Interesting to note that the Marine Corps rifle squad TO&E went through 3 or 4 changes over the same time frame: It started the war with 1 BAR per squad this evolved to 3 per squad.

While you refer to yourself as 'just a guy on the internet', you are, in my opinion, someone who is very well versed in the subject and delivers that information in a concise and trenchant manner; something not found very often in that pool of 'guys on the internet'. I offer congratulations on a job well done and will subscribe with the hope of seeing much more like this.

Very good indeed! When I went through Airborne School in 1986 after Basic and Infantry School at Ft.Benning Georgia. A WWII veteran who was a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during Normandy, Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge was a tour guide at the US Army National Infantry Museum. He said that Airborne units had a very strong leeway of weapons. All Paratroopers had qualified with all weapons within an infantry squad and platoon. Majority of all Paratroopers were also familiarized with mortars also because even before the Sicily Invasion of 1943 the Airborne Divisions were trained to the highest quality of training before combat. During the fight for Sicily Airborne units within the squads had M1A1 carbines, Thompsons, M1s, and M1903s for grenadiers. The machine guns like the 1919s were in weapons squads that had 2 machine guns and 2 Bazooka teams within the platoon. It was 2 to 3 rifle squads and 1 weapons squad. The company had a mortar squad which is in the HQ platoon with the company commander, XO, and First Sergeant. During combat in Sicily the 82nd Airborne found out that Paratroopers could take and would take additional weapons like pistols, BARs and grab Thompsons of casualties from their own or other units to gain additional firepower. So by 1944 before the Normandy Invasion the 82nd and the 101st had armed their Paratroopers to what ever weapon they felt like taking into combat minus BARs to include 1911A1 pistols were issued to troopers if they were lucky enough to get issued one was up for grabs. Firepower was the lesson of Sicily. So by the time Normandy had commenced both divisions armed their troopers with their weapons of choice to include side arms, machetes, and daggers. Paratroopers in the European Theatre and Pacific were better armed than the Ranger Battalions who had a slightly modified TOE to regular infantry. The idea of Paratroopers being armed to what they liked was so they can reek havoc into the enemy because they jumped behind enemy lines and used the weapons that they loved to kill the enemy with. In fact Airborne units were very unorthodox in their tactics that their orders were to kill the enemy in their way and take objectives at all cost for follow on forces that relieved them. That is why WWII Airborne units were elite because of their fighting ability in combat. Since the end of WWII the 82nd Airborne now as the only Airborne division to include 2 Airborne Brigade Combat Teams have followed a rigid TOE since Korea that all troopers are armed as a regular Light Infantry and Ranger Battalion squad. Streamlined to Army standards and no more weapons of choice but assigned weapons for every member within the squad. The platoon has 3 rifle squads with 9 to 10 men. The Squad leader is an E-6 or promotable E-5. Two fire teams Alpha and Bravo. Each commanded by an E-5 or E-4 Specialist/Hard Stripe Corporal promotable. Each fire team has a grenadier armed with an M4 with M203, M249 SAW, and 3 M4 carbines. The Team Leader can either be armed with an M4 carbine or carry the M4 with M203. This was Regular Army wide even during the Iraq and Afghanistan era from 2003 till present. For me when I went for my combat tour in Iraq from 2006-08 I was in a National Guard infantry company. I was fortunate to be armed with an M4 and an M9 pistol because my commander deemed it so. So every officer, NCO, and soldier was armed with a pistol if they qualified with it. When we arrived in Iraq Regular Army units in our FOB were jealous that we were armed with M9 pistols. Very good video my friend and interesting indeed.

This video is informative with no bullshit. Just what I like, you've earned a sub.

I am learning lots from your videos. Please keep making them. I especially appreciate your frequent references to US Army publications, memoirs and histories. A bibliography of those sources added to your brief description of each video would be welcome.

Thanks for the vid! :D I like how quickly you talk! Most creators talk very slowly and I need to speed the videos up. You delivered the info quickly but also clearly!

You have a real knack for video development. I sincerely hope you keep it up. Great work!

Excellent job. No Army can win the war without well-trained squads. Two BARs give better fire power. Today the LMG makes it even better, especially with the 40mm Grenade Launcher. The "two brothers" concept is still valid, just like in Band of Brothers. I liked the video a lot!

