Company (military unit)

Most companies are made up of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure.

The modern military company became popularized during the reorganization of the Swedish Army in 1631 under King Gustav II Adolph.

Tactically, the infantry companies were organized into battalions and grouped with cavalry troops and artillery batteries to form brigades.

(Perhaps the best known is the Roman century, originally intended as a 100-man unit, but later ranging from about 60 to 80 men, depending on the time period.)

An organization based on the decimal number system (i.e., by tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten-thousands) might seem intuitive.

To the Romans, for example, a unit of 100 men seemed sufficiently large to efficiently facilitate organizing a large body of men numbering into the several thousands, yet small enough that one man could reasonably expect to command it as a cohesive unit by using his voice and physical presence, supplemented by musical notes (e.g., drum beats, bugle or trumpet blasts, etc.)

Again, a military unit on the order of no more than 100 members, and perhaps ideally fewer, would perhaps present the greatest efficiency as well as effectiveness of control, on a battlefield where the stress, danger, fear, noise, confusion, and the general condition known as the "fog of war" would present the greatest challenge to an officer to command a group of men engaged in mortal combat.

Until the latter half of the 19th century, when infantry troops still routinely fought in close order, marching and firing shoulder-to-shoulder in lines facing the enemy, the company remained at around 100, or fewer, men.

This, coupled with radio communication, permitted relatively small numbers of men to have much greater firepower and combat effectiveness than previously possible.

Companies, however, continue to remain within the general range of 100–250 members, perhaps validating the premise that humans fight best (as well as live, work, socialize, play, etc.)

"[4] The standard NATO symbol for a company consists of a single vertical line placed above a framed unit icon.

In the Canadian Army, the company is the standard sub-unit organization for infantry and combat service support, as modelled after the British.

As in the British Army, company sized units with a mounted heritage use the term squadron, and in the artillery they are called batteries.

A Soviet motorised rifle company could be mounted in either BTR armoured personnel carriers or BMP infantry fighting vehicles, with the former being more numerous into the late 1980s.

While seemingly containing less firepower, US commanders were advised to include the BMP's heavier weaponry in their calculations.

nauchnaya rota, научная рота) were established in 2013 to allow conscripts with higher education to serve doing scientific and research tasks.

There are seven research companies: In the 1700s, British Army, American Colonial Militia, and Provincial Regulars (e.g., the Virginia Regiment), and later American Army infantry, regiments were organized into companies of somewhat less than 100 officers and enlisted men, although the actual totals widely varied.

Beginning in 1775, American forces began to develop their own organizational doctrine somewhat based on the Franco-Prussian model (with much influence beginning in 1777 from Continental European expatriates and future American generals the Marquis de Lafayette of France, Count Casimir Pulaski of Poland, and Baron von Steuben of Prussia).

During the 1800s the authorized strength of infantry companies fell to a low of 54 officers and men during periods of relative peace from 1821 to 1838 and again from 1842 to 1846.

The corporals physically led by example (much like modern fire team leaders) by taking their place in the line with their privates and fighting alongside them.

The rank and position of ensign (as well as cornet in mounted units) was eliminated in the early 1800s when incumbents were converted to second lieutenants.

Due to mobilization for World War I, the army adopted its "square division" organization structure, significantly increasing unit sizes from platoon up.

At full authorized strength, a typical battery of six gun sections would consist of approximately 100 officers and enlisted men.

Companies with a separate table of organization and equipment (TO&E) are identified by a number, and are able to operate completely independently from any other unit's support.