Top Marine leaders are looking at whether rifle company squad leaders should be staff sergeants as combat becomes faster and more complex.
Lt. Col. Daniel Wittnam told attendees at the annual Modern Day Marine military expo in Quantico Thursday that since recent experiments in small unit tactics and technology added the assistant squad leader position to rifle company formations, those positions have been filled by sergeants.
The squad leader billet is typically assigned to a sergeant though experienced corporals can often fill the position when sergeants are in short supply.
But, Wittnam noted the increased complexity of infantry jobs as squad leaders now have more gear, communications and fires at their disposal than ever before. For that reason, he said leaders are looking to fill the assistant squad leader with a sergeant and considering whether the squad leader billet should be held by a staff sergeant.
Wittnam said the assistant squad leader position functions like a chief technical officer for the squad, coordinating and pushing capabilities to the squad leader.
The challenges come with equipping and training those future combat leaders, he said.
Wittnam, who heads the ground combat element for the Marines’ Plans, Policies and Operations office, framed the question as an across-the-Corps talent management problem.
“How do we shape the force to not overload the assistant squad leader or squad leader?” he said.
“How much information can one person process?” Wittnam said. “It comes from repetition, a cohesive unit and more senior leadership.”
He was quick to note that the Corps’ manpower is not currently structured to make those positions require sergeants and staff sergeants.
But as the battlefield evolves, more senior Marines may need to be in those positions to make split-second decisions at the tactical edge, he said.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
