KJL's page

I am not from the USA and have no military background so forgive me if this is a silly question.

This year I have seen two TV series produced in the USA (one alternative universe and one complete fantasy) where military trainees have been grouped into small squads of three or four and rated as a group (to the extent in fantasy one where the squad member who didn't really want to be there screwed up to such an extent that he was dismissed from the service and his squad-mates were discharged with him).

My question is, is this just a figment of the screenwriters' imagination designed to provide a source of conflict and dramatic tension or do militaries (anywhere in the world, it's just that the USA is the source of these programmes) actually do this sort of thing? Perhaps a bit to encourage cooperation in the squad but it's been exaggerated?

Why do spaceships in movies always have landing skids/pads instead of wheels? It would make them a right pain in the neck to move around on the ground or in a hangar.

What does it mean when, say, a rat does 1d3-4 damage? Obviously it doesn't heal you when it bites(!) but multiplying for a critical multiplies the modifier too so a confirmed critical would be 2d3-8 which is still negative so it doesn't seem to be just to allow damage on a critical. I'm confused...