Wikipedia

Field force

A field force in British and Indian Army military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances,[1] usually for the length of a specific military campaign. It is used by other nations, but can have a different meaning.

United Kingdom use

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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:

Australian use

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In Australia, a field force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.[2]

Canadian use

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The Canadian Expeditionary Force was considered as a field force created to participate in World War I.

United States use

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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.[3]

Police field forces

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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.[4]

List of Police Field Forces, Paramilitary and Counter-Insurgency Units

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A

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  Albania
  Afghanistan
  Algeria

B

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  Bangladesh
  Belgium
  Belarus
  Brazil

C

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  People's Republic of China
  Colombia
  Independent State of Croatia 1941 - 1945

D

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  Denmark

E

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  Estonia

F

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  Vichy France

G and H

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  Gambia
  East Germany
  Nazi Germany

I

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  Indonesia
  India
  Iran
  Iraq
  Ireland
  Israel
  Italian Social Republic

J and K

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  Kenya

L

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  Kingdom of Laos
  Latvia
  Lithuania

M

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  Malaysia
  Mandatory Palestine
  Mauritius
  Mexico
  Moldova
  Myanmar

N

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  Namibia
  Nigeria
  Norway

O and P

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  Pakistan
  Peru
  Philippines
  Portugal

Q and R

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  Rhodesia
  Russia

S

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  Solomon Islands
  South Africa
  South Vietnam
  South West Africa
  Sri Lanka
  Syria

T

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  Tanzania
  Thailand
  Turkey

U

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  Ukraine

V

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  Vatican City
  Vanuatu
  Vietnam

W, X and Y

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Z

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  Zimbabwe

List of Intelligence Agencies, Secret Police Field Forces and Paramilitary Units

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  Armenia
  Australia
  East Germany
  Kyrgyzstan
  Poland
  Russia
  Soviet Union
  Syria
  Taiwan
  Tajikistan
  United Kingdom
  United States of America
  Uzbekistan

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Diggerhistory3.info".
  3. ^ Eckhard, George S. Vietnam Studies: Command and Control 1950-1969. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1991 p. 53. Online http://www.history.army.mil/books/Vietnam/Comm-Control/index.htm Archived 2017-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ p.Davies, Bruce & McKay, Gary The Men Who Persevered:The AATTV 2005 Bruce & Unwin
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