Re: [SG] Leader placement

Hi,

Just for interest sake,

>> Just wondering how everyone assigns their leaders.
> 
> I would assume the platoon commander (captain?) is
> assigned to a squad within a platoon.

>Lieutenant.  Very rare to have a captain in charge of
a line platoon.  SF forces are different.

Yep.  But also depends on which army you're talking about.  British and
Brit-descended forces (ie Canada) have a slightly different rank : unit
organization structure.  For example, in the US military, Captains are
typically company commanders (in, for sake of discussion, the infantry).
In Canada, company commanders are Majors, with the company 2ic and the
"battle captain" being Captains.  Also, certain platoons will certainly
have a Captain as the platoon leader.  Recce platoons, every platoon in
our
Airborne forces (such as they are), I think the Assault Pioneer
platoons,
etc.  Regular line infantry platoons are commanded by Lieutenants.

I'm not sure why the Brits and Canadians do this, doctrinally.	I think
the
idea is to keep experienced leadership at a lower level for longer (ie,
not
promote guys who get good at leading troops to staff positions quite so
quickly).  Or something like that.  Maybe it's just simple tradition.

Maybe someone else has an insight.

Either way, John is quite right, and a *typical* line platoon has a
Lieutenant as boss.

********************************************

Adrian Johnson