[TOPIC] The Army

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ - Weaponry, with some useful stuff for beginners here: http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/miltutorials/land.html.

That covers a lot of stuff. Be more specific, if you can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_enlisted_rank_insignia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_officer_rank_insignia

Commissioned officers are in charge. They tell the enlisted men what to do. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) are the link between the officers and the enlisted men. NCOs make sure the enlisted men do what they are supposed to. The enlisted personnel make up the majority of the Army.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:ModernUSInfWeaponsNav

An infantry squad is usually, though this can vary quite a lot, composed of eight men in two fireteams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireteam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squad

Several squads of infantry make up a platoon, which is commanded by a lieutenant, with a sergeant as second in command (2i/c).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platoon

Several platoons are organised into a company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_(military_unit)

Several companies make up a battalion, and so on.

Be more specific, please.

Depends on the base, how big it is and where it is. Barbed wire, razor wire, walls, checkpoints, ditches, trenches, patrols, sentries, machine guns, mortars, artillery...a lot of stuff, up to and including things like a Close-In Weapon System for shooting down enemy rockets/shells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIWS

Hope this helps.

When it comes to guns, don't trust 'facts', 'science' or fancy 'logic'. Listen to stories, anecdotes, and 'my friend told me', like REAL MEN do.

Thank you! That helped so much. And by what are they like out on a mission I meant like what chain of command do they have? What slang? And by what are they like at their base I meant again how is the chain of command? How many times do they have to salute and when? Do they have bunks like I think they do? Where can they go to just hang out and is it possible to be friends with somebody higher on the chain than you? Again, thank you!

And another thing - what country do you want to know about? Because the military is different in most countries, and, yeah.

Anyway, my first advice would be to rent some war movie and study that. Take a trip to your local library and look for some books. And, well... if this is because you're planning to set a book in a military setting... perhaps consider not doing it? I mean, it's alright if you just need to know stuff for a scene or two, but if you're planning on making it the background of an entire story, gaps in your knowledge will show.

Specifying what you need the information for will generally help people think of information that'll be useful to you. :-)

Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he'll be a mile away - and barefoot.

Don't worry. I only want to know about the military for a scene or two. Most of my book is about non-military people, but they're being chased by the military and so that's why I wanted to know. And thanks for your suggestions! I should really go do that (go rent a movie).

my connection is air force, not army, but here are a couple of general things:

base security depends on where the base is and how sensitive certain departments are. for example for DC area bases every person in the car needs to show id, and if they do not have base privledges then they'll need to be signed in as a visitor either at the gate or an office near by.

others just need one person in the car to provide the appropiate id and you'll go on your way.

saluting and fraternization:
generally you will always salute someone a significantly higher rank than you (enlisted vs officer, everyone pretty much vs general, colonel (Depends i've seen not do this, but it might be the CO's thoughts on the matter).

there is a big deal about not fraternizing with lower ranks. this matters most when it comes to enlisted personnel vs officers. they do not mix, they do not become close friends, they know eachother as their professional duties allow, and politely as will happen in base groups (organizations through the chapel, volunteer things, their wives etc). a good commanding officer will develop a good, and slightly paternal, relationship with those under him, enlisted or commissioned. but there is always a distance between enlisted and comissioned personel though in some forces/areas its worse/better than others. wives usually find a way to negate all of it and do what they wish.

hope that helps!

We have posts in the Army. The Airforce and the Navy have bases. Marines have camps. Until 9/11 most Army posts had almost no security...you could drive on or off them without going through a gate...but that changed since then. Kind of a drag when you live on post and you have civilian company.

There is a series called The Brotherhood of War which I read when my husband first joined the Army (21 years ago!) and it really helped me clue into what the military was about...in novel form. It starts around WW2, I think and ends somewhere around Vietnam.

