Headquarters and headquarters company (United States)

In United States Army units, a headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) is a company-sized military unit, found at the battalion level and higher. Considered one unit, a headquarters and headquarters company is two elements within one company: the headquarters element, comprising the unit's commander, executive officer, first sergeant, and additional staff; and the headquarters company. While a regular company consists of three or four platoons, an HHC consists of the headquarters element of a battalion, brigade, division, or higher level unit, as well as the headquarters company support personnel. As the headquarters personnel do not fall into the smaller units that report to them, the HHC is the unit to which they are administratively assigned. The average strength of an HHC is between 80 and 110 personnel; however, it can vary greatly based on the size of the supported headquarters.

In keeping with the Army's long-standing practice of referring to company-sized artillery units as "batteries" and company-sized cavalry units as "troops," the headquarters company element of an artillery battalion or higher is referred to as a headquarters and headquarters battery (HHB), and that of a cavalry squadron or higher is referred to as a headquarters and headquarters troop (HHT). Additionally, some high-level headquarters elements for special units are not company-sized, and instead are referred to as "detachments"; as a result, these units are formally referred to as headquarters and headquarters detachments (HHD).

Purpose

The mission of the headquarters company commander is to run the administrative, logistics, readiness, maintenance, and training functions needed to support the headquarters. The headquarters staff, in turn, support their higher echelon unit commander in commanding the unit (at the battalion, brigade, division, etc. level).