# Platoons, Brigades, Divisions Oh My! How the Army & the CF are structured.



## leetch02

Hello guys,

I guess i have to work by questions, so can anybody answer this question? What is the structure of the Canadian Army? Is it like this?

Canadian Army ; - Land Force Command
(Ottawa), Land Force Western Area, Land Force Doctrine and Training System (Kingston), Land Force Atlantic Area (Halifax), Land Force Central Area (Toronto), Land Force Quebec Area (Montreal)??

 What follows after in these categories? Is there squadrons? What are these names?(sectors of the Army) Where does the Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry squad follow in? What other famous squads are thier in these sector? Are there sectors im forgetting? Someone plz help me as I am totally clueless about the structure of the Canadian Army.


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## Zoomie

Dude,  your asking for a lot of info.  All of this information can be found on the net, you need only look for it.  I recommend you going into a recruiting centre and asking for a pamphlet on the structure of the CF.

FYI, there is no Land Force Quebec Area, it is called SQFT (Surete de Quebec Forces Terrestre), couldn‘t tell you where it was HQ‘d either, never really thought to check up on that.

Oh, the PPCLI are not a squad.  They are an infantry regiment...

Try www.google.ca and type in canadian forces, see how many hits you get.


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## Jungle

LFQA is acceptable, and SQFT means "Secteur du Québec de la Force Terrestre". It is HQ‘d in Montréal (Longue Pointe).


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## Sharpey

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/LF/organ/armystructure/struct_index_e.html 

That should get you started.


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## Michael Dorosh

Bear in mind that the peacetime organizations being discussed here wouldn‘t apply to a field force engaged in combat operations abroad (I take it that is your real interest?)

Overseas, infantry battalions and armoured regiments would be organized into mechanized brigades, or mechanized battlegroups.  It‘s been a long while since we‘ve had anything larger than a brigade serve operationally overseas - World War Two, in fact.  We did have a First Canadian Division in Germany in the 1960s, though.

Even in the peacetime "sectors" as you call them, units are organized into brigades.  1st Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG) is in Alberta, with an armoured regiment, infantry battalions and attached service elements - General Support battalion, MP unit, service battalion, etc.

Reserve units are also grouped into brigades - in Alberta, we have 41 Canadian Brigade which includes combat and support units from throughout the province.

Brigades are grouped into divisions, and divisions into corps.  In WW II, we had a First Canadian Army composed of several corps.


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## leetch02

Hey thank you very much, i finally researched and I am beginiing to understand what your saying. Now in a Regiment of infantry and a regiment of armour how many people does this consist of? What ranks follow in these regiments? (General Officers, Senior Officers, Junior Officers, and so follows?) or are there lots more units in these regiments? Understanding that for example The Ontario Regiment is an Armour reg. does it consist of only special crewmen? Thanks for your support all, and for all your helpful information.


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## Michael Dorosh

A full strength unit in a war-mobilized unit will have several hundred people.  In the infantry, it is called a battlion - usually divided into companies; Administration Company, A (or Alpha) Company, B (or Bravo) Company, C (or Charlie) Company and D (or Delta) Company etc.  

A battalion is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel known as the Commanding Officer (CO), his Deputy Commanding Officer (DCO) is generally a major, and he also has an Adjutant to handle administrative matters, he is generally a captain.  The senior enlisted man in the battalion is the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM), ranked as a chief warrant officer.  He is in charge of discipline for the battalion, handles prisoner collection, oversees the training of the senior NCOs and even the junior officers to an extent, and a bunch of other duties when in the field and in garrison.  The Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (RQMS) is ranked as a master warrant officer and handles the battalion‘s stores.  All of these are lumped into Battalion Headquarters and/or Administration Company.  Admin Coy will also contain pay clerks, storemen, drivers, vehicle and weapons technicians, the signalmen (?), medical personnel (including the Medical Officer (MO) etc.   

The battalion can also be divided into Echelons - F echelon being the Fighting Echelon - the infantrymen of the rifle companies or AFVs of the armoured squadrons, with other echelons being located to the rear - in WW II this consisted of A and B Echelon, not sure if this has changed much or not - A Echelon contained the company/squadron HQs, CQMS, etc., and B Echelon was the deep rear with battalion HQ, supply train, etc.

