Knowledge of Military
Knowledge of Military
A military, also known collectively as armed
forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended
for warfare. It is typically officially authorized and maintained by
a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military
uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as
an army, navy, air force, space force, marines,
or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as
defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats.
In broad usage, the terms armed forces and military are
often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is
sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military
and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular
military forces, not belonging to a recognized
state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are
less often referred to as simply military.
A nation's military may function as a discrete social subculture,
with dedicated infrastructure such as military housing, schools,
utilities, logistics, hospitals, legal
services, food production, finance, and banking services. Beyond warfare, the
military may be employed in additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned functions
within the state, including internal security threats, population
control, the promotion of a political
agenda, emergency services and reconstruction, protecting corporate economic interests, social ceremonies and national
honour guards.
The profession of soldiering as part of a military is older than recorded
history itself Some of the most enduring
images of classical antiquity portray
the power and feats of its military leaders.
The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC
was one of the defining points of Pharaoh Ramses II's reign, and his monuments commemorate it in bas-relief. A thousand years later, the first emperor
of unified China, Qin Shi Huang, was so determined to impress the gods with his military
might that he had himself buried with an army of terracotta
soldiers The Romans paid considerable attention to military matters,
leaving to posterity many treatises and
writings on the subject, as well as many lavishly carved triumphal
arches and victory columns.
Etymology and definitions
The first recorded use of the word military in English,
spelled militarie, was in 1582 It comes from the Latin militaris (from
Latin miles, meaning "soldier") through French, but is of
uncertain etymology, one suggestion being derived from *mil-it- –
going in a body or mass
As a noun, the military usually refers generally to a country's
armed forces, or sometimes, more specifically, to the senior officers who
command them. In general, it refers to the physicality of armed forces,
their personnel, equipment, and
the physical area which they occupy.
As an adjective, military originally referred only to soldiers
and soldiering, but it soon broadened to apply to land forces in general, and
anything to do with their profession The names of both the Royal Military Academy (1741) and United States Military
Academy (1802) reflect this. However, at about
the time of the Napoleonic Wars,
'military' began to be used in reference to armed forces as a whole, such as 'military
service', 'military intelligence', and 'military history'.
As such, it now connotes any activity performed by armed force personnel.
History
Military history is often considered to be the history of all
conflicts, not just the history of the state militaries. It differs somewhat
from the history of
war, with military history focusing on the people
and institutions of war-making, while the history of war focuses on the
evolution of war itself in the face of changing technology, governments, and
geography.
Military history has a number of facets. One main facet is to
learn from past accomplishments and mistakes, so as to more effectively wage
war in the future. Another is to create a sense of military tradition, which is used to create cohesive military forces.
Still, another may be to learn to prevent wars more effectively. Human
knowledge about the military is largely based on both recorded and oral
history of military conflicts (war), their
participating armies and navies and, more recently, air forces.
Organization
Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of
the armed forces of
a state so as to offer such military
capability as a national defense
policy may require. 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 mimic military organizations, or use ad
hoc structures, while formal military
organization tends to use hierarchical forms.
History
he 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 organization is typically undertaken by governments
through a government
department within the structure of public
administration, often known as a ministry
of defence or department of defense. These in turn
manage military branches that
themselves command formations and units specialising in combat, combat
support and combat-service support.
Executive control, management and
administration
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 the
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 are often secretaries for specific major operational divisions of the
armed forces as a whole, such as those that provide general support services to
the military, including their dependants.
Then there are the heads of specific departmental agencies
responsible for the provision and management of specific skill- and
knowledge-based service 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 marines, special
forces or strategic missile 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. A number of countries have no navy, for geographical reasons.
In larger armed forces the culture 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.
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.
Internal security forces
Gendarmeries, including equivalents such as internal
troops, paramilitary forces and similar, are an internal security service
common in most of the world, but uncommon in countries with English common
law histories where civil police are employed
to enforce the law, and there are tight restrictions on how the armed forces
may be used to assist.
Commands, formations, and units
"Military formation" redirects here. For the
arrangement or deployment of moving military forces, see Tactical
formation.
