Military unit

From Free net encyclopedia

A military unit is an organisation within an armed force. It may consist of any number of soldiers, ships, vehicles, or aircraft. Armies, navies, and air forces, are organised hierarchically into groups of various sizes for functional, tactical and administrative purposes.

Technically, a unit is a homogeneous military organisation, such as a battalion (infantry), or regiment (cavalry), and its administrative and command functions are considered to be at the unit level. Smaller organisations (companies, platoons, sections), are minor units, as opposed to battalions and regiments, which are major units.

Larger military organisations (brigades and higher) are formations. A formation is a collection of separate units, each with their own command structures.

The specific composition of a military organisation is sometimes called an "Order of Battle" or Orbat for short.

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Hierarchy of military organisation

This article gives an overview of some of the terms used to describe military units in armed forces across the world. Whilst it is recognised that there will be differences between armies of different nations, it seems that a large proportion are modelled on the British and/or American models. Readers interested in the detailed specifics of a national army (including the British and American) should consult the relevant entry for that country.

Symbol	Name	No. of personnel	No. of subordinate units	Officer in command
XXXXXX	region or theatre	many	2+ army groups	general or field marshal
XXXXX	army group	many	2+ armies	general or field marshal
XXXX	army or Red Army front	50-60,000+	2+ corps	general or field marshal
XXX	corps or Red Army army	30,000+	2+ divisions	lieutenant general
XX	division	10,000–20,000	2-4 brigades or regiments	major general
X	brigade	2000–5000	2+ regiments or 3–6 battalions or Commonwealth regiments	brigadier general, brigadier or colonel or major general
III	regiment or group	2000–3000	3–4 battalions	colonel
II	battalion or Commonwealth regiment	300–1000	2–6 companies or squadrons	lieutenant colonel
I	company or squadron	60–250	2–6 platoons or troops	captain or major
•••	platoon or troop	30–40	2+ squads or sections	first or second lieutenant
••	section or patrol	8–12	2+ fireteams	corporal to staff sergeant
•	squad or crew	8–12	2+ fireteams	corporal to staff sergeant
Ø	fireteam	4–5	n/a	lance corporal to sergeant
Ø	fire and maneuvre team	2	n/a	any

Rungs may be skipped in this ladder: for example, in the UK the battalion can be a regiment-sized formation, though in some arms, such as the infantry, it is a purely administrative grouping of battalions. Likewise, only large military powers may have organisations at the top levels (for example, today, Canada's largest organisation is at the division level).

Army, army group and theatre are all large formations which vary significantly between armed forces in size and hierarchy position.

Different arms and countries may also use traditional names, creating considerable confusion: for example, a British or Canadian armoured regiment (battalion) is divided into squadrons (companies) and troops (platoons), whereas an American cavalry squadron (battalion) is divided into troops (companies) and platoons.

[edit]

Military unit

From Free net encyclopedia

Hierarchy of military organisation

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