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I am not sure if I am asking this correctly or not, so please pardon my ignorance. What is the proper way for a soldier or veteran to identify where they are/were assigned. For example, I see members post that they served in a specific division, brigade, battalion, company, etc. Is it proper to start from highest to lowest level with all the acronyms and numbers? Lowest to highest? Do they start indetification at a lower level? Are all soldiers assigned to the squad level or do they stop at a battalion or company level? Hope I am making sense and thanks.
 
Speaking of crayon eaters only, and infantry only, I would say start from the middle level... For example; I served with MCSF Battalion, Pacific and First Battalion, Seventh Marines. Getting into details you could ask for a little more detail such as company level...

If I were to declare myself in a crayoneater way, I would say that I served with MCSF Battalion and 1/7. That would be at the battalion level. That would be a good generalization and indicator of what they did/job function.

As to your question about being assigned to a specific level, yes, we are...You are first assigned to a battalion. The battalion then designates which company needs human power, and then the company decides which platoon that you go to. The platoon then decides what squad you go to.

I assume that the army is much the same, although their unit numbers are confusing. The rustpickers would probably state the ship name and job class such as machinist mate on the USS Numbnutz. The Delta crew would probably state that they are comfortable and in air conditioned quarters and in serving in some squadron serving in some position.
 
The military loves its acronyms for sure...which can make for a confusing way of communication.

When I was in the Army I served mostly in LRRP / LRSD units.
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol ( old designation )
Long Range Surveillance Detachment ( new designation )
If I said all of that...most folks would simply go "Huh"..."What does all that mean? "
So I try to keep it simple and say I was an Infantry Scout....which is close enough for most folks

As far as units that I was in go...
I also try to keep it simple like :
7th Infantry , 18th Airborne Corps , Special Operations Command or the 101st Airborne.
Andy
 
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There really is no proper way if just in general conversation. Context matters more. You can start with duty station or country, for example. Of course, there is a formal designation, but it is kind of stuffy. In the Army, you wear the divisional patch on your uniform, so that is a common starting point sometimes. Soldiers move units frequently, so the smaller designations are usually minimized a bit. I was a rare exception to that, as I was assigned to 1 tank for 4 years. I didn't request for that.
 
Thank you for the replies. As many of you know from a previous post, my son begins Army basic on 7/25/22. He will be stationed in Alaska with his MOS being Airborne infantry. They just switched earlier this month from the 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Airborne to the 11th Airborne Division. I am trying to learn and understand all I can to support him. From what I can tell, he will be 11th Airborne Division ("Arctic Angel" - pretty cool!) and likely 2nd Infantry BCT Airborne ("Spartans" - way cool!). Beyond that, I am not sure. I am just so proud of him and terrified at the same time. Training video:

 
Air Force sorta follows the Army, but uses it's own terms, it can be a bit confusing, but when you understand the flow, it's actually super easy to understand!
We start at Squadron level, then Wing, and finally Force! When reporting or describing it, you usually leave out the Wing level unless your specific M.O. demands it! 59th Fighter squadron, 14th Air Force, NATO, Europe!

Me:
509th (Squadron) Special Operations, 52 Rescue Wing ( Wing/Self described ) of the 24th Special Operations ( Air Force) Command! If deployed, add the NATO ( If it's a NATO operation) Airforce and Country.

There are (Theoretically) 25 Air Forces within the U.S.A.F. the numbers correspond to where in the world they operate, the first 6 are CONUS
in the NAVY, it would equal Fleet!

We don't normally call out specifics unless needed, like Detachments, or temp assignments and such, which for me, was very common, so you add in the hybrid as needed

I.E.
509th Composite of the 382 Wing ( Tactical Fighter Wing, or later, just Fighter Wing), 24th Special Operations Command, and what ever Air Force and country your TDY's to
So, for OIF, You would call out NATO, Saudi/Iraq! But, not always, every time!
 
You air force and army folks need to remove your O-5's in the office of nomenclature and start eating some crayons to make it simple..
 
US Navy, USS Vesole, picture at left, Homeports Newport RI and Charleston, SC. Can't remember the destroyer squadron :(.

Ships patch top of left sleeve of dress / undress uniform.
 
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My Grandfather was in the 11th Airborne and saw combat with them during WWII.
You don't read much about the Army in the Pacific Theater during WWII , much less a Airborne unit.
Andy
Very true. Especially given they are responsible for the Pacific theater. They are also responsible for much of the training, development, and validation for the use and existence of Airborne paratroopers. Eisenhower had misgivings about the use and effectiveness of Airborne but was convinced by General Marshall to withhold judgment until a test could be done. The 11th was given this opportunity to test this as the attackers in the Knollwood Maneuver which was a large success and convinced Eisenhower to keep them in operation.
 
I am not sure if I am asking this correctly or not, so please pardon my ignorance. What is the proper way for a soldier or veteran to identify where they are/were assigned. For example, I see members post that they served in a specific division, brigade, battalion, company, etc. Is it proper to start from highest to lowest level with all the acronyms and numbers? Lowest to highest? Do they start indetification at a lower level? Are all soldiers assigned to the squad level or do they stop at a battalion or company level? Hope I am making sense and thanks.
I'm not a vet, so I can't really add much to the conversation, but my Uncle Frank was in the paratroopers in WWII. Decades later, he would tell me that the unit he served in was E Co, 2 Btn, 506 PIR, 101 AB. That translates to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne. He was a member of the Band of Brothers (as portrayed in the HBO miniseries of the same name), for which I am eternally proud of him, God rest his soul.
 

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