BR25196 U.S. Armored Infantryman Kneeling Alert, 1943-45

Each Rifle Squad in an Armored Infantry Platoon consisted of a Squad Leader, an Assistant Squad Leader, a Driver, and 9 Riflemen. The squad was mounted on a half-track, which was typically armed with at least one .30 Caliber Machine Gun and one .50 Caliber Machine Gun. The Driver was armed with an M3 Submachine gun and the rest of the squad with M1 Garands. Unlike a standard rifle squad, they were not issued a Browning Automatic Rifle (they would acquire BARs throughout the war to bolster firepower). It was thought that the machine guns mounted on half-tracks mitigated the need for the additional firepower. Indeed, the M2 .50 had great range, hit hard, and gave excellent covering fire from a parked vehicle.