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1-38. The Infantry squad fire team is designed to fight as a team and is the fighting element within the Infantry platoon. Infantry platoons and squads succeed or fail based on the actions of their fire teams.
1-39. The Infantry squad fire team is designed as a self-contained team. (See figure 1-2, page 1-12.) The automatic rifleman provides an internal base of fire with the ability to deliver sustained suppressive small arms fire on area targets. The rifleman provides accurate, lethal direct fire for point targets. The rifleman may be issued an SLM. The grenadier provides high explosive (HE) indirect fires for both point and area targets. A team leader leads his team by example.
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Go Back To: U.S. Army FM 3-21.8: The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad