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"The Staff Weenies" get no respect at all. Except from me, who's going to write a whole lesson about them...
Every military formation needs someone to do administration. Even at squad level, there's always one guy designated to care for the maps, the code book, the radio and make sure everyone goes to the dentist on time. But at squad level, generally it's just the squad leader with his leader book and a fistful of Series 200 locks. The platoon sergeant transfers all the information out of the squad leaders' leader books, and up to company level where the company clerk and the supply sergeant are the "staff."
Battalion is where "staff" becomes formalized. There are generally four offices in the staff: S-1/Personnel, S-2/Intelligence and Security, S-3/Operations and Training, and S-4/Logistics. They are led by the battalion executive officer, and each office contains, at minimum, three people: the S-whatever officer, the NCOIC (Noncommissioned Officer in Charge) and the lower-enlisted guy who does all of the work. The officers are usually captains except for the S-3, who is a major. Brigade and battalion staff sections all start with S, for "small unit."
S-1: The S-1 officer is called the Battalion Adjutant. He or she is third in command of the battalion. Any personnel action--promotion, award, demotion, schools, whatever--goes through this office. It is the first place you stop when you report to a unit and the last place you stop when you sign out. The S-1 shop also handles public affairs in units that don't have dedicated public affairs officers--some do.
S-2: This office has either two or three functions, depending on whether the S-2 has enough room to store maps. If it does (which is not normally the case; I once saw an infantry battalion S-2 shop that was in a retired broom closet), it will be the map source, handle security clearances and classified information, and take care of security. By regulation, the people who work in here are Military Intelligence soldiers.
S-3: These people wear two hats. In peacetime they are the training office; in wartime, they're the operations office. A unit with a continuing real-world mission will have two offices, training and operations. S-3 also handles ammunition supply.
(Please note: you will occasionally run into a S-2/S-3 officer that does both of these functions. This officer is easily recognizable by huge bags under his eyes and a serious craving for strong drink. Being both the S-2 and the S-3 is too much responsibility for anyone, especially the lieutenant who's dumb enough to accept the job.)
S-4: Some old general once said he didn't know what logistics was, but he just knew he wanted some of it. Logistics is supply. S-4 owns several functions, including all the supply rooms, the arms rooms (yes, ammo and the weapons you shoot it from are handled by two different people) and the mess hall. However, the mess hall does its own ordering because the Class I warehouse works outside of the rest of the supply system.
While I'm here, let's talk supply classes. There are ten:
Class I: food
Class II: clothing and individual equipment
Class III: Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants, other fuels, and bulk chemicals
Class IV: construction materials
Class V: ammunition of all types
Class VI: personal demand items. Generally taken to mean liquor.
Class VII: Major end items. A vehicle would be issued in this class.
Class VIII: medical supplies
Class IX: repair parts
Class X: materiel to support nonmilitary programs, like rebuilding Iraq, that is not included in any other Class.
One officer we can't neglect doesn't have an S designation...the chaplain. Every battalion has access to one even though many units don't have their own chaplain.
At division and higher, staffs start with G for "general staff." At this level, all of the officers are detailed to the General Staff Branch, but the G-1 is really an Adjutant General officer, G-2 is an MI officer, the G-3 is whatever branch the division is (armor officer for armored division, infantry officer for all others) and the G-4 is a Quartermaster officer. There is also a G-5 (civil affairs), and this officer is branch immaterial--they can pick anyone. Now there's a G-6, which is Information Management. This is a signal officer. The new G-7 is in charge of Civil-Military Operations; this is a Civil Affairs officer. They recently split finance off the G-1 and assigned it to G-8, and this is a finance officer. All of these officers are lieutenant colonels led by the Chief of Staff, who is a colonel. At corps level and higher, the Chief of Staff is a Brigadier General and the G-section chiefs are colonels.
(Right now you're going "what is the difference between the G-5 and the G-7?" G-5 is in charge of winning hearts and minds. G-7 is in charge of coordination with the local police and other unlikely suspects.)
The G-3 is an interesting case: He has two sub-G-3 officers. One is the division operations officer (or Plans and Operations officer), the other the division training officer. Both of them are majors, preferably majors promotable.
One thing to know about the G-3: it is the breeding ground for future division commanders. There are plenty of brigade commanders--colonels--who have never been G-3; there are three maneuver brigade commanders in division and only one G-3. There are probably fifty lieutenant colonels in a division...still only one G-3.
Go past corps level and you see two more kinds of staffs: J and C. J means "joint"--Army and Navy, for instance. C is for "combined"--US working with the South Koreans, for instance.
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