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 Component, Air Component,
Naval Component, and Medical Component in the Belgian Army), but this does not preclude the existence of commands
which are not service-based.
A formation is defined by the US Department of Defense as "two or more aircraft, ships, or units
proceeding together under a commander".[1] Formin in
the Great Soviet Encyclopedia emphasised
its combined-arms nature: "Formations are those military organisations
which are formed from different speciality Arms and Services troop units to
create a balanced, combined combat force. The formations only differ in their
ability to achieve different scales of application of force to achieve
different strategic, operational and tactical goals and mission
objectives." It is a composite military organization that includes a
mixture of integrated and operationally attached sub-units, and is usually
combat-capable. Example of formations include: divisions, brigades, battalions, wings, etc.
Formation may also refer to tactical formation, the physical arrangement or disposition of troops and
weapons. Examples of formation in such usage include: pakfront, panzerkeil, testudo
formation, 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 self-contained. Any unit
subordinate to another unit is considered its sub-unit or minor unit. It is not
uncommon for unit and formation to be used synonymously in the United States.
In Commonwealth of Nations practice,
formation is not used for smaller organizations like 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 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. 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.
Army hierarchy
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. 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.
|
APP-6A Symbol |
Name |
Nature |
Strength |
Constituent units |
Commander or leader |
|
Combatant Command or
equivalent |
Command |
1,000,000–10,000,000 |
4+ army groups |
OF-10: field
marshal |
|
|
army group or
equivalent |
Command |
400,000–1,000,000 |
2+ armies |
OF-10 field marshal |
|
|
army |
Command |
100,000–200,000 |
2–4 corps |
OF-10: field marshal |
|
|
corps |
Formation |
20,000–50,000 |
2+ divisions |
OF-9: army general[b] |
|
|
division, legion |
Formation |
6,000–25,000 |
2–4 brigades or regiments |
OF-7 or OF-8: lieutenant
general or divisional general |
|
|
brigade |
Formation |
3,000–5,000 |
2+ regiments or groups, or |
OF-6 or OF-7: major general
or Brigade general |
|
|
regiment or
group |
Unit |
1,000–3,000 |
2+ battalions or equivalent |
OF-5: colonel |
|
|
battalion or
equivalent |
Unit |
300–1,000 |
2–6 sub-units (companies or
equivalent) |
OF-4: lieutenant
colonel |
|
|
company or
equivalent |
Unit or |
80–250 |
2–8 platoons or equivalent |
OF-3: Major |
|
|
Sub-subunit |
50-90 |
2 platoons/troops or 6-10
sections |
OF-2: captain or Staff Captain |
||
|
platoon or
equivalent |
Sub-subunit |
26–55 |
2+ Section, or vehicles |
OF-1: first or second lieutenant |
|
|
section or patrol or French "groupe de combat" |
- |
8–24 |
1–2+ squads or 3–6 fireteams |
OR-6: staff
sergeant |
|
|
squad or
crew |
- |
8–12 |
2–3 fireteams or 1+ cell |
OR-5: sergeant |
|
|
fireteam or cell, fire and maneuver team |
- |
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
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 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 battlegroup in
the UK and other forces. Canadian Army doctrine also includes the combat
team which is a company of infantry augmented
with tanks, or a squadron of tanks augmented with infantry, or the combination
of a full company of infantry with a full squadron of tanks.
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 that is 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. 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.
Naval hierarchy
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, 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 |
A large number of vessels of
all types |
2+ Task
Forces |
Vice Admiral |
|
Task Force or Strike
Group |
A collection of complementary
vessels |
2+ Task
Groups, Divisions or Flotillas |
Rear Admiral (upper half) or Rear Admiral |
|
Division or Task
Group |
2+ large vessels |
Usually capital
ships |
Rear Admiral (lower half), Commodore,
or Division Admiral |
|
Flotilla or Task
Group |
2+ Squadrons |
A small number of vessels,
usually of the same or similar types |
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 |
The five-star ranks of admiral of the fleet and
fleet admiral have largely been out of regular use since the 1990s, with the
exception of ceremonial or honorary appointments. Currently, all major navies
are commanded by an admiral (four-star
rank) or vice-admiral (three-star
rank) depending on relative size. Smaller naval forces, such as the RNZN, or those navies that are effectively coast
guards, are commanded by a rear-admiral (two-star rank), commodore (one-star rank) or even a captain.
