Squadron (Air Force)

--Were you looking for squadron, an army and marine corps unit?--

Squadrons are medium-sized, sixteen-aircraft units that are the fourth largest permanent unit, with a station, a command, then an air force being the largest. Squadrons make up permanent stations and temporary wings.

Small
A small squadron will be equipped with either CF-18 Hornet fighters, or AH-64 helicopters. These 'small' squadrons will contain from thirty-three to fourty-nine men, and always contain sixteen aircraft. In the aircrew, there is the commander (squadron leader, or a wing commander), three flight commanders (master warrant officer, chief warrant officer or flight lieutenant), four section commanders (flight sergeant, warrant officer, pilot officer or flying officer) and eight to twenty-four other airmen (any rank from aircraftman to sergeant). In a squadron with CF-18's, there will be eight other airmen, in a squadron with AH-64's, there will be twenty-four other airmen.

Large
A large squadron is a squadron equipped with either UH-60 Black Hawks, CH-47 Chinook helicopters, C-130 Hercules cargo planes or B-52 Stratofortress bombers. These squadrons have anywhere from sixty-five to ninety-six airmen. The aircrew will contain a commander (squadron leader or wing commander), three flight commanders (master warrant officer, chief warrant officer or flight lieutenant), one squadron second in command (master warrant officer, chief warrant officer), three flight second in commands (flight sergeant or warrant officer), four section commanders (warrant officer, pilot officer, flying officer), four section second in commands (corporal or sergeant) and thiry-two to sixty-four other airmen (aircraftman, leading aircraftman, senior aircraftman).

Maintenance Crew
All squadrons have maintenance teams, which consist of four crews (one for each flight), that are led by lance corporals. In a squadron, there is also a maintenance team commander, who is usually of the rank corporal. There are three aircraftmen/leading aircraftmen/senior aircraftmen per maintenance crew.

Role
A squadron's role is to act as the movable permanent assembaly of airmen. That being squadrons can be taken from any station and placed in the appropriate parent unit (wing). This is similar to the case of a battalion or armoured regiment in the army and marine corps, with the battalion/armoured regiment being the squadron, the regiment being the station, and the brigade being the wing.

Fighter squadrons are generally deployed in formation and are most often used for dogfights and other engagements. Utility helicopter squadrons will often transport around eight platoons, in an invasion-like manor, while cargo helicopters will usually be used to deploy eight or so sections of armour, and extremely rarely deliver four infantry companies. Cargo planes are extremely rarely sent in a continous stream as an entire squadron, although if they were to be deployed as a squadron, they would likely be setting up for an entire brigade or more. Bombers aren't often sent in as an entire squadron, though when they are they usually cover a very large area.

Integration
A squadron (usually led by a squadron leader, or wing commander) is made up of four flights, usually led by flight lieutenants, and are part of a station (permanently) and/or a wing (temporarily). All squadrons are part of a station, but not necessarily part of a wing, also stations do not have a set number of squadrons, but wings will commonly have three or four. Squadrons are numbered within their branch.

Small
8-24 Aircraftmen/Leading Aricraftmen/Senior Aircraftmen/Corporal/Sergeant

4 Flight Sergeant/Warrant Officer/Pilot Officer/Flying Officer

3 Master Warrant Officers/Chief Warrant Officers/Flight Lieutenants

1 Squadron Leader/Wing Commander

Large
32-64 Aircraftmen/Leading Aircraftmen/Senior Aircraftmen

4 Corporals/Sergeants

3 Flight Sergeants/Warrant Officers

1 Master Warrant Officer/Chief Warrant Officer

3 Master Warrant Officers/Chief Warrant Officers/Flight Lieutenants

1 Squadron Leader/Wing Commander

Maintenance Crew
12 Aircraftmen/Leading Aircraftmen/Senior Aircraftmen

4 Lance Corporals

1 Corporal