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61-466: A rittmeister is typically in charge of a squadron (a company -sized unit called a "troop" in the United States , as opposed to the U.S. cavalry squadron of larger battalion size), and is the equivalent of a Hauptmann rank (or captain in most army branches). The armies of many Central and Eastern European countries adopted a localised term for the similar rank. The rank of Rotmistr

122-502: A combat support company . With all these components, a battalion is the smallest military unit capable of "limited independent operations". The battalion must have a source of resupply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days. This is because a battalion's complement of ammunition, expendable weapons (e.g., hand grenades and disposable rocket launchers ), water, rations, fuel, lubricants, replacement parts, batteries, and medical supplies normally consists of only what

183-524: A Riding Master is not a rank. In the Household Cavalry Regiment a suitable Warrant Officer with the rank of Riding Instructors is appointed Riding Master. The duration of this appointment is determined by the commanding Lieutenant-Colonel and, once appointed, the Riding Master is the person in the lead of training of recruits and horses of the Household Cavalry Regiment . While the rank

244-489: A Squadron consisting of two Mechanized Infantry Platoons, mounted on CV90's, one Armoured Platoon with Leopard 2's and a Combat Service Support Unit. Its soldiers were referred to as dragoons and consisted mostly of conscripted troops. Used as OPFOR in exercise operations with other parts of the Norwegian Army. Squadron ( szwadron ) was used exclusively for companies of cavalry and armoured cavalry before 1948. After 1948,

305-499: A battalion headquarters mounted in a command tank and a headquarters and service platoon, for a total of 165 personnel and 40 tanks; battalions using the older T-54 , T-55 or T-62s tanks had 31 or 40 additional enlisted personnel. However, forces in Eastern Europe began to standardise to a smaller formation with 135 personnel and 31 tanks total, with each tank company consisting of 10 tanks total. A Soviet artillery battalion in

366-419: A combat logistics element (a Marine combat logistics regiment, which includes naval construction forces [Seabees] and naval medical elements). In the U.S. Marine Corps, an infantry or "rifle" battalion typically consists of a headquarters and service company, three rifle or "line" companies (designated alphabetically A through M depending upon which battalion of the parent regiment to which they are attached) and

427-401: A company-equivalent unit called kavalerieskadronen , or "the cavalry squadron". It serves as the main reconnaissance unit in the battalion. Like the mechanized infantry units, it wears the distinct khaki-coloured beret of the battalion instead of the normal black for cavalry units. The Armoured Battalion ( Panserbataljonen ) has the majority of its constituents labeled eskadroner . Including

488-585: A headquarters company, support company and three rifle companies (usually, but not always, A, B and C companies). Each company is commanded by a major , the officer commanding (OC), with a captain or senior lieutenant as second-in-command (2IC). The HQ company contains signals , quartermaster , catering, intelligence , administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. The support company usually contains anti-tank , machine gun , mortar , pioneer and reconnaissance platoons. Mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment (LAD) of

549-420: A headquarters company, two mechanized infantry companies, two tank companies and a forward support company attached from the battalion's parent brigade support battalion. This new structure eliminated the need to task-organize companies between battalions; each combined arms battalion was organically composed of the requisite companies. At a higher level, each armored brigade (formerly designated 'heavy brigade')

610-422: A heavy weapons company. That is, rifle companies A, B, C along with heavy weapons Company D were part of the 1st battalion, rifle companies E, F, G and heavy weapons Company H constituted the 2nd battalion, and rifle companies I, K, L and heavy weapons Company M were in the 3rd. There was no J Company: the letter J was traditionally not used because in 18th- and 19th-century old-style type,

671-412: A limited capability to plan and conduct independent operations and are normally organic components of brigades, groups, or regiments. A U.S. Army battalion includes the battalion commander ( lieutenant colonel ), executive officer ( major ), command sergeant major (CSM), headquarters staff and usually three to five companies, with a total of 300 to 1,000 (but typically 500 to 600) soldiers. During

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732-646: A major), the sergeant major and the executive staff (S-1 through S-4 and S-6). The battalion headquarters is supported by a headquarters and service company (battery). A battalion usually contains two to five organic companies (batteries in the artillery), with a total of 500 to 1,200 Marines in the battalion. A regiment consists of a regimental headquarters, a headquarters company (or battery) and two to five organic battalions (Marine infantry regiments – three battalions of infantry; Marine artillery regiments – three to five battalions of artillery; Marine combat logistics regiments – one to three combat logistics battalions). In