Aircraft
carriers are typically commanded by a
captain. Submarines and destroyers are typically commanded by a captain or commander.
Some destroyers, particularly smaller destroyers such as frigates (formerly known as destroyer escorts) are usually commanded by officers with the rank of
commander. Corvettes, the smallest
class of warship, are commanded by officers with the rank of commander or lieutenant-commander. Auxiliary ships, including gunboats, minesweepers, patrol
boats, military riverine craft, tenders and torpedo boats are usually commanded by lieutenants, sub-lieutenants or warrant
officers. 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 (such as tactical and
engineering), each of which has a number of divisions, followed by work
centers.
Air Force hierarchy
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.
The modern Royal Canadian Air Force uses Air
division as the formation between wings and
the entire air command. Like the RAF, Canadian wings consist of squadrons.
|
NATO Symbol |
Unit Name |
No. of personnel |
No. of aircraft |
No. of subordinate units |
Officer 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/No
RAF equivalent |
Varies by Region or Duty |
Varies |
2+ Wings/Groups |
Maj-Gen or Lt-Gen / N/A |
|
|
No USAF equivalent/No RAF
equivalent |
Varies by Region or Duty |
Varies |
2+ Wings/Groups |
Maj-Gen or Div-Gen |
|
|
Wing/Group (inc. EAGs) |
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 |
|
|
Flight or
flying staffel |
20–100 |
4–6 |
2 Sections plus maintenance and support crew |
Maj or Capt/Sqn Ldr or Flt Lt |
|
|
No USAF equivalent/No RAF
equivalent |
40–160 |
6-12 |
1-2 Flights plus maintenance and support crew |
Capt or Staff
Captain |
|
|
Element or Section |
10–40 |
n/a–2 |
n/a |
Junior Officer or Senior
NCO |
|
|
Detail |
8–12 |
n/a |
n/a |
Senior NCO or Junior
NCO |
|
|
squad or
crew |
2–4 |
n/a |
n/a |
Junior NCO |
Task force
A task
force is a unit or formation created as a
temporary grouping for a specific operational purpose. 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 or the U.S. Combat Team (Army) and Task Force
(Navy) 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 the 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.
Notes
1.
In the
United States it is a common misunderstanding that their armed forces are
totally prohibited from doing so by the Posse Comitatus Act. The Act, which reserves to
Congress the power to employ federal military force to enforce law and order,
refers specifically only to the US Army and US
Air Force. The US
Marines and Navy are separately
regulated, and the Coast Guard has a clear law enforcement role in its peacetime
status. The state-controlled Army National Guard (technically a branch of
the US Army) is also excluded from the Posse Comitatus Act. The Insurrection
Act specifically
permits the president to use federal military force to restore public order in
extreme emergency situations: the Act was implemented during the "Rodney
King Riots" in
Los Angeles.
2.
Some
countries such as Brazil.
3.
Eastern Bloc
Personnel and units
Despite the growing importance of military technology, military activity depends above all on people. For
example, in 2000 the British Army declared: "Man is still the first weapon
of war.
Rank and role
The military organization is characterized by a strict command hierarchy divided by military rank, with ranks normally
grouped (in descending order of authority) as officers (e.g. Colonel), non-commissioned officers (e.g. Sergeant), and personnel at the
lowest rank (e.g. Private
Soldier).
While senior officers make strategic decisions, subordinated military personnel
(soldiers, sailors, marines, or airmen) fulfil them. Although
rank titles vary by military
branch and
country, the rank hierarchy is common to all state armed forces worldwide.
