AVC companies could organize with a minimum of 44 officers and men. Companies offered for Confederate service needed almost twice that number, so any AVC company entering service needed to do two or three things --
1) hold on to most current members, and
2) recruit a lot of new members, or
3) arrange for a merger with another small AVC company.

A surprising number of AVC officers and men, even company captains, never entered Confederate service. Membes of the "Winston Rough and Readys" seem to fit the profile.