793-509: A mechanised infantry battalion usually consists of one command- and medical company, three mechanised infantry companies and one support company, which has three platoons with heavy mortars and three platoons with anti-tank missiles ( TOW ). With the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling (which translates to "section"). Combat companies consist of (usually mechanised) infantry, combat engineers , or tanks . In

854-641: A number of combat support units: a mortar battery consisting of eight 120 mm 120-PM-43 mortars or automatic 82 mm 2B9 Vasileks , an air defence platoon with nine MANPADs , either the SA-7 Grail , SA-14 Gremlin or SA-16 Gimlet and an automatic grenade launcher platoon with six 30 mm AGS-17 launchers. The BTR battalion also featured an anti-tank platoon with four AT-3 Sagger or AT-4 Spigot launchers and two 73 mm SPG-9 recoilless guns ; BTR units on high-readiness status sometimes had six missile launchers and three recoilless guns. Both featured

915-528: A sub-unit of a battalion-sized formation (usually a regiment), and is usually made up of two or more troops. The designation is also used for company-sized units in the Special Air Service , Special Reconnaissance Regiment , Honourable Artillery Company , Royal Engineers , Royal Corps of Signals , Royal Army Medical Corps , the Royal Air Force Regiment and Royal Logistic Corps and in

976-441: A total of 255 personnel. A Swedish battalion during the mid 17th century up to the mid 18th century was the smallest tactical unit in combat. The 600 man unit was formed, temporarily, at the inception of a battle by joining four foot companies from a foot regiment of eight companies. The commander of the regiment, an överste ( colonel ), led the first battalion and his deputy, an överstelöjtnant ( lieutenant colonel ),

1037-437: A weapons company. Weapons companies do not receive a letter designation. Marine infantry regiments use battalion and company designations as described above under World War II, with company letters D, H and M not normally used but rather held in reserve for use in augmenting a fourth rifle company into each battalion as needed. United States Marine Corps infantry battalions are task organised into Battalion Landing Teams (BLTs) as

1098-471: Is a military unit , typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. Commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several companies , each typically commanded by a major or a captain . The typical battalion is built from three operational companies, one weapons company and one headquarters company. In some countries, battalions are exclusively infantry , while in others battalions are unit-level organizations. The word "battalion" came into

1159-586: Is an 'ensign' rank, used by both branches in the Czech Army . It is ranked OR-5 within the NATO rank structure . The immediate senior rank is called Nadrotmistr ( lit.   ' senior rittmaster ' ) and is ranked OR-6. The Dutch rank Ritmeester , is the rank of squadron leading officers in the cavalry units of the Royal Netherlands Army . The Norwegian rank, Norwegian : rittmester/rittmeister ,

1220-496: Is for command elements. According to some observers, the average manpower of the battalions has substantially declined: from 670 plus in 1988, 350 plus in 1998, and 250 plus in 2008. A leaked document reported in the international media revealed that in late 2006, the Tatmadaw had 284 battalions with fewer than 200 personnel, and 220 battalions with between 200 and 300 personnel. As of January 2024 , most battalions/regiments of

1281-435: Is now composed of three CABs (versus the two CABs of a former heavy brigade), one reconnaissance squadron, one artillery battalion, one brigade engineer battalion (BEB) and one brigade support battalion (BSB). A United States Marine Corps battalion includes the battalion headquarters, consisting of the commanding officer (usually a lieutenant colonel, sometimes a colonel), an executive officer (the second-in-command, usually

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1342-598: Is the rank of officers in the armoured and mechanized infantry units of the Norwegian Army . The spelling ritmester was used in Norwegian until 1907. In the Polish army (from the 15th century to the mid-20th century) a rotmistrz commanded a formation called a rota . However, a rotmistrz of hussars was a commander of between 100 and 180 hussars, with a lieutenant of hussars as his second-in-command. The Lithuanian term

1403-404: Is used in some of NATO countries , it is ranked differently depending on the country. Squadron (army) A squadron was historically a cavalry subunit , a company - or battalion -sized military formation. The term is still used to refer to modern cavalry units , and is also used by other arms and services (frequently aviation , also naval ). In some countries, including Italy ,

1464-703: Is used in the British Army Infantry and some corps including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Intelligence Corps . It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers (before they switched to regiments), and was also used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps and Royal Pioneer Corps . Other corps usually use the term "regiment" instead. An infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment (e.g., 1st Battalion, The Rifles , usually referred to as 1 Rifles). It normally has

