Attila Anday - Experienced Commander

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

As always post once you have read this in its entirety. If you have any questions please ask them within this thread and I will get to them as soon as I can, but I can't always promise an answer depending on the question. You have 4 days to complete this test and must answer 6 of the 8 questions correctly. Also please remember that the material I use for certifications tests are derived from the current United States Military.

Good luck.

1 – What comes first, your men or your mission?
2 – What is the highest rank an officer may hold and still be knowingly deployed to the front lines?
Fill in the blanks:
3 – (INFANTRY)
Fire Team/Squad/Platoon/_______/Battalion/Division/Corps/Army
4 – (ARMOR)
Squad/Platoon/_____/Squadron/Division/Corps/Army
5 – (ARTILLERY)
Squad/Platoon/_______/Battalion/Division/Corps/Army
6 – How many Infantrymen are in the answer to #3? (May be listed as a window type answer, i.e. 550-850)
7 – How many Tanks are in the answer to #4?
8 – How many Artillery pieces are in the answer to #5?

[∬: Attila Anday]

Thanks of course for putting up the test, I know it's a whole lot of work to just compile all those questions.

You of course may start the clock now.

The only thing, that's maybe not optimal is:

Dec 11, 2009 0:06:35 GMT Edward"Butcher"McMillan said:

Also please remember that the material I use for certifications tests are derived from the current United States Military.

Where the hell should I have knowledge about the actual US military from? Not everybody is American here .

I guess you gotta life with answers concerning the German Wehrmacht .

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Dec 11, 2009 17:58:57 GMT ∬: Attila Anday said:

Dec 11, 2009 0:06:35 GMT Edward"Butcher"McMillan said:

Also please remember that the material I use for certifications tests are derived from the current United States Military.

Where the hell should I have knowledge about the actual US military from? Not everybody is American here

Ask the actual Axis Instructor, you would still be waiting on this if that were the case, so the job fell to me, I test on what I know, can't really test you on things I don't know now can I?

And by the way, the fill in the blanks questions, "Brigade" should be between "Battalion" and "Division" on all three of them, sorry I left those out.

[∬: Attila Anday]

1 – What comes first, your men or your mission?
As the American "soldiers creed" says: "I will always place the mission first."

2 – What is the highest rank an officer may hold and still be knowingly deployed to the front lines?
The US- army ranks O-1 through O-6 are classified as "field grade officers" which means they deploy to a combat zone. they are:

O-1: Second Lieutenant
O-2: First Lieutenant
O-3: Captain
O-4: Major
O-5: Lieutenant Colonel
O-6: Colonel

Just because they are deployed to a combat zone, does not mean they are deployed to the direct front lines and actually shooting at people. O-4 and up are usually stationed at a FOB (forward operating base).

Of course it's possible that I'm completely wrong here. But maybe it's also an answer to your question, when I say that I've never heard of such limitations in neither the German Wehrmacht nor in the Bundeswehr before. Only physical fittness and age are important here.


3 – (INFANTRY)
Fire Team/Squad/Platoon/Company/Battalion/Brigade/Division/Corps/Army

4 – (ARMOR)
Squad/Platoon/Company/Squadron/Brigade/Division/Corps/Army

5 – (ARTILLERY)
Squad/Platoon/Battery/Battalion/BrigadeDivision/Corps/Army

6 – How many Infantrymen are in the answer to #3? (May be listed as a window type answer, i.e. 550-850)
A company is typically consisting of 75-200 soldiers. The exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure.

7 – How many Tanks are in the answer to #4?
I know you only wanted a vague number, but let's go into detail when coming to tanks. ;D
The structure of a German tank- division got changed several times throughout the war, but here are the numbers I found:

Structure from 1939:
Light tank- company (Leichte Panzerkompanie) 32 tanks
Mixed tank- company (Gemischte Panzerkompanie) 32 tanks

Structure from 1941
Light tank- company (Leichte Panzerkompanie) 22 tanks
Medium heavy tank- company (Mittelschwere Panzerkompanie) 19 tanks

Structure from 1944:
Medium heavy tank company (Mittelschwere Panzerkompanie) 17 tanks
Heavy tank- company (Schwere Panzerkompanie) 14 tanks
The earliest numbers regarding a heavy tank- company that I found were from 1943, but I guess those also existed before.

8 – How many Artillery pieces are in the answer to #5?
It varied between four and twelve for field artillery (even 16 if mortars), or even two pieces for very heavy pieces.

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

OOC: For the record I lost this original post to the 6 hour log in limit...it was much better in my eyes.

Alrighty, before we get started I want to say something...

...You can believe me if you want (this is for everyone that reads this, not just Werner) but earlier today I was thinking about this cert and the individual taking it. Werner's first language is not English, making this test doubly difficult for him, one trying to find the answers to a certification test as it is isn't exactly the easiest of task, at least I hope it isn't, two doing all the work to find them in another language is just a huge strain on the mind...least in my eyes. So I decided I would be a bit lenient on this one. If anyone sees this as unfair or unbiased then by all means please feel free to bring this to my attention, or if you feel that is not enough bring it to the attention of the staff team, if they view my actions as unfit to hold this position then I will respectfully step down and hand it over to whoever else would like the job. But I'll fight to make sure this ruling stands. But don't say I pass everyone, I'm the only instructor that has actually failed members...multiple times even.

Anyway, down to business, this is what you came here for after all

1 - Correct
2 - Correct, the rank of Captain is the highest rank that can knowingly be deployed to a true front line
3 - Correct
4 - Correct (Although "Troop" was the answer I was looking for, both terms are still widely in use and interchangeable)
5 - Correct
6 - This is the more difficult of the questions, finding the numbers to answer with, so Ill break it down for you. An Infantry Company can consist of as few as 51 men:

1 CO (Captain/Major)
1 XO First Lieutenant/Captain
1 Senior NCO (First Sergeant)
2 Platoon Leaders (Second/First Lieutenant)
2 Platoon Sergeants (Sergeant First Class/Master Sergeant)
2 Squads of 11 men in each of the 2 platoons (1 Squad Leader [Staff Sergeant], 1 Medic, 1 Radioman, 4 Riflemen, 2 Grenadiers, 2 Heavy Weapons Operators)

To as many as 411 men:

1 CO
1 XO
1 Senior NCO
6 Platoon Leaders
6 Platoon Sergeants
6 Squads of 11 men in each of the 6 Platoons

However the norm is smack in the middle with 187 men:

1 CO
1 XO
1 Senior NCO
4 Platoon Leaders
4 Platoon Sergeants
4 Squads of 11 men in each of the 4 Platoons

This number is not set in stone, but is a rough number based on the structure of the unit, it tends to fluctuate depending on the specific role of the unit and the support elements needed. As this number is within your window answer...Correct (Come on I had to build a bit of suspense on at least one of them )


7 & 8 - Both of these questions had the same answer, the make up of both Artillery and Armor in the US Military today consists of 6 units in each of the 3 Platoons for a total of 18. This number is very solid and only changes if a vehicle is taken out of commission until the replacement is brought in. This is where the leniency comes in...oh...but wait...you've already correctly answered enough questions to successfully complete this certification...So I'll leave you with this, although the answers you provided were not specifically the ones I was looking for on these two, they were the best you could do given your resources. In my eyes that is a job well done, a job done the way a leader is supposed to accomplish it, is it not? There is information you have need to acquire, you do the best you can to get as much of it as you can, as accurately as possible to get it to the people that need it to complete the mission...after all that is the number one goal


-JT

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