Field force

A field force in British, Indian Army and Tanzanian 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]

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
United Kingdom 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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