Very good job! As mentioned by other comments, you have done an excellent job with your video- very much superior to other presenters on UKposts. I've had a long time interest in military matters since my childhood back in the 50s and what you present is not new information but information more concise and explanatory. I'll be look for more videos you have made. Thank you and best wishes.

Thank you for making and posting these informative videos. This information will be put to good use playing Combat Mission games. Please keep up the excellent work and thanks again. Subscribed and look forward to more.

Very nice video. Explains what I have been researching. I love the graphics and order of things stated.

Real good video, please continue what you do, it's easy to understand and seems good researched. If I may wish for something, it would be the same video with the airborne's (if there is a difference) and the overall bigger picture. How are morters and mg's integrated and Co. Much love

seriously impressed with the details and knowledge.you have me as a serious subscriber.love detail military history.former army 11 bravo 87-93 .thanks

Just discovered your vids, love them! Keep up the good work.

I found your platoon video and came back to see this first. Military organization is a fascinating subject and I'm going to watch all your videos now because of it. Maybe even subscribe. Nah, not maybe. I will. Hope you're well and thank you for your hard work.

This is very educational, interesting and handy to know. Thank you for sharing

I was in the USMC from '62 until '66. During my time in the infantry, The squad began as a 13-man unit: 3 fire-teams and a squad leader. By it time I became a squad leader a M-79 grenadier was added to the squad. He served directly under the squad leader. Each fire-team had one M-14 with a fire selector switch (we called him the "AR man"), and 3 riflemen. The squads were not always T.O., often short a couple of men, sometimes an entire fire team.

A good informative video,thanks for taking the time in doing such a good professional job :)

THANK YOU for the emphasis on pronunciations. I remember these notions being hammered into me when I was a heavier reader of actual books.

I wished Dad was still with us, so I could ask him about his infantry squad on the Return to the Philippians

Your work is incredible! thank you!

Great channel! No fluff just excellent information!

Very well done. Looking forward to your other videos.

The last example from the Infantry Journal (1947) foreshadowed the future squad/fire team concept, and had been used to some degree early in the war by Marine Raiders.

Call yourself "just some guy on the internet," but you are more well versed in this subject than any other documentarian I've heard. Quality material. Subscribed.

This is some really good shit. Please make more videos like this. I just came across your channel today and am very, very happy.

great video, just what i needed. Well done

Wow. This is a really good guide. Thank you for making and sharing it. Really helping me make sense of the books I've started reading.

I love these videos. I was wondering if you'd consider making videos like this one the US forces in Vietnam, or preferably post vietnam in the 80s and 90s.

Very informative. Many thanks and keep it up!

VERY informative! I tended to think of the WWII Army squad as a group of men, roles assigned on an as-needed basis. Being USMC-oriented, I'm really looking forward to your video on the Marine Corps WWII rifle squad!

Thank you man!! I appreciate it!

Excellent video - Well Done! (and I was an infantryman myself about 40 years ago).

Brilliant, no bs.

I wish I had the knowledge & skills to do these videos for British & Commonwealth forces. Fantastic work.

Love from Down Under, keep up the good work mate!

Interesting video. Things changed by the time Vietnam came around, at least in the Marine Corps. A full "T.O." rifle squad in the Corps of the 1960's consisted of 14 men. The squadleader billet was ranked as a Sergeant, with a grenadier armed with the M79 grenade launcher serving as assistant squadleader (a corporal). The remaining men were divided into three four-man fireteams. Each team had a team leader (corporal or lance corporal), an automatic rifleman (lance corporal or PFC), his assistant ARman (a PFC or PVT), and the third member who would act as backup in case of loss due to casualties (a PFC or PVT). I was an AR man in Vietnam, carrying an M-14E2, select fire automatic rifle with an M2 bipod, and extra 20 round magazines beyond the normal ammo load for regular riflemen. Of course, in reality things never worked out as per the Table of Organization (T.O.), since we were almost always operating at half strength in the field. We normally had corporals as squadleaders, with descending ranks per job position. I ended up as a lance corporal squadleader because we just didn't have the available NCO's to fill the billets at the time.

Outstanding job, this is top notch content! Would you consider covering German unit structure and strategy? You've got yourself a new subscriber.