Each infantry company is commanded by a Major and his position is called OC (Officer Commanding), with a captain as a second in command (2 i/c).  The senior enlisted man in the company is the Company Sergeant Major (CSM), ranked as a Master Warrant Officer.  He controls discipline and administration within the company.  The Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) is ranked as a warrant officer and looks after company stores.

The company is divided further into platoons - in a rifle battalion, generally three platoons.  The platoon is led by a Platoon Commander, ranked Lt or 2Lt, with a platoon second in command generally ranked as a warrant officer (sometimes also called the Platoon Warrant, or platoon 2 i/c). 

Each platoon generally consists of three sections and a weapons detachment.  The weapons det contains the support weapons of the platoon - 84mm Carl Gustav, C6 machine gun, 60mm mortar.  Each section is led by a sergeant Section Commander with a master corporal 2 i/c - I believe the current configuration is 4 C7 rifles, 2 C7 rifles with M203 grenade launchers, and 2 C9 light machine guns.  Stuff like grenades, M72 anti-armour weapons etc. are distributed as needed.

An armoured regiment is similarly set up, though their companies are called "squadrons".

This is all theoretical, and apologies if I‘ve gotten any of it wrong - I‘ve never served in a full strength, full time battalion and am sure someone can correct me if I‘ve mixed up my WW II knowledge with current practices.  That should get you started, anyway.  In general, companies and squadrons are between 100 and 200 men apiece, with battalions/regiments generally having 600-900 men in them.

Hope this helps.


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## portcullisguy

leetch:

A regiment or unit can consist of a number of battalions.  For example, the PPCLI have three battalions, 1PPCLI, 2PPCLI and 3PPCLI.

In a reserve regiment, there is normally only one battalion, so this "level" of organization is not usually mentioned/counted.  My regiment, the 48th Highlanders, call their orderly room the "BOR" or battalion orderly room, but there is only one battalion in the 48th.

Each battalion is comprised of one or more companies.  In the air force or armour these are called squadrons.

The companies are further divided into platoons (or "troops" for armour, "flights" for air force, and I think "batteries" for arty).

A platoon is a basic building block unit of organization.  They are headed by a junior officer (2Lt or Lt normally), and number about 30 members.

A platoon is further divided into sections, each of which may be commanded by a Sgt or MCpl.  A section normally numbers about 8-10 men.  I forget what term is used for units smaller than sections... basically you are never alone, though, you are always at least paired up with another soldier.

As I said, a platoon is normally commanded by a 2Lt or Lt.  A company is normally commanded by a Capt.  A Battalion may be commanded by a Maj or LtCol, and a Regiment is normally commanded by a LtCol or Col.   A brigade includes several regiments, and is normally commanded by a Col.  Anything above that is commanded by some type of General.

An infantry brigade would normally be 2 or more infantry regiments.  However, since our army is so small, we normally organize things into "brigade groups".  When the term "group" is included, this normally implies regiments of different branches or types mixed together.  32 CBG (Candian Brigade Group) includes 4 infantry regiments (Tor Scots, 48 Highrs, R Regt C, QOR), 2 armoured regiments (QYR, GGHG), 1 arty regt (7th Toronto), a service coy (25 svc, which includes 25 med coy, and 25 MP pl), and some other units (INT, supply, 32CBG HQ, etc.).  I might have missed some.


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## Dacier

Can someone point me to information on how the Army is structured.   I have been searching the websites, but all I have found out is the major structures.  Three Regiments - Three Battalions. 

I also found this..
Army a group of Corps 
Corps a group of Divisions 
Division  two or more Brigades 
Brigade usually three regiments (armour)
or battalions (infantry) 
Regiment
Battalion
 a grouping of squadrons
a grouping of companies

Squadron
Company
 a grouping of Troops
a grouping of Platoons

Troop
Platoon
 the smallest subunit of horses or armoured vehicles
a grouping of sections (the smallest subunit of infantry)

From  http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/structure.htm 
But there are no numbers.  Can any fill in the numbers per each level?


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## Jarnhamar

Infantry

Section 8 to 9
Platoon, 3 sections  plus hq(30 to 35ish)
Company, 3 platoons plus head quarters. (125?)
Battalion is 5 companies.
Brigade is 3 battalions.
And thats about as much as we have heh


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## portcullisguy

Ghost, I thought in the NATO military symbology used on maps, etc., that Battalion was used interchangably with Regiment, because they are essentially one and the same (although in the regs, a Regiment is composed of 3 Battalions).

