Military organization

"Formation (military)" redirects here. For another use, see Parade (military).

A mixed aircraft and ship formation of military vehicles during ANNUALEX (Annual Exercise) with USN and JASDF vehicles.

A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a state as a need to offer military capability required by the national defence policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces. Armed forces that are not a part of the military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often mimic military organizations, or use ad hoc structures.

Military organization is hierarchical. The use of formalized ranks in a hierarchical structure came into widespread use with the Roman Army. In modern times, executive control, management and administration of military organizations is typically undertaken by the government through a government department within the structure of public administration, often known as a Department of Defense, Department of War, or Ministry of Defence. These in turn manage Armed Services that themselves command combat, combat support and service support formations and units.

Executive control, management and administration of military organizations

The usually civilian or partly civilian executive control over the national military organization is exercised in democracies by an elected political leader as a member of government's Cabinet, usually known as a Minister of Defence. (In presidential systems, such as the United States, the president is the commander-in-chief, and the cabinet-level defense minister is second in command.) Subordinated to that position will be Secretaries for specific major operational divisions of the armed forces as a whole, such as those that provide general support services to the Armed Services, including their dependents. Third in the chain of command will be the heads of specific departmental agencies responsible for provision and management of specific skill and knowledge based service such as Strategy advice, Capability Development assessment, or Defence Science provision of research, design and development of technologies. Within each departmental agency will be found administrative branches responsible for further agency business specialization work. For example the Strategy agency may have one branch producing advice on operational concepts while another may provide advice on operational methods, and a third branch would provide the synthesis of these in the application of joint operations by Armed Services.

Armed services

Militaries are generally grouped as Armed Services also called branches. Some nations also organize their marines and special forces as independent armed services. A nation's coast guard may also be an independent branch of its military, although in many nations the coast guard is a law enforcement or civil agency. The French military structure, which is copied in other nations, includes the three traditional services and a fourth service which is the Gendarmerie, an internal security service, in contrast to the United States whose armed forces are prohibited from enforcing the law.

It is worthwhile to make mention of the term joint. 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.

Commands, formations, and units

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 the Second World War a Command was also a name given to a battle group in the US Army, in general it is an administrative and executive strategic headquarters which is responsible to the national government or the national military headquarters. It is not uncommon for a nation's services to each consist of their own command (such as Land Force Command, Air Command, and Maritime Command in the Canadian Forces), but this does not preclude the existence of commands which are not service-based.

A formation is a composite military organization that includes a mixture of integrated and operationally attached sub-units, and is usually combat-capable. A formation is defined by the US Department of Defense as 'two or more aircraft, ships, or units proceeding together under a commander.' The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a formation as an 'arrangement or disposition of troops.' Formations include brigades, divisions, wings, etc.

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 integrated (self-contained). Anything smaller than a unit is considered a "sub-unit" or "minor unit".

Different armed forces, and even different branches of service of the armed forces may use the same name to denote different types of organizations. An example is the "squadron". In most navies a squadron is a formation of several ships; in most air forces it is a unit; in the U.S. Army it is a battalion-sized cavalry unit; and in Commonwealth armies a squadron is a company-sized sub-unit.

Table of organization and equipment

A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is a document published by the U.S. Department of Defense which prescribes the organization, manning, and equippage 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.

Hierarchy of modern armies

This 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. 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, Corps were first introduced in France in the 18th century, but have become integrated into the organization of most armies around the world. Readers interested in the detailed specifics of a national army (including the British and American) should consult the relevant entry for that country.

APP-6A Symbol	Name	Strength	Constituent units	Commander or leader
XXXXXX	region, theater, or front	1,000,000+	4+ army groups	general, army general, or field marshal
XXXXX	army group	250,000+	2+ armies	general, army general, or field marshal
XXXX	army	60,000–100,000+	2–4 corps	general, army general, or colonel general
XXX	corps	30,000–80,000	2+ divisions	Lieutenant General
XX	division	10,000–20,000	2–4 brigades or regiments	major general
X	brigade	2000–5000	2+ regiments, 3–6 battalions or Commonwealth regiments	brigadier general, brigadier or colonel
III	regiment or group	2000–3000	2+ battalions or U.S. Cavalry squadrons	colonel
II	infantry battalion, U.S. Cavalry squadron, or Commonwealth armoured regiment	300–1000	2–6 companies, batteries, U.S. Cavalry troops, or Commonwealth squadrons	lieutenant colonel
I	infantry company, artillery battery, U.S. Cavalry troop, or Commonwealth armour or combat engineering squadron	70–250	2–8 platoons or Commonwealth troops	chief warrant officer and captain or major
•••	platoon or Commonwealth troop	25–60	2+ squads, sections, or vehicles	warrant officer and first or second lieutenant
••	section or patrol	8–12	2+ fireteams	corporal to staff sergeant
•	squad or crew	8–16	2+ fireteams or 1+ cell	corporal to staff sergeant
Ø	fireteam	4–5	n/a	lance corporal to sergeant
Ø	fire and maneuver team	2	n/a	any/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.

Army, army group, region, and theatre are all large formations that vary significantly between armed forces in size and hierarchy position. While divisions were the traditional level at which support elements (field artillery, hospital, logistics and maintenance, etc.) were added to the unit structure, since World War II, many brigades are now have such support units, and since the 1980s, regiments also have been receiving support elements. A regiment with such support elements is called a regimental combat team in US military parlance, or a battle group in the UK and other forces.

