Military organization is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer military capability required by the national defence policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces. Armed forces that are not a part of the military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often mimic military organizations, or use ad hoc structures.
Military organization is hierarchical. The 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 organizations is typically undertaken by the government through a government department within the structure of public administration, often known as a Department of Defense, Department of War, or Ministry of Defence. These in turn manage Armed Services that themselves command combat, combat support and service support formations and units. (wiki)
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. 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 Force Command, Air Command, and Maritime Command in the Canadian Forces), but this does not preclude the existence of commands which are not service-based.
A formation is a composite military organization that includes a mixture of integrated and operationally attached sub-units, and is usually combat-capable. A formation is defined by the US Department of Defense as 'two or more aircraft, ships, or units proceeding together under a commander.'[wiki] The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a formation as an 'arrangement or disposition of troops.' Formations include brigades, divisions, wings, 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 integrated (self-contained). Anything smaller than a unit is considered a "sub-unit" or "minor unit".
Please note that for simplicity purpose we included descriptions only of the infantry units and we did not include support aviation and strategic weaponry units.
Unit /
Formation
| Number of soldiers and officers | Basic tasks / Description | Consist of | Commanded by | | Soldier | 1 soldier | Smallest unit to perform certain independent tasks (such as driver, signals, etc.) or part of a larger formation (group, squad, etc.)
| One soldier;) | Soldier | | Pair | 2 soldiers | Fire and maneuver team | Two
soldiers, one in subordination to another.
Usually led by a Specialist or Efreitor | Efreitor
| | Group | 3-5 soldiers | Smallest unit (fire-team) to perform military / combat tasks. Part of Squad
| Usually 3 soldiers and 1 corporal | Corporal | Squad or
Section | 10-14 soldiers | | 3 groups + 1 soldier + 1 sergeant | Senior corporal or
sergeant | | Platoon | 33-60 soldiers,
1 officer or warrant-officer
|
| 3-4 sections + 1 group +
commanding officer | Warrant Officer or
Lieutenant | | Company | 100-200 soldiers,
2-3 warrant-officers,
2-4 officers
| Smallest tactical unit to perform military/combat tasks | 3-4 platoons (including 1 fire platoon) + 1 section + 1 headquarters group (not always) + commanding officer and his deputy (second-in-command) | Captain
| | Battalion | 400-1000 soldiers,
| Could be a part of larger unit (regiment or brigade), or could be an independent entity
| 3 line companies + 1 combat support company + 1 mixed artillery / weaponry company (battery) +
1 signal/support platoon + 1 headquarters squad + number of officers and warrant-officers (3-5) in headquarters + battalion commander and his deputy (second-in-command)
| Lieutenant-Colonel
| | Regiment | 1,500-3,000 | | 3-4 line battalions + 1 combat support battalion + 1 mixed artillery battalion (div) + 1 signal/support company + headquarters platoon + number of commanding officers in headquarters + Regiment commander with several deputies (second-in-command) | Colonel
| | Brigade | 2,000-5,000 | | | Brigade-General or
Brigadier | | Division | 8,000-12,000 | | | Major-General
| | Corps | 20,000-40,000 | A composite military organization that includes different military types of combat forces (artillery, cavalry, heavy tanks, aviation, etc.) and support elements (hospitals, logistics, maintenance, etc.)
| | Lieutenant-General
| | Army | 50,000-100,000 | | Includes aviation, tactical and strategic weapons
| Colonel-General | Group of
Armies | over 100,000
| | | General of the Army or
Marshal | Front /
Block /
Task Force
| up to 1 million
| | | Field-Marshal
| Royal
Army, /
Military
Forces | unlimited
| Protection of the country from external enemies. | Includes all the Military Forces (army, navy, air force, strategic missile and space forces) of the country | Royal Marshal |
 Example: fire-team in action.
Example: Russian / Soviet platoon near barracks (circa 1988) |
