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Military organization (AE) or military organisation (British English) is the structuring of the of a state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hierarchical forms (see Modern hierarchy for terminology and approximate troop strength per hierarchical unit).
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 Insurgency forces, often emulate military organizations, or use these structures.
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.
Then there are the heads of specific departmental agencies responsible for the provision and management of specific skill- and knowledge-based services such as Strategy 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 work.
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 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 such as being landlocked.
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 warfare is defined as a unit or formation comprising combat power from two or more branches of the military.
In a military context, a command is a collection of units and formations under the control of a single officer, although during World War II a command was also a name given to a battlegroup in the United States Army. In general, it is an administrative and executive strategic headquarters that 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 that are not service-based.
A formation is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as "two or more aircraft, ships, or units proceeding together under a commander".United States Department of Defense, DOD Dictionary Fomin 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."Fomin, N. N., Great Soviet Encyclopaedia (), Moscow, 1978 It is a composite military organization that includes a mixture of integrated and operationally attached sub-units, and is usually combat-capable. Examples of formations include divisions, , , wings, etc. Formation may also refer to tactical formation, the physical arrangement or disposition of troops and weapons. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 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 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 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.
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.
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.
| Combatant Command or equivalent region theater | Command | 1,000,000–10,000,000 | 4+ army groups | OF-10: field marshal OF-9: Four-star rank, army general or colonel general | |
| army group or equivalent front | Command | 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 OF-8: Lieutenant 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 OF-7: Brigadier general | |
| 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 | 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) | Unit | 300–1,000 | 2–6 sub-units (companies or equivalent) | OF-4: lieutenant colonel | |
| company or equivalent artillery battery squadron (some countries for some arms only) U.S. cavalry troop | 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 (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 section (Commonwealth of Nations) | – | 6–12 | 2–3 fireteams or 1+ cell | OR-5: sergeant OR-4: corporal | |
| fireteam 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 (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.
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.
| Combatant Command (US) or Navy or Admiralty | All vessels in a navy | 2+ Fleets | Fleet Admiral, Admiral of the Fleet, Grand Admiral or Admiral |
| Naval fleet | All vessels in an ocean or general region | 2+ | Admiral or Vice Admiral |
| Battle Fleet (US, 1922–1941) | A large number of vessels of all types | 2+ | Vice Admiral |
| Task Force or Carrier strike group (US) | A collection of complementary vessels | 2+ , Divisions or | Rear Admiral (upper half) or Rear admiral |
| Division or Task Group | Usually | 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 |
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 (Blue-water navy and Green-water navy navies) are commanded by an admiral of either four-star rank or three-star rank depending on relative size. Smaller naval forces, such as the Royal New Zealand Navy, or those navies that are effectively , are commanded by a rear-admiral (two-star rank), commodore (one-star rank) or even a captain.
are typically commanded by a captain. and are typically commanded by a captain or commander. Some destroyers, particularly smaller destroyers such as (formerly known as ) are usually commanded by officers with the rank of commander. , the smallest class of warship, are commanded by officers with the rank of commander or lieutenant-commander. Auxiliary ships, including , minesweepers, , military riverboat, tenders and are usually commanded by , or warrant officers. Usually, the smaller the vessel, the lower the rank of the ship's commander. For example, are often commanded by ensigns, while frigates are rarely commanded by an officer below the rank of commander.
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 Naval 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.
| 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 | Varies | Varies | Varies by Region or Duty | General / Air Chf Mshl | |
| No USAF equivalent/Command or Tactical Air Force / Air armyhttp://www.airpages.ru/ru/vvs1.shtml Red Army VVS Organisation(rus) | Varies by Region or Duty | Varies | Varies by Region or Duty | General or Lt-Gen / Air Chf Mshl or Air Marshal | |
| Numbered Air Force/No RAF equivalent | Varies by Region or Duty | Varies | 2+ Wings/Groups | Major General or Lt-Gen / N/A | |
| No USAF equivalent/No RAF equivalent /Aviation Division /Air division | Varies by Region or Duty | Varies | 2+ Wings/Groups | Major General or Div-Gen | |
| Wing/Group (inc. EAGs) /Russian aviation brigade/Air Brigade | 1,000–5,000 | 48–200 | 2+ Groups/Wings | Brig-Gen/Air Vice-Marshal or Air Commodore | |
| Group/wing (inc. EAWs) or RAF station /Russian aviation regiment | 300–1,000 | 17–48 | 3–4 Squadrons/3–10 Flights | Colonel/Group Captain or Wg Cdr | |
| Squadron | 100–300 | 7–16 | 3–4 Flights | Lt Col or Maj/Wg Cdr or Squadron Leader | |
| Flight or flying staffel | 20–100 | 4–6 | 2 or more Sections plus maintenance and support crew | Maj or Capt/Squadron Leader or Flt Lt | |
| Staffel or echelon | 40–160 | 6–12 | 1–2 Sections plus maintenance and support crew | Capt or Staff Captain | |
| Section | 10–40 | n/a–2 | n/a | Junior Officer or Senior NCO | |
| Element | 8–12 | n/a | n/a | Senior NCO or Junior NCO | |
| Detail or crew | 2–4 | n/a | n/a | Junior NCO |
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.
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