Rule of Three
The
Marine Corps uses what is called the '
Rule of Three' as a general
principle of management. Over many years of trial and error, the people in charge have found that most men can only keep track of three things at once. To those of you who may be thinking "Bah, I'm better than Marines then. Look at me: chewing gum, talking to friends, reading this node, and hurridly typing my nasty reply! That's four!" Well, this is three things during a combat situation; when you're shooting and being shot at. I consider it rather generous.
According to the Rule of Three, all
leaders should only be directly in charge of
three subordinates. At the bottom level is the
Rifleman, who isn't in charge of anyone. After that, there is the
Fireteam Leader, who is in charge of three Riflemen. The
Squad Leader is in charge of three Fireteam leaders; the
Platoon Sergeant is in charge of three Squad Leaders, and there are three platoons in a company.
Those with
military experience will see some small flaws in the practice of the Rule of Three (namely, the fourth, headquarters platoon which is in
my company), but in general it is adhered to, and works very well.