A field force in British Army, Indian Army and Tanzanian military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances,[p.88 Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt and Hayes, Grace P. (1986). Dictionary of Military Terms: A Guide to the Language of Warfare and Military Institutions. The H. W. Wilson Company.] usually for the length of a specific military campaign. It is used by other nations, but can have a different meaning.
United Kingdom
A field force would be created from the various units in an area of military operations and be named for the geographical area. Examples are:
-
Kurram Field Force, 1878
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Peshawar Valley Field Force, 1878
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Kabul Field Force, 1879–1880
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Kabul-Kandahar Field Force, 1880
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Natal Field Force, 1881
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Zhob Field Force, 1890
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Mashonaland Field Force, 1896
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Malakand Agency Field Force, 1896
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Tirah Field Force, 1897
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West African Frontier Force, 1900
Australian
In Australia, a field force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.
Canadian
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was considered as a field force created to participate in World War I.
Other Canadian field forces in history include:
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Yukon Field Force, 1898–1900
United States
In the United States, during the
Vietnam War the term came to stand for a corps-sized organization with other functions and responsibilities. To avoid confusion with the
corps designations used by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and to allow for a flexible organization, MACV and General William Westmoreland developed the "field force" such as I Field Force and II Field Force. Unlike an Army corps, which had a size and structure fixed by Army doctrine, the field force could expand as needed and had other functions such as liaison with South Vietnamese and
civil affairs functions and was flexible enough to have many subordinate units assigned to it.
[Eckhard, George S. Vietnam Studies: Command and Control 1950-1969. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1991 p. 53. Online [1] ]
Police field forces
In counterinsurgency type campaigns, select and specially trained units of police armed and equipped as
light infantry have been designated as police field forces who perform
paramilitary type patrols and ambushes whilst retaining their police powers in areas that were highly dangerous.
[p.Davies, Bruce & McKay, Gary The Men Who Persevered:The AATTV 2005 Bruce & Unwin]
Police Field Forces, Paramilitary and Counter-Insurgency Units
A
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Royal Albanian Army 1928 - 1939
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Royal Albanian Gendarmerie 1913 - 1939
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Royal Border Guard (Albania) 1928 - 1939
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Afghan Army
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Afghan Border Force
-
Afghan National Civil Order Force 2006 - 2020
-
Defense of the Revolution 1978 - 1980
-
Sarandoy 1978 - 1992
B
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Byelorussian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (Byelorussian collaboration with Nazi Germany)
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13th Belarusian Police (SD) Battalion 1943 -1944, (German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II)
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Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling 1944 only
-
Brazilian Army
-
Military Police (Brazil)
-
National Public Security Force
-
Military Police of Acre State
-
Military Police of Espirito Santo State
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Military Police of Goiás State
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Military Police of Minas Gerais State
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Military Police of Parana State
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Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State
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Military Police of São Paulo State
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Public Forces (Brazil) 1880s - 1960s
C
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Paramilitary forces of China
-
National Police of Colombia
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Directorate of Carabineers and Rural Security
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Mobile Carabinier Squadrons
- 1941 - 1945
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German-Croatian Police 1941 - 1944
D
E
-
Estonian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (German occupation of Estonia during World War II)
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36th Estonian Police Battalion 1943 - 1944 (German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II)
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Schutzmannschaft Battalion 33
F
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French National Police
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Groupe mobile de réserve 1941 -1944
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Milice 1943 - 1944
G and H
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Volkspolizei 1945 - 1990
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Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft 1955 - 1990
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Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) 1936 - 1945, (Police forces of Nazi Germany)
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Police Regiment Centre 1941 -1942 (Bandenbekampfung)
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Police Battalion 307 1941 - 1942
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Police Battalion 316 1941 - 1942
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Police Battalion 322 1941 - 1942
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Police Regiment North 1941 - 1942
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Police Regiment South 1941 - 1942
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Police Battalion 45 1941 - 1942
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Police Battalion 303 1941 - 1942
-
Police Battalion 314 1941 - 1942
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Order Police battalions
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Police Battalion 306 1941 - 1942
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Police Battalion 309 1941 - 1945
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Police Battalion 320 1941 - 1942
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Reserve Police Battalion 33 1941 - 1943
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Reserve Police Battalion 101 1940 - 1943
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SS Police Regiment Bozen 1943 - 1945
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SS Police Regiment Brixen 1944 - 1945
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Schutzmannschaft 1941 - 1945
-
Forest Protection Command 1939 -
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Schutzstaffel (SS) 1925 - 1945
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1st SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
