Military organization

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Military organization (

In some countries, paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces, though not considered military. Armed forces that are not a part of military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often emulate military organizations, or use these structures.

History

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The use of formalized

In modern times, executive control, management and administration of military organization is typically undertaken by governments through a

Then there are the heads of specific departmental agencies responsible for the provision and management of specific skill- and knowledge-based services such as strategic advice, capability development assessment, or military science provision of research, and design and development of technologies. Within each departmental agency will be found administrative branches responsible for further agency business specialization work.

Military branches

In most countries, the armed forces are divided into three military branches (also service, armed service, or military service): army, navy, and air force.

Many countries have a variation on the standard model of three basic military branches. Some nations also organize their cyber force, emergencies service, medical service, military logistics, space force, marines, and special forces such as commandos or airborne forces as independent armed services. A nation's border guard or coast guard may also be an independent branch of its military, although in many nations border guard or coast guard is a civil law enforcement agency. A number of countries have no navy, for geographical reasons.

In larger armed forces, the cultures between the different branches of the armed forces can be quite different.

Most smaller countries have a single organization that encompasses all armed forces employed by the country in question. Armies of developing countries tend to consist primarily of infantry, while developed countries armies tend to have larger units manning expensive equipment and only a fraction of personnel in infantry units.

In western militaries, a joint force is defined as a unit or formation comprising representation of combat power from two or more branches of the military.

Internal security forces

It is common, at least in the European and North American militaries, to refer to the building blocks of a military as commands, formations, and units.

In a military context, a command is a collection of units and formations under the control of a single officer, although during

A formation is defined by the

A typical unit is a homogeneous military organization (either combat, combat-support or non-combat in capability) that includes service personnel predominantly from a single arm of service, or a branch of service, and its administrative and command functions are self-contained. Any unit subordinate to another unit is considered its sub-unit or minor unit. It is not uncommon in the United States for unit and formation to be used synonymously. In Commonwealth practice, formation is not used for smaller organizations such as battalions, which are instead called "units", and their constituent platoons or companies are referred to as sub-units. In the Commonwealth, formations are divisions, brigades, etc.

Different

A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is a document published by the U.S. Army Force Management Support Agency that prescribes the organization, manning, and equipage of units from divisional size and down, but also including the headquarters of Corps and Armies.

It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of a unit as well as the unit's current status. A general TOE is applicable to a type of unit (for instance, infantry) rather than a specific unit (the 3rd Infantry Division). In this way, all units of the same branch (such as infantry) follow the same structural guidelines.

Modern hierarchy

Army

The following table gives an overview of some of the terms used to describe army hierarchy in armed forces across the world. Whilst it is recognized that there are differences between armies of different nations, many are modeled on the British or American models, or both.^[4] However, many military units and formations go back in history for a long time, and were devised by various military thinkers throughout European history.

For example, the modern Corps was first introduced in France about 1805 by Napoleon as a more flexible tactical grouping of two or more divisions during the Napoleonic Wars.

NATO Symbol	Name	Nature	Strength	Constituent units	Commander or leader
	Combatant Command[5] or equivalent region[b][4] theater	Command	1,000,000–10,000,000	4+ army groups	OF-10: general, army general or colonel general
	front	Command	400,000–1,000,000[4]	2+ armies	OF-10 field marshal OF-9: general, army general, or colonel general
	field army or bureau of special operations [6]	Command	100,000–200,000	2–4 corps	OF-10: field marshal OF-9: general, army general, or colonel general OF 9: Lieutenant General
	corps or regional military command [7]	Formation	20,000–60,000	2+ divisions	OF-9: general or army general corps general, or colonel general[d] OF-7: major general[e]
	division or military operation command or armoured operation command [8]	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[f]OF-7: Brigadier general
	brigade or tactical operation command [9]	Formation	3,000–5,000[4]	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 (some countries for some arms only) squadron (US Cavalry) squadron (some countries for aviation) cohort	Unit	300–1,000	2–6 sub-units (companies or equivalent)	OF-4: lieutenant colonel
	artillery battery squadron (some countries for some arms only) U.S. cavalry troop centuria	Unit or Subunit	100–250	2–8 platoons or equivalent	OF-3: chief warrant officer
	staffel[10] or echelon[11]	Sub-subunit	50–90	2 platoons/troops or 6–10 sections	OF-2: master warrant officer
	platoon or equivalent troop (some countries for some arms only)	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