Thank you for your video description. Now I understand the rifle squad, as it applies to my Dad's role as the BAR in WWII ETO. His buddy told me Dad got his "buck" Sgt promotion in the field from being a Corporal. My dad was inducted at Ft McClellan in '42 for basic, sent for technical training as a teletype operator to Jefferson Barracks, MO, then Infantry School at Ft. Benning, then to Bolling Field, and then N. Ireland. He was a clerk in the HQ VIII AF Composite Command. Then, he transferred to England not far from Windsor. How did he move from being a clerk to a BAR, attached to the 101st Airborne as a para/glider trooper, serving at Normandy, Market Garden, Bastogne, Rhine? (Prior to going overseas, he assured my uncle in a letter from Bolling Field that he would be safe and out of harms way!)

Superbly done. Good point about the pronunciation of "Garland."

Definitely agree you should a similar roll-out on the WW1 era of this information, but I would also say to keep going forward by major campaign. Another recommendation would be to also cover all of the earlier major conflicts (i.e. French and Indian Wars, American Revolution, 1812, CW, etc.).

This video was very helpful.

awesome vid and yes the Battle Buddy system was in effect back then just like it is today

When I first watched this almost 4 years ago, I thought it would be just another video I watched while eating lunch. No doubt about it, this got me hooked on to military TOEs, its just so damn interesting!

Keep up the good work!

Excellent stuff!

Would you consider making a video covering the changes made to the squad in the post war years and Korean war?

thats pretty good...........wish you put out more videos..........covering more timelines and even other nations...........even modern............gods bless

The reference to FM-25, regarding the 3 team squads vs 2 team; Army regulations allow for unit commanders to ADD TO but never take away from regulations and units are encouraged to develop SOP's as their mission dictates. To my knowledge this goes back to the end of World War One, possibly even further depending on the regulation(s) in question. More often than not you see accounts of "OP's being pushed out" or "Scout teams being deployed forward" instead of "Charley team was pushed ahead" until, as you said, it became standard later in the war.

Great vid mate. As a current infanteer section commander in the Australian Army. I found this to be interesting and educational.

Very good I learned a couple of new things. Looking forward to learning more. Just one thing, around the D-Day the assistant BAR position was officially eliminated and the BAR belt no longer issued.

A thoroughly interesting video, keep it up! I do have one question, how does the organisation and equipment of airborne squads differ from this, and will you ever touch upon this in a future video? Cheers.

Please upload more I love your video!!!

very good research ....i clearly remember speaking with a 94th div vet who stated they always tried to obtain more BARs stating "combat loss" ....and had 2 or even 3 in a squad at times.

You Should do another one of these but for the US infantry in ww1

good video, keep up the good work

Thank you for the video. You have my sub.

Massive respect.

Good presentation.

The first rifle I was trained on in high school ROTC was the M1. Although Garand is not part of the official nomenclature, everyone called it by the inventor's name, and we pronounced his name the same way you did, as did our instructors, who were all WWII and Korean war vets. The same pronunciation applied to every other WWII and Korean War vet I ever knew. I never heard it pronounced the "correct" way until a couple of years ago when a popular UKpostsr noted how the inventor pronounced his own name. The M1 carbine is another firearm with two pronunciations. WWII training film narrators may have said "car-buyn", but they also said "Los Angle--es" instead of "Los An-gel-eez". I've heard a few noncombat veterans say "car-byn", but every every combat vet I ever knew said "car-bean". So stick to your guns (pun intended).

Great vid & info

This video is absolutely amazing, extremely detailed and informative, thank you for spending the time man. I learned a lot here and I appreciate you sharing the knowledge.

Lovely. Thanks. More please.

This really cool! Thanks

Honestly your video is more well researched than many a modern book. Printing books has become so easy and cheap post war that any man with some bit of wealth can have his book printed. It disturbs me most when videos or other books then refer to these books rather than to primary sources like you have.

great video

Very good video.

