Читать книгу Organization: How Armies are Formed for War - Hubert Foster - Страница 11

The Company, with its three officers—Captain, Lieutenant, and Ensign—and its Sergeants and Corporals, has been for centuries the foundation stone of the organization of Infantry. Its Chief, the Captain, is the officer with whom the men are most intimately associated, as he is responsible not only for their drill, discipline, and training, but also for their food, clothing, pay, and lodging. The men’s confidence in their Captain is grounded on this responsibility. It is to him that they learn to look for their well-being, comfort, and redress of grievances, as well as for praise or blame. The Captain is thus in daily contact with the men, and learns to know them, and be known by them. His influence with his men, owing to these personal relations, is the keystone of command and discipline, and makes him their natural leader in action.

To avoid repetition, it may be here mentioned that the same remarks apply to the Squadron and Battery Commanders, who, in the Cavalry and Artillery, hold the same position with regard to their men as the Captain does in the Infantry.

The Company is usually divided into Half-Companies, commanded by a Lieutenant, and into four Sections, each under a Sergeant; but the German Company has three Sections under a Lieutenant. The tactical movements of a Company in action are usually carried out by Sections.