In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section", while U.S. Army doctrine further defines a squad as a "small military unit typically containing two or more fire teams. It typically contains a dozen Soldiers or less." In the Australian, British and Canadian Armed Forces the equivalent of a squad is a section.
The Canadian Forces Manual of Drill and Ceremonial defines a squad as "a small military formation of less than platoon size which is adopted to teach drill movements. (escouade)".The Canadian Forces Manual of Drill and Ceremonial. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
A squad can also be an ad hoc group of soldiers assigned to a task, for example, a firing squad.
Organization NATO Map Symbols A squad A mechanized infantry squad a military police dog squad a light anti-tank squad
NATO military symbol U.S. Army in Chapter 2 of Army Doctrine Publication No. 3-90 provides the following definitions for army echelons: a fire team is a small military unit typically containing four or fewer Soldiers; two or three fire teams are usually grouped into a squad or section a crew is a small military unit that consists of all personnel operating a particular system a squad is a small military unit typically containing two or more fire teams; in some cases, the crew of a system may also be designated as a squad a section is a tactical unit of the Army and Marine Corps smaller than a platoon and larger than a squad U.S. Army Field Manual No. 1-02.2 in Table 2-3 and NATO standard APP-06 in Table 1-8 provide the following symbols for these echelons: EchelonTeam / CrewSquadSection SymbolØ●●● In practice, the meaning of these symbols depends on the NATO member country. For example Table 2-3 in U.S. Army Field Manual No. 1-02.2 and U.S. designations in Annex B to APP-06 contain the note that Common English language definition also applies to symbol ●, “a small group engaged in a common effort or occupation” The Military English Guide v. 1.4, published by Swedish Defence University, makes no distinction between a section and a squad, designating them with the symbol ●●; a fire team is designated by the symbol ●
Symbols and names of squads (or their analogs) in NATO member armed forces: Denmark ● Gruppe Italy ● Squadra Portugal ● Esquadra Slovakia ● Družstvo Turkey ● Manga United Kingdom ● Section United States ● Squad Spain ● Escuadra ●● Pelotón Albania ●●Skuadër Bulgaria ●●Otdelenie (Отделение) Canada ●● Section Croatia ●● Odred Czechia ●●Družstvo Estonia ●● Jagu France ●● Groupe Germany ●● Gruppe Hungary ●● Raj Latvia ●● Nodaļa Lithuania ●● Skyrius Luxembourg ●● GroupeNorway ●● Gruppe Poland ●● Drużyna
United States
United States Army Historically, a "squad" in the US Army was a sub-unit of a section, consisting of from as few as two soldiers to as many as 9–10 soldiers and was originally used primarily for drill and administrative purposes (e.g., billeting, messing, working parties, etc.). The smallest tactical sub-unit being the section, which was also known as a half-platoon (the platoon itself being a half company).
Depending upon the time period, the squad "leader" (not an official position title until 1891) could be a sergeant (the sergeant, in sections with only one corporal, led the section's first squad, while the lone corporal served as assistant section leader and led the section's second squad), a corporal (in sections with two corporals), a lance corporal (a rank the Army had in varying numbers and conditions from at least 1821 until 1920), a private first class (PFC) (the rank existing since 1846 but not earning its one chevron – taken from the abolished lance corporal rank – until 1920). or even a "senior" private (there being many long-service, or "professional," privates until the post-WWII era).
In 1891, the US Army officially defined a rifle "squad" as consisting of "seven privates and one corporal." The US Army employed the eight-man rifle squad through WWI and until the late 1930s under the Square Division organizational plan, in which sergeants continued to lead sections consisting of two squads.
Under the Triangular Division organization plan in 1939 rifle squads were no longer organized into sections. Instead, the squads were reorganized into a 12-man unit of three elements, or teams, Able, Baker, and Charlie, reporting directly to the platoon commander (an officer, usually a second lieutenant), assisted by a sergeant assigned as the "assistant to platoon commander" (re-designated as "platoon leader" in 1940 and as "platoon sergeant" in 1943 with the officer then re-designated as "platoon leader".) The squad leader was still only a corporal but the squad was also assigned a PFC (one of the scout riflemen) as the assistant to the squad leader. This soldier could serve as either the squad leader's messenger to the platoon commander or could be used to relay orders to other squad elements, as needed. While not a noncommissioned officer (NCO) the PFC was an experienced soldier, as prior to WWII the majority of enlisted men remained privates for the entire term of their enlistment since promotion opportunity was scarce. However, the obvious command (viz., leadership and supervision) weakness of so large a squad under one NCO rapidly became obvious in light of the pre-war mobilization and was corrected in 1940 when a second NCO was added to the squad.
