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[]
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
- Peshawar Valley Field Force, 1878
- Kabul Field Force, 1879–1880
- , 1880
- Natal Field Force, 1881
- Zhob Field Force, 1890
- Mashonaland Field Force, 1896
- Malakand Field Force, 1896
- Tirah Field Force, 1897
- Yukon Field Force, 1898
- Royal West African Frontier Force, 1900
Australian use[]
In Australia, a field force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.[2]
Canadian use[]
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was considered as a field force created to participate in World War I.
United States use[]
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[]
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[]
- Diensteinheit IX, Volkspolizei 1973 - 1990
- Kasernierte Volkspolizei 1948 – 1956
- Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment, Stasi 1954 - 1990
- Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft 1955 - 1990
- Field Force, Gambia Police Force
- Bastariya Battalion, Central Reserve Police Force
- Commando Battalion for Resolute Action
- Counter Insurgency Force, West Bengal Police
- Greyhounds, Andhra Pradesh Police
- Special Operation Group, Odisha Police
- Special Operations Group, Jammu and Kashmir Police
- Criminal Investigation Department 1921 - 1923
- General Operations Force, Royal Malaysian Police (Malayan Emergency)
- Nigerian Mobile Police, Nigerian Police Force
- Police Anti-Terrorist Unit, British South African Police 1966 - 1980
- Police Support Unit, British South Africa Police (Rhodesian Bush War)
- Police Field Force, Royal Solomon Islands Police Force
- Koevoet, South West African Police 1979 - 1989
- Police Field Force (Zanzibar Revolution)
- Vanuatu Mobile Force, Vanuatu Police Force
See also[]
References[]
- ^ 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.
- ^ http://www.diggerhistory3.info/handbook/page/01-army-today.htm
- ^ 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
- ^ p.Davies, Bruce & McKay, Gary The Men Who Persevered:The AATTV 2005 Bruce & Unwin
- Ad hoc units and formations
- Law enforcement units
- Law enforcement occupations
- Non-military counter-terrorist organizations