Then, the next step up was a Brigade, although because of combined arms, it‘s usually a Brigade Group (mixed types of battalions/regts).

I think Division was next, which is about what the entire CF makes up if put altogether, I understand, possibly two (one reg force, one res).

After that you get into Corps and Armies, although I can‘t imagine Canada ever having a military that big again, at least not in my lifetime.


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## Jarnhamar

uhhhhh
*looks around*
maybe    

Anything above platoon i don‘t usually concern myself with. On excercises the higher the level (ie company or battalion or brigade) the more things slow down and the more screw ups occure. Thats looking at it from a grunt perspective heh


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## Michael Dorosh

Dacier - I did not include numbers on purpose.  What period of history are you referring to?

Most military organizations rarely have full strength units, in any event.


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## McG

> I thought in the NATO military symbology used on maps, etc., that Battalion was used interchangably with Regiment, because they are essentially one and the same


Battalion and Regiment are not interchangeable.   Two "sticks" over the tac symbol indicate a Bn (or unit sized regiment), and three "sticks" indicate a formation sized Regt.   Most of the regiments in the CF are the size of a battalion and so they are marked as a  on the map.   

Those regiments which are larger than one unit are still not formations.  PPCLI, RCR, R22R, RNBR, etc will never deploy under a regimental headquarters.   They will always be battalions as part of a Bde.   For this reason you won't see Canadian units marked as Regiments on a map.   The same is true of most of our allies.

The Regiment indicator is typically used to indicate motor rifle regiments or tank regiments of armies based on the former Soviet system.


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## Dacier

I suppose I was a bit too cryptic.

What I‘m trying to find out, is how the infantry battalions are structured down to the smallest squad.  Present day.


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## McG

The Battalions consist of:

3 x Rifle Coy (recently reduced from 4),
1 x Combat Support Coy, 
1 x Admin Coy, and an RHQ.


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## Michael Dorosh

Dacier

A platoon consists of three rifle sections and a headquarters.

The section is 8 men - generally a sergeant section commander, master corporal 2 i/c and corporal/privates for the rest

4 with C7
2 with C7 and M203
2 with C9

The platoon has a Lt or 2Lt platoon commander, a WO as the platoon 2 i/c, and the platoon HQ has a signaller/driver, a 60mm mortar, a C6 machine gun and an 84mm Carl Gustav as part of the weapons det.


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## jswift872

i did a search and couldn't really find anything that relevant...

how exactly does the CANADIAN formation work, and by that i mean

Regiment>
Unit>
Company>
Platoon>
Squad>
(i know this isn't right, hence my question, how does the Canadian formation work?)


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## stukirkpatrick

Starting from an individual soldier and moving up, here is an order of battle using my regiment, the LSSR as an example.

http://www.lssr.ca/orbat.htm

and the Canadian/British equivalent to a squad is a section.


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## McG

In Canadian terminology, a formation is a grouping of units or subordinate formations.  Army units are referred to as battalions or regiments.  A brigade is a junior formation and an LF Area would be a higher formation.

The Combat Training Center is another formation.  Its subordinate units are the Infantry School, The Armoured School, the Artillery School, and the Tactics School.

2 CMBG, 31 CBG, 32 CBG, and 33 CBG are all formations of LFCA (which is also a formation).


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## 63 Delta

That was an awesome link you posted. Maybe Mike Bobbit or another moderator can post it in the infatry FAQ?


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## jswift872

wicked link, thank you for the info. so in my bmq, i am 1 section, so....correct me if I'm wrong, it goes...

my section (1 section), 
the three sections is equal to a platoon
3 platoons make up my company, which is c company
and 4 companies make up the brigade, which would be PLF?


did i understand right?


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## McG

4 Companies are a Regiment or a Battalion.  

Don't get too caught in the numbers though.  Sections will vary in size.  Platoons may be short sections (or may have extra sections).  Regular Force infantry battalions only have three rifle companies these days and many reserve regiments only have one company.


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## Fraser.g

Almost,

4 Rifle coys make up the pointy end of the Infantry Battalion within a Brigade. 
There are other companies within the Infantry Bn like LOG, Transport, HQ Etc,
Another thing to tuck in the back of your head is that although the Infantry are the pointy end there are several other formations that are part of the Battalion the least of which are the Engineers, Arty, Armor, Service and supt Bn, Field Ambulance etc.

