- The military is a heavily armed and highly organized force that is intended for Warfare. This includes components corresponding to personnel, logistics, administration, technology, equipment, and any physical areas they may occupy for their operations.
Military Branches
Aerial (The Air Force)
- Space Force - conducts military operations in outer space. Usually merged with the Air Force 1.
- This branch also usually manages ballistic missiles since missile rockets can cross the Karman line.
- Aside from missiles, this branch also handles military spacecraft — particularly those used for surveillance and communications.
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Air Force - the branch that conducts aerial warfare. They are responsible for:
- Maintaining air supremacy
- Performing strategic and tactical bombings
- Providing air support
- Performing aerial reconnaissance.
- Air Defense - Providing air defense mechanisms via anti-aircraft artillery, surface-to-air missiles, or anti-ballistic missiles.
- Air policing
- Air-sea rescues.
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Airborne Forces - ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into combat.
- Typically lack supplies for prolonged combat and so are used for establishing an air head.
- May also include infantry fighting vehicles that are airdropped.
Naval (The Navy)
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Deals with naval and amphibious warfare — those that are near, on, and under bodies of waters.
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Has roles in:
- Projection of force.
- Protecting sea lanes
- Handling pirates.
- Ferrying troops
- Attacking other navies.
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Brown-Water Navy - operates in rivers and coastlines.
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Blue-Water Navy - operates in open ocean.
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Green-Water Navy - operates somewhere in between brown and blue water navies
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Naval Aviation - the use of military air power deployed from navies.
Ground (The Army)
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Infantry - military personnel who engage in ground combat on foot.
- Light Infantry - lightly-equipped and more mobile types of infantry. They function as scouts, raiders or skirmishers, and they also served to screen the main military formation
- Heavy Infantry - heavily equipped infantrymen trained for frontal assaults and defenses. They are less mobile than light infantry but more powerful.
- Mountain Infantry - operates in mountains or similarly rough terrain.
- Motorized Infantry - consists of infantry transported by unarmored trucks.
- Mechanized Infantry - consists of infantry transported by an armored vehicle.
- Airborne Infantry - ground combat units carried airborne and dropped to the ground.
- Air Assault Infantry - consists of infantry that use VTOLs and helicopters to hold terrain.
- Marines - infantry trained to operate near the shore in support of naval operations such as by handling mutinies, boarding vessels, and providing manpower for raids onshore.
- Line Infantry - consists of infantry that operated in lines or echelons, particularly during the times when muskets and firing lines were used.
- Mounted Infantry - infantry that rode horses instead of marching. The traditional version of motorized infantry.
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Cavalry - soldiers who fought mounted on horseback.
- Light cavalry - consists of lightly armed and armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses. They were mainly for raiding, recon, screening, skirmishing, patrolling and tactical communications.
- Heavy cavalry - consists of heavily armored cavalry troops that are designed for performing shock attacks.
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Armored Corps - consists of personnel that conduct armored warfare — those that make use of tanks, APVs and other supporting units such as infantry and combat engineers.
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Artillery Corps - pertains to ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the power of infantry weapons. They are typically used for breaching fortifications or providing additional support
- Horse Artillery - supporting cavalry that towed artillery with them.
- Foot Artillery - main artillery that used guns, mortars and rockets.
- Garrison Artillery - artillery that operated on fixed defenses, able to provide heavy artillery to the field army.
- Mountain Artillery - artillery that operated in the mountains, usually similar to horse artillery.
- Naval Artillery - artillery that is handled by naval parties.
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Signal Corps - responsible for military communications such as through flags, radio, telephone or digital communications
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Special Forces - military units trained to conduct special operations — those that require unconventional techniques and modes of employment. They typically offer capabilities for
- Airborne operations
- Counter-insurgency
- Counter terrorism
- Foreign internal defense
- Covert ops
- Direct action
- Hostage rescue
- High Value Target Manhunt
- Intelligence Operations
- Mobility Operations
- Sabotage and Demolition
- Training of other states’ military forces
- Unconventional Warfare
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Military Police - law enforcement agencies associated with the military. They have roles in
- Force Protection — protect military personnel, family members , and other military assets
- Convoy security
- Screening
- Rear reconnaissance
- Counterinsurgency
- Logistic Traffic Management
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Medical Corps - the branch responsible for providing medical care for military personnel.
Others
- Border guard - performs border security (on land and on the shore), and rescue service duty.
- Coast guard - performs maritime security operations as well as search and rescue operations.
- Cyber force - performs operations involving cyberspace and cyberwarfare.
- Gendarmerie - armed forces responsible for the internal security of the territory, as well as functioning similar to military police.
- Logistics - moves supplies and maintains the military forces. Deals with:
- Designing methods for handling materiel
- Transportation of personnel.
- Acquisition or construction, maintenance, operation and disposition of facilities
- Acquisition or furnishing of services
- Medical and health service support
- Military Reserve Force - personnel that are available when the military requires additional manpower, but are otherwise held in reserve as civilians.
Irregular Military
- Pertains to non-standard military components that employ irregular military tactics — typically focusing on small engagements
- Auxilaries - allied troops that supplement the regular army.
- Bandit - organized crime that has the character of a resistance movement.
- False flags - troops of one side dressing like troops of another side to eliminate or discredit the latter and its support
- Fifth Column - a group that carries out sabotage, disinformation, espionage or terrorism within a group that responds to external enemies.
- Franc-tireur - a combatant that participates in the war illegally.
- Freedom Fighter - views their main cause as freedom for themselves or others.
- Guerilla - someone using unconventional military tactics.
- Insurgent - tends to refer to underground groups.
- Levies - feudal peasants liable to be called up for short-term military duty.