In addition to their rank, personnel occupy one of many trade
roles, which are often grouped according to the nature of the role's military
tasks on combat operations: combat roles (e.g. infantry), combat support roles (e.g. combat
engineers),
and combat service support roles (e.g.
logistical support).
Recruitment
Personnel may be recruited or conscripted, depending on the system chosen by the
state. Most military personnel are males; the minority proportion of female
personnel varies internationally (approximately 3% in India, 10% in the
UK, 13% in Sweden, 16% in the US, and 27% in
South Africa). While two-thirds of states now recruit or conscript only adults,
as of 2017 50 states still relied partly on children under the age of 18
(usually aged 16 or 17) to staff their armed forces.
Whereas recruits who join as officers tend to be upwardly-mobile, most enlisted
personnel have a childhood background of relative socio-economic deprivation For example, after
the US suspended conscription in 1973, "the military disproportionately
attracted African American men, men from lower-status socioeconomic
backgrounds, men who had been in nonacademic high school programs, and men
whose high school grades tended to be low". However, a study released in 2020 on the
socio-economic backgrounds of U.S. Armed Forces personnel suggests that they
are at parity or slightly higher than the civilian population with respect to
socio-economic indicators such as parental income, parental wealth and
cognitive abilities. The study found that technological, tactical, operational
and doctrinal changes have led to a change in the demand for personnel.
Furthermore, the study suggests that the most disadvantaged socio-economic
groups are less likely to meet the requirements of the modern U.S. military
Obligations
The obligations of military employment are many. Full-time
military employment normally requires a minimum period of service of several
years; between two and six years is typical of armed forces in Australia, the
UK and the US, for example, depending on role, branch, and rank Some armed
forces allow a short discharge window, normally
during training, when recruits may leave the armed force as of right. Alternatively, part-time military employment, known
as reserve service, allows a recruit to
maintain a civilian job while training under military discipline at weekends;
he or she may be called out to deploy
on operations to
supplement the full-time personnel complement. After leaving the armed forces,
recruits may remain liable for compulsory return to full-time military
employment in order to train or deploy
on operations.
Military
law introduces
offences not recognised by civilian courts, such as absence without leave (AWOL), desertion, political
acts, malingering, behaving
disrespectfully, and disobedience (see, for example, offences against military law in the
United Kingdom). Penalties
range from a summary reprimand to imprisonment
for several years following a court
martial. Certain
fundamental rights are also restricted or suspended, including the freedom of
association (e.g. union organizing) and freedom of speech (speaking to the
media). Military personnel in some countries have a right of conscientious objection if they believe an
order is immoral or unlawful, or cannot in good conscience carry it out.
Personnel may be posted to bases in their home country or
overseas, according to operational need, and may be deployed from those bases
on exercises or operations anywhere in the world. During
peacetime, when military personnel are generally stationed in garrisons or other permanent military
facilities, they mostly conduct administrative tasks, training and education activities, technology maintenance, and recruitment.
Training
Initial training conditions
recruits for the demands of military life, including preparedness to injure and
kill other people, and to face mortal danger without fleeing. It is a
physically and psychologically intensive process which resocializes recruits for
the unique nature of military demands. For example:
·
Individuality is suppressed (e.g. by shaving the head of new recruits,
issuing uniforms, denying privacy, and prohibiting the use of first names);
·
Daily routine is tightly controlled (e.g. recruits must make their beds,
polish boots, and stack their clothes in a certain way, and mistakes are
punished);
·
Continuous stressors deplete psychological resistance to the demands of their
instructors (e.g. depriving recruits of sleep, food, or shelter, shouting
insults and giving orders intended to humiliate)
·
Frequent punishments serve to condition group conformity and discourage
poor performance.
·
The disciplined drill instructor is presented as a role model of the
ideal soldier.
Intelligence
The next
requirement comes as a fairly basic need for the military to identify
possible threats it may be called upon to face. For this purpose, some of the
commanding forces and other military, as well as often civilian personnel
participate in identification of these threats. This is at once an
organization, a system and a process collectively called military
intelligence (MI).
