Squad

Military organization
Typical units	Typical numbers	Typical commander
fireteam	3–4	corporal
squad/ section	8–12	sergeant
platoon	15–30	lieutenant
company	80–150	captain/major
battalion/ cohort	300–800	lieutenant colonel
regiment/ brigade	2,000–4,000	colonel/ brigadier general
division/ legion	10,000–15,000	major general
corps	20,000–40,000	lieutenant general
field army	80,000+	general
army group	2+ field armies	field marshal/ five-star general
region/ theater	4+ army groups	Six-star rank

In military terminology, a squad is a sub-subunit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition (Australian Army, Canadian Army, and others), this organization is referred to as a section. In most armies, a squad consists of eight to fourteen soldiers, and may be further subdivided into fireteams.

Standard NATO symbol – squad (7 or 8 – 12 soldiers) – in NATO armed forces:

Rotte (Luftfahrt)

The equivalent to squad is the , a sub-unit of 8 to 12 soldiers, in the German Bundeswehr, Austrian Bundesheer and Swiss Army.

During World War 2 the German Wehrmacht infantry squad or Gruppe was mainly a general purpose machine gun (GPMG) based unit. The MG 34 or MG 42 GPMG's were normally used in the light machine gun role. An infantry Gruppe consisted of ten men; a non-commissioned officer or Unteroffizier squad leader, deputy squad leader, a three man machine gun team (machine gunner, assistant gunner and ammunition carrier) and 5 riflemen. As personal small arms the squad leader was issued a rifle or as of around 1941 a submachine gun, the machine gunner and his assistant were issued pistols and the deputy squad leader, ammunition carrier and the riflemen were issued rifles. The riflemen carried additional ammunition, hand grenades, explosive charges or a machine gun tripod as required and provided security and covering fire for the machine gun team.

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Wikipedia