Okay, if we use the example of a normal infantry platoon, you have a fireteam of 4 men, commanded by an NCO, a corporal, who tells the 3 privates what to do. Two fireteams make a squad, commanded by a sergeant. 3-4 squads make a platoon, with additional heavy weapon teams (carrying machine guns/missile launchers etc) depending on role, commanded by a lieutenant with a sergeant as second-in-command. The lieutenant, as a commissioned officer, is in charge, but quite often the platoon sergeant will be more experienced, and will adivse the officer. Bear in mind you can have lots of different personnel tagged on to the platoon, such as engineers, forward observers, medics, etc.

The platoon will operate as part of a company, commanded by a captain. The platoon commander will be in touch with HQ (radios permitting), and squads and fireteams are usually in radio contact with each other too. Units very rarely operate in isolation, so ideally every soldier will know what the objective is, their part in it, and what the other soldiers will be doing (in general terms).

E.g. If a company attacks a position, that means you have three rifle platoons and a heavy weapons platoon, with an artillery battery and most probably aircraft providing fire support. Each platoon will be given their task and the lieutenants go off and prepare, telling the sergeants in their platoon. The sergeants and corporals tell the privates (even if this does sometimes end up as "Just follow me." in a despairing tone).

Slang tends to be very organisation-specific, I don't know theirs as I' m not part of the US Army, but try this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Offrdk5/List_of_U.S._Army_acronyms_and...

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/salute.htm As a private, you salute commissioned officers and warrant officers. You don't usually salute NCOs and if you do salute them at the wrong time, you get told something along the lines of "Don't salute me, son, I work for a living." You don't salute anyone in a combat zone unless you want them to die. A salute is a gesture of respect that is given and returned. You salute an officer, he salutes you back.

There's a lot of variation. Some places have beds, some have bunks, sometimes you just have to make do with a roll mat. Standard folding camp beds are probably most common.

Their accommodation block, usually. Depending upon the base, there may be three separate messes, one for officers, one for senior NCOs and one for the junior NCOs and the enlisted. Fraternisation between officers and the enlisted is kept to a minimum, as personal relationships can interfere with the chain of command. Senior NCOs and officers can develop close working relationships, but again, there is a gap. There is a small to nonexistent gap between the junior NCOs and privates, who often work and play very closely together. The bigger the gap, the more difficult it is to be friends, but yes, it is possible. Probably slightly easier if you are in a different arm/service.

Don't rely on novels, films etc because they are fiction. Even when they are based on real accounts or written by someone who has served in the military, very often things are changed or twisted to form a coherent narrative and fit the work into the medium. Fictional works about the military are usually pointed at and laughed at, not always in that order, by people in the military. Most of them are woefully inaccurate and rely on stereotypes. Read some non-fiction accounts from people who have served, if you really want to know about it. That will give you a clearer picture.

When it comes to guns, don't trust 'facts', 'science' or fancy 'logic'. Listen to stories, anecdotes, and 'my friend told me', like REAL MEN do.

Wow. Thank you. That really helped. You have no idea how much.

As a side point; if you get the time, try and watch a show called 'Generation Kill' that was aired recently, or the book it was based on 'The Killer Elite' - the story follows a USMC recon group through the early part of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. It should give you a decent insight into what life is like for people on the sharp edge of the armed forces.

* ~ * ~ *
Motion, by necessity, demands a change in perspective

2004 - A Measure of Courage / 2005 - The Last Leaf of Autumn
2006 - Broken Hearts & Bullet Cases / 2007 - Summer's End
2008 - The Day Hell Broke Loose At Sicard Hollow

Deltree, are you asking about life here in the States? Or are you talking about out there on the sharp end in some foreign and hostile country? Because that really does make a BIG difference on a lot of this.

I wasn't infantry, (I was aviation) but I spent almost ten years in, and did three combat tours, so I could probably give you a pointer or two if you can just narrow down a few things. Chiefly, where are these scenes taking place?

Wait, what?

I'm talking about here in the States. And anything you can tell me would be helpful. Thank you so much everyone!

Okay. In the states.