The difficulty in
using military intelligence concepts and military intelligence methods is in
the nature of the secrecy of the information they seek, and the clandestine nature that
intelligence operatives work in obtaining what may be plans for a conflict escalation, initiation of
combat, or an invasion.
An important part
of the military intelligence role is the military analysis performed to
assess military capability of potential future aggressors, and provide
combat modelling that helps to understand factors on which comparison of forces
can be made. This helps to quantify and qualify such statements as: "China and India maintain the
largest armed forces in the World" or that "the U.S. Military is considered
to be the world's strongest".
Guerrilla structure
Although some
groups engaged in combat, such as militants or resistance
movements, refer to themselves using military terminology, notably 'Army' or
'Front', none have had the structure of a national military to justify the
reference, and usually have had to rely on support of outside national
militaries. They also use these terms to conceal from the MI their true
capabilities, and to impress potential ideological recruits.
Having military
intelligence representatives participate in the execution of the national
defence policy is important, because it becomes the first respondent and
commentator on the policy expected strategic goal, compared to the
realities of identified threats. When the intelligence reporting is compared to the policy, it becomes
possible for the national leadership to consider allocating resources over and
above the officers and their subordinates military pay, and the expense of
maintaining military facilities and military support services for them.
Economics
Defense
economics is the financial and monetary
efforts made to resource and sustain militaries, and to finance military
operations, including war.
The process of allocating resources is conducted by determining
a military budget, which is administered by a military finance
organization within the military. Military procurement is then authorized to
purchase or contract provision of goods and services to the military, whether
in peacetime at a permanent base, or in a combat zone from local population.
Capability development
Capability development, which is often referred to as the
military 'strength', is arguably one of the most complex activities known to
humanity; because it requires determining: strategic, operational, and tactical
capability requirements to counter the identified threats; strategic, operational,
and tactical doctrines by which the acquired capabilities will be used;
identifying concepts, methods, and systems involved in executing the doctrines;
creating design specifications for the manufacturers who would produce these in
adequate quantity and quality for their use in combat; purchase the concepts,
methods, and systems; create a forces structure that would use the concepts,
methods, and systems most effectively and efficiently; integrate these concepts,
methods, and systems into the force structure by providing military
education, training, and practice that
preferably resembles combat environment of intended use; create military
logistics systems to allow continued and
uninterrupted performance of military organizations under combat conditions, including provision of
health services to the personnel, and maintenance for the equipment; the
services to assist recovery of wounded personnel, and repair of damaged
equipment; and finally, post-conflict demobilization, and disposal of war stocks surplus to peacetime
requirements.
Development of military
doctrine is perhaps the more important of all
capability development activities, because it determines how military forces
are used in conflicts, the concepts and methods used by the command to employ
appropriately military skilled, armed and equipped personnel in achievement of the tangible goals and
objectives of the war, campaign, battle,
engagement, and action. The line between strategy and tactics is not
easily blurred, although deciding which is being discussed had sometimes been a
matter of personal judgement by some commentators, and military historians. The
use of forces at the level of organization between strategic and tactical is
called operational mobility.
Science
Because most of the concepts and methods used by the military,
and many of its systems are not found in commercial branches, much of the
material is researched, designed, developed, and offered for inclusion in arsenals by military
science organizations within the overall
structure of the military. Military scientists are therefore found to interact
with all Arms and Services of the armed forces, and at all levels of the
military hierarchy of command.
Although concerned with research into military psychology, particularly combat stress and how it affect troop morale, often the bulk of military science activities is
directed at military intelligence technology, military
communications, and improving military
capability through research. The design,
development, and prototyping of weapons,
military support equipment, and military technology in general, is also an area in which much effort is
invested – it includes everything from global communication networks and aircraft
carriers to paint and food.
Logistics
Possessing military capability is not sufficient if this
capability cannot be deployed for, and employed in combat operations. To
achieve this, military
logistics are used for the logistics
management and logistics planning of the forces military
supply chain management, the consumables, and
capital equipment of the troops.
