US Marine Corps Rejigs Rifle Squad

choi

Sam Walker, One General's Bet on Reshaping the Marines; The 13-member rifle squad , a signature formation, was the best offense in history -- until technology and a new leader sealed its fate.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why ... -history-1530187200

Note:
(a) "The most brilliant tactical formation devised by any team in the last half-century isn't football's Packer sweep, basketball's triangle offense or anything else relating to sports.  It's the rifle squads of the United States Marine Corps.  No matter what hard-bitten corner of the world they’ve deployed to, the Marines have organized themselves into divisions [3 active and 1 reserve divisions], regiments, battalions, companies and platoons. The tip of this tail—the last infantry formation of substance—is a [rifle] squad of 13 Marines composed of a leader and a dozen riflemen grouped into three 'fire teams' of four."

I try hard but fail to find out advantages of a rifle squad of US Marine Corps.
(b) "Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller * * * the caretaker of a proudly insular warrior culture that has prevailed in decisive battles from Belleau Wood to Iwo Jima."

Battle of Belleau Wood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belleau_Wood
(June 1-26, 1918; table: strength: 2 US Marine divisions against 5 German divisions; section 3 Aftermath)
(c) "Not long after he joined the Marines in 1975, Gen. Neller says, his first commanding officer dubbed him the president of the 'I don't see why' club. As he climbed the ranks, his contrarian streak came with him. 'I was always the guy in the audience throwing the metaphorical Molotov cocktail,' he says.  Few resident gadflies ever get to the top; they ruffle too many feathers along the way. But when the commandant’s job opened in 2015" they chose him "for a disruptive CEO."

I don't see why not
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:I_don%27t_see_why_not
("Whenever there is a proposal, there is bound to be someone who says, Support. I don't see why not. Others will say Oppose. I don't see why")
() "Gen Neller concluded that each rifle squad needed two additional billets—an assistant squad leader and a squad systems operator focused on technology. Adding two people presented a problem, however: Marine squads were already unusually large. When Gen. Neller asked squad leaders if they thought they could manage 15 Marines at once, they said no.  In May, Gen Neller unveiled the most sweeping changes to Marine infantry combat organization in 70 years. Not only did he add those new billets, he decided to reduce a squad’s size to 12 by eliminating one Marine from each of its three fire teams."

billet (n): "POSITION, JOB"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billet