Con Thien: The Hill of Angels

Appendix C

Ranks Enlisted E-1 Private E-2 Private First Class E-3 Lance Corporal E-4 Corporal E-5 Sergeant E-6 Staff Sergeant E-7 Gunnery Sergeant E-8 Master Sergeant/First Sergeant E-9 Master Gunnery Sergeant/Sergeant Major Of¤cer Second Lieutenant First Lieutenant Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Brigadier General Major General Lieutenant General General Components Fire team—A four-man team usually led by a corporal or lance corporal. Squad—Consisted of three ¤re teams. The squad leader was a sergeant or corporal. Appendix C Organization of U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Units—Vietnam Platoon—Consisted of three squads. The platoon leader was a lieutenant; the platoon sergeant was a staff sergeant. Weapons platoon—Consisted of the crews needed to man six M-60 machine guns, six 3.5-inch rocket launchers, and three 60mm mortars. Later in the war, the 3.5-inch rocket launchers were replaced by the Light Antitank Assault Weapon (LAAW). The platoon leader was a lieutenant; the platoon sergeant was a gunnery sergeant. Company—Consisted of three platoons and a weapons platoon. The company commander was a captain, and the executive of¤cer (XO) was a lieutenant. A ¤rst sergeant was responsible for administrative details, and a gunnery sergeant was the logistics/ operations overseer. Battalion—Consisted of four ri®e companies as described above, plus a Headquarters and Service (H & S) Company. The companies were referred to by letters of the phonetic alphabet as Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and so on. Companies A, B, C, and D always indicated that they were part of the 1st Battalion. Companies E, F, G, and H were 2d Battalion. Companies I (J was never used), K, L, and M were 3d Battalion. In addition to administrative and communications staff, H & S Company consisted of an 81mm mortar platoon (eight mortars plus crews), a 106mm recoilless ri®e section (eight guns and their crews), and a ®ame section (eight ®amethrowers and their crews). The battalion commander was a lieutenant colonel, and the XO was a major. The senior enlisted Marine was a sergeant major. The S-1 (administration) was a captain; S-2 (intelligence) was a captain; S-3 (operations) was a major or senior captain; and S-4 (logistics) was a captain. Other staff were the adjutant, chaplain, communications of¤cer, motor transport of¤cer, supply of¤cer, and surgeon (lieutenant , U.S. Navy). Regiment—Consisted of three battalions. The regimental commander was a colonel, the XO was a lieutenant colonel, and the senior enlisted Marine was the regimental sergeant major. Staff positions were generally the same as those on the battalion level except that each was ¤lled by one rank higher than that at the battalion level. Division—Consisted of three infantry regiments plus an artillery regiment. A division was commanded by a major general, and the assistant commander was a brigadier general. Staff organization was consistent with battalion and regiment except that staff of¤cers were a grade higher and designated by a “G,” as in G-1 rather than S-1. Attachments—Other units and/or weapons systems that might have been attached to infantry units mentioned in this book were amtracs, Dusters (U.S. Army), engineers, forward air controllers (FACs), forward observers (FOs), motor transport, Ontos, quad-¤fties (U.S. Army), reconnaissance (recon), snipers, and tanks. 326 Appendix C ...