Army
Army (from
French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any
armed force. More commonly, however, it is only used specifically to refer to a land force of the
military.
Within a national army, an
army can also refer to a large
formation, usually comprising one or more
corps.
Army is also often used in the description or title of military or
paramilitary organizations which are not part of a country's official armed forces (and may well be illegal), such as the
Irish Republican Army, and also in some non-military organisations organised on a quasi-military basis, such as the
Salvation Army and the
Church Army.
A Field Army is composed of a headquarters, army troops, a variable number of corps, and a variable number of divisions. A battle is influenced at the Field Army level by transferring divisions and reinforcements from one corps to another to increase the pressure on the enemy at a critical point.
A national army is usually the arm of the military service which conducts land-based warfare (for example, the
United States Army, or the
French Armée de Terre).
Most armed forces make considerable distinction between the army or land forces, the
navy, and the
air force, often maintaining three independent organizations. Many air forces were formerly part of an army; historically, the
United States Air Force originated as part of the
United States Army, for example. The Chinese
People's Liberation Army however combines all of its arms (ground forces, navy, air force, artillery corps, space) under one organization.
Modern armies comprise several branches (also called
services, or
administrative corps). These may include the
combat branches:
infantry,
armoured,
artillery, and
combat engineers, as well as the
support branches:
communications,
intelligence,
medics,
supply, and
army aviation (as opposed to a national air force).
An
army can also be a large
military organization (
formation) comprising one or more
corps. A particular army is named or numbered to distinguish it from military land forces in general—for example, the
U.S. First Army and the
Army of Northern Virginia. In the
British Army it is normal to spell out the ordinal number of an army (e.g. First Army), whereas lower formations use figures (e.g. 1st Division).
Armies (as well as
army groups and
theaters) are large formations which vary significantly between armed forces in size, composition, and scope of responsibility.
In the
Soviet Red Army, "armies" were actually
corps-sized formations, subordinate to an army-sized "
front" in wartime. In peacetime, a
Soviet army was usually subordinate to a
military district.
For the hierarchy of land force organizations, see
military organization.
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List of countries by military expenditures*
List of countries by number of active troops*
List of countries by size of armed forces*
List of armies*
Military unit*
List of armies by name*
List of armies by number*
List of countries without an army*
War*
Military history*
Military science*
Marines*
Citizen army