1525-798: The American Civil War , an infantry or cavalry battalion was an ad hoc grouping of companies from the parent regiment (which had ten companies, A through K, minus J as described below), except for certain regular infantry regiments, which were formally organized into three battalions of six companies each (numbered 1–6 per battalion vice sequential letter designations). After 1882, cavalry battalions were renamed squadrons and cavalry companies were renamed troops. Artillery battalions typically comprised four or more batteries, although this number fluctuated considerably. During World War II, most infantry regiments consisted of three battalions (1st, 2nd and 3rd) with each battalion consisting of three rifle companies and

1586-587: The Netherlands Marine Corps all have a battalion structure. Each battalion usually consists of the following: In the Soviet Armed Forces , a motorised rifle battalion could be mounted in either BTR armoured personnel carriers or BMP infantry fighting vehicles , with the former being more numerous into the late 1980s. Both consisted of a battalion headquarters of 12 personnel and three motorised rifle companies of 110 personnel each, along with

1647-525: The Royal Anglian Regiment ). Important figures in a battalion headquarters include: Battalions of other corps are given separate cardinal numbers within their corps (e.g., 101 Battalion REME). A battle group consists of an infantry battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. In the Canadian Army ,

1708-451: The "mounted arms" a captain (three galons , or braids) in charge of an escadron is thus called a chef d'escadron (which is a title, not a rank). However, his superior in the hierarchy (four galons ) has the rank of chef d'escadrons (the equivalent rank in infantry units being chef de bataillon ). After 1815 (in fact around 1826), the army began to write chef d'escadrons with an s in cavalry units to reflect

1769-453: The 1580s. A battalion is composed of two or more primary mission companies, which are often of a common type (e.g., infantry, tank, or maintenance), although there are exceptions, such as combined arms battalions in the U.S. Army. In addition to the primary mission companies, a battalion typically includes a headquarters staff and combat service support , which may be combined into a headquarters and service company . A battalion may contain

1830-497: The 1960s through the early 1980s, a typical maneuver (infantry or tank) battalion had five companies: headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) and A, B and C Companies, plus a combat support company (CSC), with a scout platoon, 107 mm (4.2 inch) heavy mortar platoon, along with other elements that varied between organisations. These included heavy anti-tank TOW missile platoons, ground surveillance radar sections and man-portable air-defense system sections. Beginning in

1891-454: The Canadian battalion forms the core of the infantry battle group, which also includes various supporting elements such as armour, artillery , combat engineers and combat service support . An infantry battle group will typically be commanded by the commander of the core infantry battalion around which it is formed and can range in size from 300 to 1,500 or more soldiers, depending on the nature of

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1952-730: The Cavalry Squadron, the Armoured Squadron and the Assault Squadrons. It also includes the battalion's Support element, the Combat Support Squadron. Its members are also referred to as dragoons, reflecting the nature of the unit. The Telemark Battalion also has a number of units labelled eskadroner . This includes the Armoured Squadron, the Cavalry Squadron and the Combat Support Squadron. Kampeskadronen ( Kampeskadronen ) (roughly translated to "The Battle Squadron"),

2013-710: The English language in the 16th century from the French bataillon , meaning "battle squadron" (similar to the Italian battaglione meaning the same thing) and the Spanish batallón , derived from the Vulgar Latin noun battalia ("battle") and ultimately from the Classical Latin verb battuere ("to beat" or "to strike"). The first use of the word in English is attested in

2074-492: The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men; as of 2012, a British battalion had around 650 soldiers. With successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion (others were amalgamated to form large regiments that maintained multiple battalions, e.g.,

2135-468: The U.S. Marine Corps, the brigade designation is used only in " Marine Expeditionary Brigade " (MEB). An MEB is one of the standard Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTF), is commanded by a brigadier general or major general , and consists of command element, a ground combat element (usually one reinforced Marine infantry regiment), an aviation combat element (a reinforced Marine aircraft group including rotary wing, fixed wing and tiltrotor aircraft) and

2196-758: The battalion is the standard unit organisation for infantry and combat service support and each battalion is divided into one or more sub-units referred to as companies. In the Canadian Forces , most battalions are reserve units of between 100 and 200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece. The nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Canadian battalions are generally commanded by lieutenant-colonels , though smaller reserve battalions may be commanded by majors . Those regiments consisting of more than one battalion are: Tactically,

2257-516: The battalion was an administrative designation used only in garrison . The reorganizations converted companies to troops and battalions to squadrons, and made squadrons tactical formations as well as administrative ones. In the British Army and many other Commonwealth armies, a squadron is the Royal Armoured Corps counterpart of an infantry company or artillery battery . A squadron is

