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A Canadian infantry battalion consists of three or four rifle companies identified by letter (A Company, B Company, etc.), a Combat Support Company, and an Administration Support Company. A notable exception is The Royal Canadian Regiment , which names its companies sequentially throughout the regiment from the Duke of Edinburgh's Company ...
The use of formalized ranks in a hierarchical structure came into widespread use with the Roman Army. [citation needed]In modern times, executive control, management and administration of military organization is typically undertaken by governments through a government department within the structure of public administration, often known as a ministry of defence or department of defense.
Until the brigade combat team program was developed, the division was the smallest self-sufficient level of organization in the U.S. Army. Current divisions are "tactical units of employment", and may command a flexible number of modular units, but generally will include three brigade combat teams and a combat aviation brigade, supported by a ...
Other corps usually use the term "regiment" instead. An infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment (e.g., 1st Battalion, The Rifles, usually referred to as 1 Rifles). It normally has a headquarters company, support company and three rifle companies (usually, but not always, A, B and C companies).
The H&S company is commanded by a company commander (usually a captain) who is supported by a company executive officer (usually a first lieutenant), a company first sergeant, and a company gunnery sergeant. All personnel in H&S fall under the administrative command of the H&S company commander (dual-hatted as the "headquarters commandant") who ...
Depending on the unit, extra support officers will round out the staff, including a medical officer, Judge Advocate General's Corps (legal) officer, and a battalion chaplain (often collectively referred to as the "special staff"), as well as essential non-commissioned officers and enlisted support personnel in the occupational specialties of the staff sections (S1 through S4 and the S6).
(For example: 101 officers and enlisted men per company, and a 36-member regimental headquarters, with 1,046 per typical Union Army infantry regiment in 1861, vs. 112 officers and enlisted men per company, and the same 36-member regimental headquarters, with 1,380 per regiment in a typical U.S. Army infantry regiment in 1898.)
Confusingly, the terms "regiment" and "battalion" were used interchangeably at this time; it was not until later that a battalion was defined as a sub-unit of a regiment. The regiment fulfilled both administrative and tactical functions and was the principal maneuver unit of the US Army until being superseded in the 20th century by the division .