Although mostly concerned with the military transport, as a means of delivery using different modes of
transport; from military trucks,
to container ships operating from
permanent military base, it also
involves creating field supply dumps at the rear of the combat zone, and even forward supply points in specific
unit's Tactical Area of Responsibility.
These supply points are also used to provide military engineering services, such as the recovery of defective and
derelict vehicles and weapons, maintenance of weapons in the field, the repair
and field modification of weapons and equipment; and in peacetime, the
life-extension programmes undertaken to allow continued use of equipment. One
of the most important role of logistics is the supply of munitions as a primary type of consumable, their storage,
and disposal.
In combat
The primary reason for the existence of the military is to
engage in combat, should it be required to do so by the national defence
policy, and to win. This represents an organisational goal of any military, and
the primary focus for military thought through military history. How victory is
achieved, and what shape it assumes, is studied by most, if not all, military
groups on three levels.
Strategic victory
Military
strategy is the management of forces in wars and military campaigns by a commander-in-chief, employing large military forces, either national and
allied as a whole, or the component elements of armies, navies and air
forces; such as army groups, naval fleets,
and large numbers of aircraft. Military
strategy is a long-term projection of belligerents' policy, with a broad view
of outcome implications, including outside the concerns of military command.
Military strategy is more concerned with the supply of war and planning, than management of field forces and
combat between them. The scope of strategic military planning can span weeks,
but is more often months or even years.
Operational victory
Operational
mobility is, within warfare and military doctrine, the level of command which coordinates the minute
details of tactics with the
overarching goals of strategy. A common
synonym is operational art.
The operational level is at a scale bigger than one where line
of sight and the time of day are important, and smaller than the strategic
level, where production and politics are considerations. Formations are of the
operational level if they are able to conduct operations on their own, and are
of sufficient size to be directly handled or have a significant impact at the
strategic level. This concept was pioneered by the German army
prior to and during the Second World War.
At this level, planning and duration of activities takes from one week to a
month, and are executed by Field Armies and Army
Corps and their naval and air equivalents.
Tactical victory
Military
tactics concerns itself with the methods for
engaging and defeating the enemy in direct combat. Military tactics are usually
used by units over hours or days, and are focused on the specific, close
proximity tasks and objectives of squadrons, companies, battalions, regiments, brigades,
and divisions, and their naval and air
force equivalents.
One of the oldest military publications is The Art of War, by the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu. Written
in the 6th century BCE, the 13-chapter book is intended as military
instruction, and not as military theory,
but has had a huge influence on Asian military doctrine, and from the late 19th
century, on European and United States military planning. It has even been used to formulate business tactics,
and can even be applied in social and political areas.
The Classical Greeks and the Romans wrote prolifically on military campaigning. Among the best-known Roman works are Julius
Caesar's commentaries on the Gallic
Wars, and the Roman Civil war – written about 50 BC.
Two major works on tactics come from the late Roman
period: Taktike Theoria by Aelianus Tacticus, and De
Re Militari ('On military matters')
by Vegetius. Taktike Theoria examined
Greek military tactics, and was most influential in the Byzantine world and during the Golden Age of
Islam.
De Re Militari formed the basis of European military tactics until the late
17th century. Perhaps its most enduring maxim is Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet
bellum (let
he who desires peace prepare for war).
Due to the changing nature of combat with the introduction
of artillery in the European Middle Ages, and infantry firearms in the Renaissance, attempts were made to define and identify those
strategies, grand tactics, and tactics
that would produce a victory more often than that achieved by the Romans in
praying to the gods before the battle.
Later this became known as military science, and later
still, would adopt the scientific method approach
to the conduct of military operations under the influence of the Industrial
Revolution thinking. In his seminal book On
War, the Prussian Major-General and
leading expert on modern military
strategy, Carl von Clausewitz defined military strategy as 'the employment of
battles to gain the end of war'. According to Clausewitz:
strategy forms the plan
of the War, and to this end it links together the series of acts which are to
lead to the final decision, that is to say, it makes the plans for the separate
campaigns and regulates the combats to be fought in each.
Hence, Clausewitz placed political aims above military goals,
ensuring civilian control of the military.
