Armies As Armed Services
Western armies are usually subdivided as follows:
- Corps: A Corps usually consists of two or more Divisions and is commanded by a Lieutenant General.
- Division: Each division is commanded by a Major General, and usually holds three Brigades including infantry, artillery, engineers and communications units in addition to logistics (supply and service) support to sustain independent action. Except for the Divisions operating in the mountains, all the Divisions have at least one armored unit, some have even more depending upon their functionality. The basic building block of all ground force combat formations is the infantry division. A typical division would hold three infantry brigades.
- Brigade: A Brigade is under the command of a Brigadier General or sometimes is commanded by a Colonel and comprises three or more Battalions of different units depending on its functionality. An independent brigade would be one that primarily consists of an artillery unit, an infantry unit, an armour unit and logistics to support its actions. Such a brigade is not part of any division and is under direct command of a corps.
- Battalion: Each battalion is commanded by a Colonel or sometimes by Lieutenant Colonel who commands roughly 500 to 750 soldiers. This number varies depending on the functionality of the regiment. A battalion comprises 3–5 companies (3 rifle companies, a fire support company and headquarters company) or its functional equivalent such as batteries (artillery) or squadrons (armour and cavalry), each under the command of a Major. The Company can be divided into platoons, each of which can again be divided into sections or squads (Terminology is nationality and even unit specific)..
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Famous quotes containing the words armed services, armies, armed and/or services:
“On the whole our armed services have been doing pretty well in the way of keeping us defended, but I hope our State Department will remember that it is really the department of achieving peace ...”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
“He could pause in his cross-examination, look at a man, projecting his face forward by degrees as he did so, in a manner which would crush any false witness who was not armed with triple courage at his breast,—and, alas! not unfrequently a witness who was not false.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“Men will say that in supporting their wives, in furnishing them with houses and food and clothes, they are giving the women as much money as they could ever hope to earn by any other profession. I grant it; but between the independent wage-earner and the one who is given his keep for his services is the difference between the free-born and the chattel.”
—Elizabeth M. Gilmer (1861–1951)