My relatives who fought in WWII loved the B.A.R., while the Korean War vets hated it with an undying passion. My cousin, Jack, carried one at Chosin Reservoir and had his assistant carry one as well due to its unreliability in cold weather. Full disclosure, a majority of these men were Marines in the Pacific and Korea, the Army vets were in the E.T.O. All of them said that the T.O.& E. was a guideline, not gospel. Many handguns were carried that came from barter, personal property or otherwise "liberated." They all said they were most valuable at night in dug in positions. Jack asserted that he killed three for sure with his .38 Spl. revolver who had infiltrated the line at night. He believes there were three more, but bodies were never found. He slept with that revolver until he died a few years ago. Dad and I were the only ones he ever talked about combat with, for some reason, and he really opened up. Most agreed that the Army was more by the book and structured, especially if the officer was an Academy grad. The Marines were more concerned with results than method and afforded much more room for improvisation as needs required. Everybody loved the M1 rifle, but the M1 carbine was a source of debate for years. The bottom line is that one should never use the words "never, always, every, none" or like absolute terms when discussing tactics, organization or weapons in combat. In war the first casualty is the truth, the second is "the book."

Not sure if it's been suggested but a video on employment of company/battalion weapons (60 and 81mm mortars, bazookas, 1919s, and etc) would be cool.

I like you video, but hate that "tinny" sounding music at the beginning and end. Good information and as a fellow researcher in WW2 army life and history I fully concur with your information. Well done.

Awesome video!

8:40 This is what I would call an ideal load out for a squad of the time that could be within reason of a platoon's typical armament. Even better would be if one of the rifleman in the squad is equipped with the platoon's only m1903a4

That company organizational video has been a long time coming.

I would like to address the reasoning behind m1903 Springfield preference in the rifle grenade role as to the M1 Garand. The reasoning as to why the 1903 was preferred is due to the fact that a blank cartridge can be loaded into the 1903 as needed and all that was left to do was to attach your rifle grenade. where as having the M1 you would either need a pre-loaded clip with a blank in it to continue firing after firing your rifle grenade which wasn't always convenient, or to unload said clip load a blank and then load your grenade to fire.

Fantastic job putting all this information together. I know I'm a bit late but i wondering how the american squad fare in 1 x 1 situations against german squads that had the more powerful mg42 as their automatic weapon, although don't had the garands for semi auto firepower?

Any squad grenade launcher is, by definition, a direct fire weapon. An indirect fire weapon is any weapon where a spotter is forward of the team loading; adjusting the mortar, howitzer, naval gun, etc base on what a spotter with eyes on the target tells the team he sees the rounds land near the target and the fire control officer tells the team to adjust by knowing his position, the observers position and the targets position on the ground and that is figured by the OT Factor. The team or guy pulling the trigger on the weapon cannot see the target ...hence the indirect fire monicre. A squad level and company 60mm mortar teams are direct fire weapons, though the 60mm mortar can be an indirect fire system. The squad level grenade launcher can be used to strike against enemy in low lying areas, behind cover or areas where lobbing a grenade might be needed as directly firing a bullet will not work. It's still a direct fire weapon

My grandpa was a replacement squad leader in the 475th Infantry Regiment, Mars Task Force (formerly Merrill's Marauders). Funny thing is, he started off as a Pvt., was promoted to Cpl., and by the end of the campaign was a T/3 squad leader. I've heard that in a pinch, T/3 would be the fill-in rank for "battlefield-promoted" squad leaders. I don't know how true that is though.

Have you made a video on the Marine Infantry Rifle squad or any sort of equivalent?

A Ranger assault section was a bit different. Assault Squad: Sergeant, M1 Rifle, Squad Leader. Private First Class, M1 Rifle, Rifleman.(X4) Light Machine Gun Squad: Staff Sergeant, M1 Rifle, Squad Leader. Private first class, M1 Rifle, Ammunition Carrier.(X2) Private First Class, M1911, MG Gunner. (I assume the "Gun, machine, cal. .30, light, flexible" allocated to this squad belonged to this guy) Private First Class, M1911, MG Gunner Assistant. There was also a dude with a M1 Rifle that commanded the the section, he was a Staff Sergeant.

The Close Combat series of PC games has both rifle and BAR squads. They really did their homework.

Really good, you've earned a subscribe. Where did you get the pictures from? Did you do them yourself?

Thanks Chief! New older soldier and they still stress the buddy system these days they are called battle buddies. Be well Sir!

Kudos for calling shenanigans on the fancy new pronunciation of Garand. I did have an Uncle Frank who was a rifleman.

