Thread: brigade, battalian, company?

Yes, you are making it complicated. Your title in the Army is your rank. Nothing else. Like SP4 John A. Doe. All special training doesn't count in your title. Your postal address is the one given to you by your 1SG in the orderly room. As a (postal) soldier you belong to a Company (not Squad or Platoon). The Company is part of a Battalion, Ex: B Co 1/40th Armor. The next up is a Brigade and then Division, Corps, Army. But that doesn't usually show up in Postal addresses unless you guys are all by your lonesome self in some off the wall place like Timbuktu. OK? Ah yes, I forgot: Overseas there is an APO (means American Post Office) with numbers that say it all. This is because the world doesn't need to know where the US Army stations its troops.

Originally Posted by Master Tanker

Yes, you are making it complicated. Your title in the Army is your rank. Nothing else. Like SP4 John A. Doe. All special training doesn't count in your title. Your postal address is the one given to you by your 1SG in the orderly room. As a (postal) soldier you belong to a Company (not Squad or Platoon). The Company is part of a Battalion, Ex: B Co 1/40th Armor. The next up is a Brigade and then Division, Corps, Army. But that doesn't usually show up in Postal addresses unless you guys are all by your lonesome self in some off the wall place like Timbuktu. OK? Ah yes, I forgot: Overseas there is an APO (means American Post Office) with numbers that say it all. This is because the world doesn't need to know where the US Army stations its troops.

thanx. i knew i was making it harder than it was, but to me it just seemed like a bunch of extra numbers and names i never thought about the mail.

Originally Posted by daddytattooed

this might be a dumb question but anytime i see a soldiers name in the news i see a very long title fallowing like "Company G, 230th Brigade Support Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team" how does this break down, what comes first a company, unit, brigade, battalion etc. and also it seems like there are a lot of special categories like airborn, cavalry, armored, ranger but within each one there are indavidual mos. are these additional specialties and where can i find a list of all these different units.

for example as a medic, if i was able to persue further could i become a ranger and then with extra certification become a parratrooper (i guess airborne) and what would my title be? (us army medic wtih the ## ranger unit/company of the ## airborne division with the ### brigade. i'm probabably making it harder than it is.

help

When I served with the 101st in Iraq, my unit was HHC, 1STB, 1BCT, 101st Airborne Division. It goes from lowest to highest. So its company first (HHC=Headquarters and Headquarters Company), then Battalion (1STB=1st Special Troops Battalion), then brigade (1BCT=1st Brigade Combat Team).

Its just a breakdown of the whole unit they were giving you.

When we deploy, we are part of task forces so your mail might go to the respective task force.

But when I was at HHC, I will always be with my company. Now if I needed some certain actions to take place, I will go to the battalion office. Now if somethings had to happen higher (like discharging a bad soldier). I will take the paperwork to brigade. but all actions will be initiated first at the company level and move up the chain. fun stuff huh? lol
hope this helps

Now with MOS titles its different. A unit has an MTOE or TDA. MTOE stands for modified table of organization and equipment. Which means the unit has this table that is designed for them and tells them how many E1s to E4s they can have in a specific MOS (e.g. 5 cooks in that grade level). and how many sergeants and so on and so on. That is how human resources assigns you. They see if a unit has a vacancy in your MOS. E1s-E4s are considered 10level so anyone between those ranks can fill that one slot. With sergeant and higher is different. E-5 is 20 level so only an E-5 can fill that position. E-6 is 30 level and so on and so on. Remember the higher you go up, the fewer the slots.

Now I give you an example of how I was designated when I was an MP as a specialist. My MOS was 31B10. 31B meaning military policeman and 10 meaning that I was E1, E2, E3 or E4. When I became a sergeant, I went to air assault school and became qualified so my PMOS full designator changed to 31B102B. which mean 31B=MP, 10=Sergeant, 2B=Air Assault 2B is also an ASI which mean additional skill identifier. There are identifiers for language, airborne, pathfinder and so on and so. Again, this is how human resources are able to track people. So if a unit needs an infantryman that is a staff sergeant that is airborne qualified. Human resources will search for a 11B302P and see if its time to change duty stations and assigns him. Are you tracking?

Now my unit is based in Germany so my mail goes to a CMR (consolidated mail room) that I have to go and pick up. Its like a PO box. APO stands for Army Post Office and those are post offices that fall under the US postal system and run under the same guidelines. When my mother sends mail, she has to add AE for Army Europe. So my address is something like this, cmr 10, box 24, APO AE 09343. AP is Army Pacific. FPO is Foreign Post offices which other branches mostly use (like the marines use FPO)lol.

Yeah, fun! hopefully i wont be making many trips up the chain

dont worry, you will learn lol

You can be a non Airborne guy in an Airborne unit too, so you dont have to go to jump school to be slotted in an Airborne unit.[/QUOTE]


how does that work? would you be some kind of a support?

Again, if you read my post about MTOE, that will answer your question. If the slot states 2P for airborne then it has to be filled by an airborne qualified position; if not, then the position doesnt have to be filled by an airborne qualified soldier. I have a soldier that is now working for us and is part of an airborne unit. He is signal. He wears the maroon airborne beret but hasnt been to airborne schools. remember the airborne tab on the uniform does not mean a soldier is jumped qualified. he has to have earn the actual airborne badge that you pin on the front of the uniform. but yet that is still an option to wear. With the ACUs, badges are optional to wear.