Звездный десант
Chapter 13
division--onpaper,becauseyouwon’tfindoneelsewhere.Howmanyofficersdoesitrequire?Nevermindunitsattachedfromothercorps;theymaynotbepresentduringaruckusandtheyarenotlikeM.I.—thespecialtalentsattachedtoLogistics&Communicationsareallrankedasofficers.Ifitwillmakeamemoryman,atelepath,asenser,oraluckymanhappytohavemesalutehim,I’mgladtooblige;heismorevaluablethanIamandIcouldnotreplacehimifIlivedtobetwohundred.OrtaketheK-9Corps,whichis50percent"officers"butwhoseother50percentareneodogs.
Noneoftheseisinthelineofcommand,solet’sconsideronlyusapesandwhatittakestoleadus.
Thisimaginarydivisionhas10,800menin216platoons,eachwithalieutenant.Threeplatoonstoacompanycallsfor72captains;fourcompaniestoabattalioncallsfor18majorsorlieutenantcolonels.Sixregimentswithsixcolonelscanformtwoorthreebrigades,eachwithashortgeneral,plusamedium-tallgeneralastopboss.
Youwindupwith317officersoutofatotal,allranks,of11,117.
Therearenoblankfilesandeveryofficercommandsateam.Officerstotal3percent—whichiswhattheM.I.doeshave,butarrangedsomewhatdifferently.Infactagoodmanyplatoonsarecommandedbysergeantsandmanyofficers"wearmorethanonehat"inordertofillsomeutterlynecessarystaffjobs.
Evenaplatoonleadershouldhave"staff"—hisplatoonsergeant.
