- Army
legend|#b9b9b9|No informationAn army (from
Latin "Armata" "act of arming" viaOld French "armée"), in the broadest sense, is the land-basedarmed forces of a nation. It may also include other branches of themilitary such as anair force . Within a national military force, the word Army may also mean afield army , which is an operational formation, usually made up of one or morecorps .In several countries the army is officially called the land army to differentiate it from an
air force called the air army, notablyFrance . In such countries, the word "army" on its own retains its connotation of a land force in common usage. The current largest army in the world by number of active troops is thePeople's Liberation Army of China with 2,250,000 active troops and 800,000 reserve personnel.Field army
A
field army is composed of a headquarters, armytroops , a variable number ofcorps , 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. Field armies are controlled by a General or Lieutenant General.Formations
A particular army can be named or numbered to distinguish it from military land forces in general. For example, the
First United States Army and theArmy of Northern Virginia . In theBritish 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 group s and theaters) are large formations which vary significantly between armed forces in size, composition, and scope of responsibility.In the Soviet
Red Army and the Soviet Air Force, "Armies" were actuallycorps -sized formations, subordinate to anArmy Group -sized "front" in wartime. In peacetime, a Soviet army was usually subordinate to amilitary district .ee also
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Military unit
*War
*Military history
*Paramilitary
*Militia
*Mercenary
*List of armies
*List of armies by country
*List of armies by number
*List of countries by size of armed forces
*List of countries by number of active troops
*List of countries by number of total troops
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