 men. Squad = 9 men with a Staff Sergeant (E-6) leading and two Fire Teams. The squad leader could control as many as five fire teams if needed, but maintaining two keeps it simple. Platoon = 34 men with a Lieutenant (O-1) leading, PLT HQs section, 2 Machine gun teams and three Rifle Squads. The Platoon leader could control 2-5 squads but is typically organized with three for administrative purposes. Company = 129 men with a Captain (O-3) commanding, Co HQs section, Anti-Armor section, mortar section and three Rifle Platoons. Again the Company Commander could control 2-5 Platoons. During Combined Arms Operations he could possibly receive a platoon of combat engineers and a platoon of armor to conduct a specific operation. A mechanized Infantry Company has a different number of soldiers available. Battalion = 500 men with a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) commanding, Headquarters and Headquarters Company and two to five maneuver Companies. The Battalion Commander may find himself with an additional Infantry company from another battalion and an armor Company to support a current operation thereby giving him control of five companies. A mechanized Infantry Battalion has a different number of soldiers available. Brigade is a subordinate command that technically only has a Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company of 70-100 men. There is a Colonel who commands a Brigade. The Brigade Commander is given 2-5 maneuver battalions to command by his Division Commander. Division = 10,000 – 15,000 men depending upon the type of organization the division represents. The Division typically has three maneuver brigades (subordinate Commands) which control the 9-10 maneuver battalions assigned to it by the Department of the Army. A Division Commander is a Major General (O-8) Corps = 2-5 Divisions as assigned by the Theatre Commander. A Corps will also contain a Corps Artillery asset which is of Brigade strength. A Corps can number as few as 20,000 soldiers and as many as 75,000. A Corps Commander is typically a Lieutenant General (O-9). This is definitely “echelons above reality”. Army = 2-5 Corps will be assigned to an Army by the Department of the Army or Army Chief of Staff. An Army will have additional assets including an Artillery asset and many other Combat Service Support Assets. A General will command an Army (O-10). You will find anywhere from 40,000 to 375,000 troops in an Army. Army Group = 2-5 Armies or 80,000 to nearly 2 million soldiers. Typically the Army Group is not used unless there is a major campaign going on. If a theatre command has greater than five armies available to them, the Army Group will be used as an intermediate command between Army and Theatre. The Army Group Commander is also a General (O-10) but due to command relationship he outranks his subordinate commanders at Army level NOTE: The examples listed above are of a Light Infantry Brigade, Battalion, Company, Platoon, Squad. These do not depict the composition and organization of Airborne, Air Assault, Mechanized or Armor formation. This section deals specifically with Command Relationships. Some European nations use a slightly different organization. A Regiment is similar to a Battalion but with a slightly larger quantity of vehicles. A Squadron is similar to a Company but with a bit more vehicles. A Troop is comparable to a Platoon with 3-4 vehicles. More armies are using Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) now. It seems to have become the new thing since 2004. The Brigade Combat Team is a Combined arms package that contains all the necessary combat, Combat Support and Combat Service Support assets that a unit needs to fight a sustained campaign. The BCT may look like this: Brigade Combat Team 2-5 maneuver Units consisting of Infantry, Armor &/or Cavalry (Battalion/Squadron) 1 Field Artillery Battalion 1 Engineer Battalion (Combat) 1 Air Defense Artillery Company 1 Logistics or Support Battalion consisting of: 1 Medical Company 1 Transportation Company 1 Maintenance Company 1 Headquarters Company 1 Military Intelligence Company 1 Signal Company 1 Military Police Platoon Prior to 2004, the Support Battalion, ADA, Engineers, MI & Signal were organized under a Brigade Sized umbrella Called Division Support Command or DISCOM. The Field Artillery units were all maintained in a Brigade Sized formation called Division Artillery or DIVARTY. I retired in 2003 and was unaware of this change until I started doing research for your armies. But I'm up to speed now. Units Most units refer to their unit of 2-5 platoons as a Company. There are a few exceptions. Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery (ADA) units refer to the level we call 'Company' as Battery Cavalry units refer to this level as Troop and the Battalion is referred to as a Squadron. Edited by United States, Sep 29 2008, 09:20 PM.
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