In 1947, the J-Series tables of organization deprived infantry battalions of their assault platoons. Thus, rather than employing a specialized unit to clear out caves and bunkers, battalion commanders who wished to bust bunkers or clear out caves had to issue flamethrowers, demolition kits, and bazookas to rifle platoons. Two years later, the authors of the K-Series establishments reversed this policy. Thus, in the years between 1949 and 1951, each infantry battalion of the US Marine Corps rated an ‘anti-tank assault platoon’ that, marvelous to say, looked a lot like the assault platoon of the last year of the Second World War.
The Anti-Tank Assault Squad
The addition of a second bazooka team made the new anti-tank assault squads larger, by two Marines, than the assault squads of 1945. The K-Series squad, moreover, traded the demolitions dyad of its predecessor for a pair of ammunition bearers.
Strange to say, the new squad rated far fewer shoulder arms than its organizational ancestor. Thus, while the G-Series allowed two carbines and a rifle to each assault squad, the K-Series limited anti-tank/assault squads to a single carbine. Thus, while the leader of an anti-tank/assault squad bore a shoulder-fired weapon, all of his subordinates carried pistols.
The Anti-Tank Assault Section
Like its ancestor, the K-Series anti-tank/assault platoon broke down into a small headquarters and three identical sections. Each anti-tank assault section, in turn, consisted of two interchangeable squads and a section leader.
In an assault section organized in accordance with the older establishments, the section leader wore the three stripes of a sergeant. In the latter incarnation of that outfit, he ranked as a staff sergeant.
This change reflected a general tendency within tables of organization of the late 1940s to place sergeants in front of most squads (and not just rifle squads) and staff sergeants in charge of most sections.
The Platoon Headquarters
The platoon headquarters of the K-Series antitank/assault platoon favored (as we say in Virginia) its forebear. Both types of unit featured a small leadership element (made up of a platoon leader and his platoon sergeant), a three-man repair shop (for fixing both flamethrowers and bazookas), and a modest motor pool.
That said, the two types of platoon headquarters differed in two important respects. For one thing, the motor pool of the older organization, which weighed in at three jeeps and five jeep drivers, towered over its descendant, which made do with two jeeps and two drivers. For another, the headquarters of the K-Series anti-tank/assault platoon received a sergeant who specialized in the care, preparation, and placement of explosive charges
Location
In addition to reviving the assault platoon, the authors of the K-Series tables of organization restored the weapons company to its rightful place in the infantry battalion. Thus, while the assault platoon of the last few months of the Great Pacific War hung its hat cover in the headquarters company, the heir to its legacy set up shop in the same neighborhood as the 81mm mortar platoon and a revived battalion-level machine gun platoon.
Numbers
An accountant might describe the anti-tank/assault platoon of 1949 as an assault platoon of 1945 that had traded a gain of twelve bazooka men and one demolitions sergeant for a loss of three jeep drivers, thereby enjoying a net increase of ten Marines. In other words, where the assault platoon of 1945 rated fifty-five Marines, the anti-tank assault platoon of 1949 was supposed to enjoy the services of sixty-four Soldiers of the Sea.
Source
John J. Sayen Battalion: An Organizational Study of United States Infantry (unpublished manuscript) Appendix 7
For Further Reading
I can’t help but ask if this is the military way of conducting a Beta/ Trial by exception. Scrub the TO&E and eliminate something for - say - cost reductions. Commanders now form ad hoc units out of hide. Training evaluations the following year confirm commanders need to redo Org chart. Three years later new TO&E with authorizations scrubbed 3 years ago. 😀
An inexorable law of actual combat is the destruction of rifle platoons replaced by heavy weapons infantry.
Marvelous to say.
Again.
And again.