2318-413: The battalion's soldiers and the battalion's vehicles can carry. The commander's staff coordinates and plans operations. A battalion's subordinate companies and their platoons are dependent upon the battalion headquarters for command, control, communications and intelligence, and the battalion's service and support structure. The battalion is usually part of a regiment , group , or brigade , depending on

2379-411: The battalion, to coordinate naval gunfire support . The United States Navy has construction battalions and navy cargo handling battalions . They are structured roughly analogous to an Army or Marine Corps battalion with staff and commanding officers of similar grade and experience. In Myanmar (Army, People's Defence Force and various EAOs), battalions (or Regiments), called Tat Yinn (တပ်ရင်း), are

2440-442: The branch of service. NATO defines a battalion as being "larger than a company, but smaller than a regiment" while "consisting of two or more company-, battery-, or troop-sized units along with a headquarters." The standard NATO symbol for a battalion represented by a pair of vertical lines above a framed unit icon. Member nations have specified the various names they will use for organisations of this size. The term battalion

2501-741: The capital letters I and J looked alike and were therefore easily confused with one another. It was common for a battalion to become temporarily attached to a different regiment. For example, during the confusion and high casualty rates of both the Normandy Landings and the Battle of the Bulge , in order to bolster the strength of a depleted infantry regiment, companies and even battalions were moved around as necessary. The U.S. Army also created independent tank battalions to attach to infantry divisions during World War II in order to give them fire support. From

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2562-458: The core of the battalion structure remains roughly the same with Battalion/Regimental HQ housing command elements (OC, 2IC, Adjutant, Quartermaster, RSM, RQMS, R.P Sergeant and etc.), HQ Company (Support Platoons like Engineer, Signal, Medical and etc.) and 4 Rifle Companies. 4 Rifle Companies (No. (1) Rifle Company, No. (2) Rifle Company, No. (3) Rifle Company and No. (4) Rifle Company) and HQ Company are combat troops whereas Battalion/Regimental HQ

2623-414: The defunct Royal Corps of Transport . Squadrons are commonly designated using letters or numbers (e.g. No. 1 Squadron or A Squadron), sometimes with alphabetical names (Ajax, Badger, ...) They are also designated according to their role: "519 Signal Squadron", "Tank Delivery Squadron". In some British Army units it is a tradition for squadrons to also be named after an important historical battle in which

2684-412: The early 1980s, some elements of the combat support companies (the mortar and scout platoons) were merged into the headquarters company with the staff and support elements, others were moved to their parent type organisation (ground surveillance radar and air defence), and in infantry battalions the heavy anti-tank missile platoon was organized as a separate company (E Company). In the late 1980s, there

2745-487: The fact that this officer who used to be in charge of one squadron (several companies before 1815) was now in charge of several squadrons (i.e., companies). In other mounted branches (such as gendarmerie and artillerie ), chef d'escadron is still spelled without s . The Norwegian army operates with units called eskadroner (pl.), typically a company-equivalent unit, generally in armoured cavalry units although not always. The 2nd Battalion , Brigade Nord, has

2806-533: The ground combat element (GCE) of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). A standard U.S. Marine infantry battalion is typically supported by an artillery battery and a platoon each of tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, light armoured reconnaissance vehicles, reconnaissance Marines and combat engineers. The battalion structure is designed to readily expand to include a fourth rifle company, if required, as described above under battalion organisation. Often Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) officers are assigned to

2867-473: The late 1980s consisted of a battalion headquarters, a headquarters platoon, a maintenance and supply platoon and three firing batteries, each with six artillery pieces, whether the self-propelled 2S1 Gvozdikas or the towed D-30 howitzers , and numbering 260 personnel or 240 personnel respectively. Rocket launcher artillery battalions consisted of a headquarters and headquarters platoon, a service battery and three firing batteries equipped with BM-21 Grads for

2928-552: The latter case, the unit is called an eskadron , which translates roughly to "squadron". There are also support battalions in the Dutch Army, which specialise on a specific task: for example, supplies and transport or communications. The Netherlands have four battalions that are permanently reserved for the United Nations , for the purpose of peacekeeping duties. An infantry battalion, logistical battalion, combat battalion and

2989-406: The main maneuver units. As for structure, an Infantry Battalion was structured with 27 Officers and 750 other ranks back in 1966 under a structure organisation named of ကဖ/၇၀(၈)/၆၆ . This was revised in 1988 to 814 men and then revised again in 2001 as 31 Officers and 826 other ranks under a structure organisation named ကဖ/၇၀-ဆ/၂၀၀၁ . Even though authorised strength of the structure changed,

