Section

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Sections are small six- to eight-man teams that are the main composition of infantry platoons in army and marine corps infantry, armour, artillery, engineering, and medical elements.

Structure
In infantry, sections contain two fireteams, which are led by the commanders of the section. The two fireteams (Charlie and Delta) contain the corporal that commands the section, and the lance corporal that acts as the second in command of the section. The section commander is the commander of Charlie fireteam, while the second in command is the commander of Delta fireteam.

In most cases (armour, engineering, medical, artillery, etc.) fireteams do not exist, but sections may operate in teams similar to firteams (i.e. armour crews, artillery crews, etc.).

Infantry
Infantry sections contain eight members, all armed with M1911 pistols as sidearms and some grenades. Along with these armaments, commander, second in command and two riflemen will be equipped with M16 assault rifles. The grenadiers (the commander and the second in command) will have [M203]] grenade launchers under the barrel of their gun. The two light machine gunners will use M249 light machine guns, and the two light supportsmen will use M27 light machine guns.

Infantry Support
Support sections contain two fireteams each, which vary in armament depending on the section's function. A section will either be part of a mortar, machine gun, anti-tank, engineering or sniper platoon. Regardless of which platoon a section is attached to, all members will carry an M1911, two M84 grenades and two M67 grenades.

In mortar, machine gun and anti-tank sections, all members will wield M16 assault rifles. In addition to these rifles, teams will operate other weaponry together. In mortar sections, there are two L16 mortars (each operated by a team composed of a spotter, gunner, loader and crew chief). There are four GAU-2 machine guns per mechine gun section and two FIM-92 anti-air or two SMAW anti-tank launchers per anti-tank section. In both cases, the weapon is operated by a loader and a gunner.

In engineering and sniper sections, members do not wield assault rifles. Combat engineers typically wield M4 carbines, while snipers will wield M82 sniper rifles and operate in teams of two (a sniper and a spotter).

Combat Support
Combat support sections are usually only armed with M1911 pistols, as they do not engage in combat. These pistols are merely used as self-protection. Sections handle administrative duty in combat support. The types of platoon include the administrative (headquarters) platoon, the medical platoon, the support platoon and the maintenance platoon.

In the headquarters platoon, the three sections handle different jobs. There is the personnel section, which keeps track of personnel records, pay, training, etc. There is also supply section, which is in charge of supply reception, distribution and inventory. Lastly, there is the intelligence/operations section, which organizes intelligence and helps plan operations accordingly.

The support platoon is broken into specialized sections in a similar way. There is the transport section, which is in charge of arranging transportation and general logistics movements (logistics units attached to the unit handle the actual transportation). Next is the signals section, which is in charge of communication between its mother unit and other units, as well as within its unit. Finally, there is the mess section, which is in charge of food and cooking.

The medical and maintenance platoons perform the same roles throughout their platoons. The medical platoon is responsible for field medical work and other light medical work, as well as casualty evacuation and transport. The maintenance section is responsible for keeping the unit's vehicles in working condition. Typically, the maintenance section has more work to do when assigned to an armoured unit or an artillery unit compared to an infantry unit.

Armour
Armour sections contain two M1 Abrams tanks. The commander (corporal) of the section acts as the crew chief of one tank, while the second in command (lance corporal) acts as the crew chief for the other tank. Sections rarely break off from their troops and act more as an administrative sub-unit of a troop. The gunners, loaders and drivers of the section's tanks are typically all troopers or troopers basic (in the army) or marines or marines basic in the marines. They will typically be armed with an M16 and an M1911.

In armour, there are also engineering (fitter/recovery) sections that operate FV512 mechanized recovery vehicles. These sections contain two teams, each with a driver, a gunner and two engineers. Command sections (there are two per troop) contain two teams of a driver, radio operator and a gunner/crew chief. The final of the support sections is the anti-aircraft section, which operates AN/TWQ-1 Avengers. These vehicles are operated by a driver, a gunner and a crew chief.

Artillery
There are three types of artillery sections: operational sections, which operate the artillery, forward observer (FO) sections, which sight out and locate targets, and fire direction control (FDC) sections, that aim the cannons and get clearance from command for firing.

Operational sections operate in two teams (similar to fireteams) to operate two pieces of artillery. Typically, a team will operate either an LG1 105mm howitzer or an M777 155mm howitzer.

FO sections operate as light infantry in a way. They typically do not attack, but they do wield M16 assault rifles for self-protection. Soldiers in an FO section will scout out targets and give coordinates to the FDC troop.

FDC sections are in charge of firing operations and come up with firing solutions based on information given by the FOs. FDC sections typically have two FV105 Sultan command vehicles each. Inside these, they will come up with firing solutions and communicate with battery command to receive clearance to fire. Typically, a battery will work with one FO section working with one FDC section working with one operational section, although this may change to meet the task at hand.

Engineering/Medical
Engineering sections and medical sections are composed of a corporal, lance corporal and six sappers/marines (engineering) or medics/marines (medical). Engineering sections are responsible for explosive ordnance disposal and constructing and maintaining base structures, including base turrets (which are operated by specially designated artillery crews that operated with FOs or FDCs), while medical sections handle full medical work. Sections operate as part of divisional field hospitals.

Integration
There are two fireteams per section (Charlie and Delta), each containing three or four men, bringing the total head count of a section to six or eight (as the commanders are included in the fireteams). The sections are numbered within their platoon/troop, and there are three sections per platoon, with the exception of armoured troops, which have one section.