Military Terms

[Njaco]

I hate to admit this but after so many years reading and involved in history and war, I'm still not clear on a few things related. I'm sure I'll get guffaws but I've never come across what exactly are the differences or how many men constitue a ______ or why one over the other. The following three are the biggest confusion points for me. The funny thing is I know exactly the difference between squadrons, groups, geschwaders, etc but the others....well.

1. What is the difference in men between battalions, divisions, regiments, companies, etc? I've never figured this out.

2. What are the ranks in progression and what is the difference between a NCO and a Commissioned Officer? Is a Colonel over a Major or vice versa?

3. What are the sizes of warships and the difference between cruisers, destroyers, etc? Besides a Battleship being the largest part of the fleet hoe does it progress down and what is the importance of each ship within that fleet?

These are the top confusing items for me. I've never been in the military and my relatives have all been Air Force except my jarhead brother (he understands!) I just never had a clue.

 

[ToughOmbre]

Njaco,

This diagram should help you with question number one.

The United States Army Operational Unit Diagram

TO

 

[Thorlifter]

Great questions Njaco. I know some of our ex military will have good answers.

 

[magnocain]

Biggest to smallest: Battleship, heavy cruiser, light cruiser, destroyer, destroyer escort, frigate, corvette, coastal attack craft.
Guns-----
Battleship-11-18 in
Cruisers-6-8 in---Shiping raiders
Destroyers- 3-6 in----escort the fleet
Frigate- 3in---escort
Corvette- 2-3in---escort/scout
Attack craft- mostly machine guns

I think I got most of it down.

 

[ToughOmbre]

Here's military ranks, officers and enlisted.

Enlisted Rank Insignias

Insignias - Officers Rank


TO

 

[Njaco]

Thanks TO! I've been too embarrassed to ask anyone before now and it was always a question I had. When I read that a battalion was thrown in against a regiment I could never understand in terms of men that meant. Thanks!!

 

[ccheese]

Now you know !!

Charles

 

[Njaco]

 

[RabidAlien]

Thanks, NJ! I've been wondering that myself, but always forget to ask whenever I'm on here. *g*

As for the NCO vs Officer question, an NCO is a "Non-Commissioned Officer", meaning he's in charge of a group of guys, but he's not the officer in charge. He's the leader that gets his hands dirty, and reports to the shiny officer so the shiny officer can report to HIS shiny officer, making the original shiny officer look good. In the Navy, anybody ranked E-4 or higher was an NCO. I think the same applies for Army, Marines, and Err Farce, but don't quote me on that.


Oh, and to add:

NAVY: "Never Again Volunteer Yourself"

ARMY: "Ain't Released from Momma Yet"

MARINES: "Morales Ain't Required, Intelligence Not Expected, Sir"

Err Farce: 'nuff said.

 

[Maestro]

Here's military ranks, officers and enlisted.

Enlisted Rank Insignias

Insignias - Officers Rank


TO

Sheesh... And I thought that British ranks were f*cked up !