The issue of weapons was not as much related to rank as it was related to a soldier's position in their unit and its overall composition. Every unit in the Army had a unique table of organization and equipment (TO&E) that specified the unit's organization, the number of men, their ranks, their military occupational specialties, (with associated specification serial numbers) and the types and amounts of equipment from each of the seven Technical Services that were to be issued to the men or the unit as a whole. In general, officers and men who were not expected to partake in constant frontline combat or needed a relatively portable weapon that was not a submachine gun were at first issued M1911 pistols, later mostly replaced on a one-to-one basis by M1 carbines; high-level officers (generally majors and above) mostly continued to carry pistols only. Full-sized rifles (M1, M1903) were mostly issued to frontline infantrymen, engineers, and other like personnel, although most vehicle drivers and cooks were also issued them. Submachine guns, being compact weapons, were mostly issued to tank and vehicle crewmen. On paper, submachine guns were not very common as infantry weapons, only being widely issued to Ranger infantry units that needed a profusion of short-range firepower.

Here is the TO&E for a standard U.S. infantry rifle company, 7-17, dated 26 February 1944. The only changes between the versions of TO&E 7-17 dated 15 July 1943 and 26 February 1944 was a creep upwards in the rank of all squad and assistant squad leaders, as well as the increase in the number of bazookas from three to five and their movement from the weapons platoon headquarters to the company headquarters. Change 1 of 30 June 1944 added six M3 submachine guns and six BARs to the rifle company headquarters as unallocated weapons, to be distributed as the company commander saw fit.

Company Headquarters:

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1c	1542	Captain	Company commander
1c	1542	First Lieutenant	Executive officer
1c	1812	First Sergeant	" "
1c	824	Staff Sergeant	Mess
1c	821	Staff Sergeant	Supply
1gr	542	Sergeant	Communication
1ar	405	Corporal	Company clerk
1r	511	Technician Fifth Grade	Armorer-artificer
1ch	803	Pvt./Pfc.	Bugler
2r	060	Technician Fourth Grade	Cook
2r	060	Technician Fifth Grade	Cook
2r	060	Pvt./Pfc.	Cook's helper
3c	745	Pvt./Pfc.	Messenger
17r	521	Pvt./Pfc.	Basic

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	9
Gun, submachine, cal. .45, M3	6
Launcher, grenade, M7	1
Launcher, grenade, M8	1
Launcher, rocket, 2.36-inch, M9	5
Rifle, Browning, automatic, cal. .30, M1918A2	6
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	26
Radio set SCR-536	6
Reel equipment CE-11	2

Weapons Platoon:

Platoon Headquarters:

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1c	1542	First Lieutenant	Platoon commander
1c	1812	Technical Sergeant	Platoon sergeant
2gr	354	Technician Fifth Grade or Pvt./Pfc.	Driver, truck, light
2c	745	Pvt./Pfc.	Messenger

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	4
Gun, machine, Browning, HB, cal. .50, M2, flexible	1
Launcher, grenade, M7	2
Rifle, Browning, automatic, cal. .30, M1918A2	2
Trailer, 1/4-ton, 2-wheel, cargo	2d
Truck, 1/4-ton, 4x4	2d

60 mm Mortar Section:

Section Headquarters:

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1r	607	Staff Sergeant	Section leader
1c	745	Pvt./Pfc.	Messenger

• Equipment

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	1
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	1

Three Mortar Squads (each)

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1r	607	Sergeant	Squad leader
2c	607	Pvt./Pfc.	Ammunition bearer
1p	607	Pvt./Pfc.	Gunner, mortar
1p	607	Pvt./Pfc.	Gunner, mortar, assistant

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	2
Mortar, 60 mm, M2	1
Pistol, automatic, cal. .45, M1911A1	2
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	1

Light Machine Gun Section:

Section Headquarters:

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1gr	604	Staff Sergeant	Section leader
1c	745	Pvt./Pfc.	Messenger

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	1
Launcher, grenade, M7	1
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	1

Two Light Machine Gun Squads (each):

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1gr	604	Sergeant	Squad leader
2c	604	Pvt./Pfc.	Ammunition bearer
1p	604	Pvt./Pfc.	Gunner, machine gun
1p	604	Pvt./Pfc.	Gunner, machine gun, assistant

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	2
Gun, machine, Browning, cal. .30, M1919A6, flexible	1
Launcher, grenade, M7	1
Pistol, automatic, cal. .45, M1911A1	2
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	1

Three Rifle Platoons (each):

Platoon Headquarters:

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1c	1542	First or Second Lieutenant (one platoon commanded by First Lieutenant, two platoons commanded by Second Lieutenants)	Platoon leader
1r	745	Technical Sergeant	Platoon sergeant
1gr	745	Staff Sergeant	Platoon guide
2r	745	Pvt./Pfc.	Messenger

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Carbine, cal. .30, M1	1
Launcher, grenade, M7	1
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	4
Rifle, U.S. cal. .30, M1903A4 (sniper's)	1

Three Rifle Squads (each):

• Men:

Quantity	SSN	Rank	Role
1r	745	Staff Sergeant	Squad leader
1gr	745	Sergeant	Squad leader, assistant
7r (2gr)	745	Pvt./Pfc.	Rifleman
1b	746	Pvt./Pfc.	Rifleman, automatic
1r	746	Pvt./Pfc.	Rifleman, automatic, assistant
1r	746	Pvt./Pfc.	Ammunition bearer

• Equipment:

Equipment	Quantity
Launcher, grenade, M7	3
Rifle, U.S., cal. .30, M1	11
Rifle, Browning, automatic, cal. .30, M1918A2	1

• a: Also classification specialist (275)
• b: Armed with rifle, automatic, cal. .30
• c: Armed with carbine, cal. .30
• d: Battalion headquarters company is responsible for the company maintenance of vehicles assigned to this organization. Second echelon maintenance provided by service company
• g: Armed with launcher, grenade, M7. Three individuals per rifle squad will be armed with launcher, grenade, M7
• h: Armed with launcher, grenade, M8
• p: Armed with pistol, automatic, cal. .45
• r: Armed with rifle, cal. .30, M1, unless otherwise indicated. One individual per rifle platoon, as designated by rifle platoon leader, will be armed with rifle, cal. .30, M1903A4