Military units explained

2 years ago
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The basic building block of a military unit is a 7 to 13 soldier squad.  

Three or four squads become a platoon of 18 to 45 soldiers.

Companies contain three or four platoons plus a headquarters element.  This is about 130 to 150 soldiers.  If it's an artillery unit, it's called a battery.  If it's calvary it's called a squadron.  

Battalions contain between 400 and 800 soldiers.  Or between 4 and 6 companies with a headquarters company and a support company.  Note that Russia's Battalion tactical groups look a lot different than NATO's standard battalion.

Regiments and brigades are kind of similar with 2000-5000 soldiers.  Usually regiments have several battalions of the same force.  Where brigades have different battalions, but it's not a hard and fast rule.

Divisions are usually composed of 3 or 5 brigades or between 6000 and 25000 soldiers. 

Usual divisions have everything they need to deploy and fight as an independent unit from hospitals to journalists.  Although these days, some brigades can take on that role.

References:
https://www.cimic-coe.org/resources/external-publications/app-6-c.pdf

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