During World War II the Red Army used the same basic organizational structure. However, in the beginning many units were greatly underpowered and their size was actually one level below on the ladder than usually used elsewhere; for example, a division in the early-WWII Red Army would have been about the size of most nations' regiments or brigades.[1] [2] At the top of the ladder, what other nations would call an army group, the Red Army called a front. By contrast, during the same period the German Wehrmacht Army Groups, particularly on the Eastern Front, such as Army Group Centre significantly exceeded the above numbers, and were more cognate with the Soviet Strategic Directions.

Hierarchy of modern navies

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.

Unit Name	Vessel types	No. of Vessels	Officer in command
Navy or Admiralty	All vessels in a navy	2+ Fleets	Fleet Admiral or Admiral of the Fleet or Grand Admiral
Fleet	All vessels in an ocean or general region	2+ Battle Fleets or Task Forces	Admiral
Battle Fleet or Task Force	A large number of vessels of all types	2+ Task Groups	Vice Admiral
Task Group	A collection of complementary vessels	2+ Task Units or Squadrons	Rear Admiral (upper half) or Rear Admiral
Squadron (naval) or Task Unit	Usually capital ships	A small number of vessels	Rear Admiral (lower half), Commodore, or Flotilla Admiral
Flotilla or Task Unit	Usually not capital ships	A small number of vessels, usually of the same or similar types	Rear Admiral (lower half), Commodore, or Flotilla Admiral
Task Element	A single vessel	One	Captain or Commander

Auxiliary ships are usually commanded by officers below the rank of captain. These vessels include corvettes, gunboats, minesweepers, patrol boats, military riverine craft, tenders and torpedo boats. Some destroyers, particularly smaller destroyers such as frigates (formerly known as destroyer escorts) are commanded by officers below the rank of captain as well. Usually, the smaller the vessel, the lower the rank of the ship's commander. For example, patrol boats are often commanded by ensigns, while frigates are rarely commanded by an officer below the rank of commander.

Historical 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.

Additionally, Naval organization continues aboard a single ship. The complement forms three or four departments, each of which is has a number of divisions.

Hierarchy of air forces

The organizational structures of air forces vary between nations: some air forces (such as the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force) are divided into commands, groups and squadrons; others (such as the Soviet Air Force) have an Army-style organizational structure.

Symbol (for Army structure comparison)	Unit Name (USAF/RAF)	No. of personnel	No. of aircraft	No. of subordinate units (USAF/RAF)	Officer in command (USAF/RAF)
XXXXXX +	Air Force	Entire air force	Entire air force	All Major Commands/Commands	General/Air Chief Marshal
XXXXX	Major Command/[no RAF equivalent]	Varies	Varies	By Region or Duty (subordinate units varies)	General/Air Chief Marshal
XX	Numbered Air Force/Command	By Region (subordinate units varies)	Varies	2+ Wing/Groups	Major General/Air Vice Marshal
X	Wing/Group or Station	1,000-5000	48-100	2+ Groups/Wings	Brigadier-General/Air Commodore/Group Captain
III	Group/Wing	300-1,000	17-48	3-10 Squadrons/3-4 Squadrons	Colonel/Group Captain/Wing Commander
II	Squadron	100-300	7-16	3-4 Flights	Lieutenant Colonel/Major/Squadron Leader
•••	Flight	20-100	4-6	2 Sections plus maintenance and support crew	Captain/Flight Lieutenant
••	Section (or Detail)	2-4	2-3	n/a	Junior Officer

Military formations

Aside from administrative hierarchical forms of organization that have evolved since the early 17th century in Europe, fighting forces have been grouped for specific operational purposes into mission-related organizations such as the German kampfgruppe during the Second World War, or the Soviet Operational manoeuvre group during the Cold War. In the British and Commonwealth armies the battlegroup became the usual grouping of companies during WWII and the Cold War.

Epics

Mahabharata War

Intricate rock carvings showing, Abhimanyu entering the Chakra vyuha.

At various times during battle, the supreme commander of either army ordered special formations ("vyuhas"). Each formation had a specific purpose; some were defensive while others were offensive. Each formation had its specific strengths and weaknesses. Mahābhārata' list the following military formations:

1. Krauncha vyuha (heron formation)
2. Makara vyuha (crocodile formation)
3. Kurma vyuha (tortoise or turtle formation)
4. Trishula vyuha (the trident formation)
5. Chakra vyuha (wheel or discus formation)
6. Kamala vyuha or Padma vyuha (lotus formation)
7. Garud vyuha (Eagle formation)
8. Oormi vyuha (Ocean formation)
9. Mandala vyuha (Galactic formation)
10. Vajra vyuha (diamond/ thunderbolt formation)
11. Shakata vyuha (Box/Cart formation)
12. Asura vyuha (Demon formation)
13. Deva vyuha (Divine formation)
14. Soochi vyuha (Needle formation)
15. Sringataka vyuha (Horned formation)
16. Chandrakala vyuha (Crescent/ Curved Blade formation)

It is not clear what the formations actually indicate. They may be formations bearing resemblance to animals, or they may be names given to strategies and formations.