[Ads-l] squad

[Jonathan Lighter]

The modern military sense is not quite addressed by OED def., which reads:

"A small number of men, a subdivision or section of a company, formed for
drill or told off for some special purpose."

An American infantry "squad" is no longer just "formed for drill" or "told
off for some special purpose."

It is an established "tactical sub-unit of a platoon, consisting of
typically of from three to thirteen soldiers led by a corporal or (now
usu.) a sergeant or staff sergeant."

1891  _Infantry Drill Regulations, United States Army_ (N.Y.: Army  Navy
Journal) 186:

Men will be taught to regard the squad as the unit from which they ought
never to be separated; but if the squad should be broken up or the men
become separated, they place themselves under the orders of the nearest
leader and remain with his squad as if it were the one to which they
originally belonged.

Officers and sergeants will give their attention to preserving the
integrity of the squads; they appoint new leaders to replace those
disabled, organize new squads when necessary, and see that every man is
placed in a squad.


During the Civil War, for example, "squads" and "platoons" were primarily
drill formations, as indicated by OED.


JL




-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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