How is the Army organized? What are companies, platoons, regiments and divisions?

Question

I've been watching "Band of Brothers," which is about paratroopers in Easy Company, which is the 506th, and also the 101st (I think). But then there are platoons, and there are other paratroopers from the 502nd. How are all of these groups arranged/organized? Are paratroopers considered infantry, or is that a different group?

Answer 1

in world war 2 the organization looked kinda like this

10 men in a Squad (numbered "1st Squad")
3 or 4 Squads in a Platoon (numbered "1st Platoon")
3 - 4 Platoons in a Company (lettered within Regiment "A Co")
3 - 4 Company's in a Battalion (numbered "1st Battalion")
3 - 4 Battalions in a Regiment (numbered within army "506")
3 - 4 Regiments in a Division (numbered "101 Airborne div")
3 - 4 Divisions in a Corps (Roman "VII Corps")
3 - 4 Corps in an Army (Spelled "Third US Army")
there are Army Groups and Third HQ above this.

Many different jobs in the Army are Airborne including all the support units within the division.

The Soldiers in Band Of Brothers are Infantry "who the hell are we, zip zam God damn we're Airborne Infantry"

Answer 2

In whose army at what time? Tables of Organization and Equipment vary widely from one nation to the next and are often re-written every few years due to changes in doctrine, equipment, the threat and of course, things like budget and manpower.. A British Tank Regiment of today for example looks very little like it did 20 years ago and even less like it did 30 years ago and all of those organizations are a completely different animal from how they were organized during World War 2. Britain as recently as 10 years ago fielded Armoured Divisions, now they don't. The Russian army has been somewhat more consistent, favoring a 3-tank platoon, 10-tank company, 3-company battalion stucture for decades, which operates on a completely different concept than most western armies which more often than not favor 4 or even 5-tank platoon structures and sometimes 4 companies per battalion/regiment. This unfortunately is the sort of question that requires you to be very specific to give an accurate answer since the answer is a moving target.

Answer 3

Your answer would take a book to cover completely. The 101st, Screaming Eagles, is based out of Fort Campbell, KY. To find out which units are a part of it now I'm sure you could look it up with a search. Most units vary in number depending on what their mission is. For instance, a Maintenance Unit has squads just like an Infantry Platoon. In the Maintenance Unit, though, they have fewer soldiers in each squad. For the numbers I'm sure a search will quickly provide the answer. As for paratroopers, yes, most are infantry. Designated as Airborne Infantry the only difference between them and a standard Infantry Unit is the way they get to work. Standard Infantry walks or rides various types of vehicles. Airborne Infantry drops from aircraft with parachutes. They are considered an elite force. You may wish to look up the 82nd Airborne Division for modern troop strength as they are still designated as an Airborne Division today. The 101st is now an Air Assault Division and uses helicopters to 'drive to work'. A good rule of thumb to figure out which level of the unit your looking at is:
(from smallest to largest) Fire Team, Squad, Platoon, Company, Battallion, Brigade/Regiment, Division, Corps, Army. As for Band Of Brothers, keep in mind that while they may call a unit a company, yet have few men in it, that is because the number of replacements never quite filled in for the amount of casualties they took.