Section (military Unit) - Australian Army

Australian Army

Under the new structure of the infantry platoon, sections are made up of eight men divided into two four-man fireteams. Each fireteam consists of a team leader (corporal/lance-corporal), a scout with enhanced optics, a grenadier with a M203 and a LSW operator with F89 Minimi light support weapon.

Typical fire team structure:

Position Armament
Team leader F88 Steyr
Scout F88 Steyr w/enhanced optic (e.g. 3.4× Wildcat)
Grenadier F88 Steyr w/M203 under-barrel grenade launcher
Machine gunner F89 Minimi

During World War II a rifle section was made of ten soldiers with a corporal in command with a lance-corporal as his second-in-command. The corporal used a M1928 Thompson submachine gun while one of the privates used a Bren gun. The other eight soldiers all used No.1 Mk.3 Lee-Enfield rifles with a bayonet and scabbard. They carried two or three No.36 Mills bomb grenades each.

Post–World War II and indicative for the Vietnam War a rifle section consisted of ten personnel comprising: a command & scout group (three persons - two sub-machineguns/M16A1 and a L1A1 SLR); gun group (three persons - a M60 machine gun and two L1A1 SLRs) and rifle group (four persons - L1A1 SLRs).

Read more about this topic:  Section (military Unit)

Famous quotes containing the words australian and/or army:

    Beyond the horizon, or even the knowledge, of the cities along the coast, a great, creative impulse is at work—the only thing, after all, that gives this continent meaning and a guarantee of the future. Every Australian ought to climb up here, once in a way, and glimpse the various, manifold life of which he is a part.
    Vance Palmer (1885–1959)

    It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.
    Sun Tzu (6–5th century B.C.)