Quote Originally Posted by ROKMAN View Post
... If that is the case then why are some Marine squad leaders in Iraq are splitting their squads into two teams of 6 Marines each?
. . .
One of my best Marine Platoon Sergeants told me he did it on Okinawa because he had no faith in his youngest Team Leader. I saw people who had done that in Korea, generally for the same reason. I also saw those who refused to do it and either made the weak guy perform or made him a BAR man and put a sharp Private in as the Team Leader.

The latter would seem to me to be the better solution from the standpoint of accountability and leader selection and training. The former will work; the Squad Leader has -- or should have -- the flexibility to organize within reason the way he wishes.

I also saw a guy in Korea who had three fire teams; one with a really good shooter and one BAR; one with two BARs. Those two were his split base of fire. The third Fire Team was the assault element of five Riflemen (including one de jure Team Leader as a Snuffy) under his best Corporal. His rationale was that accurate and automatic fire kept the bad guys down and the BAR Men weren't as mobile and flexible as riflemen. He went where he thought he needed to be at the time.

Wouldn't have done it that way myself but whatever works.