Modern Minuteman Staff functions

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“Modern Minuteman” Staff Functions

I’ve been describing a staff hierarchy based upon the US/NATO military model. Why? Because
it works well for almost any sized organization. You need a basic understanding of those
functions (and who should perform them) before you can decide which ones apply (or don’t) to
your particular situation.
An important thing to realize is that staff personnel generally perform their functions full time, as
part of a unit HQ & separate from maneuver elements. There is functional cross-over down at
the small unit tactical level, but if you have enough guys to need a staff, those staff people work for
the boss (your unit commander) and do not themselves go out and play at being riflemen.
Because they are there to advise the head man so that he can make intelligent & timely
decisions about what happens next. What to do next. Or what not to do next.
A typical military unit S3, S2, or S4 is busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.
They do a lot of unseen background effort to support the combat force in the field. If your group
of Minutemen is actually mobilized & deploys itself, any staff functions & support provided by
others are a round-the-clock activity. 24/7.
In the military, staff functions are performed full-time by folks assigned at the Battalion HQ level or
above. There is no full-time & formal Staff at the squad or the platoon level. Everybody fights and
everybody contributes as tasked to accomplishing basic combat functions (fire & maneuver,
communications, medical treatment, platoon resupply, etc.) But, some people have either a
formally dedicated role (medic or RTO) or an informal one (squad scrounger or platoon lay
chaplain).
In a squad (8-13 guys) sized element, there is no formal “S” staff. Bare bones staff-like functions
are performed by the squad leader, his second in charge (if he has one), his fire team leaders,
or anyone the squad leader designates to do a particular job. S1 (Personnel Administration)
functions are performed by each team & squad leader and/or the medic. S3 (Operations) / S2
(Intelligence) functions by organic leaders & point man or point team. S4 (Logistics) is handled
by whoever is a dependable scrounger and resupply organizer. S6 functions (running the
communications net) are conducted by your best radio guy. The S5 Plans function doesn’t exist.
The squad & team leaders take care of short-term operational planning. The point element (as
out-front scouts) fleshes out the real-time eyes & ears “S2 (Intelligence)” picture.
I just told you that there’s no formal staff in a squad-sized element. But there are still staff-like
functions that often need attending. So you assign those additional responsibilities as secondary
jobs.
On a typical 12-man Special Forces SFOD-A (“A-Team”), staff responsibilities might look like
this:
S1 – Both Detachment 18D SF Medical Sergeants. Responsible for detachment Medical
Records/Readiness, Travel/Pay Problems, Personnel Records/Administrative Actions, Team
Alert Roster, Mail, etc. (Everyone is mentally, physically, and administratively ready to go out on
this mission.)
S2 – 18F Assistant Operations & Intelligence Sergeant & one of two 18B Weapons Sergeants.
Responsible for Intel Updates & Situation Brief for all missions. (This is what things look like and
what we’re up against on this mission.)
S3 – 18Z Detachment Operations Sergeant & one of two 18B Weapons Sergeants. Responsible
for developing the Concept of Operations for any mission. (This is what we’re going to do, how
we’re going to get ready to do it, and how we’re still going to accomplish this mission if the main
plan fails.)
S4 – Both detachment 18C Engineering Sergeants; Logistics, Supply, Transportation, & function
as Paying Agents (hold the $$). (This is the gear & supplies we’ve got to play with, how we’re
going to get more, how we’re going to travel, and the specialty gear to accomplish this particular
mission.)
S5/S8 – 180A Assistant Detachment Commander (Warrant Officer); Plans & Finance Officer
(approves expenditure of $$). (2IC; when/if the team splits up, he’s in charge of one element;
helps direct planning & execution for the current mission while looking over the event horizon to
the next mission.)
S6 – Both 18E Communications Sergeants; cyber, IT, radio, & phone networks/equipment;
signal plan to include all electronic means as well as clandestine methods and visual signals.
(This is who we can talk to, who we need to talk to, how we can do that, when we should do it,
how to keep the other side from listening in, and contingency plans for when parts of the
communication plan doesn’t work.)
Boss – 18A Detachment Commander (Captain); Detachment quarterback and the guy who
receives the mission from higher…then tasks the mission to the team. (The leader responsible
for whatever goes wrong and the guy who makes command decisions.)[B]That’s the potential staff organization & administrative functions for a squad-sized element of
12 grown men. [/B] Do you really have a need for administrative staff functions while you’re 10-20 guys crawling
through the woods doing recon? Or manning some blocking position? Or watching for rioters to
drift into your neighborhood? Any time before, during, or after your adventures with guns, all
those functions come into play to some degree.
No, you’re not going to do S1 paperwork while out on patrol. But you might need to annotate a
cache report. Like the remote grave where you buried a friend killed far from home. Or take a
witness statement after something controversial occurs. Like when a fatal shooting, reported
rape/theft, or serious accident occurs. You might be held legally culpable for certain events after