This adjustment raised the squad leader to a sergeant (grade 4) and the assistant squad leader to a corporal (grade 5). The "platoon leader" (with the officer still being the "platoon commander") now became a staff sergeant, (grade 3). (In 1920 the enlisted rank structure was simplified and seven grades were established ranging from master sergeant as grade 1 to private as grade 7; staff sergeant being one of the new rank titles then established by combining several intermediate sergeant grades ranking above section leaders but below the company first sergeant.) This squad organization included two men serving as “scout (rifleman),” who along with the squad leader, formed the security element (i.e., reconnaissance and overwatch actions), designated as “Able.” The second element was a three-man Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) team consisting of an automatic rifleman, an assistant automatic rifleman and an ammunition bearer. This element formed the “base of fire” (viz., fire support in providing suppressive fires in the attack and protective fires in the defense) and was designated as “Baker.” Lastly, there were five riflemen and the assistant squad leader, who formed the “maneuver element” (e.g., flanking and assault movements in the attack and repelling and reinforcing actions in the defense), designated as “Charlie.”
In 1942, the Army had a massive restructuring of its Tables of Organization & Equipment (TO&Es) and increased the rank of the squad leader and assistant squad leader to staff sergeant and sergeant, respectively. (Platoon leaders now became technical sergeants, as grade 2, and first sergeants became equal in pay grade to master sergeants as grade 1.) The BAR man (automatic rifleman) and the senior rifleman of the Charlie element became corporals (grade 5) and de facto team leaders, even though not officially designated as such. (In 1943 NCO platoon leaders were re-designated as platoon sergeants and officer platoon commanders became platoon leaders.)
After WWII, in 1948, the Army decided to "downsize” the rifle squad to a nine-man organization (as well as realign its enlisted grade structure), as post-war analysis had shown that the 12-man squad was too large and unwieldy in combat. The squad leader was again called a sergeant (but retained the grade 3 pay grade and insignia of the rank of a staff sergeant, which was then eliminated.) The two scouts of the Able element were eliminated with the idea that all of the riflemen should be able to perform the scouting duties and would therefore all share in the associated inherent risk of that position. The Baker element's ammunition bearer was also eliminated, leaving the two-man BAR team as the base of fire, supervised by the assistant squad leader (again called a corporal), but remaining as a grade 4, since the rank of sergeant (three chevrons) was then eliminated. (PFC became grade 5, private was grade 6, and recruit was grade 7; PFCs wore one chevron and privates and recruits both wore none.) The five riflemen of the “Charlie” team, now led by the squad leader, remained as the maneuver element.
Also, in 1948, the rank title of the platoon sergeant changed from technical sergeant (which was eliminated) to sergeant first class (SFC) (grade 2) and the rank title of first sergeant was again eliminated, being retained only as an occupational title for the senior NCO of a company. In 1951 the pay grades were reversed, with master sergeant becoming E-7 (vice the previous grade 1) and sergeant first class becoming E-6, so that the squad leader became a sergeant (E-5) and the assistant squad leader, a corporal (E-4). (With PFC, PVT, and RCT being E-3, E-2, and E-1, respectively.)
In the 1956 the Army began reorganizing into its "Pentomic” plan under the ROCID (Reorganization of Current Infantry Divisions) TO&Es. The rifle squad was reorganized into an eleven-man organization with a sergeant (E-5) as squad leader and two five-man fire teams. Each fire team consisted of a corporal (E-4) team leader, an automatic rifleman, an assistant automatic rifleman, a grenadier, and a scout-rifleman. The assistant squad leader position was eliminated, with the senior fire team leader now filling this role as needed.
In 1958, with the addition of the E-8 and E-9 pay grades, the ranks of the squad and fire team leaders changed again, now to staff sergeant (E-6) and sergeant (E-5), respectively. The 1958 restructuring restored the traditional sergeant and staff sergeant rank insignia of three chevrons and three chevrons over an inverted arc, respectively. (Platoon sergeant became a separate rank title, and along with SFC, became E-7; first sergeants and master sergeants became pay grade E-8. Also, the rank of sergeant major was revived as E-9, with a new distinctive rank insignia consisting of the three chevrons and three inverted arcs of a master sergeant/first sergeant but replacing the first sergeant's lozenge with a star.)
Under the ROAD (Reorganization Objective Army Divisions) structure in 1963, the rifle squad was reduced to a ten-man organization. This iteration of the rifle squad retained the two fire teams but eliminated the two scouts (one in each fire team), instead providing the squad leader with one extra rifleman, who could be used to reinforce either fire team or assist the squad leader as required. An exception was in mechanized infantry units, where an additional rifleman (increasing the squad to eleven members) was assigned as the driver of the squad's M113 armored personnel carrier. (Also, in 1968, the separate rank title of platoon sergeant was eliminated, leaving SFC as the only E-7 rank.)