Basing conditions vary. Some individuals will live off post, so conditions will be much like those for anyone else. For others there is on post housing. Some on post housing is much like living in a suburban neighborhood, only with the entire neighborhood being military families. If you're single it's cheap and easy to live in the barracks. Typically (in my experience, I've not been to every base the Army has) these are two man rooms similar to a hotel room in nature. Sometimes two seperate rooms will share one bathroom. Older barracks buildings will be built along similar lines, but be in poor shape, often with linoleum instead of carpet. Food for those living in the barracks is typically available at a unit chowhall within easy walking distance of the barracks, though most posts have fast food joints (typically Burger King, often a Popey's, things like that.)

Security varies, ranging from simply flashing a military (or military dependant/Department of theArmy) ID to get past a gate guard (Main post gate, living areas, that sort of thing) all the way up to having to flash special IDs and verifying security clearances and the like to get into sensitive areas. Your typical post will be surrounded by fences (often two) and roving patrols will go around ensuring no one is jumping them. More sensitive areas will have additional security provisions. And of course the military strongly emphasises that anyone who sees anything suspicious report it.

What are they like on a mission? Keep in mind, when in the states, the vast majority of their activities are preparing for training, training, or cleaning up from training. "Missions" are typically things conducted overseas. Now, for what you are describing this is an exception, but there you are. And in that it depends on the group, really. I've known chains of command that would keep a fairly loose grip, allowing the soldiers to moan and groan about everything and get fairly relaxed about discipline, just so long as the work got done, and others who were very strict, not letting their troops a single indulgence. But your typical bunch will fill their time with rough humor and play, harassing and hazing one another in ways that would cause lawsuits in the civilian world but which are a sign of good humor and comraderie in the service. However, on an actual mission that tends to drop for pretty serious, professional behavior as communication is everything, and goofing around could cause dangerous, even deadly mistakes.

Saluting... Saluting is not conducted indoors, but is ALWAYS done outside when in the States unless an area is specifically designated as a "No hat, no salute" area (typically areas for smoke breaks fall under this category). However, if dressed in civies and going about your own personal business, it is not expected that you salute someone you recognize. In fact, for a long time you were specifically discouraged from doing this and other militaryish things for reasons of security. Similarly, they discouraged wearing uniforms off post and while traveling. This has changed since 9/11, as now soldiers are more popular than post Viet Nam. However, soldiers are still not to wear uniforms in bars and such.

Hope that helps.

Wait, what?

Let's see....I was a female in the Air Force, and I was never deployed, but I can tell you a few things about the chain of command and life on base and such.
First of all, a lower ranking person must always salute to an officer when outside. You have to salute first, and they'll salute back. It's annoying but it's a sign of respect.

Before I was married, I lived in a dorm. It was basically like an apartment building. Every two rooms shared a bathroom, but we had our own living space and kitchen.

It's not much info, but I hope it helps.

Alright thank you so much! This has really helped. I just have one question that I just thought of. Say the Army is being called out to chase down, for the purposes of my story, aliens. Who exactly would do this? How many men? What's the highest ranking officer on this kind of mission? They'd probably be taking Army issued Jeeps right?

What is the process an Army infantry soldier would go through to ETS (specifically either an honorable or medical discharge) while on active duty in Iraq, assuming they're injured? What is the threshold of injury for a medical discharge? How much latitude does the soldier have in this? For example, if you have a wound that you could rehabilitate in some months, but would impair your ability as an infantry soldier, would the Army give you the choice of returning to duty or getting out?

Edited to add: This is specifically about the US Army during the current Iraq conflict, or as far back as Desert Storm.

I have a question relating to the army... One of my characters is a Warrant Officer, Rank 3....how do you write that so that it isn't so many syllables? (Like, I know that Staff Sergeant can be dubbed to SSgt, or something like that)

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Some people follow their dreams. Others hunt them down and beat them into submission.

In US usage IIRC it is contracted to W3 or W-3.

Wiki thinks so too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_Officer_(United_States)

When it comes to guns, don't trust 'facts', 'science' or fancy 'logic'. Listen to stories, anecdotes, and 'my friend told me', like REAL MEN do.