Military strategy was one of a triumvirate of 'arts' or 'sciences' that governed the conduct of warfare, the
others being: military tactics, the
execution of plans and manoeuvring of forces in battle, and maintenance of an army.
The meaning of military tactics has changed over time; from the
deployment and manoeuvring of entire land armies on the fields of ancient
battles, and galley fleets; to modern use of small unit ambushes, encirclements, bombardment attacks, frontal
assaults, air assaults, hit-and-run tactics used
mainly by guerrilla forces, and,
in some cases, suicide attacks on
land and at sea. Evolution of aerial warfare introduced its own air combat tactics. Often, military deception, in the form of military camouflage or misdirection using decoys, is used to confuse the enemy as a tactic.
A major development in infantry tactics came
with the increased use of trench warfare in
the 19th and 20th centuries. This was mainly employed in World War
I in the Gallipoli campaign, and the Western Front. Trench warfare often turned to a stalemate, only broken
by a large loss of life, because, in order to attack an enemy entrenchment,
soldiers had to run through an exposed 'no man's land' under heavy fire from their opposing entrenched enemy.
Technology
As with any occupation, since the ancient times, the military
has been distinguished from other members of the society by their tools, the
military weapons, and military
equipment used in combat. When Stone
Age humans first took a sliver of flint to tip
the spear, it was the first example
of applying technology to improve
the weapon.
Since then, the advances made by human societies, and that of
weapons, has been irretrievably linked. Stone weapons gave way to Bronze Age weapons,
and later, the Iron Age weapons.
With each technological change, was realized some tangible increase in military
capability, such as through greater effectiveness of a sharper edge in
defeating leather armour, or improved
density of materials used in manufacture of
weapons.
On land, the first really significant technological advance in
warfare was the development of the ranged weapons, and notably, the sling. The next significant advance came with the domestication
of the horses and mastering of equestrianism.
Arguably, the greatest invention that affected not just the
military, but all society, after adoption of fire, was the wheel, and
its use in the construction of the chariot.
There were no advances in military technology, until, from the mechanical arm
action of a slinger, the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Persians, Chinese, etc.,
developed the siege engines. The bow was manufactured in increasingly larger and more
powerful versions, to increase both the weapon range, and armour penetration
performance. These developed into the powerful composite and recurve bows, and
crossbows of Ancient China. These
proved particularly useful during the rise of cavalry, as horsemen encased in
ever-more sophisticated armour came
to dominate the battlefield.
Somewhat earlier, in medieval China, gunpowder had
been invented, and was increasingly used by the military in combat. The use of
gunpowder in the early vase-like mortars in
Europe, and advanced versions of the long bow and cross bow,
which all had armour-piercing arrowheads,
that put an end to the dominance of the armoured knight. After the long bow,
which required great skill and strength to use, the next most significant
technological advance was the musket,
which could be used effectively, with little training. In time, the successors
to muskets and cannon, in the form
of rifles and artillery, would become core battlefield technology.
As the speed of technological advances accelerated in civilian
applications, so too warfare became more industrialized. The newly
invented machine gun and repeating
rifle redefined firepower on the battlefield, and, in part, explains the high
casualty rates of the American Civil War.
The next breakthrough was the conversion of artillery parks from the muzzle
loading guns, to the quicker loading breech
loading guns with recoiling barrel that
allowed quicker aimed fire and use of a shield. The widespread introduction of
low smoke (smokeless) propellant powders since the 1880s also allowed for a
great improvement of artillery ranges.
The development of breech loading had the greatest effect
on naval warfare, for the first time since the Middle Ages, altering the
way weapons are mounted on warships,
and therefore naval tactics, now
divorced from the reliance on sails with
the invention of the internal combustion.
A further advance in military naval technology was the design of the submarine, and its weapon, the torpedo.
Main
battle tanks, and other heavy equipment such
as armoured fighting vehicles, military
aircraft, and ships, are characteristic to organized military forces.
