Field Force
Encyclopedia
A Field Force in British
and Indian Army
military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances usually for the length of a specific military campaign
.
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-
In Australia a Field Force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.
In the United States, during the Vietnam War
the term "Corps" was used for various parts of South Vietnam i.e. "I Corps". To avoid confusion the Corps
sized military command that controlled U.S. Army Divisions and other units was called a "Field Force" such as I Field Force and II Field Force. Unlike an Army Corps, the Field Force had other functions such as liaision with South Vietnamese and Civil Affairs
functions and was flexible enough to have other subordinate units assigned to it.
The US Army refers to task forces as temporary organisations of military units for a specific mission though they usually may be of battalion size. Task Forces were formerly named after the unit commander, such as Task Force Smith at the beginning of the Korean War
. Similar temporary military formations in British, Imperial, or Commonwealth units were formerly known by the name of the Commander i.e. Layforce
for Colonel Robert Laycock
's command.
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.
Examples of these are:
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances usually for the length of a specific military campaign
Military campaign
In the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...
.
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-
- KurramKurramKurram can refer to either:*Kurram River - a river on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan*Kurram Valley - the valley of the Kurram River which runs from Afghanistan to the Indus River....
Field Force, 1878 - Peshawar Valley Field ForcePeshawar Valley Field ForceThe Peshawar Valley Field Force was a British field force of around 12,000 men, a mix of both British regiments and Indian regiments, under the command of Sir Samuel J. Browne during the Second Anglo-Afghan War...
, 1878 - Kabul Field ForceKabul Field ForceThe Kabul Field Force was a field force created in September 1879 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, under the command of General Frederick Roberts...
, 1879-1880 - Kabul-Kandahar Field Force, 1880
- NatalColony of NatalThe Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
Field Force, 1881 - ZhobZhob-Roads:Zhob is 333 kilometers from Quetta, 225 kilometers from Dera Ismail Khan. However, the road linking with Dera Ismail Khan is for most part fair nowadays track passing through water streams and almost complete road is metalloid....
Field Force, 1890 - MashonalandMashonalandMashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
Field Force, 1896 - MalakandMalakand AgencyThe Malakand Agency was one of the Tribal Areas in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan until 1970. It included the princely states of Chitral, Dir and Swat, and an area around the Malakand Fort known as the Malakand Protected Area.In 1970, following the abolition of the princely states,...
Field Force, 1896 - TirahTirahTirah is a region located in Kurram and Khyber agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan . It lies between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley. It is inhabited by the Afridi and Orakzai tribes of Pashtuns...
Field Force, 1897 - Yukon Field ForceYukon Field ForceThe Yukon Field Force was a unit of 203 officers and men from the Permanent Force of the Canadian Militia in formation from 1898 to 1900. The men of the unit comprised infantry, artillery, and cavalry and were based at Fort Selkirk with a detachment at Dawson City to support the Canadian government...
, 1898 - Royal West African Frontier ForceRoyal West African Frontier ForceThe West African Frontier Force was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. The decision to raise this force was taken in 1897 because of concern at French colonial...
, 1900
In Australia a Field Force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.
In the United States, during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
the term "Corps" was used for various parts of South Vietnam i.e. "I Corps". To avoid confusion the Corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
sized military command that controlled U.S. Army Divisions and other units was called a "Field Force" such as I Field Force and II Field Force. Unlike an Army Corps, the Field Force had other functions such as liaision with South Vietnamese and Civil Affairs
Civil Affairs
Civil Affairs is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions , but for different purposes in each case.-United Nations Civil Affairs:...
functions and was flexible enough to have other subordinate units assigned to it.
The US Army refers to task forces as temporary organisations of military units for a specific mission though they usually may be of battalion size. Task Forces were formerly named after the unit commander, such as Task Force Smith at the beginning of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Similar temporary military formations in British, Imperial, or Commonwealth units were formerly known by the name of the Commander i.e. Layforce
Layforce
Layforce was an ad hoc military formation of the British Army consisting of a number of commando units during the Second World War.Formed in February 1941 under the command of Colonel Robert Laycock, after whom the force was named, it consisted of approximately 2,000 men and served in the Middle...
for Colonel Robert Laycock
Robert Laycock
Major General Sir Robert Edward Laycock KCMG, CB, DSO, KStJ was a British soldier, most famous for his service with the commandos during the Second World War...
's command.
Police field forces
In counter insurgencyCounter insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
type campaigns, select and specially trained units of police armed and equipped as light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
have been designated as police field forces who perform paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
type patrols and ambushes whilst retaining their police powers in areas that were highly dangerous.
Examples of these are:
- Royal Malaysian PoliceRoyal Malaysian PoliceThe Royal Malaysia Police is a part of the security forces structure in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organization with responsibilities ranging from traffic control to intelligence gathering. Its headquarters is located at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur. The police force is led by an...
Police Field Force/General Operations Forces (Malayan EmergencyMalayan EmergencyThe Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
) - Kenya PoliceKenya PoliceThe Kenya Police is a national body in charge of law enforcement in the East Africa State of Kenya. While organised at a national level, each arm reports to a Provincial police authority, which in turn divides its force by local Police Divisions, headquartered at local police stations...
General Service Unit (Mau Mau UprisingMau Mau UprisingThe Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
) - Tanzania Police Police Field Force (Zanzibar RevolutionZanzibar RevolutionThe Zanzibar Revolution by local African revolutionaries in 1964 overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. An ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika, Zanzibar had been granted independence by Britain in 1963...
) - Gambia Police Field Force
- South VietnamSouth VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
National Police Field Force (Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
) - British South Africa PoliceBritish South Africa PoliceThe British South Africa Police was the police force of the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes which became the national police force of Southern Rhodesia and its successor after 1965, Rhodesia...
Support Unit (Rhodesian Bush WarRhodesian Bush WarThe Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...
) - Royal Solomon Islands Police Police Field Force
- Sri LankaSri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
Special Task ForceSpecial Task ForceThe Special Task Force is an elite special forces unit of the Sri Lanka Police Service specializing in Counter-Terrorist and Counter-Insurgency operations. It was formed in 1983 not as a military force but rather as a highly specialised police unit...
(Sri Lankan Civil WarSri Lankan civil warThe Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
) - NamibiaNamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
Special Field ForceSpecial Field ForceThe Special Field Force is a Namibian paramilitary police unit created in 1995 by the late commissioner Ruben "danger" Ashipala as an auxiliary aggressive Unit to complement the Special Reserve Force. It encompasses border guards, VIP Protection Unit and Installation unit...