Hope this helps


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## Spr.Earl

As McG stated numbers vary.
In Bosnia we were listed as a Field Squadron Minus,meaning instead of 150 all rank's we were only 90 all rank's.
Number's on the whole look great on paper but as with the C.F. we can't field our own doctrine. 
So take the numbers with a grain of salt.


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## McG

RN PRN said:
			
		

> There are other companies within the Infantry Bn like LOG, Transport, HQ Etc,
> Another thing to tuck in the back of your head is that although the Infantry are the pointy end there are several other formations that are part of the Battalion the least of which are the Engineers, Arty, Armor, Service and supt Bn, Field Ambulance etc.


Not exactly.   The infantry battalion does not contain engineers, armour, artillery, or other battalions.   Those exist in the brigade.

Aside from the rifle companies, the only other companies in an infantry battalion are Combat Support and Administration.

Note on terminology:   


		Code:
	

Formation = LF Area, Brigade, Division, Regiment*

Unit = Battalion, Regiment*, Field Ambulance

Sub-unit = Company, Squadron, Battery 

*Canadian Armd Regiments are units, in other forces Regiments are the equivallent to our brigades


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## Fraser.g

What I ment to indicate is that there are other branches within the Bregade other than Infantry. 

Within the Infantry Battalion there is a CSS Company that contains your transport, maint, stores. the there is an Adm Coy which is your head quarters etc. 
Sorry about the confusion.


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## McG

The CSS Company is Admin Coy.


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## Redeye

McG said:
			
		

> RN PRN said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are other companies within the Infantry Bn like LOG, Transport, HQ Etc,
> Another thing to tuck in the back of your head is that although the Infantry are the pointy end there are several other formations that are part of the Battalion the least of which are the Engineers, Arty, Armor, Service and supt Bn, Field Ambulance etc.
> 
> 
> 
> Not exactly.   The infantry battalion does not contain engineers, armour, artillery, or other battalions.   Those exist in the brigade.
> 
> Aside from the rifle companies, the only other companies in an infantry battalion are Combat Support and Administration.
> 
> Note on terminology:
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> Formation = LF Area, Brigade, Division
> 
> Unit = Battalion, Regiment, Field Ambulance
> 
> Sub-unit = Company, Squadron, Battery
Click to expand...


However, an infantry battalion may deploy as a "stand-alone" unit without the rest of it regiment, but with assets from Engineers, Armour, Artillery, and other arms & services as a Battle Group.  For example, an average rotation to Bosnia might be composed of the Second Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, whereby they'll have armoured attachments, perhaps.

Similarly, on a particular venture, a infantry company may be tasked with another arm's subunit to form a Combat Team.


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## McG

Yes.  However, the term Battle Group implies a composite unit.  It is not a battalion or a regiment, but it may be based on one.


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## Goober

I was browsing the net looking for any info on how the military is structured when it comes to platoons, companies etc.. and I found this, I was wondering if any of you could verify this to be correct or not.

=======================

Navy

Ships are usually commanded by Lieutenant Commanders, or Commanders (see Table). _(the website refered to a table, but there was no table, and no link, perhaps someone here could fill in this blank?)_
Army

Section: 10 men, commanded by a Master Corporal or Sergeant

Platoon: 3 sections, commanded by a Lieutenant

Company: 3 platoons, commanded by a Major

Battalion/Regiment: 6 companies, commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel (counting necessary administrative and supply personnel, battalions number about 800 to 1000 men)

Brigade: 3-4 battalions, commanded by a Brigadier General

Division: 2-3 brigades, commanded by a Major General

Corps: 2+ divisions, commanded by a Lieutenant General

Army: 2+ corps, commanded by a General

Air Force

Flight: 4 aircraft, commanded by a Captain or Major

Squadron: 3+ flights, commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel

Wing: 2+ squadrons, commanded by a Colonel

Air Group: 2+ wings, commanded by a Brigadier General (in WWI, the RCAF's No. 6 Bomber Group comprised nine operational squadrons and three training units, and was commanded by an Air Vice-Marshal [Major General equivalent])

Air Division: 2+ groups, commanded by a Major General


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## Ex-Dragoon

Would have helped if you provided a link to this site as well.
From a Navy perspective:
MCDVs and subs are normally commanded by Lt Cdrs. (some Cdrs are also thrown into the mix but that is rare)

CPFs and AORs are commanded by Cdrs (at one time AORs where commanded by Captains (N) but Cdr is the standard right now.

