RE: Platoon Leaders in SG2

Hi everyone !!!

Thomas Barclay wrote:

>I believe (when I was in CF Infantry Reserve) we used (at least
>locally) an organization of three sections (didn't call them squads)
>to a platoon. Typically each section was about ten guys (varied
>depending on available strength). And then there was a platoon
>weapons det that consisted of about another 8 guys. We had each
>section led by a MCpl or Sgt, and the platoon was lead by a Sgt. or a
>Warrant Officer (a bigger better Sgt. to those used to American
>ranks). The Platoon was commanded by a 1Lt. or a 2Lt. depending on
>what officers were available.

Just to give a german (i.e.: Bundeswehr) perspective on platoon
organisation (I served in the Jaeger Kompanie of a Panzergrenadier Btl.
 from 1986 to 1988):
At least up to the end of the Cold War a German Jaeger-Zug (light- resp.
foot-infantry) was organized of two ´´fighting´´ Gruppen
(squads/sections...
whatever) and one Zug-Trupp. All consisted of around 10 men, incl. one
Milan-ATGM, two snipers (trained for independant action as a team, but
normally operating with the squad) and one Panzerfaust each. The main
difference was, that the Command Squad had a longer ranged radio
(in addition to the ´´Walkie Talkie´´) and no MG.
The Platoon Leader was a Hauptfeldwebel (senior NCO) with a Felwebel
as second in command, the squads were led by junior NCOs
(Unteroffiziere).
Only the first platoon would be led by an Officer (Leutnant or
Oberleutnant),
who would have taken command of the company if the Company Commander
(Kompanie Chef) was disabled (i.e. there are only two officers per
company).
The main reasons behind these small platoons were:
1.) a better control/flexibility of the platoon in the ´´heat of
battle´´
2.) the german ´´Stosstrupp´´ doctrine
3.) unfavourable experiences with five-vehicle PzGren platoons

>Although the point of the command squad is to command, I'd point out
>a couple of things:
>1. It tends to immobilize the squad. That means the commanders tend
>to not lead from the front, or even close to it. In real life, I
>found our platoon officers didn't lurk way at the back. Now, you can
>acheive this by not giving any orders and moving, but then what's the
>point? Maybe if the Platoon Commander was allowed to move with the
>squad, and the squad was lead by the Platoon Sgt (something that I
>saw a lot of anyway....), then maybe you wouldn't get the 'lead from
>the rear' syndrome that the rules tend to encourage. In real life,
>this is bad for morale. (I know I wouldn't be in a hurry to follow
>orders from a stay-behind....).
The Jaeger Zug operated according to the two up, one behind principle,
i.e. the platoon command squad (and the deputy platoon commander)
would hang a little bit behind the other two. The platoon commander
(Zugfuehrer) was normally where the ´´action´´was, which meant that
the
possibility of both platoon commanders being put out of action
simultaneously was minimized.
So the ´´hanging back´´ of the command element to transfer actions
in SG2 would be similar to ´´real-life´´ Bundeswehr Doctrine.

>2. We rate our leader with a leadership level. We should (or could)
>also rate the 'next in command' (usually the Warrant/Sergeant for the
>platoon) too. Then if the officer was killed, there'd be a quick
>chain-of-command replacement and no confusion.
Same thing in the Bundeswehr...plus: all level of command are trained
(and are expected) to act on their own initiative if deemed necessary.

In my opinion the Jaeger-Zug would give a very effective organisation
for SG2:
-All fighting squads could be ´´double activated´´ by two
Transferring
Actions.
-The lack of the MG in the command squad results in less ´´wasted
firepower´´ in the case of two Transferring Actions.
-Higher flexibility through smaller platoons.
-Not to mention the high percentage (maybe too high for SG2) of
snipers (Scharfschuetzen).

That's all I can think of at the Moment (it's one o'clock in the
morning).

Tschüss !!!
Hauke

P.S. the same holds (in most aspects) true for Panzergrenadiere and
(I think) for all german infantry units... and I'm not aware of any
significant
changes in this nowadays.