General Military Help

Stafford911

Stafford911

Banned
I wasn't sure where this belongs exactly but this seemed to be the closest thing. I am not in the millitatry but im thinking about it. Right now i am writting a movie about the millitary and i want to make it the most accurate i can. in this thread i will post many questions as i come up with them. If you could provide any help please it would be appreciated.

1. What are the designations for a battle group mean such 101st/82nd Airborne mean.
2. What are the designations for Air Cavalry, Infantry, and Armored Army divisons
3. How many to a platoon
4. What does SOCOM stand for
5. Which branch of the millitary responds first in a declaration of war
6. Is the M16A2 still standard millitary hardware or is there a new Assault Rifle
7. Can a drum clip fit onto an m16 or are banna clips standard
8. What is the standard Marine/Army sniper rifle
9. Can you switch branches once you are enlisted to join a Special Forces group such as S.E.A.L.s or Delta
10. Are the Green Berets still active
11. Are Commandoes considered SF
 
Thought of some more.
(*) any branch
*What is the breakdown of Squad, Platoon, Company, etc
*What are the United States and our Allies special forces(ex. Russian Germany, Britan, France)
*What is the standard troop transport helicopter
*what is the standard hunship helicopter
*what is standand attack helicopter
What do Force Recon troops actually do(dumb question but just for authenticity)
*What is in a standard combat pack
 
First: The Mods will ask you to merge your posts.

Stafford911 said:
1. What are the designations for a battle group mean such 101st/82nd Airborne mean.
2. What are the designations for Air Cavalry, Infantry, and Armored Army divisons
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Not sure what you mean. Designations?
Stafford911 said:
3. How many to a platoon
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Depends on the type of unit. If you are talking US Army, this may help. Specifically, try this.
Stafford911 said:
4. What does SOCOM stand for
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Special Operations COMmand
Stafford911 said:
5. Which branch of the millitary responds first in a declaration of war
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None, in particular. The US military likes to use an Airland Battle Doctrine (unless that's changed).
Stafford911 said:
6. Is the M16A2 still standard millitary hardware or is there a new Assault Rifle
7. Can a drum clip fit onto an m16 or are banna clips standard
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I'll let an active duty member help here. When I was in, they discouraged the banana clip. The springs would wear out. This meant the bullet wouldn't be properly positioned and the bolt would jam. 20 round clips (with 18, not 20 bullets, per because they said filling it to capacity would also frustrate the spring).
Stafford911 said:
9. Can you switch branches once you are enlisted to join a Special Forces group such as S.E.A.L.s or Delta
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Yes.
Stafford911 said:
10. Are the Green Berets still active
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Special Forces are. They wear green berets.
Stafford911 said:
11. Are Commandoes considered SF
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The US military, to my knowledge, does not have a unit, skill, or whatever called "Commando." That's a hollywood/PX warrior thing.
Stafford911 said:
*What is the breakdown of Squad, Platoon, Company, etc
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See above.
Stafford911 said:
*What are the United States and our Allies special forces(ex. Russian Germany, Britan, France)
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I'll let other field this, but you can always Google for the info.
Stafford911 said:
*What is the standard troop transport helicopter
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CH-47, UH-1 mainly. Depends on the mission/troop size.
Stafford911 said:
*what is the standard hunship helicopter
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Depends on the mission. UH-1, UH-60.
Stafford911 said:
*what is standand attack helicopter
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AH-64. Helpful guide. If the nomenclature is "UH" it means Utility Helicopter. "AH" Attack Helicopter. "CH" Cargo Helicopter. There are variations of each frame, making them more suited for transport or gunship.
Stafford911 said:
What do Force Recon troops actually do(dumb question but just for authenticity)
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Ask a Marine.
Stafford911 said:
*What is in a standard combat pack
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Depends on your role in the unit, how long you're in the field, what other supplies are available, etc.
 
I'll take up that M16 question:

As of right now, the M16A2 is the standard rifle, for the Army at least, although the XM-8 is due to replace it. This of course, does not include M249 SAWs or M240 B/G (b if you're in the army, G if you're a marine).

The US does not use drums on the M16. The standard magazine (NOT CLIP!) is the 30 round magazine, although most people you meet, including myself, HIGHLY advise against putting 30 rounds into the magazine. It'll kink the spring, and failure to strip is a common problem. I recommend 25.

edit: as for Delta, you don't join the D-boys. They come to you.
 
Pogue said:
The US does not use drums on the M16. The standard magazine (NOT CLIP!) is the 30 round magazine, although most people you meet, including myself, HIGHLY advise against putting 30 rounds into the magazine. It'll kink the spring, and failure to strip is a common problem. I recommend 25.
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you are definately right about that. In Iraq, I had 26 rounds per magazine. Anything over 28 will increase the failure of the spring. Durring a different deployment, we put 30 rounds in 1 mag. After 2 weeks, the spring failed. It is also good to take out all the rounds and lightly oil the spring once a month
 
What i meant by designations i mean what does the 101 mean. Does it mean there have been 100 versions previous or that is the universal designation for that particular type of Ranger.
 
Stafford911 said:
What i meant by designations i mean what does the 101 mean. Does it mean there have been 100 versions previous or that is the universal designation for that particular type of Ranger.
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There are deactivated divisions. The number when originally used, in my opinion, had no special significance.
 
