Platoon
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A platoon is comprised of 32 Marines. It is commanded by a Platoon Commander who is assisted by the senior non-commissioned officer known as the Platoon Sergeant. In shipborne detachments of platoon or double platoon strength the senior platoon commander would also be the detachment commanding officer (MCO). In detachments consisting of two or three platoons one of the junior Platoon Commanders would be designated as Executive Officer.
Approximately 37% of Obsidian Fleet shipborne detachments are considered to be platoon strength.
Naming convention
Platoons are numbered using ordinals (1st, 2nd, etc.) from first (1st) through fourth (4th) although nicknames and qualifiers are often included in informal situations. Generally the renumbering starts fresh with each company although in some cases the ordinals continuing. Examples include:
Command Squad and First Squad (or Command Section), 1st Platoon, A "Howard's" Company, 1 Battalion, SFMC 7 Regiment, The 7th Cav
Squad One and Squad Two (or Section One), 2nd "Blue" Platoon, B "Bravo" Company, 2 Battalion, SFMC 22 Regiment, The Royal 22e
Sniper Squad 1 and Sniper Squad 2 (or Sniper Section), 3rd "Recon" Platoon, E "Easy" Company, 4 Battalion, The 95 Regiment, The Rifles
Organization
The textbook distribution of a platoon is four equal 8-man squads. However, many detachment commanders use alternative organizations to better suit their detachment's role or skills. Some examples of platoon organizations, as well as suggested ranks, can be found below with squad leaders indicated with italics:
Platoon organized as four 8-man squads.
| Squad 1 1 Lieutenant (MCO) 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Sergeant 3 Private, Private First Class | Squad 2 1 Staff Sergeant (First Sgt.) 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Sergeant 3 Private, Private First Class | Squad 3 1 Sergeant or Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal or Lance Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class | Squad 4 1 Sergeant or Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal or Lance Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class |
Platoon organized as three 10-man squads with a 2 supernumerary command element.
| Command 1 Lieutenant (MCO) 1 Staff Sergeant (First Sgt.) | Squad 2 1 Staff Sergeant (MXO) 4 Private, Private First Class 1 Sergeant 4 Private, Private First Class | Squad 3 1 Sergeant or Corporal 4 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal or Lance Corporal 4 Private, Private First Class | Squad 4 1 Sergeant or Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal or Lance Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class |
Platoon organized as three 9-man squads with a 5 supernumerary command/specialist element.
| Specialists 1 Lieutenant (MCO) 1 Staff Sergeant (First Sgt.) 2 Corporal (Corpsman) 1 Corporal (Artificer) | Squad 2 1 Sergeant 1 Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class | Squad 3 1 Sergeant 1 Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class | Squad 4 1 Sergeant 1 Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class 1 Corporal 3 Private, Private First Class |
| Starfleet Marine Corps Units | ||||||||||||||
| Fire & Manoeuvre | Fireteam | Squad | Section | Platoon | Company | Battalion | Regiment | Marine Expeditionary Unit | Division | |||||