3050-511: The mission assigned. A battalion in the Indian Army consists of four rifle companies. In turn each rifle company consists three platoons . A battalion in the Indian Army is commanded by a colonel . Normally a battalion is attached to a regiment of infantry, which is organised, as a general rule, of a number of battalions and the regimental centre battalion. In the Royal Netherlands Army ,

3111-472: The name has been used for armored formations of various sizes. In Russian cavalry a squadron was named эскадрон , eskadron , and was a company-size unit, with 120–150 horses. In the Swedish cavalry a skvadron means a unit with the same size as a kompani in the rest of the army (about a hundred men). Also Jägar and military police units may have squadrons. Battalion A battalion

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3172-471: The name of the battalion-level cavalry unit translates as " Squadron Group ". In the modern United States Army , a squadron is an armored cavalry , air cavalry, or other reconnaissance unit whose organizational role parallels that of a battalion and is commanded by a lieutenant colonel . Prior to the revisions in the US Army structure in the 1880s, US Cavalry regiments were divided into companies , and

3233-641: The old regimental system and adopted a combat team approach centred on battalions as the building blocks of mission-oriented task forces. Battalion sizes vary between branches. In the United States Army , a battalion is a unit composed of a headquarters and two to six batteries, companies, or troops. They are normally identified by ordinal numbers (1st Battalion, 2nd Squadron, etc.) and normally have subordinate units that are identified by single letters (Battery A, Company A, Troop A, etc.). Battalions are tactical and administrative organizations with

3294-471: The operations of his regiment and first battalion, command of his company was delegated to a kaptenlöjtnant . During battle, each officer, except the fänrikar , was in charge of a portion of his company. Underofficer (NCO) ranks consisted of furir , förare , fältväbel , sergeant and rustmästare . With the major reform of its armed forces in 2004, the Swiss Army abandoned

3355-697: The regiment has taken part. For example, the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment assigns trainees to " Waterloo " Squadron, named in honour of the significance the cavalry played in the Allied forces' victory over Napoleon. In some special cases, squadrons can also be named after a unique honour which has been bestowed on the unit. The modern French Army is composed of troupes à pied (foot soldiers including infantry and combat engineers) and troupes à cheval (mounted soldiers such as armored cavalry units, and transportation units). Nowadays,

3416-492: The same support units as well, with a signal platoon, supply platoon, repair workshop and medical aid station. The addition of the antitank platoon meant that a BTR battalion at full strength was 525 personnel and 60 BTRs, including three command variants, while a BMP battalion consisted of 497 personnel and 45 BMPs, including three command variants. Prior to the late 1980s, Soviet tank battalions consisted of three tank companies of 13 T-64 , T-72 or T-80 tanks each, along with

3477-424: The second battalion. Battalion commanders and all other officers marched in front of the formation. Non-commissioned officers ( underofficers ) marched beside and behind to prevent desertion , and to replace officers who were killed. In addition to his principal duties, senior officers, such as majorer , the överstelöjtnant and överste , also commanded a company. So that the överste could focus on

3538-468: The term escadron (squadron) is used to describe a company ( compagnie ) of mounted soldiers but, for a long time, a cavalry escadron corresponded to an infantry battalion, both units grouping several companies (battalion and escadrons were tactical units while the companies were administrative units). The term compagnie has been discontinued and replaced by escadron in cavalry units since 1815 and in transportation units since 1968. In

3599-415: Was rotmistras . In earlier times, the rotmistrz served as the commander of an infantry or cavalry company , though sometimes he would temporarily be assigned field rank tasks e.g. commanding an entire regiment or even a larger formation. In the cavalry, the rank continued until 1945 as a company level title. Applied to the commander of a troop , it was equivalent of a modern-day captain . The rank

3660-556: Was a fourth "line" company added (D Company) in most infantry and tank battalions. In this older structure, U.S. Army mechanised infantry battalions and tank battalions, for tactical purposes, task-organised companies to each other, forming a battalion-sized task force (TF). Starting in 2005–2006, the U.S. Army's mechanised and tank battalions were reorganised into combined arms battalions (CABs). Tank battalions and mechanised infantry battalions no longer exist. These new combined arms battalions are modular units, each consisting of

3721-557: Was also adopted by Russian New Regiments as rotmistr (ротмистр) and later formalized in Table of Ranks as the cavalry post; until 1798, and between 1883 and 1918, a lower-ranking shtabs-rotmistr (штабс-ротмистр) also existed, representing the ranks of Senior Captain and Junior Captain in the Russian Imperial Guards Cavalry, Army Cavalry, Gendarmerie and Border Guards by 1914. In British and Commonwealth military forces,

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