Stafford911 said:
What i meant by designations i mean what does the 101 mean. Does it mean there have been 100 versions previous or that is the universal designation for that particular type of Ranger.
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the 101st is a unit stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They are what you call Air Assault trooper. The 82nd Airborne Division, as well as the XVIII Airborne Corps, 173rd Airborne division, are paratroopers. Also, they are not Rangers. Some can be Ranger qualified, but Rangers are from the 75th Ranger Regiment. Think of the Army as the MLB. Everyone who plays professionally in the MLB, but then the MLB is broken down into teams. The 101, 82nd, etc, are like "teams". Hope that makes sense.
 
Many of your questions could be asked by doing a simple search online. Google is an excellent search engine. To write a book, or a movie .. one must be willing to do the research. I would suggest you do as much reading and research as you can, and then consult others for any lasting questions you may have.
 
I hope it comes out good too. And my search online brought me here. Who better to ask than some of the soldiers themselves
 
thanks but ill pass. Although i might use some of the jokes and stories from the forum if thats alright with everybody
 
Stafford911 said:
thanks but ill pass. Although i might use some of the jokes and stories from the forum if thats alright with everybody
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Just help yourself to all the quotes and jokes you want..
(I expect that the proper credit will be given... ;) )
 
Stafford911 said:
11. Are Commandoes considered SF
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Aren't paramilitary forces (CIA) considered spies/commandos? But yeah you kinda think of Chuck Norton when you think of movie commando (DELTA). Or at least I do.
 
Commandos are generally troops who conduct quick raids behind enemy lines. The ones who are technically named Commandos are part of the British Royal Marines (who also wear Green Berets). They were formed during the early years of WWII at the urgings of Winston Churchill to raise morale and to scare the piss out of the Germans.

'Green Berets' are a nickname for the US Army Special Forces (there's a difference between Special Forces and Special Operations). Special Forces are trained for infiltration, recon, direct action (raids and the like), intel, and everything else a soldier can do (They are split up into 12-man A-teams at the lowest level. Commanded by a Captain, a Warrant Officer as XO and the rest are NCOs. Everyone has one primary specialty [weapons, intel, operations, engineer, medic] and everyone knows at least one foreign language fluently.). But on top of that, they also trained to infiltrate into the people of a country and raise and train a guerilla force which'll get help and supplies from the US (hence the requirement of a foreign language). Their main missions are recon and training, they are not often deployed for direct action missions (technically), that's the job of Delta (raids, snatches, counter-terrorism). Special Operations is any unit which is used for a special purpose (the scalpel rather than the sledgehammer) and is an all-encompassing term. Rangers, SEALs, Force Recon, you get the idea. Special Warfare is the term that the Navy uses for its SpecOps, Special Tactics for the Air Force.

As for unit designations, let's start from the basics of what makes a unit (Marines and Army infantry units). (Rough numbers based on the rule of three, give or take a couple)

Rifleman (Privates, PFCs, LCpls, SPCs, etc.)
3 Riflemen -> Fireteam (Commanded by a Cpl.)
3 Fireteams -> Squad (Commanded by a SGT in the Marines, SSGT in the Army) Designations go by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. within the platoon.
3 Squads -> Platoon (Commanded by a 2nd Lt. with a SSGT [Marines]/SFC[Army] as a Platoon Sgt.) Designations go by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. in the Company.
3 Platoons -> Company (Commanded by a Cpt., a 1st Lt. as XO, a Company Gunny in the Marines, a Company First Sergeant in both branches) Designations go by the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...) within the Battalion.
3 Companies -> Battalion (Commanded by a Lt. Col., a Major as XO, a SGT/MAJ [Marines]/CSM[Army] as senior enlistedman) Designations are either 1st, 2nd, etc. or if the unit has a history to it, it'll have it's own number (could be anything).
3 Battalions -> Regiment (Commanded by a Col., a Lt. Col. as XO, SGTMAJ/CSM as senior elisted) Designations are by the individual unit's number, and type. (Ex. 75th Rangers is the 75th Ranger Regiment, 1st Marines is the 1st Marine Regiment, 506th Infantry is the 506th Infantry Regiment and so on)
1 Regiment + support units ->Brigade (Same staff as a Reg., the Reg. is main unit), designations are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. within a Division.
3 Regiments/Brigades (depending on the unit) -> Division (Maj. Gen. commanding, Brig. Gen. as XO, SGTMAJ/CSM as Senior NCO). At the moment, this is the primary manuver unit of today's Army (the current Chief of Staff of the Army is moving towards Brigade-style units). The designations are individual numbers (1st Infantry Division, 1st Marine Division, 82nd Airborne Division, etc.).
3 Divisions -> Corps (Lt. Gen. is CO, Maj. Gen. is XO, SGTMAJ/CSM is Senior NCO) Designations are with Roman numerals (XVIII Airborne Corps, I Corps, etc.)
3 Corps -> Army (General as CO, Lt. Gen. as XO, CSM (there are no Marine armies) as Senior NCO) Designations are by number (1st Army, 2nd Army, etc.) Not too many to go around nowadays, as today's Army is only 10 divisions big. Mostly just conduits of paperwork.

And the Marines have their own specially designated units too:

MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit, one of the main Marine manuver units):
1 Infantry Battalion
1 Helicopter Squadron
1 MEU Service Support Group (logistics)
Commanded by a Colonel

MEB (Marine Expeditionary Brigade):
1 Infantry Regiment
1 Aircraft Group
1 MEB SSG
Commanded by a Maj/Brig Gen

MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force):
1 Infantry Division (reinforced)
1 Aircraft Wing
1 MEF SSG
Commanded by a Lt. Gen
 
Also, this is probably obious but ill ask anyway, why do they always come out with odd numbers. Is it the three fireteams plus a commander equaling ten per squad, or one member of a fireteam put in command.
 
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