Section (military unit)
NATO and U.S. doctrine define a section as an organization "larger than a squad, but smaller than a platoon.
[24] During World War II, a rifle section comprised ten soldiers with a corporal in command and a lance-corporal as his second-in-command.
[27] Under the new structure of the infantry platoon, Australian Army sections are made up of eight men divided into two four-man fireteams.
Each fireteam consists of a team leader (corporal/lance-corporal), a marksman with enhanced optics, a grenadier with an M203 grenade launcher and an LSW operator with an F89 Minimi light support weapon.
[33][34] The 1950s initially had no meaningful changes to the infantry section and its armament save for the rifle group gaining a seventh man,[35] but later saw the replacement of .303in weapons with new models chambered for 7.62mm NATO, as well as a shift from the magazine-fed Bren to the belt-fed L7A1 (later L7A2) general purpose machine gun (GPMG).
As a result of this, a mechanised section's rifle group only had four riflemen; two of these could be detailed as a Medium Anti-tank Weapon (MAW) No.
95 anti-tank grenades that had been used with the Lee-Enfield rifle continued to be made available for anti-armour defence in lieu of or in addition to the L14A1, with these later being replaced by shoulder-fired L1 66mm HEAT rockets.
[37] Tactical doctrine stated that, where casualties were sustained, a section could only be reduced to one NCO and five other ranks before bayonet power in the assault or the ability to organise a proper system of double sentries at night time were fatally compromised.
[40] Both World War II and Cold War section tactics were designed with a view to bringing the section machine gun to bear on the enemy and providing support to it; once the gun group had suppressed the enemy ("winning the firefight"), the rifle group would assault and destroy the enemy position with the gun group providing fire until the last safe moment.
[citation needed] The introduction of the 5.56mm select-fire SA80 series (L85 rifle or individual weapon and L86 light support weapon) to replace 7.62mm weapons and the L2A3 submachine gun and of the LAW 80 to replace the L14A1 gun and the L1A3 66mm rockets from the mid-to-late 1980s onwards led to the rifle group/gun group organisation being abandoned in favour of fireteam groupings, with this being officially mentioned as early as 1982[39] and being given full doctrinal definition by 1986;[41] however, sections organised according to the earlier rifle group/gun group model would still be in existence until at least 1988, with changes in such sections mostly being limited to earlier weapons being replaced by their newer equivalents.
[42] The British section continued to consist of eight soldiers, but under normal circumstances these were now divided into a Charlie and Delta fireteam with each team comprising an NCO and three other men.
[47] Changes were made to the section's equipment during the 2000s in response to operational demands and experience; the L85A1 rifle was upgraded to L85A2 standard between 2002 and 2006, with a further upgrade package consisting of a Picatinny rail handguard and alternative optical sights being introduced for select units in 2007 and more generally from 2009 onwards, the L123 40mm underslung grenade launcher (UGL) was introduced as a replacement for the L85A1 HE rifle grenade, the L86 light support weapon was replaced as the section machine gun by the L110A1-A3 5.56mm light machine gun acquired as an Urgent Operational Requirement, and the second rifleman in the fireteam was re-roled as a designated marksman carrying either the L86A2 light support weapon[48] or, in later years, the L129A1 7.62mm sharpshooter rifle.
Under the Future Commando Force programme, however, smaller section organisations are currently being trialled.
[64] The Canadian Army also uses the section, which is roughly the same as its British counterpart, except that it is led by a sergeant, with a master corporal as the 2IC.
Assault groups are broken down to even smaller 'fireteams' consisting of two soldiers, designated Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta.
The equivalent organization to a NATO section is a groupe de combat ("combat group"), which is divided into: The equivalent to section is the Gruppe' [de], a sub-unit of 8 to 12 soldiers, in the German Bundeswehr,[11] Austrian Bundesheer and Swiss Army.
During World War II the German infantry Gruppe was mainly a general purpose machine gun (GPMG) based unit.
The advantage of the GPMG concept was that it added greatly to the overall volume of fire that could be put out by a squad-sized unit.
An infantry Gruppe consisted of generally nine or ten men; a non-commissioned officer (Unteroffizier) squad leader, deputy squad leader, a two-man machine gun element (machine gunner and assistant gunner) and four to six riflemen.
The riflemen carried additional ammunition, hand grenades, explosive charges or a machine gun tripod as required.
Section armament consists of eight Steyr AUG A1 rifles (including versions reconfigured to Mod 14 standard with a Picatinny rail and an ACOG 4x magnification optical sight), with two of these being equipped with an M203 grenade launcher, and one FN MAG 58 general purpose machine gun; two soldiers are additionally armed with AT4 short range anti-armour weapons (SRAAW) for anti-armour defence, while Heckler & Koch USP pistols are available for distribution at the platoon level.
The section was led by a sergeant assisted by one or (later) two corporals and consisted of a total of from 12–50 soldiers, depending on the time period.
Tank and other armored vehicle sections, as well as service and support sections, may be led by either an officer, usually a lieutenant (or a CWO, in the case of service and support units), or a SNCO ranging from staff sergeant to master sergeant.
The United States Air Force uses the term element, as well as section, to designate two or three subunits within a flight.
Hence the Mesopotamian Half Flight, the first Australian flying unit to see action, initially comprised three aircraft.
