U.S. Marine Machine Gun Section of 2026 (M240B)

The U.S. Marine Machine Gun Section per the most recently published doctrine.

Unlike the U.S. Army (which has maintained a rifle platoon-level Weapons Squad employing MMGs and sometimes anti-tank since the M60 was introduced) the U.S. Marines have always had a more classically structured rifle company-level Weapons Platoon that includes a Machine Gun Section. This section consists of 3 squads, and each squad has 2 M240B teams for 6 total per weapons platoon/rifle company. While the Marines' M240Bs have some outward changes similar to the Army's M240L, they do not use M240Ls. One easy way to tell the difference is in the grip assemblies look noticeably different. Gunners are also armed with M18 pistols, whereas I believe the Army prefers the longer M17 in this role. I depict the other team members as being armed with M4 Carbines with suppressors. In reality different units may use a different mix of M4 vs. M27 IAR, but unlike Rifle Squads the M27 is not universal in this role. The M4 has the advantage of being lighter and slightly less bulky. Although I've been told in some roles that require longer range observation, such as in mortars, some members may use the M27 + Squad Common Optic (VCOG) combo (although there are certainly photos of the SCO on the M4 too).

The section is configured for 1 MG squad to be attached to each Rifle Platoon. This means in most cases a USMC Rifle Platoon will have the same number of M240s available as a US Army Light Infantry Rifle Platoon, although via task organization instead of organically. An advantage of centralizing any weapon system is centralizing the know-how during training. Centralization is sometimes a strategy to address low performance of a low density asset, like the 2 machine gun teams in a Rifle Platoon. It also more readily enables the machine guns to be employed in a company-level support by fire under the planning of the Weapons Platoon Cmdr (the company FSCOORD), which was a fixture of previous doctrine although I’m not sure how often that’s done. However, it does conceivably limit cross-training opportunities on the weapon system. In the U.S. Army the 11B does every dismounted role in an infantry unit except for mortars, while in the U.S. Marines machine gunners are currently their own MOS (0331). Whether one system produces better or more focused machine gunners than the other is very much not for me to judge.

However, I definitely believe that the U.S. Marine MG Team structure is superior because they retain an ammo bearer. The U.S. Army dropped the ammo bearer (AB) from its TO&E a while back which is a limitation. The U.S. Marine doctrine also more realistically establishes Gun Team Leaders. While the 75th Ranger Regiment has the Gun Team Leader (GTL) as a junior Ranger School graduate who directs the gunner, in the rest of the Army the higher ranking soldier in a Machine Gun Team is usually MTOE'd as the Gunner with the junior member of the team as an Assistant Gunner. There's a sort of historical practice of the more experienced member of a 2-man being the operator. The assistant is the brains of the machine gun, though, so the way the Marines and Rangers have their teams set up makes more sense.

Other than new gear, the main substantative difference between this current section and the legacy section is they used to have a Staff Sergeant Section Leader in the manual. The current manual omits the Section Leader explicitly, actually writing "No Section Leader". Some units seem to try and resource a separate Section Leader when they can, but I’m told most sections don’t have the manning to do it even if they wanted to. However, I don't have access to proper U.S. Marine T/Os, so it could be in there. The vibe I get is the Marines are a lot less likely to actually read their T/Os than the Army does with their MTOEs (I'm told because the Army is more obsessive about property) and Marine manuals are generally leave a lot more to the imagination than Army manuals, so if they want and can afford a Section Leader they'll have one.