Thanks Geoff, that's exactly what I needed to know. (Should've just checked wikipedia lol)

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Some people follow their dreams. Others hunt them down and beat them into submission.

I'd like to know about the training process, and why and how someone would be promoted. If you want to just leave behind a random piece of information that you'd think would be helpful to increasing my understanding of the army, that would be more than welcome. The U.S. Army.

Hey, just need to jump in here quick with a few of my own questions.

I have a character that's a senior in high school, in the US, named Michael.

-His mom was killed in the army.
-He lives with his unemployed father.
-He drops out of high school on his eighteenth birthday just to spite his father, and to join the army.
-He was in Junior ROTC all four years at his high school.

Questions:
1. Typically, how might his mother have been killed, in a war like the one in Iraq right now?

2. How would Michael go about enlisting in the army once he's 18?

3. How quickly would Michael be brought to Iraq after he enlists? (Basically, what happens after he drops out and joins the army?)

Michael wants to be in whatever part of the army his mother was in...
His mother was in whatever part of the army would make most sense with the answer to my first question.
So...whatever part of the army is most risky, I guess?

Thank you so much in advance!

Actually, Staff Sergeant is abbreviated as SSG and Chief Warrant Officer 3 as CW3 for the Army. You would not say Warrant Officer, Rank 3. I just transitioned from the Army on October 1st after serving for almost 12 years. I would be glad to assist in anyway I can.

Michael

Michael would not be eligible to join the Army without either a high school diploma or GED. Assuming Michael obtained his GED, he would then contact a local Army Recruiter. Michael would undergo a qualification exam called the ASVAB, criminal background investigations, drug testing, and a physical exam. The physical would take place at a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). This is where he would choose his specialty, obtain his training dates, and sign a contract. I was an Army Recruiter from 2004-2006 and recently tranisitioned (October 1, 2008) from the Army after almost 12 years of service.

Once Michael has joined the Army, he would typically undego two types of training. The first would be Basic Training. This is the type you typically see portrayed in movies. The second would be his job training for whichever specialty he enlisted for.

The portion of the Army generally considered the most risky is Combat Arms. This includes the Infantry. Females are not eligible to serve within the Combat Arms specialties. I would suggest you cast her within a specialty such as 88M (truck driver). You could then have her meet her unfortunate demise with a roadside bomb.

I hope this helps.

Michael

I had an ex who was army. He slipped into military slang pretty frequently. One of his most used phrases was "roger" instead of "ok, gotcha, that's right," (he even replied to 'I love you' with it on occasion when he wasn't paying attention). Others were mostly job specific, but i'd recomend learning the military acronyms for the alphabet (alpha, beta, charlie, delta, etc.)
Chain of command is very important, but they all realize that when the uniforms come off, they're all human. There's less direct disrespect to upper command, but they can be friends and joke around poke fun at and pull pranks on eachother.
In the barracks...there is a LOT of random wrestling matches, flashing of body parts, video games, porn, drinking, yelling loudly down the halls for everyone to hear, and since rooms are shared, there's usualy a lot of extra people in rooms at any given time.
From what i learned about saluting, they have to salute even when passing an ranking officer and wait for the ranking oficer to salute back before dropping their salute. And after they've been dismissed. Generally though from what i've seen, if they're in a given group (their squad or in an informal situation) most of the time, the salute slide without comment.
Also something most people don't know/realize, is that they must take their hats off/put them on, within five paces inside or outside of a building.
Hope that helps you some.

All Army rank abbreviations are 3 letters in caps. SSG is Staff Sergeant. CW3 is Chief Warrent Officer 3. That is for writing. CW2 and up are called Chief. If a Army person is talking they don't say the whole rank he would say Chief or Sergeant. There are different ranks of Sergeants the only one you say the whole thing is First Sergant.

As for slang, the most common one is Hooah which means everything except no. Soldier's will say it for EVERYTHING.

