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
editA 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
- Kabul-Kandahar Field Force, 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
editIn Australia, a field force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.[2]
Canadian use
editThe Canadian Expeditionary Force was considered as a field force created to participate in World War I.
United States use
editIn 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
editIn 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
editA
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- Royal Albanian Army 1928 - 1939
- Royal Albanian Gendarmerie 1913 - 1939
- Royal Border Guard (Albania) 1928 - 1939
- Afghan Army
- Afghan Border Force
- Afghan National Civil Order Force 2006 - 2020
- Defense of the Revolution 1978 - 1980
- Sarandoy 1978 - 1992
- Garde communale 1996 - 2012, (Algerian Civil War)
B
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- Flemish Guard 1941 - 1944, (German occupation of Belgium during World War II)
- Walloon Guard 1941 - 1944
- Brazilian Army
- Public Forces (Brazil) 1880s - 1960s
C
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Independent State of Croatia 1941 - 1945
- German-Croatian Police 1941 - 1944
D
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- HIPO Corps 1944 - 1945
- Lorenzen Group 1944 - 1945, (Denmark in World War II)
E
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F
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- French National Police
- Groupe mobile de réserve 1941 -1944
- Milice 1943 - 1944
- Franc-Garde 1943 - 1944
G and H
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- British Army
- Gambia Regiment 1901 - 1958
- Gambia Police Force
- Field Force,
- Volkspolizei 1945 - 1990
- Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft 1955 - 1990
- Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) 1936 - 1945, (Police forces of Nazi Germany)
- Police Regiment Centre 1941 -1942 (Bandenbekampfung)
- Police Battalion 307 1941 - 1942
- Police Battalion 316 1941 - 1942
- Police Battalion 322 1941 - 1942
- Police Regiment North 1941 - 1942
- Police Regiment South 1941 - 1942
- Police Battalion 45 1941 - 1942
- Police Battalion 303 1941 - 1942
- Police Battalion 314 1941 - 1942
- Order Police battalions
- Police Battalion 306 1941 - 1942
- Police Battalion 309 1941 - 1945
- Police Battalion 320 1941 - 1942
- Reserve Police Battalion 33 1941 - 1943
- Reserve Police Battalion 101 1940 - 1943
- SS Police Regiment Bozen 1943 - 1945
- SS Police Regiment Brixen 1944 - 1945
- Schutzmannschaft 1941 - 1945
- Police Regiment Centre 1941 -1942 (Bandenbekampfung)
- Forest Protection Command 1939 -
- Schutzstaffel (SS) 1925 - 1945
- 1st SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
- 2nd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943
- 3rd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943
- 4th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943
- 5th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 6th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
- 7th SS Police Regiment 1943 only
- 8th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
- 9th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
- 10th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 11th SS Police Regiment 1942 -1944
- 12th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 13th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 14th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 15th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 16th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 17th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 18th SS Mountain Police Regiment 1942
- 19th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 20th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 21st SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 22nd SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 23rd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945
- 24th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 25th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 26th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944
- 27th SS Police Regiment 1942 -
- 28th SS Police Regiment Todt 1942 -
- Allgemeine SS 1934 - 1945
- Postschutz 1933 - 1945
- Waffen-SS 1933 - 1945
- 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division 1939 - 1945
- Kaminski Brigade 1941 - 1944
- Zollgrenzschutz 1918 - 1945
I
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- Paramilitary forces of India
- Research and Analysis Wing
- Central Armed Police Force
- Indian Army
- State Armed Police Forces
- Royal Irish Constabulary 1822 - 1922
- Auxiliary Division 1920 - 1922, (irish War of Independence)
- Black and Tans 1920 -1922, (Irish War of Independence)
- Garda Síochána (Irish Police)
- Criminal Investigation Department (Ireland) 1921 - 1923, (Irish Civil War)
- Blackshirts 1923 -1943
- Battaglioni M 1941 - 1943
- Black Brigades 1944 - 1945
- Border Militia 1926 - 1943
- Forestry Militia 1926 - 1948
- Maritime Artillery Militia 1939 - 1943
- Port Militia 1924 -
J and K
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L
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- Royal Lao Police 1955 - 1975
- Directorate of National Coordination 1960 - 1965, (Laotian Civil War)
- Lithuanian TDA Battalion 1941 only, (German occupation of Lithuania during World War II)
- Lithuanian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1945 (German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II)
- 10th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1941 - 1945
- 256th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1943 - 1944
- 258th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1944 only
- 259th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1944 only
M
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- British Gendarmerie 1922 - 1926
- Special Night Squads 1938 - 1939
N
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- Statspolitiet 1941 - 1945, (German occupation of Norway)
O and P
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- Civil Armed Forces - (Paramilitary forces of Pakistan)
- Pakistan Rangers
- Pakistan Army
- Pakistan Levies
- Pakistan Navy
- Former Paramilitary Forces
- Azad Kashmir Regular Force 1947 - 1972
- Federal Security Force (Pakistan) 1972 - 1977
- Gilgit Scouts 1913 - 1975
- Khasadar 1892 - 2019
- Mehran Force 1942 - 1995
Q and R
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- British South African Police 1889 - 1980
- Police Anti-Terrorist Unit 1966 - 1980, (Rhodesian Bush War) 1964 - 1979
- Police Support Unit
- INTAF 1962 - 1979
- Grey's Scouts 1975 - 1986, (Rhodesian Bush War) 1964 - 1979
- Guard Force (Rhodesia) 1976 - 1980
- Security Force Auxiliaries 1978 - 1979 (Rhodesian Bush War 1964 - 1979
- Internal Troops of Russia 1991 - 2016
- Rus (special forces) 1994 -2008
- Vityaz (MVD) 1991 - 2008
- Zubr (special police force)
S
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- Royal Solomon Islands Police Force
- Police Field Force
- Republic of Vietnam National Police 1955 - 1975
- Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force 1966 - 1975, (Vietnam War)
- Republic of Vietnam River and Coastal Police 1965 - 1975, (Vietnam War)
- South West African Police 1920 - 1990
- Koevoet 1979 - 1989
T
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- Police Field Force (Zanzibar Revolution)
U
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- National Guard of Ukraine
- Ukrainian People's Militsiya 1941 only, (Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi Germany)
- Ukrainian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi Germany)
- Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118, 1942 -1944
- Schutzmannschaft Battalion 201, 1941 - 1942
- Schutzmannschaft Battalion 204, 1943 - 1944
- Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling, 1944 only
V
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- Vanuatu Police Force
W, X and Y
editZ
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List of Intelligence Agencies, Secret Police Field Forces and Paramilitary Units
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- Stasi 1950 - 1990
- Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment 1954 - 1990
- Ministry of Public Security (Poland) 1956 - 1990
- Internal Security Corps 1945 - 1965
- NKVD 1934 -1946
- Destruction battalions 1941 - 1954
- NKVD special groups
- KGB 1954 -1991
- KGB Security Troops
- Soviet Border Troops 1918 - 1991
- Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom), British Army
- Special Reconnaissance Unit 1972 - 2005, (The Troubles) late 1960s - 1998
- Force Research Unit 1982 - 2007, (The Troubles) late 1960s - 1998
- Joint Support Group
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "Diggerhistory3.info".
- ^ 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
- ^ p.Davies, Bruce & McKay, Gary The Men Who Persevered:The AATTV 2005 Bruce & Unwin