- Mercenary - someone not in the national army, and otherwise uninterested but becomes involved for monetary motives or personal gain.
- Militia - ordinary citizens taking up arms.
- Montoneras - generally cavalry derived from units in local areas.
- Paramilitary - has organization similar to the military but it is not officially part of the military.
- Partisan - generally refers to members of resistance movements against the Axis Powers.
- Private Army - combatants with an allegiance to a private entity.
- Privateer - a for profit private person authorized by the government to attack foreign vessels during wartime and disrupt enemy logistics in peacetime often in the open sea.
- Revolutionary - someone part of a revolution
- Terrorist - irregular military force that targets non-combatants or civilians for political leverage.
Military Organization
Air Force Organization
| Unit Name | No of personnel | No of aircraft | No of subordinate units | Officers in command |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant Command or national air force | Entire air force | Entire air force | All Major Commands / Commands | GAF / MRAF or Air Chf Mshl |
| Major Command/Command or Tactical Air Force | Varies | Varies | Varies by Region or Duty | Gen/Air Chf Mshl or Air Mshl |
| Numbered Air Force | Varies by Region or Duty | Varies | 2+ Wings/Groups | Maj-Gen or Lt-Gen / N/A |
| Aviation Division / Air Division Varies by Region or Duty | Varies | 2+ Wings/Groups | Maj-Gen or Div-Gen | |
| Wing/Group (inc. Exploratory Air Groups) / Air Brigade | 1,000–5,000 | 48–100 | 2+ Groups/Wings | Brig-Gen/AVM or Air Cdre |
| Group/Wing (inc. EAWs) or Station | 300–1,000 | 17–48 | 3–4 Squadrons/3–10 Flights | Col/Gp Capt or Wg Cdr |
| Squadron | 100–300 | 7–16 | 3–4 Flights | Lt Col or Maj/Wg Cdr or Sqn Ldr |
| Staffel / Echelon | 40–160 | 6-12 | 1-2 Flights plus maintenance and support crew | Capt or Staff Captain |
| Flight | 20–100 | 4–6 | 2 Sections plus maintenance and support crew | Capt/Sqn Ldr or Flt Lt |
| Element or Section | 5–20 | n/a–2 | n/a | Junior Officer or Senior NCO |
| Detail | 2–4 | n/a | n/a | Junior NCO |
Army Organization
| Unit Name | No of personnel | No of subordinate units | Officers in command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant Command | 1,000,000–10,000,000 | 4+ army groups | OF-10: field marshal OF-9: general, army general or colonel general |
| Army Group | 400,000–1,000,000 | 2+ armies | OF-10 field marshal OF-9: general, army general, or colonel general |
| Field Army Command | 100,000–200,000 | 2–4 corps | OF-10: field marshal OF-9: general, army general, or colonel general |
| Corps Formation | 20,000–60,000 | 2+ divisions | OF-9: general or army general OF-8: lieutenant general, corps general, or colonel general OF-7: major general |
| Division Formation | 6,000–25,000 | 2–8 brigades or regiments | OF-8: lieutenant general OF-8 or OF-7: divisional general OF-7: major general or OF-6: senior colonel |
| Brigade Formation | 3,000–5,000 | 2+ regiments or groups, or 3–8 battalions or equivalent | OF-7: major general OF-7 or OF-6: brigade general OF-6: brigadier, brigadier general, senior colonel OF-5: colonel |
| Regiment or group Unit | 1,000–3,000 | 2+ battalions or equivalent | OF-5: colonel |
| Battalion or equivalent regiment squadron cohort Unit | 300–1,000 | 2–6 sub-units (companies or equivalent) | OF-4: lieutenant colonel |
| Company or equivalent artillery battery squadron cohort Unit or Subunit | 100–250 | 2–8 platoons or equivalent | OF-3: major OF-2: captain OR-9: chief warrant officer |
| Staffel or echelon Sub-subunit | 50–90 | 2 platoons/troops or 6–10 sections | OF-2: captain or staff captain OR-8: warrant officer or master warrant officer |
| Platoon or equivalent troop Sub-subunit | 20–50 | 2+ Section, or vehicles | OF-1: first or second lieutenant OR-7: warrant officer |
| Section or patrol | 12–24 | 2–3 squads or 3–6 fireteams | OR-6: staff sergeant OR-5: sergeant |
| Squad | 6–12 | 2–3 fireteams or 1+ cell | OR-5: sergeant OR-4: corporal |
| Team or crew | 2–4 | n/a | OR-3: lance corporal to OR-5: sergeant OR-2: private first class |
Navy Organization
| Unit Name | No of vessels | No of subordinate units | Officers in command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant Command (US) or Navy or Admiralty | All vessels in a navy | 2+ Fleets | Fleet Admiral, Admiral of the Fleet, Grand Admiral or Admiral |
| Fleet | All vessels in an ocean or general region | 2+ Battle Fleets | Admiral or Vice Admiral |
| Battle Fleet (US, 1922-1941) | A large number of vessels of all types | 2+ Task Forces | Vice Admiral |
| Task Force or Carrier strike group (US) | A collection of complementary vessels | 2+ Task Groups, Divisions or Flotillas | Rear Admiral (upper half) or Rear Admiral |
| Division or Task Group | Usually capital ships | 2+ large vessels | Rear Admiral (lower half), Commodore, or Division Admiral |
| Flotilla or Task Group | A small number of vessels, usually of the same or similar types | 2+ Squadrons | Rear Admiral (lower half), Commodore, or Flotilla Admiral |
| Squadron or Task Unit | Small vessels | A small number of vessels, usually of the same or similar types | Captain or Commander |
| Task Element | A single vessel | One | Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander or Lieutenant |