Destroyers are commanded by Captains (N).


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## Guardian

It's a good general description; just keep in mind that the ranks and sizes are not necessarily fixed. Here's a little more information:

Examples:

Platoon - often commanded by Second-Lieutenants or Captains

Company - called a squadron in the amoured and enginner worlds and a battery in the artillery

Battalion/Regiment - these days, it's more often five companies or even as few as four

Brigade - more often commanded by a Colonel. In Canada, Army Areas (like LFWA) are commanded by BGens. Also, remember that in Canada we have Brigade Groups, which are slightly larger than brigades, and are composed of the following:
3 x Inf Battalions
1x Armoured Regiment
1x Armoured reconnaissance squadron (forms part of the armoured regiment)
1x Field Artillery Regiment
1x Air Defence Artillery Battery
1x Engineer Regiment
1x Headquarters / Signal Squadron
1x Service (logistics) Battalion
1x Field Ambulance unit
1x Intelligence company
1x Military Police platoon

 These formations do not require a divisional headquarters, and can be used as independent formations.


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## Goober

Ex-Dragoon said:
			
		

> Would have helped if you provided a link to this site as well.
> From a Navy perspective:
> MCDVs and subs are normally commanded by Lt Cdrs. (some Cdrs are also thrown into the mix but that is rare)
> 
> CPFs and AORs are commanded by Cdrs (at one time AORs where commanded by Captains (N) but Cdr is the standard right now.
> 
> Destroyers are commanded by Captains (N).



Sorry about not posting link before, here it is http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Params=J1ARTJ0000307

Some quick replies


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## combat_medic

Another couple corrections:

A light infantry section is typically comprised of 8 men, whereas a mechanized infantry section has ten (regular section plus driver and the gunner)

In addition, a platoon is not simply three sections, nor is a company simply three platoons. There are headquarters elements, heavier weapons support and other combat service support elements attached to each which will beef up the numbers.

As for the Battalion structure, it's usually 3-4 rifle companies in addition to combat service support company which used to comprise of 1 x mortar platoon, 1x Recce Platoon, 1 x Anti-Armour Platoon, 1 x Pioneer Platoon (things like mortars and pioneers are being phased out so I don't know the current structure). There's also a HQ company which has a Battalion CP, Int Detachment and MP Detachment and a Sigs Platoon. There's a Logistical Company comprising of Battalion stores, payroll, maintenance, med platoon, cooks and the like. 

The term regiment is also a tricky one. There are some war strength regiments that go to war with one Battalion, and others which have 10. The Seaforth Highlanders in Scotland during WWII fielded 10 full battalions. Typically, however, a modern, Canadian Infantry regiment will be allotted 1-3 Battalions. Also, a tank regiment and an engineer regiment are not even one full battalion, so don't let the term "regiment" determine number of troops. 

A brigade is (ideally) as listed as Guardian said, and can also have such atts and dets as a helicopter squadron (for air mobile/air assault), a Herc squadron (for airborne) and other bits of shiny kit. 

After this, typically formations just get larger.

For light infantry units and Airborne assets, the Brigade or Battalion gets smaller and will be missing certain assets, and have other assets added. For example, you can't parachute an entire regiment of main battle tanks (although the Americans and British are working on that), but you will have assets like Pathfinders, and will trade off certain assets in favour of lighter kit (towed-105 artillery rather than a self-propelled M-109 for example).


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## Yard Ape

Above Army, you can have an Army Group or a Front.  Either name referes to a formation of two or more armies.

20 CMBG, A Model Canadian Brigade






A 20 CMBG Infantry Battalion





Mechanized Infantry Company





(Sorry, I don't have a map symbols guide.  Maybe someone else can provide)


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## Cooper

I must be working out of an old manual because some of the symbols were'nt there, for some of those I put similar symbols I could find, such as the one for combat egineers (tracked), air defence, and aviation (rotary wing).


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## Cooper

Oh, (I just realized this AFTER I posted) the 3 dots ontop of the symbols means platoon, 1 line means company and 2 lines means battalion, I'm not quite sure what the square with the single dot means, but a single dot means section so it might be something to do with a section.


