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platoon

  (plə-tūn') pronunciation
n.
  1. A subdivision of a company of troops consisting of two or more squads or sections and usually commanded by a lieutenant.
  2. A group of people working, traveling, or assembled together: a platoon of firefighters; buses carrying platoons of tourists.
  3. Sports. A group of players within a team, especially a football team, that is trained and sent into or withdrawn from play as a unit: the defensive platoon.

v. Sports., -tooned, -toon·ing, -toons.

v.tr.

To play (a player) in alternation with another player in the same position: platooned the two catchers.

v.intr.
  1. To use alternate players at the same position.
  2. To take turns playing a position with another player.

[French peloton, from Old French, diminutive of pelote, ball. See pellet.]


 
 

n. a subdivision of a company of soldiers, usually forming a tactical unit that is commanded by a lieutenant and divided into several sections.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

 

Principal subdivision of a military company, battery, or troop. Usually commanded by a lieutenant, it consists of 25 – 50 soldiers organized into two or more squads led by noncommissioned officers. The term was first used in the 17th century to refer to a small body of musketeers who fired together in a volley alternately with another platoon. It has been used in U.S. military manuals since 1779, and throughout the 19th century it meant half a company. It was reintroduced into the British army in 1913. See also military unit.

For more information on platoon, visit Britannica.com.

 

A subdivision of a company-sized military unit normally consisting of two or more squads or sections.

 

A unit consisting of four squads. It is assigned to a company and is generally commanded by a lieutenant. It is the basic working unit in boot camp where its leaders are drill instructors.

 
Wikipedia: platoon
Platoon of the German Bundeswehr
Enlarge
Platoon of the German Bundeswehr

A platoon is a military unit, typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing about 30 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer — the platoon leader or platoon commander, usually a lieutenant. He is usually assisted by a senior non-commissioned officer — the platoon sergeant.

In some armies, platoon is used throughout the branches of the Army. In others, such as the British Army, most platoons are infantry platoons, while some carry other designations such as tank, mortar, or heavy weapons platoons. In a few armies, such as the French Army, a platoon is specifically a cavalry unit, and the infantry use "section" as the equivalent unit.

The word is derived from the 17th-century French peloton, meaning a small ball or small detachment of men, which came from pelote, (originally from Latin 'pillula', meaning 'little ball'). The word peloton now means the pack of riders in a bicycle race, which moves as a unit.

British organization

Standard NATO code for a friendly infantry platoon.
Enlarge
Standard NATO code for a friendly infantry platoon.

In the British Army, the infantry Platoon Commander is a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, assisted by a Platoon Sergeant (who usually actually holds the rank of Sergeant). It is usually divided into three eight-man sections and Platoon Headquarters. Specialist platoons may be led by a Captain, assisted by a Warrant Officer or Staff Sergeant.

Generally speaking where a Corps uses the term company for its sub units these will be sub-divided into platoons, where Squadron is used the sub-divisions will be Troops. Thus the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Army Medical Corps, Intelligence Corps and Royal Military Police also use platoons. The Household Cavalry, Royal Armoured Corps, Special Air Service, Honourable Artillery Company, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Royal Corps of Signals and Royal Logistic Corps use troops instead.

The exceptions are the Royal Marines who use the term troop, and the Royal Air Force and Army Air Corps where it is the flight.

Canadian organization

In the Canadian Forces, the infantry Platoon Commander is a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, assisted by a Platoon Warrant (who usually actually holds the rank of Warrant Officer). It is usually divided into three eight- to ten-person sections and a heavy weapons detachment which will deploy either a GPMG, Carl Gustav, or 60 mm mortar depending on mission requirements. Specialist platoons may be led by a Captain, assisted by a Warrant Officer. Some very large specialist platoons will actually have a Lieutenant as the second-in-command. In many corps, platoon-sized units are called troops instead.

Singapore organization

In the Singapore Army, a platoon is a Lieutenant billet. In practice, usually a Second Lieutenant is appointed the platoon commander, and will eventually be promoted to this rank. A typical infantry platoon consists of three seven-man sections of riflemen and a machine gun team, both commanded by Third Sergeants, a platoon sergeant and a medical orderly for a total of 27 soldiers.

Thai organization

In the Royal Thai Army, a platoon is commanded by a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant assisted by a Platoon Sergeant, usually of the rank of sergeant major. In infantry units, rifle platoons are generally made up of fifty man squads (three rifle squads, one machine gun squad and command squad).

United States organization

In the United States Army, a platoon is commanded by a Platoon leader, usually a Second Lieutenant or First Lieutenant, assisted by a Platoon Sergeant, usually of the rank of Sergeant First Class. Tank platoons consist of 4 tanks. In infantry units, rifle platoons are generally made up of four nine-man squads (three rifle squads and one weapons squad).

In the United States Marine Corps, platoons are commanded by a platoon leader, usually Second Lieutenant, even though the position is intended for a First Lieutenant. The billet of Platoon Sergeant is a position intended for a Staff Sergeant, but it is often held by a Marine ranking from Corporal to Gunnery Sergeant. In Marine infantry units, referred to as regiments, rifle platoons usually consist of three rifle squads of 13 men each, usually lead by a Sergeant or Corporal, with a Navy corpsman, a Platoon Commander, and a Platoon Sergeant. Each squad is further divided into 3 fireteams. A weapons platoon replaces the 3 squads with a 60 mm mortar section, an assault section, and a medium machine gun section. The assault section consists of dual-purpose rockets such as the FGM-172 SRAW.

See also

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Translations: Translations for: Platoon

Dansk (Danish)
n. - deling, trop
v. tr. - dele op i delinger/tropper, skifte mellem to spillere på en plads (sport)

Nederlands (Dutch)
peloton, homogene groep, wisselspelers beurtelings dezelfde positie geven, positie van andere speler innemen

Français (French)
n. - (Mil) section, peloton, (fig) régiment
v. tr. - (Sport) jouer en alternance (joueurs de même position)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zug, Fussballspieler mit einer best. Position
v. - (Sport) Spieler für eine bestimmte Position einteilen, (Mil.) in Züge teilen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (στρατ.) ουλαμός, διμοιρία

Italiano (Italian)
plotone

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pelotão (m)

Русский (Russian)
взвод, отряд

Español (Spanish)
n. - pelotón
v. tr. - alternar posiciones en un equipo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - pluton, skara

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
排, 一群人, 一组, 派...到指定的球场位置, 让...换下同位队员

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 排, 一群人, 一組
v. tr. - 派...到指定的球場位置, 讓...換下同位隊員

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 소대, 일단
v. tr. - 소대로 나누다, 한 포지션을 다른 선수와 교대로 맡게 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 小隊

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فصيله من الجند, شرذمه, عصبه, جماعه صغيرة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מחלקה (בצבא), קבוצת אנשים הפועלת יחד‬
v. tr. - ‮החליף שחקן בשחקן (באותו תפקיד), החליף יחידה צבאית באחרת (באותו תפקיד)‬


 
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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Weapons Dictionary. Copyright © 2002 yourDictionary.com. All rights reserved.  Read more
Marine Corps Dictionary. Copyright © 2003 "Unofficial Dictionary for Marines" compiled and edited by Glenn B. Knight  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Platoon" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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