Surviving Army BCT

Basic Need to Knows

Before we begin talking real Army lingo, I'm going to do my best to explain how it all "works," before just jumping into it. 

First things first, the Units of the Army. (Or technically the hierarchy of power). I'm going to start with the smallest unit, moving to the largest one. 

Squad- approximately 10 personnel assigned to a squad. Senior enlisted Staff Sergeant (SSG), will be a squad leader. No rank officer assigned. 

Platoon- approximately 40 personnel assigned to a platoon. Senior enlisted Sergeant First Class (SFC), will be platoon sergeant. The senior Officer will be a First or Second Lieutenant (Lt).

Company- approximately 175 personnel assigned to a company. Senior enlisted is the First Sergeant (1st SGT). The senior officer will be a Captian (Cpt). 

Battalion- approximately 700 personnel assigned to a battalion. The senior enlisted will be Command Sergeant Major (CSM). The senior officer will be the Lieutenant Colonel (LTC). 

Division- 15,000+ personnel assigned to a division. The senior enlisted will be a Command Sergeant Major (CSM). The senior officer will be a Colonel (Col). 

Regiment- 28,800+ personnel assigned to a regiment. The senior enlisted will be a Command Sergeant Major (CSM), the senior officer will be Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel. 

Corps- 30,000+ personnel assigned to a corps. The senior enlisted will be a Command Sergeant Major (CSM). The senior officer will be a Major General (MG). 

Brigade- 144,000+ personnel assigned to a brigade. Leading ranks will be a Brigadier General (BGEN) or a Major General. 

Division- 432,000+ personnel assigned to a division. Leading ranks would be a Lieutenant General or a General. 

Legion- 3,456,000+ personnel assigned to a legion. The leading rank will be a knight or a captain. 

*All officers outrank their enlisted counterparts and have the final say. 

Next, we'll talk about rank structure and how they work. It's confusing because there are two separate rankings; enlisted and officer. (If you refer to them as a whole it's Cadre). 

Enlisted

pvt- private. 

pv2- private second class. 

Pfc- private first class. 

Spc. specialist. 

** Spc's and Cpls are the same pay grade (E-4), but Cpls have NCO capabilities and Spc don't. ** 

Cpl- corporal. 

Sgt- sergeant

Ssg- staff sergeant

SFC- sergeant first class. 

MS- master sergeant

1st Sgt- first sergeant

SM- sergeant major

CSM- command sergeant major

SMA- sergeant major of the army. 

Officers (confusing because there are regular officers and then the warrant officers).