When was the Squad created?

[Jamie Young]

How is a Squad different than a Platoon? How many men and how are they armed?

My Gunsmith told me they use to put a BAR in a squad back in the day and that something like the FAL was like giving every man in a squad a BAR. I know we issue the M60 now but did we do away with the squad mentality when guys were issued M-14's and FAL's?

[Johnny Guest]

This may be utterly obsolete information--I'm going 'WAY back to 1950s Army ROTC stuff. There are some military historians on TFL who could--and I hope, WILL--give beter answers. USMC ranks, etc, vary somewhat, I believe.

In an infantry outfit--
Squad--about ten soldiers, plus or minus a couple. Led by a buck sergeant. Squad was split into two fire teans, usually four men, led by a corporal--Browning Automatic Rifle as base of fire. All rest armed with M1 rifles back then.

Platoon: Usually three to five squads. Platoon leader usually a Second Lieutenant (M1 carbine plus a .45, generally,) with a platoon SGT--What? A Staff SGT, I believe.

Company--Three or four platoons. Captain as C.O., 1/LT as executive officer, plus a platoon SGT. I believe a Tech Sgt back then. Now, I dunno.

Officers all had sidearms and carbines.

Each company had a weapons platoon, with a couple of air cooled belt fed Brownings and, I think, two 60 mm and later, 81-mm mortars. Gunners carried pistols; support personnel, ammo carriers, etc.,, carried rifles or carbines.

Vast over simplification above, of course. I'd be interested to read about current organization. Different weapons, certainly. Wonder about other difrferences.

But the squad as a unit goes way back to at least Roman times: The "decade" was ten men, led by a decurion, the ancestral sergeant.

Best regards,
Johnny

[Destructo6]

In the Marine Corp, you generally count by 3s.

A Regiment has 3 battalions.
A battalion has 3 companies.
A company has 3 platoons.
A platoon has 3 squads.
A squad had 3 fireteams.
A fireteam has 4 individual Marines.

[Bruegger]

Destructo6 had it pretty much right about the Corps --

-A Regiment has 3 battalions.
-A battalion has 3 rifle companies + a weapons company (.50s/Mk19s/M240Gs, 81mm mortars, TOWs, Dragon/Javelin missiles).
-A company has 3 rifle platoons + a weapons platoon (M240Gs, 60mm mortars, SMAWs).
-A rifle platoon has 3 squads = 42 Marines per TO&E. Plt Ldr is a 2ndLt, PltSgt is a SSgt by TO&E.
-A rifle squad has 3 fireteams; Squad Leader is (by TO&E) a Sgt. = 13 Marines per TO&E.
-A fireteam has 4 individual Marines; FT Leader is (by TO&E) a Cpl.

The Fireteam these days is built around the Squad Automatic Weapon, which is the same concept we've been using since WWII (used the BAR then). General purpose MGs (M240Gs) can be attached or placed in support of squads, etc from the Company's Weapons Platoon as required.

Army TO&E is different, and even within the Army, there are different TO&Es for Rangers, Airborne, and Mech units. Basic squad is 11 men though; this means an Army element (such as a Platoon) is significantly smaller than the equivalent Marine one. IIRC, an Army F.T. is led by a Sgt, Squad Ldr is a SSgt, and PltSgt is a SFC.

Semper fi,
Bruegger out.

[Nightcrawler]

Mechanized combat engineers, we've got a squad, usually commanded by a Staff Sergeant, who has an M16A1 with an M203. Then there are two fireteams, each led by a Sergeant, also with an M16A1/M203. One man in each fireteam is supposed to be equipped with an M249 saw, and everyone else has M16A1s. Since we're mechanized (M113A2 P.O.S.), the squad leader doubles as the track commander, and one of the grunts has to be the driver, carrying the M9 beretta.

Our company, Co. A, 107th Engineers, is split between two armories, but from what I understand, is divided up as such:

-1st Platoon (my platoon)
-2nd platoon (the other armory, I'm pretty sure)
-Assault & Obstacle platoon (they've got the few dozers and 5-tons we have left)
-Support platoon (mechanics, cooks, admin guys)

[Arizona Fusilier]

All responses are right on target, but the original question of "when was the squad created" still needs a more definitive answer.

I do believe it came into military use with the adoption of the firearm, but that's only because I am not familiar with earlier references.

As a medieval re-enactor, I get a kick out of the anachronistic use of the term "squad" to refer to the smallest organizational body of troops on the field, even by those who have never been in a real army.

[BigG]

I think God created the squad when he created and organized his angels into a heavenly host. :D