Commandos
There are four battalion sized combat units within the Royal Marines. Of these, three are designated as "Commandos":
- 40 Commando
- 42 Commando
- 45 Commando
Until recently, Commandos were structured similarly to Army battalions, but beginning in the late 1990s, commandos were reorganised to meet the new challenges present after the end of the Cold War, and their formation structure and equipment now differs from that of British Army infantry battalions.
A commando is now commanded by a full colonel, as opposed to the lieutenant-colonels who command infantry battalions (and previously also commanded RM commandos).
In a commando, a Royal Marine is a member of "the team", a four-man fire team, the building block of commando operations. A Royal Marine works with his team in the field and lives with them in his accommodation (if he lives in barracks).
The three battalion-sized Royal Marine Commandos are each organized into six companies (themselves organised into platoon-sized troops) as follows:
- One Command Company
- One Logistic Company
- A Echelon 1 (A Ech1)
- A Echelon 2 (A Ech2)
- FRT
- RAP
- B Echelon (B Ech)
- Two Close Combat Companies
- Company Headquarters (Coy HQ)
- 3 Close Combat Troops (Troop HQ, 3 Rifle Sections, Manoeuvre Support Section)
- Two Stand Off Companies
- Company Headquarters (Coy HQ)
- Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) Troop (0.5" heavy machine guns)
- Anti-Tank Troop (Milan - to be replaced with Javelin)
- Close Combat Troop