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## Redeye

Cooper said:
			
		

> Oh, (I just realized this AFTER I posted) the 3 dots ontop of the symbols means platoon, 1 line means company and 2 lines means battalion, I'm not quite sure what the square with the single dot means, but a single dot means section so it might be something to do with a section.



The single dot, IIRC , should be an "x" and would represent a brigade.  The square around represents a composite formation, meaning in this case the Brigade Group.  It similarly (when used with a company indicator) would mean Combat Team, or with a Battalion indicator would indicate a Battle Group, etc etc.


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## McG

Here is a good guide to symbols relevant to Canadian units.


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## Infanteer

The dot/line/x system is the NATO standard designation.  Play some wargames and it'll come really quick (as you wonder why your unit with a three dots gets hammered everytime it runs into one with two lines....)

*.*   - Detachment or fireteam

*..*  - Section

*...* - Platoon

*l*   - Company

*ll*   - Batallion

*lll*  - Regiment (Common for Soviet units and WWII German ones, in which a Regiment was a fighting formation)

*x* - Brigade (The term Brigade Group is often used to designate a combined arms Brigade)

*xx* - Division

*xxx* - Corps

*xxxx* - Army

*xxxxx* - Army Group or Theater Command


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## Crazy_Eyes

Ok, So I'm sorry if this has been covered and should be answered fairly quickly, the thing i want to know is the structure the army follow, how many people per section, how many sections to a platoon, how many platoons to a company, then whats after company...regiment? if someone could provide a table or a link that'd be great


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## Infanteer

The answer varies, although the "rule of three" gives you a rough estimate. (3 sections to a platoon, 3 platoons to a company, 3 companies to a battalion, etc, etc)


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## McG

. . . and that rule of three typically breaks down when you try to apply it to support elements.


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## Infanteer

Yup, I was just giving him the basic beans.  He can find the answer if he bothers to search through this thread....


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## jranrose

Looking for comments and suggestions on these two charts


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## pbi

Both these charts have a number of inaccuracies and misinterpretations. The depictions of the Army and the LFAs have several errors. The "Brigade" graphic is quite out of date and bears limited resemblance to a Canadian Mech Bde Gp today. Where did these come from? Try going to the dnd.ca site to look up a more accurate version of this data.

Cheers.


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## jasonubc

Ok, this is probably going to sound a bit ignorant to those of you who are members, but as a civvy I think that is expected...lol
I'm just curious how the Canadian army is organized into its various brigade groups, regiments, battalions etc and what the difference between these groups is (what size, what rank officer is in command). Also, are the reserves and reg for completely seperated in their command structure? I can't seem to find this info anywhere so I'm kind of in the dark...thanks

JM


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## pbi

The Canadian Army is organized into a headquarters (co-located in Ottawa with NDHQ), a Doctrine and Training System (HQ in Kingston), and four Land Force Areas (LFAs). From east to west these are: Atlantic, Secteur du Quebec, Central and Western. Each of these LFAs is commanded by a Regular Brigadier General, with one Reserve BGen as his second in command. Under the LFA HQ are (normally) one Regular Army mechanized Brigade Group and several Army Reserve Brigade Groups(a total of 10 across the Army), each commanded by a Colonel (Reg or Res respectively). LFAA has no Reg CMBG. Each LFA also owns an Area Support Group, which is equivalent to a formation and commands the support bases (Area Support Units) and the General Support Service Battalion (altough that is changing as we speak). Each LFA also owns at least one Area Training Centre where field exercises, range work and courses of instruction can be conducted.

Each LFA Commander is responsible for all Army activities in his area, from training to domestic operations to generating forces for overseas operations to looking after infrastructure: he has very big range of responsibilities, and commands both Regular and Reserve troops to achieve his assigned tasks. The Reserve CBGs contain a small number of Regular soldiers, but by regulation the senior CBG and unit command positions must be held by Reservists unless the Res is unable to produce a suitable candidate, in which case a Regular could fill the spot.

A Regular Mechanized Brigade Group usually consists of an HQ, a Signal Squadron that support the information systems and administrative needs of the HQ, a unit from the Armoured branch, an Artillery unit, one light Infantry battalion, two mech infantry battalions, and engineer unit, and a combat service support unit. Under the control (but not the "command") of the CMBG are a medical unit and a tactical helicopter unit.