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2nd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943
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3rd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943
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4th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943
-
5th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
-
6th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
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7th SS Police Regiment 1943 only
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8th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
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9th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
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10th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
-
11th SS Police Regiment 1942 -1944
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12th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
-
13th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
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14th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
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15th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
-
16th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
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17th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
-
18th SS Mountain Police Regiment 1942
-
19th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
-
20th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
-
21st SS Police Regiment 1942 -
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22nd SS Police Regiment 1942 -
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23rd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
-
24th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
-
25th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
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26th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
-
27th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
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28th SS Police Regiment Todt 1942 -
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Allgemeine SS 1934 - 1945
-
Waffen-SS 1933 - 1945
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4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division 1939 - 1945
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Kaminski Brigade 1941 - 1944
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Zollgrenzschutz 1918 - 1945
I
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Indonesian National Police
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Paramilitary forces of India
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Home Guard (India)
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National Security Guards
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Railway Protection Force
-
Special Protection Group
-
Research and Analysis Wing
-
Special Frontier Force
-
Special Group (India)
-
Central Armed Police Force
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Border Security Force
-
Central Industrial Security Force
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Indo-Tibetan Border Police
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Indo-Tibetan Border Police (Water Wing)
-
Sashastra Seema Bal
-
Central Reserve Police Force
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Bastariya Battalion
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Commando Battalion for Resolute Action
-
Indian Army
-
State Armed Police Forces
-
Andhra Pradesh Police
-
Jammu and Kashmir Police
-
Kerala Police
-
Mizoram Armed Police
-
Odisha Police
-
Special Operation Group (Odisha)
-
Telangana Police
-
Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary
-
West Bengal Police
-
Counter Insurgency Force
-
Eastern Frontier Rifles
-
Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran
-
Border Guard Command (Iran)
-
Royal Irish Constabulary 1822 - 1922
-
Auxiliary Division 1920 - 1922, (irish War of Independence)
-
Black and Tans 1920 -1922, (Irish War of Independence)
-
Garda Síochána (Irish Police)
-
Criminal Investigation Department (Ireland) 1921 - 1923, (Irish Civil War)
J and K
-
Kenya Police
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General Service Unit (Mau Mau Uprising)
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Administration Police
L
-
Royal Lao Police 1955 - 1975
-
Directorate of National Coordination 1960 - 1965, (Laotian Civil War)
-
Latvian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (German occupation of Latvia during World War II)
-
Lithuanian TDA Battalion 1941 only, (German occupation of Lithuania during World War II)
-
Lithuanian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1945 (German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II)
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10th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1941 - 1945
-
256th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1943 - 1944
-
258th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1944 only
-
259th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1944 only
M
-
Royal Malaysian Police
-
General Operations Force (Malayan Emergency)
-
Marine Operations Force (Malayan Emergency)
- Mandatory Palestine
-
British Gendarmerie 1922 - 1926
-
Special Night Squads 1938 - 1939
N
-
Nigerian Police Force
-
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
O and P
-
Civil Armed Forces - (Paramilitary forces of Pakistan)
-
Frontier Corps
-
Frontier Corps Balochistan (North)
-
Frontier Corps Balochistan (South)
-
Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North)
-
Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South)
-
Frontier Constabulary
-
Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts
-
Pakistan Rangers
-
Pakistan Army
-
Pakistan Coast Guard
-
National Guard (Pakistan)
-
Pakistan Levies
-
Pakistan Navy
-
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency
-
Former Paramilitary Forces
-
National Police of Peru
-
Sinchis - Internal conflict in Peru
-
Philippine National Police
-
Provincial organization of volunteers and civil defence
Q and R
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British South African Police 1889 - 1980
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Police Anti-Terrorist Unit 1966 - 1980, (Rhodesian Bush War) 1964 - 1979
-
Police Support Unit
-
INTAF 1962 - 1979
-
Grey's Scouts 1975 - 1986, (Rhodesian Bush War) 1964 - 1979
-
Guard Force (Rhodesia) 1976 - 1980
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Security Force Auxiliaries 1978 - 1979 (Rhodesian Bush War 1964 - 1979
-
Internal Troops of Russia 1991 - 2016
-
Rus (special forces) 1994 -2008
-
Vityaz (MVD) 1991 - 2008
-
Zubr (special police force)
S
-
Royal Solomon Islands Police Force
-
South African Army
-
Commando System (South Africa)
-
Republic of Vietnam National Police 1955 - 1975
-
Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force 1966 - 1975, (Vietnam War)
-
Republic of Vietnam River and Coastal Police 1965 - 1975, (Vietnam War)
-
South West African Police 1920 - 1990
-
Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)
-
Sri Lanka Civil Security Force
-
Sri Lanka Coast Guard
-
Sri Lanka Police
-
Special Task Force (Sri Lankan Civil War)
-
Syrian Special Mission Forces
T
-
Police Field Force (Zanzibar Revolution)
-
Gendarmerie General Command
U
-
National Guard of Ukraine
V
-
Vietnam People's Public Security
W, X and Y
Z
See also
-
List of gendarmeries
-
List of police tactical units
