One of the purposes for formations is to move alarge number of personnel from one place to another inan orderly manner. Another purpose is to make surepeople receive correct up-to-date information. Peoplelisten more closely to and better understand what isbeing said when they are alert and paying attention. Justimagine a group of people standing around, their handsin their pockets, daydreaming or talking while someoneis trying to relay important information. How manypeople will actually hear and understand what is beingsaid? Probably not many! Formations also help teach agroup of individuals to act as members of a team insteadof “doing their own thing.”POSITIONS WITHIN A FORMATIONMany military functions, such as morning quartersand personnel inspections, require that you assemble information. The terms used to identify these formationsmay vary at different commands. For example, the termsquad or platoon at one command may be a detail,division, or class at another. Here, the term squad isused to represent a basic formation. Remember that themembers of any formation must respond in unison(together) to the commands given. By studying thefollowing terms and referring to the diagram in figure10-21, you can easily learn the basic positions within aformation:Distance. A space of 40 inches between the chest of oneperson and the back of the person ahead withinranks.Element. An individual, squad, section, platoon,company, or some other unit that is part of a largerunit.File or column. A formation of elements or personsplaced one behind the other.Flank. The extreme right or left of a unit, either in line orin column. The element on the extreme right or leftof the rank. A direction at a right angle to thedirection an element or a formation is facing.Formation. An arrangement of elements in line, incolumn, or in any other prescribed manner.Guide. The individual on whom a formation or elementregulates its alignment. The guide is usuallypositioned to the right.Interval. The space between individuals from shoulderto shoulder, normally one arm’s length.Pace. The length of a full step (30 inches for men and 24inches for women).Rank or line. A formation of elements or persons abreastof each other or side by side.Step. The distance from heel to heel between the feet ofa marching person. The half step and back step are15 inches. The right and left steps are 12 inches.POSITION AND FACING COMMANDSThe two types of commands are the preparatorycommand, such as RIGHT, which indicates the type ofmovement to be made, and the command of execution,such as FACE, which causes the desired movement to be10-32Student Notes:Figure 10-21.—Positions within a formation.
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