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As I recall the section organization for Mike Company 3RCR for the 1980 Reforger Exercises looked like this: :warstory:
Section Commander Sergeant â “ FN rifle
Section 2iC Master Corporal â “ FN Rifle
Driver for M113 â “ SMG
C2 Gunner
C2 Gunner
Carl Gustav 84mm MAW No. 1Gunner â “ MAW and FN Rifle
Carl Gustav No. 2 â “ FN and Rockets
Rifleman
Rifleman
Rifleman
Our section was augmented with cadets and reservists for REdeployment of FORces to GERmany (hence REFORGER)
The usual drill was that the section commander would command the rifle section and the 2iC would command the C2 Group. Sometimes the Carl G team would act as riflemen depending on the tactical situation. We only dismounted the fifty in defence and remember that humping it about made me glad that I was usually carrying the Carl G! When the section was doing something dismounted we would leave the driver and one other soldier with the track to act as Air, Gas, and Sagger watch and help the driver with maintenance as well as provide fire support if needed. We did a lot of NBCW with gas in the field that summer â “ the old hands said that this was a new thing to be doing the gas training outdoors there. The driver would trade the SMG when needed for patrols or when he pulled sentry duty and needed to use a rifle, but usually the SMG sat in oily rags under the driver's seat!
The platoon commander also had a light mortar and a GPMG with his track. I never did see the mortar deployed, but the GPMG was used frequently â “ I suspect that it was partly because we had no blanks or BFAs for the M2 HMG, and thus the GPMG was noisier (and easier to lug around dismounted).
One thing I remember about tactics was that the section commander and a designated fifty gunner often had to do a switcheroo when we were coming in on mounted assault. (This once involved ripping up a field of cabbages - on one night attack the cabbages were thumping the side of the track so hard that we all thought we were under small arms fire! - Everyone felt pretty foolish when we bailed out and fell on our faces in the cabbages...)It was a bit of a concern as there would be a pause in the firepower from the fifty during a critical time while the switch was made. I asked about it once and the rational was that the section commander needed to see the objective until the last possible moment. We tried some other techniques, such as the Section Commander observing from the cargo hatch with the gunner in place in the hatch, and with the section commander serving as gunner with the 2iC commanding the assault. I recall that there was often some fubar with the radio head set! Anyway there was certainly lots of cross-training going on. That's my recollection anyway...
Section Commander Sergeant â “ FN rifle
Section 2iC Master Corporal â “ FN Rifle
Driver for M113 â “ SMG
C2 Gunner
C2 Gunner
Carl Gustav 84mm MAW No. 1Gunner â “ MAW and FN Rifle
Carl Gustav No. 2 â “ FN and Rockets
Rifleman
Rifleman
Rifleman
Our section was augmented with cadets and reservists for REdeployment of FORces to GERmany (hence REFORGER)
The usual drill was that the section commander would command the rifle section and the 2iC would command the C2 Group. Sometimes the Carl G team would act as riflemen depending on the tactical situation. We only dismounted the fifty in defence and remember that humping it about made me glad that I was usually carrying the Carl G! When the section was doing something dismounted we would leave the driver and one other soldier with the track to act as Air, Gas, and Sagger watch and help the driver with maintenance as well as provide fire support if needed. We did a lot of NBCW with gas in the field that summer â “ the old hands said that this was a new thing to be doing the gas training outdoors there. The driver would trade the SMG when needed for patrols or when he pulled sentry duty and needed to use a rifle, but usually the SMG sat in oily rags under the driver's seat!
The platoon commander also had a light mortar and a GPMG with his track. I never did see the mortar deployed, but the GPMG was used frequently â “ I suspect that it was partly because we had no blanks or BFAs for the M2 HMG, and thus the GPMG was noisier (and easier to lug around dismounted).
One thing I remember about tactics was that the section commander and a designated fifty gunner often had to do a switcheroo when we were coming in on mounted assault. (This once involved ripping up a field of cabbages - on one night attack the cabbages were thumping the side of the track so hard that we all thought we were under small arms fire! - Everyone felt pretty foolish when we bailed out and fell on our faces in the cabbages...)It was a bit of a concern as there would be a pause in the firepower from the fifty during a critical time while the switch was made. I asked about it once and the rational was that the section commander needed to see the objective until the last possible moment. We tried some other techniques, such as the Section Commander observing from the cargo hatch with the gunner in place in the hatch, and with the section commander serving as gunner with the 2iC commanding the assault. I recall that there was often some fubar with the radio head set! Anyway there was certainly lots of cross-training going on. That's my recollection anyway...
