Militia Ranks

A question from a reader -
What are your thoughts on ranks for civilian training groups?

Excellent question.
I have seen groups that used military style ranks in great detail. I've also seen groups that went out of their way to avoid military style ranking structures. The one thing in common with all successful groups is that there will be a rank system in place of some sort.

The problem with military style ranking is not so much Stolen Valor, as it is people with overly inflated ranks. Contributor "Erik Hanson" at  this link has an excellent post on this very topic.

The problem with non military style ranking is that it doesn't sound as official, and there is little or no commonality. And make no mistake, over-inflated ranks will still exist in these structures, as well. Perhaps it's just human nature.

Food for thought.
Very few civilian training groups I have met could muster more than 30 to 50 individuals for an actual mission. Sure, most of them have numbers well above that, but many of those members are not in good enough shape to participate in any sort of physical mission. Hanson mentions the same in his post above.

A happy medium might be to elect a "Captain" as the leader of the 30 or so participants. Divided the participants into squads of approximately 10 people, each lead by a lieutenant and a sergeant. Divide each Squad into two or three fire teams, each with four to six men, and each led by a corporal. If a participant does not hold one of these ranks, then they could be referred to as a Rifleman or a Minuteman.