normalcy returns. You might want the designated S2 to put out a daily situational update to your
patrol. A news update & weather forecast (gleaned from a portable FM radio) to
the entire group. Or your S4 gets tasked to go find a new ride or a tow truck. Or gets tasked to
go down to that farm & buy some chickens & potatoes so you can all fill your bellies.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you haven’t a need for staff functions when you choose to arm a
group of people to conduct direct combat. That’s an amateur hour way of thinking.
Whether during pre-event training, live mission planning, or actual execution, some sort of staff
functions get called upon. If you don’t think so, you’ve never done it for real. So don’t discount
the need to delegate the workload across even a very small element. Pre-assign the task
categories. That way, folks already understand who is responsible for what when a situation
presents itself. Have an internal staff organization SOP for even a small tactical element such as
a squad.
——————————————
At military platoon level (28-50 guys), you encounter a permanent Platoon HQ, but still no formal
“S” staff. Platoon Leader, Platoon Sergeant, RTO (manpack radio operator who can talk to the
next higher unit; one or two of them), Attached Platoon Medic, possibly an Artillery Forward
Observer. Perhaps they have a Machine Gun, Anti-Armor, or Sniper Team. In the US military,
there’s no supply guy at the platoon level, because supply/S4 is handled at company & battalion
levels. But your little platoon might not have any higher unit support at all (much less crew-served weapons and tactical radios). So…
In a Minuteman organization, you might want to establish a full-time Supply person at the platoon
level. That guy becomes (along with the Platoon Sergeant) your “S4 (Logistics)” node. He’s the
guy in charge of resupply of ammo, water, batteries, cold weather gear, vehicle fuel,
replacement of broken/lost weapons, backpacks, boots, socks, or any other consumables. A
scrounger who knows how to get things done & get the needed stuff delivered. If you can still
purchase items locally, he’s the guy with the cash. Or he conducts trade/barter.
Cooks. From the Revolutionary War through the 1980s, every company-sized element in the
Army & USMC had assigned cooks. They were done away with in order to utilize civilian-manned centralized dining halls (and use those military man slots for creating other units), but
the concept of cooks and field kitchens has been proven for centuries of warfare. In the field
armies of WWII & Korea, cooks traveled with their companies to the front lines and prepared
food just behind the fighting positions at the first location they could do so while out of direct fire
and observation.
In these forums, we debate various kinds of carried backpacker food, individual stoves, and
pre-packaged rations (like MREs). That’s great for a few days or a week or so. Every man is his
own walking pantry.
But what happens when your Minuteman squad finds itself manning a road-blocked bridge
location for weeks? Perhaps you’ve been assigned duty to keep some refugee Golden Horde
(or rioters) from crossing that river at a remote location. Perhaps all of you have been deputized
by your County Sheriff. You guys said you could handle that job and he took you up on it. Say
there’s 15 or 20 of you, manning that crossing point 24/7. You can’t send everyone home to
grab a meal; too far and not enough remaining gasoline to waste. Nor can you afford to lose
armed manpower from the site. How do you get fed when those 72-hour assault packs run out
of chow you brought from home?
With an S4 (in the rear) who finds food supply & arranges delivery…and your Minuteman cooks
who prepare it and issue it at your location. That could be a delivery of nearly cold take-out
McDonald’s burgers & fires… or a big pot full of hot rice & meat stew prepared on the spot.
Meals are a function of your scenario & what is available in your area. But you aren’t going to
get fed by the Meal Fairy. Have a plan and some designated people to accomplish that group
feeding job.
If your Minuteman force is at platoon or larger strength, you should have cooks who can feed
the force while it’s in the field. They procure the food, prepare it, deliver it, and supervise serving
it using a tactical feeding plan. That means that everyone doesn’t just bunch up in a gaggle next
to the hot chow and present themselves as easy targets for enemy fire. People stay spread out
and approach the field kitchen location one or two at a time… or the food is brought to their
individual positions. The cooks maintain appropriate cooking gear, containers, and stoves
sufficient for communal feeding. The classic cook wagon you’ve seen in countless western
movies or camp kitchens used while deer hunting or fishing. Something that could fit into the bed
of a pickup truck, onto a trailer, onto a game cart, or be carried on backs, sleds, ATVs, snow
machines, or pack animals.
The kind of event that might actually cause a Minuteman element to answer a callout is not
likely to be a convenient one. You can’t assume an event that begins after breakfast and ends in
time for dinner at home. Nor can you carry food for a week or two in a little assault pack. All the
guns & gear in the world won’t mean a thing if your little force is trying to work on empty
stomachs.
If your force manages to acquire official sanction/purpose, you might get plugged into the same
feeding plan that supports other organizations (Red Cross, National Guard, Police, Fire
Department, etc.). But what if you don’t and you need to unilaterally form up and move out for
an unknown number of days? Have a feeding plan. Have Cooks. Or at least one guy who can
combine what everyone’s got… and create an edible meal that isn’t cold or burned.