Rungs may be skipped in this ladder: for example, typically NATO forces skip from battalion to brigade. Likewise, only large military powers may have organizations at the top levels and different armies and countries may also use traditional names, creating considerable confusion: for example, a British or Canadian armored regiment (battalion) is divided into squadrons (companies) and troops (platoons), whereas an American cavalry squadron (battalion) is divided into troops (companies) and platoons. In the French system (used by many African countries) the company is divided into sections (platoons) composed of 3 x "groupes de combat" of 7 soldiers, plus a group of vehicle crews and a HQ that includes 2 x snipers.^{[citation needed]}

Naval organization at the flotilla level and higher is less commonly abided by, as ships operate in smaller or larger groups in various situations that may change at a moment's notice. However, there is some common terminology used throughout navies to communicate the general concept of how many vessels might be in a unit.

Navies are generally organized into groups for a specific purpose, usually strategic, and these organizational groupings appear and disappear frequently based on the conditions and demands placed upon a navy. This contrasts with army organization where units remain static, with the same men and equipment, over long periods of time.

The five-star ranks of

Historically, navies were far more rigid in structure. Ships were collected in divisions, which in turn were collected in numbered squadrons, which comprised a numbered fleet. Permission for a vessel to leave one unit and join another would have to be approved on paper.

The modern U.S. Navy is primarily based on a number of standard groupings of vessels, including the carrier strike group and the expeditionary strike group.^{[citation needed]}

Additionally, naval organization continues aboard a single ship. The complement forms three or four departments (such as tactical and engineering), each of which has a number of divisions, followed by work centers.

Air force

The organizational structures of air forces vary between nations: some air forces (such as the

as the formation between wings and the entire air command. Like the RAF, Canadian wings consist of squadrons.

NATO Symbol (for Army comparison)	Unit Name (USAF/RAF/Other air forces)	No. of personnel	No. of aircraft	No. of subordinate units (USAF/RAF)	Officer in command (USAF/RAF)
	Combatant Command[5] or national air force	Entire air force	Entire air force	All Major Commands / Commands	Air Chf Mshl
	Major Command / Command	Varies	Varies	Varies by Region or Duty	Air Chf Mshl
	No USAF equivalent/ Tactical Air Force / Air army[14]	Varies by Region or Duty	Varies	Varies by Region or Duty	Air Mshl
	Numbered Air Force/No RAF equivalent	Varies by Region or Duty	Varies	2+ Wings/Groups	Lt-Gen / N/A
	No USAF equivalent/No RAF equivalent /Aviation Division /Air division	Varies by Region or Duty	Varies	2+ Wings/Groups	Maj-Gen or Div-Gen
	EAGs ) /Russian aviation brigade/Air Brigade	1,000–5,000	48–200	2+ Groups/Wings	Air Cdre
	Station /Russian aviation regiment	300–1,000	17–48	3–4 Squadrons/3–10 Flights	Wg Cdr
	Squadron	100–300	7–16	3–4 Flights	Sqn Ldr
	Flight or flying staffel[15]	20–100	4–6	2 or more Sections plus maintenance and support crew	Flt Lt
	Staffel[16] or echelon[17]	40–160	6-12	1-2 Sections plus maintenance and support crew	Staff Captain
	Section	10–40	n/a–2	n/a	Senior NCO
	Element	8–12	n/a	n/a	Junior NCO
	Detail or crew	2–4	n/a	n/a	Junior NCO

Task force

A

Second World War

and the Cold War.

Within NATO, a

Joint Task Force

(JTF) would be such a temporary grouping that includes elements from more than one armed service, a Combined Task Force (CTF) would be such a temporary grouping that includes elements from more than one nation, and a Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) would be such a temporary grouping that includes elements of more than one armed service and more than one nation.

See also

• Chalk (military)
• Command and control
• Military administration

Explanatory notes