Military question about Band of Brothers.

[zmatrix]

Need some people with military background to help me out with this one. I was watching the band of brothers episodes 1-5 and there are some things I need some clarification on. I do not have an ounce of military experience so take it easy on me. Here are my questions:

I am confused as to the identification of the groups. What is the hierarchy of the naming convention of groups?I hear battalion, company, platoon, the #th infantry and so and so.

Winters is the CO of Easy Company which belonged the 106th(?). Now how big is the 106th and are they numbered in sequence? Like is there a 107th, 108th and so on.

The 106th PIR(?acronym) is supposed to be composed of serveral companies such as Able company. How many companies would one be composed of?

What's a NCO(Non-Commisioned Officer) and if I was not mistaken, they were referred to as Toccoa?

Man I certainly need to watch it again. But the above is just a few questions I have. It would of done me some good had I learned about this stuff before I watched so that I wouldn't be so confused. Sorry if any of my questions are confusing.

 

[GodBlessTheUSA]

1. Smaller to bigger.

A number of platoons contained in a Company
A number of companies in a battalion
Infantry is a MOS.

Infantry are ground troops. MP is military police, etc.

NCO = Sergeant and above. I forget if Corporal constituted one.

Those are the ones I can answer.

 

[Rogue]

A Corporal is considered an NCO, more of a Junior NCO than anything. PIR probably stands for "Parachute Infantry Regiment" or something along those lines.

 

[ScottMac]

I can't help you with the Army stuff, I was in the Navy (we had Rafts, boats, big boats, friggin' huge boats, and Aircraft Carriers).....NCOs are Petty Officer third Class (paygrade E4), Second Class, First Class, Chief, Senior Chief, Master Chief.

An NCO would be anybody that's Corporal (paygrade E4) or higher. NCOs are kind of like layers of middle management. Frequently, the higher you go, the more administrative the job gets.

Then ya got yer Warrant Officers (WO1 through 4) Warrants are kind of in limbo, they're treated as officers. For instance, they are not able to lead battlegroups. Physician's Assistants are WOs.

Many pilots are WOs...then, ya got yer officers, starting at Second Lu, first lu, Captain, Major, Lt. Col, Colonal, Brig. General, Major General, Lt. General, (something General (I forget)- Four Stars), General of the Army (Five Stars).

Not much help, but it's a start, I s'pose.

FWIW

Scott

 

[Rogue]

Sorry Scott. Don't think there are currently any 5-stars in the Army. They were considering giving "Stormin' Norman" a fifth star after Desert Storm, but I think he more or less declined the honor. I want to say that the last 5-star was Eisenhower after WW2, but I could be wrong.

 

[KBrinks]

i have a question..

where does one go about getting all those old thompsons and machine guns? the m1 is pretty commen but i'd think the machine guns and SMG's are a little more hard to find.. and to get so many of them

same witht the tanks! they have to be rare as hell...

 

[Rogue]

I don't know, but I wouldn't mind having a Tommy gun myself.

 

[Brutuskend]

I've seen Thompsons for sale on the NET.

I'm sure MOST of the weapons they use in the film are replica's though!

And the tanks too I imagine.

 

[OutHouse]

The series does have a small supply of actual weapons. Those are the ones you see them fire. All the other weapons you see the troops toting are rubber replicas. The shermans are real, and the german tanks are old bradleys chopped and refitted to look like a tiger.

 

[zmatrix]

<< 1. Smaller to bigger.

A number of platoons contained in a Company
A number of companies in a battalion
Infantry is a MOS.

Infantry are ground troops. MP is military police, etc.

NCO = Sergeant and above. I forget if Corporal constituted one.

Those are the ones I can answer. >>



What's a MOS?

 

[Rogue]

MOS = Military Occupational Specialty (ie.-Job Description/Title)

MOS 11B = Light Infantry AKA "Ground pounder or Grunt"
MOS 11M = Mechanized Infantry
MOS 95B = Military Police
MOS 95C = Military Police/Corrections Officer AKA "Cage Kicker"

 

[Brutuskend]

Military Occupational Specialty

 

[ScottMac]

I believe you're right about the five stars (my recollection is also that Ike was the last). I believe it's more an honorary thing too or maybe the commander of multiple theaters...

Whatever...

Scott

 

[mastertech01]

5 Stars is the General of the Army, last worn by General Omar Bradley who died in 1981. It has not been awarded since. Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander as well in WWII

 

[jacklutz]

<< I am confused as to the identification of the groups. What is the hierarchy of the naming convention of groups?I hear battalion, company, platoon, the #th infantry and so and so.

Winters is the CO of Easy Company which belonged the 106th(?). Now how big is the 106th and are they numbered in sequence? Like is there a 107th, 108th and so on.

The 106th PIR(?acronym) is supposed to be composed of serveral companies such as Able company. How many companies would one be composed of? >>



As a rule of thumb, you have three maneuver elements and a support element. Able, Baker, and Charlie Companies would be rifle companies, and then Dog would be a heavy-weapons (machine guns, bazookas, mortars, etc.) company; this company's teams are detached to the rifle companies.

101st Airborne Division ("late 1944"):
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment
502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Band of Brothers)
327th Glider Infantry Regiment
1/401st Glider Infantry
Support Elements...

Sorry, I couldn't find a graphical table of organization to show that.

Anyway, a regiment is three battalions. Each battalion is composed of four companies. Three rifle companies, and one heavy-weapons companies. 1st Battalion will have Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog. 2nd Battalion will have Easy, Fox, Golf, and I'm not sure what I was during that time. Inter?

Try this, each time only one will expand for below:
Regiment (506th)
.....|
Battalion (1st, 2nd) / Battalion / Battalion
.....|
Company (Easy) / Company / Company / Weapons Company
.....|
Platoon (1st, 2nd) / Platoon / Platoon / Heavy-Weapons Teams/Platoon
.....|
Squad (1st, 2nd) / Squad / Squad


Aah, fixing spacing.

 

[AndrewR]

Army command structure:
Corps
Division (101st)
Brigade (confused about the historical relationship between the brigade and the regiment -- might be mutually exclusive with brigade being the newer designation)
Regiment (506th)
Battalion (1st? can't remember)
Company (Easy)
Platoon
Squad

Platoons in WWII tended to be from 30-50 with companies being from 200-300. Modern equivalents are on the smaller side.

As has been stated before, NCOs are Non-Commissioned Officers. Their role is just as it sounds -- they are in leadership positions (Platoon Sergeant, for instance), but they are enlisted. BTW, the final normal flag rank is simply "General" -- four stars. Five stars I believe is reserved for supreme commanders in wartime.

where does one go about getting all those old thompsons and machine guns?

You'd surprised at how many of those guns are floating around out there. There were so many of them made that a great many have survived. Since they are also HIGHLY prized by collectors, you can pretty much find them all over. I was at a gun show last weekend and saw three different Thompsons (only one was WWII model, other two were the "gangster" types with the forward handgrip and the drum magazine). If you pick up a copy of the Shotgun News or The Gun List, you can find a tremendous number of those guns for sale. The price for a full auto Thompson runs over $8,000 (the one I remember was $11,000). M1 Garands run about $600-800 for war vintage guns and about $400-500 for remakes. I have also seen BARs for sale, but I can't recall the price. There was an M3 "grease gun" for sale at a recent gun show as well. Don't recall the price.