During World
War I, the need to break the deadlock of trench
warfare saw the rapid development of many new technologies, particularly tanks. Military aviation was
extensively used, and bombers became
decisive in many battles of World War II,
which marked the most frantic period of weapons development in history. Many
new designs, and concepts were used in combat, and all existing technologies of
warfare were improved between 1939 and 1945.
During the war, significant advances were made in military communications through increased use of radio, military
intelligence through use of the radar,
and in military medicine through
use of penicillin, while in the air,
the guided missile, jet
aircraft, and helicopters were seen for the first time. Perhaps the most
infamous of all military technologies was the creation of the atomic
bomb, although the exact effects of its radiation were unknown until the early 1950s. Far greater use
of military vehicles had finally
eliminated the cavalry from the military force structure.
After World War II, with the onset of the Cold War,
the constant technological development of new weapons was institutionalized, as
participants engaged in a constant 'arms race'
in capability development. This constant state of weapons development continues
into the present, and remains a constant drain on national resources, which
some blame on the military–industrial complex.
The most significant technological developments that influenced
combat have been the guided missiles, which can be used by all branches of the
armed services. More recently, information
technology, and its use in surveillance, including space-based reconnaissance systems, have
played an increasing role in military operations.
The impact of information
warfare that focuses on attacking command
communication systems, and military databases, has been coupled with the new
development in military technology, has been the use of robotic systems in
intelligence combat, both in hardware and software applications.
Recently, there has also been a particular focus towards the use
of renewable fuels for running military vehicles on. Unlike fossil
fuels, renewable fuels can be produced in any country, creating a strategic
advantage. The US military has
committed itself to have 50% of its energy consumption come from alternative
sources.
As part of society
For much of military
history, the armed forces were considered to be for
use by the heads of their societies, until recently, the crowned heads of
states. In a democracy or other political system run in the public interest, it
is a public force.
The relationship between the military and the society it
serves is a complicated and ever-evolving one. Much depends on the nature of
the society itself, and whether it sees the military as important, as for
example in time of threat or war, or a burdensome expense typified by defence
cuts in time of peace.
One difficult matter in the relation between military and
society is control and transparency. In some countries, limited information on
military operations and budgeting is accessible for the public. However
transparency in the military sector is crucial to fight corruption.
This showed the Government Defence Anti-corruption Index Transparency International UK published in 2013.
Militaries often function as societies within
societies, by having their own military communities, economies, education, medicine, and other aspects of a functioning civilian
society. Although a 'military' is not limited to
nations in of itself as many private military companies (or PMC's) can be used or 'hired' by organizations
and figures as security, escort, or other means of protection; where police,
agencies, or militaries are absent or not trusted.
Ideology and ethics
Militarist ideology is the society's social
attitude of being best served, or being a
beneficiary of a government, or guided
by concepts embodied in the military culture, doctrine, system,
or leaders.
Either because of the cultural
memory, national history, or the potentiality of
a military threat, the militarist
argument asserts that a civilian population
is dependent upon, and thereby subservient to the needs and goals of its
military for continued independence. Militarism is sometimes contrasted with the concepts of comprehensive
national power, soft power and hard power.
Most nations have separate military laws which
regulate conduct in war and during peacetime. An early exponent was Hugo
Grotius, whose On the Law of War and
Peace (1625) had a major impact of the
humanitarian approach to warfare development. His theme was echoed by Gustavus
Adolphus.
Ethics of warfare have developed since 1945, to create
constraints on the military treatment of prisoners and civilians, primarily by
the Geneva
Conventions; but rarely apply to use of the
military forces as internal security troops during times of political conflict
that results in popular protests and incitement to popular uprising.
International protocols restrict the use, or have even created
international bans on some types of weapons, notably weapons of mass destruction (WMD). International conventions define what constitutes a war crime, and provides for war crimes prosecution. Individual
countries also have elaborate codes of military justice, an example being the United States' Uniform
Code of Military Justice that can lead
to court martial for military
personnel found guilty of war crimes.
Military actions are sometimes argued to be justified by
furthering a humanitarian cause, such as disaster relief operations,
or in defence of refugees. The term military humanism is used to refer to such actions.
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