The inclusion of the Submachine Gun Platoon at this level was indicative of the shift in Soviet doctrine at the time. Earlier in the war, submachine guns were typically used as machine gun replacements for when there weren't enough DP-27s to go around. However, later on, the Soviets made far greater use of submachine guns than any other power during World War II. The United States primarily issued them to

and had

by the mid-war. Submachine guns were often unofficially concentrated

, but this was the exception rather than the rule (and the M1 Garand was still their most prevalent arm in the rifle company). In the German rifle company, they were only

, although they did something similar to the Submachine Gun Platoon in the form of the