So I read somewhere that it was common to issue 2 of the grenade launchers to the rifleman and the third to one of the BAR team this could be some this is how we in our squad, platron or company ect ect but in some ways it makes since it would over head firepower to the BAR team who was usually covering the movement of the rifleman and they could react to needed grenade fire quicker than the rifleman in an assault

Good video, I think the prewar TO&E and the tactics may make some of the 43-44 stuff clear. The BARs were in their own squad as a weapons squad, later they were put in the rifle squad. The Scouts (Senior Scout and scout) were the squad "point section" under control of the squad leader. When contact was made, the squad leader could then bring up the Auto Rifle team (BAR) to provide heavy fire on the target. From right I have seen in vet's recollections, their was no special training for Scouts or BARs even though the official training plans talk about special training. M1903 vs M1 grenade launcher: the 03 would have been easier to load launcher blanks into a 03 then a M1. The first launcher for the M1 to my understanding restricted the garand to working the bolt when shooting ball. The later issued launcher fixed that problem. The 1/2 squads were used as screens under control of the platoon leader, or he could take all the scouts (6) as screens. I think the problem understanding the pre fire team Army, is people want to force the tactics of the fire teams on to these earlier formations.

great video. Now I know both German and US squad composition of the day :D

On point!!!

I would like to to see you do one about armored units.

Outstanding video. History buff and ex Cold War MP here.

The Buddy system was picked up by the Rangers from training in the UK from the British Commandos. Any Brit serviceman will be familiar with it. It is especially helpful when you carry a lot of kit and need it checked. Also weapon drills. Great films these.

So a BAR man or number 4 got an assistant with a Garand and a man to lug extra mags also with a Garand? Never knew that I thought only the machine gun teams had the extra help. EXCELLENT FILM.

Thank you ! Interesting

interestingly enough, despite being universally issued to the army, the Marine Corps had quite a few difficulties acquiring the garand during the pacific theater and had to make do with the Springfield or even borrowed rifles from their allies or captured weapons from the enemy. I think the issues cleared up once U.S naval logistics became more secure, but its still interesting that that happened.

Excellent, well-presented research. During WWII, 12 million of 60 million men served in the military, with the majority in the Army. So they would have a grasp of squad tactics. Today, out of a population of 300 million, only a million or so serve in active-duty or reserve capacity. In the modern, tech-heavy military, fewer are involved in infantry tactics, and would understand squad tactics and organization.

You say there were no Corporals in a rifle squad, so how did promotion work? Were PFCs Promoted directly to Sargeant? I also have a completely unrelated question, were Marine rifle squads organized in the same ways as Army rifle squads? Anyway great videos I can't wait for more.

I'd interested in more information . My dad was promoted by Patton to a Sargent in charge of what I thought was a Gun squad to pierce enemy lines in pursuit of the rescue of the 101 st. He was promoted for being alive and was one of the battle weary .He was given a Thompson , but didn't like . He gave it to one of his men. He said it didn't shoot straight after the third round. He had a BAR in his squad but no sniper. His shooting skills didn't require one. He did pickup a 1911 off a dead soldier. His squad did take at least two SS squads. He was taken prisoner the afternoon December 24 after running ahead of his men to take two pinned down Germans . He was taking care of one he shot and was jumped by his buddy. The dying German plead for his life. Dad put 6 months in a German prison camp .

Where did you go mate??? Anyway, could you do a bit on the Australian Infantry section in WW2?

Some people I talk with make a clear distinction between a sniper and a marksman. A sniper does all the things we think a sniper does, acts as a separate element in their own little two- or three-man teams, infiltrates areas, scouts etc. A marksman is an infantryman that has some training with and carries a marksman rifle but otherwise doesn't do the fancy stuff.

I knew a vet from the 94th division 376th regiment and recall that he told me whenever they possibly could they would report the BAR as combat lost (when it was not) and secure additional BAR's ....he stated as time went on squads had far more BARs then official table would indicate. Current "experts" they say the BAR was obsolete, and not effective as an automatic weapon. But I clearly recall the old vet saying in combat they wanted more of them

Interesting. I was in a rifle squad in Vietnam (173rd ABN). I've sometimes wondered about configurations of the infantry in WWII and Korea. I'm curious about learning more US Army actions in the Pacific during WWII. I've both read and heard negative comments about US Army Infantry operations compared to the Marine Corp. I noticed in one popular movie, "The Pacific," a battalion commander eludes to the "Army" and the marines groan, "I know, I know" replied the colonel. Just thinking out loud here. Good video anyway.