The detailed organization of all of these units is changing as we speak under a program known as "Army Transformation", so it is becoming difficult to say exactly how a unit of any given type is organized other than in a generic way.

A Res CBG has no fixed organization and is primarily a trainining organization with a certain domestic operations capability (although this is changing too...). For example, the Res CBG I belong to consists of an HQ, two Armoured units, three Artillery units, five Infantry units and three combat service support units. Under our control but not our command are three Medical units. We are in the process of forming an Engineer sub-unit. Other CBGs are totally different: it is really a geographic and administrative grouping rather than an operational one.

Cheers.


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## McG

Here is a summary of this thread: http://army.ca/wiki/index.php/Platoons%2C_Brigades%2C_Divisions_Oh_My%21


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## Milicia

Hi,
i just want to know how many men are in a platoon, company, battalion, regiment (...) in the Canadian army.

Thanks


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## Michael OLeary

You can start your reading here - http://army.ca/wiki/index.php/Land_Force_Command#How_the_Army_is_structured


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## Milicia

Thanks you really help me


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## Milicia

So if I understand a typical Canadian battalion is consist of 180-540 men and a regiment is just a symbolic aspect in the Canadian army but its a battalion.


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## Meridian

K. Comeau said:
			
		

> So if I understand a typical Canadian battalion is consist of 180-540 men and a regiment is just a symbolic aspect in the Canadian army but its a battalion.



You are combining a lot of things in one sentence.
You may gain better ground if you try to think about one arm (as in Infantry), as opposed to the entire Army. But if you want to go there, look at the Brigade info.  The Wiki is pretty self-explanatory.


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## McG

http://army.ca/wiki/index.php/Platoons%2C_Brigades%2C_Divisions_Oh_My%21#ll___-_Batallion


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## Milicia

I learn and if I understand 3 plattons ( 30-45 each) = 1 companies so (30*3=90) to (45*3=135) men and if 3 companies = 1 battalion so its about 270 to 405 men per battalion in the Canadian army.


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## McG

You are forgetting that at each level there are additional people for headquarters & support staff.


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## aesop081

K. Comeau said:
			
		

> I learn and if I understand 3 plattons ( 30-45 each) = 1 companies so (30*3=90) to (45*3=135) men and if 3 companies = 1 battalion so its about 270 to 405 men per battalion in the Canadian army.



No


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## Disenchantedsailor

Lets throw you really wild curve ball.  Lets look at the Artillery Regiment - Something like this 

HQ Svcs Battery
1 Lcol (Regt Comd)
1 Maj (DCO)
3 Capt (Ops/Adjt/RCPO)
1 CWO (RSM)
3 WO's (OPS WO, RQMS, Transport)
4 Sgt's (ADM/Log)
6 Bdr/Gnr/Pte

Gun Bty

1 Maj (BC)
1 Capt (BK)
1 MWO (BSM)
2 Lt (CPO/GPO)
1 WO (GATSM)
1 WO (Tech WO)
1 Sgt (BQMS)
2 Bdr (CP Tech/Signals)

       Recce Tp 
        1X Lt (Recce Offr)
        1 WO (Recce WO)
        1 Sgt (Recce Sgt)
        2 MBdr/Bdr (Recce Tech)

3 Gun dets

 3 Sgt (#1)
 3 MBdr (#2)
15 Bdr/Gnr/Pte (#3-#7)

3 OP
 3 Capt (FOO)
 3 Bdr (FOO TECH)
 3 Bdr/Gnr(Signals)

Others
  UMS
  CSS Types


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## Milicia

Ya I know but its just an estimation that I try to find.


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## pbi

K. Comeau: Don't get too wrapped up on what's in a battalion/company/platoon according to "the book". What we actually deploy on operations has almost always been different from "the book", even in the days of UNPROFOR in Yugo. Today, the Cdn Army no longer deploys in fixed "battalions" but in "Task Forces" based around "Battle Groups" that are built on one Infantry battalion (or parts of one battalion) with other companies/squadrons/batteries etc added to the mix as per the requirement for that mission.  To this are added signals, logistics, medical, intelligence, etc as required to do the particular job. The strength of a Task Force varies but it is probably going to be in 1500-3000 person range. Canadian armoured, artillery and engineer regiments will probably not ever be seen in the field again as units unless we get into a major shooting war against a more conventional enemy: they will just provide squadrons and batteries to Task Forces.

Cheers


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