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).

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