If you want to be accurate you should do research on a site made for Soldiers not civilians like:
www.armystudyguide.com

OK, I need some help with ranks. What rank would the leader of a small, specialized unit be? This is sort of "alternate Earth" and it's not a traditional army or black ops, exactly, but could anyone give me some advice? The leader is fairly well-respected and commands this specialized autonomous group of maybe 20 people. She'd be a commissioned officer, but I'm not sure what rank she'd be. What rank would other officers be that were under her, like a "second-in-command"? I really don't know much of anything about ranks!

Why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, to make me feel speshul... *kicks rock* It's not working.

I have a question that fits under this topic. One of the brothers of one of my MCs is in the Army, specifically he’s a combat medic of some sort. My question is, what sort of training might he have had, any degrees or anything, and what sort of rank might he have as well. He’s 31, and would’ve joined up at a young age. I’ve tried doing research but...it’s been vague at best, at least for US based information (that I could find in the time I’ve had to look).

Any help would be appreciated.

I've got a character who would be about 44 today, doing something in Iraq. If he enlisted in the Army right after high school (in 1979/1980 or so) as the lowest rank available and stayed in the Army ever since, and he is an ordinary guy (and by no means a brain trust, or much like officer material), what kind of job might he have in Iraq today? That is, being almost entirely ignorant of Army structure and life, I think of combat troops as young, and officers as older but also as those who have been picked because they have skills my guy doesn't have.

Could he be some kind of supply sergeant? What other jobs would be open to him, and what might his rank be?

He's not a major character, and he'll not be much more than mentioned (What ever happened to Derrick? Oh, he enlisted right after high school, etc.), but I want to get it right.

Many thanks for any help here --

To swenson:

My guess would be a major or a captain, if it's something considerably beyond normal work. If you use a major, her second in command (correct term is executive officer, abbreviated to XO) would be a captain.

If you use a captain, the XO would be a first lieutenant, assuming a straight line of rank in both situations, which doesn't always happen in the real world.

To icywind:

Likely rank, assuming he enlisted at eighteen and has 13 years in service, would be probably staff sergeant or sergeant first class. If he's really, really, on the ball ("high-speed" in the Military world) he could maybe be a master sergeant or first sergeant, but its unlikely.

He would have done his medical training at Fort Sam Houston, TX, notorious for being a fairly relaxed "Advanced Individual Training." His skills would mimic those of a civilian EMT, with an emphasis on gunshot wounds and stopping bleeding, the number one cause of death for the wounded before reaching a doctor. After 13 years in, he's likely to have a bachelor's degree on the Army's funding, 100% paid. Getting ahead in rank is hard without continuing your education.

To writermef:

Even if your character isn't a genius, after that many years of continuous service, he'd probably be a Sergeant Major or Command Sergeant Major. He could be a First Sergeant, though.

At the higher levels of non-commissioned officers, it's less doing what your official job is and more into command and management. At either level, he would advise and assist the commander and be the top representative of the needs and issues of the enlisted personnel in the company or battalion. Generally, more respected and feared than the commander, depending on personalities involved.

About 20?

Could be called a Section, a Detachment, or a Platoon. Probably one of the last two.

Her rank might be anything if it's a Detachment (usually an "ad hoc" part of a larger unit whereas a Platoon is a more complete and homogenous stand alone unit.).

The leader would be either a Detachment Commander or a Platoon Leader or Platoon Commander.

Rank, using typically US ranks would depend on a lot of things for a Detachment. For example, an Explosive Ordnance Detachment was often led by a Captain or First Lieutenant but and his second in command--if there were another officer--would likely be a First Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant. More commonly, as with the Platoon, the 2IC is a senior NCO.

A Medical Detachment could be led by anything, but if it's a Doctor, the Doctor--in US terms--would be a Captain or above (as are almost all MD's because they are directly commissioned as such.) An administrative officer may be a 2nd Lieutenant or 1st Lieutenant and attached to run that side of the unit's business.

For a Platoon, the typical platoon has one officer--either a 2nd Lieutenant or 1st Lieutenant with his or her 2IC a senior NCO who is the Platoon Sergeant. They can rank--depending on type of unit--from Staff Sergeant to Master Sergeant.