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About the Author: mechmedic

MechMedic is the owner of Stuck Pig Medical and medical instructor for Brushbeater Training and Consulting. After 5 years in the beloved Corps, Mech joined the National Guard where he became a medic. Lifelong survivalist, and overall outdoorsman. When not being a family man, he enjoys good bourbon and good cigars.

8 Comments

  1. Cajun July 15, 2022 at 14:45

    A good summary of staff organization and function for an organized military with direct support of a large industrial and financial base. The functions are universal. The organization need not be.

    Consider how the modern minuteman might mirror the originals: small fighting groups supported by a large, sympathetic, part time auxiliary. The auxiliary is the life blood of every insurgent organization, including today’s cartel gangster warlord.

    One might do well to organize around the part time volunteer auxiliary concept. Look at your local fire department, church groups, Red Cross, etc for examples of how to organize special or recurring tasks and spread the work among vetted helpers who may be too young, too old, or otherwise incapable of protecting your neighborhood, town, or village. Cooks, mechanics, finance, uniform and equipment maintenance, etc, etc; all can be managed through the auxiliary. Local community self help events like clean up days can be great rehearsal opportunities

  2. no July 15, 2022 at 15:15

    This is really interesting. For those of us without .mil experience it would be cool if someone could provide links to background materials where S2, S3, etc are laid-out in detail.

  3. Carbon Based Life Forms July 15, 2022 at 15:17

    Minuteman Staff Functions are a construct of the white male patriarchy.
    Hedgehog defense is my favorite and it is never obsolete to have layers of d-fence!
    All clowning aside, isn’t that what our obsolete low powered ICBM’s are called?

  4. Mike VonSteuben July 15, 2022 at 15:30

    Nice write-up man! I teach something similar in the Team Leader Class, but this is a nice deep dive. Involving your people in the planning process for your training exercises, preparations, and (eventually) real-world operations keeps them engaged and committed as well as lightening the load for you, the team leader.

  5. Scipio July 15, 2022 at 17:34

    This is great! So many people think what they can’t do, what they think is the only thing to do, etc. This tells the person sitting on the sideline; “Jump in, there’s lot you can do regardless of your real or perceived inadequacies and here is a list”. Now hit the ground running champ.

  6. MK July 15, 2022 at 19:56

    I think this organizational model demonstrates just how out of touch the Right is with the current political, social and cultural environments. This top-down organization has been is highly conventional and basically shows a staff functionality with an larger organization of people. I get that SF breaks down into “S” shops.

    The American Right has no discussion on the creation of alternative infrastructure, where they will obtain food, water and living space as government turns increasing Progressive and where they can create autonomous areas where they can live. There’s none. Instead, you get instruction on military organization, which has been done to death and does not address pressing, future needs.

    The Right is really gun-centric at the expense of everything else. It’s illustrates a distressing and ultimately fatal myopia of where the US is heading and what to do about it.

    Start thinking about getting people together to start cooperative farming somewhere and build out a sustainable community of Like Minded People. Then you be free to resist the System.

    You’re going to get Contra’ed otherwise.

  7. Southtrekker July 15, 2022 at 21:33

    Army FM 6-0 “Commander and Staff Organization and Operations”, Chapter 2 pages 2-9 thru 2-15 covers the basic staff positions. Link takes you to the US Army Publications site to download the Field Manual
    https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=1024909

  8. Reluctant Gardener July 16, 2022 at 08:50

    Thanks, this is a valuable one! Sharing with the boys.

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