How many men were in a platoon in the Vietnam War?

Answer 1

It didn't matter what outfit (unit), they all were organized to Army TO & E (standards). The 101st didn't have any armor assigned to them, they were strictly a leg outfit (LEG meant no M-113 APC/ACAVs-Armored Personnel Carriers/Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles); however, all units had armor temporarily attached or OPCON to them at one time or another (Operationally Controlled). Leg outfits traditionally had about about 12 grunts to a squad. A platoon was supposed to be around 40 men; a Rifle Company approximately 186 men...but real world was about a hundred man company. If a unit was short men, and a battle was coming up, higher would always supplement the units getting ready to engage by grabbing men from non-engaged outfits and putting them into the group getting ready to do the attacking/assaulting. Then, when the fight was over, the survivors would return to their parent unit. We all wore "green" (we all wore the same uniform), so it didn't matter (too much) which patch we had sewn on our shoulder; few men had patches sewn on their shoulders...unless they were new in country.

Answer 2

A US Infantry platoon might consist of about 40 men. A US tank platoon in Vietnam was five Patton tanks: each tank had a complement of 4 crewmen; 20 men per tank platoon.

Answer 3

30