 | Military Terms| WW2 General Discuss Military Terms in the World War II - General forums; I hate to admit this but after so many years reading and involved in history and war, I'm still ... |
|
06-12-2008, 12:15 PM
|
#1 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States
Posts: 6,350
Country:  | Military Terms
I hate to admit this but after so many years reading and involved in history and war, I'm still not clear on a few things related. I'm sure I'll get guffaws but I've never come across what exactly are the differences or how many men constitue a ______ or why one over the other. The following three are the biggest confusion points for me. The funny thing is I know exactly the difference between squadrons, groups, geschwaders, etc but the others....well.
1. What is the difference in men between battalions, divisions, regiments, companies, etc? I've never figured this out.
2. What are the ranks in progression and what is the difference between a NCO and a Commissioned Officer? Is a Colonel over a Major or vice versa?
3. What are the sizes of warships and the difference between cruisers, destroyers, etc? Besides a Battleship being the largest part of the fleet hoe does it progress down and what is the importance of each ship within that fleet?
These are the top confusing items for me. I've never been in the military and my relatives have all been Air Force except my jarhead brother  (he understands!) I just never had a clue.
__________________ 
"If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" | 
|  | |
06-12-2008, 01:07 PM
|
#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jersey Shore
Posts: 1,996
Country: | Njaco,
This diagram should help you with question number one. The United States Army Operational Unit Diagram
TO
__________________  “Let's get Enterprise and Hornet turned into the wind." | |
| | |
06-12-2008, 01:07 PM
|
#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Dallas, Tx
Posts: 2,370
Country: | Great questions Njaco. I know some of our ex military will have good answers.
__________________  | |
| | |
06-12-2008, 01:10 PM
|
#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 354
Country: | Biggest to smallest: Battleship, heavy cruiser, light cruiser, destroyer, destroyer escort, frigate, corvette, coastal attack craft.
Guns-----
Battleship-11-18 in
Cruisers-6-8 in---Shiping raiders
Destroyers- 3-6 in----escort the fleet
Frigate- 3in---escort
Corvette- 2-3in---escort/scout
Attack craft- mostly machine guns
I think I got most of it down.
__________________
Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
--Napoleon Bonaparte-- | |
| | |
06-12-2008, 01:13 PM
|
#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jersey Shore
Posts: 1,996
Country: | Here's military ranks, officers and enlisted. Enlisted Rank Insignias Insignias - Officers Rank
TO
__________________ “Let's get Enterprise and Hornet turned into the wind." | |
| | |
06-12-2008, 01:18 PM
|
#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States
Posts: 6,350
Country: | Thanks TO! I've been too embarrassed to ask anyone before now and it was always a question I had. When I read that a battalion was thrown in against a regiment I could never understand in terms of men that meant. Thanks!!
__________________
"If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" | |
| | |
06-12-2008, 01:29 PM
|
#7 | | Older Than Dirt
Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Posts: 4,788
Country: | Now you know !!
Charles
__________________  The thing I hate about an argument
is that it always interrupts a discussion... | |
| | |
06-12-2008, 05:30 PM
|
#8 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States
Posts: 6,350
Country: |
__________________
"If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" | |
| | |
06-14-2008, 09:48 PM
|
#9 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Hurst, Texas
Posts: 555
Country: | Thanks, NJ! I've been wondering that myself, but always forget to ask whenever I'm on here. *g*
As for the NCO vs Officer question, an NCO is a "Non-Commissioned Officer", meaning he's in charge of a group of guys, but he's not the officer in charge. He's the leader that gets his hands dirty, and reports to the shiny officer so the shiny officer can report to HIS shiny officer, making the original shiny officer look good. In the Navy, anybody ranked E-4 or higher was an NCO. I think the same applies for Army, Marines, and Err Farce, but don't quote me on that.
Oh, and to add:
NAVY: "Never Again Volunteer Yourself"
ARMY: "Ain't Released from Momma Yet"
MARINES: "Morales Ain't Required, Intelligence Not Expected, Sir"
Err Farce: 'nuff said. 
__________________  Pillage, then burn.
Argue not with dragons, for thou art crunchy and go well on toast. | |
| | |
06-15-2008, 02:37 AM
|
#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Canada
Posts: 2,006
Country:  | Quote:
Originally Posted by ToughOmbre  | Sheesh... And I thought that British ranks were f*cked up !  | |
| | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:10 PM. | | |
