22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit

Squad/Platoon Revisements

These is an exerpted passages from a wiki on the Structure of the United States Marine Corps.

In the United States Marine Corps, a squad is typically composed of three fireteams of four Marines and a squad leader who is typically a Sergeant or Corporal. ln total, 12 soldiers.

In the United States Marine Corps, rifle platoons are led by a platoon commander, usually a second lieutenant (O-1), assisted by a platoon sergeant, a staff sergeant (E-6). The platoon headquarters also includes a platoon guide, a sergeant (E-5), who serves as the assistant platoon sergeant and a messenger (Pvt or PFC). Rifle platoons consist of three rifle squads of 13 men each, led by a sergeant (E-5).

A weapons platoon will usually have a first lieutenant (O-2) and a gunnery sergeant (E-7) because of the larger number of Marines and the more complex employment of the weapon systems included in these platoons. A weapons platoon has a 60mm mortar section of ten Marines and three M224 60mm mortars, an assault section of 13 Marines and six SMAWs and a medium machine gun section of 22 Marines and six M240Gs. Marine rifle or weapons platoons would also have one or more Navy hospital corpsmen assigned along with the Marines.

ln total, a normal [un-reinforced] platoon is comprised of 25-55 soldiers.