Military unit in the context of Paramilitary

Military patrol is a team winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Formerly ski mountaineering was also part of the sport. It is usually contested between countries or military units.

The military patrol competition encompasses 20 km cross-country skiing (15 km for women) and rifle shooting. The size of the patrol is four members, one leader and 3 members. The leader does not take part in shooting. The rules are very similar to modern biathlon.

A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a series of military engagements that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish.

The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and the Battle of France, all in World War II.

A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force.

In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some military forces (including the United States Air Force, United States Space Force, French Air and Space Force, Royal Air Force, German Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Belgian Air Component and Republic of Singapore Air Force) also use the term "squadron" for non-flying ground units (e.g. radar squadrons, missile squadrons, air defense squadrons, aircraft maintenance squadrons, security forces squadrons, civil engineering squadrons, range operations squadrons, range management squadrons, weather squadrons, medical squadrons, etc.).

A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a command center, training ground or proving ground. In most cases, military bases rely on outside help to operate. However, certain complex bases are able to endure on their own for long periods because they are able to provide food, drinking water, and other necessities for their inhabitants while under siege. Bases for military aviation are called air bases. Bases for military ships are called naval bases.

The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; Ukrainian: Національна гвардія України, romanized: Natsionalna hvardiia Ukrainy, IPA: [nɐts⁽ʲ⁾ioˈnɑlʲnɐ ˈɦwɑrd⁽ʲ⁾ijɐ ʊkrɐˈjinɪ]; abbr. НГУ/NHU [ˌɛnɦeˈu]) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the direct control of the Verkhovna Rada on 4 November 1991, following Ukrainian independence, it was later disbanded and merged into the Internal Troops of Ukraine in 2000 by President Leonid Kuchma as part of a "cost-saving" scheme. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, amidst the Russian intervention, the National Guard was re-established, and the Internal Troops were disbanded.

The purpose of the National Guard is to serve as a military unit with law enforcement powers. Its mission is to ensure state security, protect state borders (supporting the State Border Service), participate in activities to neutralize paramilitary armed groups, terrorist organizations, organized groups and criminal organizations, protect critical infrastructure such as Ukraine's nuclear power plants, diplomatic missions, and buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The NGU has sent personnel to UN peacekeeping missions. During peacetime the National Guard focuses on civilian public security, combating organized crime and controlling civil unrest. During wartime the National Guard can be mobilized as a regular military force and take part in combat operations alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which it has done during the war in Donbas and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Army aviation is military aviation that is organized as a sub-branch under the command of an army, separate from a nation's dedicated air force. Army aviation units, sometimes described as air corps, are typically attached as a part of to a ground force and tasked to tactically assist its land warfare by providing close air support, rapid insertion, reconnaissance and logistics for front line ground operations. They usually comprise VTOL aircraft such as military helicopters, as well as gyrocopters, light fixed-wing attack aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), and historically also aerostats such as military balloons and airships.

Prior to the establishment of separate national air forces, many armies had aviation units, which as the importance of aviation increased, were spun off into independent branches of the military. As the separation between a nation's ground and air forces led to a divergence of priorities, many armies sought to re-establish their own aviation branches to best serve their own organic tactical needs.

A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 50,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps.

Historically, the division has been the default combined arms unit capable of independent operations. Smaller combined arms units, such as the American regimental combat team (RCT) during World War II, were used when conditions favored them. In recent times, modern Western militaries have begun adopting the smaller brigade combat team (similar to the RCT) as the default combined arms unit, with the division to which they belong being less important.

In a military context, the term front can have several meanings. According to official US Department of Defense and NATO definitions, a front can be "the line of contact of two opposing forces." This front line can be a local or tactical front, or it can range to a theater. An example of the latter was the Western Front in France and Belgium in World War I.

Relatedly, front can refer to the direction of the enemy or, in the absence of combat, the direction towards which a military unit is facing. Conversely, the term "home front" has been used to denote conditions in the civilian sector of a country at war, including those involved in the production of matériel.

A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service, or specialisation.

In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord in capite of the soldiers. Lesser barons of knightly rank could be expected to muster or hire a company or battalion from their manorial estate.

A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several companies, each typically commanded by a major or a captain. The typical battalion is built from three operational companies, one weapons company and one headquarters company. In some countries, battalions are exclusively infantry, while in others battalions are unit-level organizations. The word battalion has its origins in the Late Latin word battalion, which is derived from battalia, meaning "battle" or "combat." The term was used to describe a large group of soldiers ready for battle. Over time, its meaning evolved in military terminology.

The word "battalion" came into the English language in the 16th century from the French bataillon, meaning "battle squadron" (similar to the Italian battaglione meaning the same thing) and the Spanish batallón, derived from the Vulgar Latin noun battalia ("battle") and ultimately from the Classical Latin verb battuere ("to beat" or "to strike"). The first use of the word in English is attested in the 1580s.

A force structure is the combat-capable part of a military organisation which describes how military personnel, and their weapons and equipment, are organised for the operations, missions and tasks expected from them by the particular doctrine of the service or demanded by the environment of the conflict.

Force structuring considers the allocation of officers and other service men and women, their skills, and the relationship between their military units required to provide mutual support during military operations as a military capability of the armed forces in part or as a whole. The totality of the force structure committed to any given military operation, mission or task is called an order of battle.

A flight is a small military unit within the larger structure of an air force, naval air service, or army air corps; and is usually subordinate to a larger squadron. A military aircraft flight is typically composed of four aircraft, though two to six aircraft may also form an aircraft flight; along with their aircrews and ground staff. In some very specific examples, typically involving historic aircraft, a flight may contain as many as twelve aircraft, as is the case with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). In most usages, two or more flights make up a squadron. Foreign languages equivalents include escadrille (French), escuadrilla (Spanish), esquadrilha (Portuguese), lanka (Ukrainian), patrulă (Romanian), zveno (Russian), and Schwarm (German).

In the case of a non-flying, or "ground flight", such as Mechanical Transport Flight (MTF), Supply Flight, Accounts Flight, etc; no aircraft, and a roughly equivalent number of support personnel may be utilised.

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.

Brigades formed into divisions are usually infantry or armored (sometimes referred to as combined arms brigades). In addition to combat units, they may include combat support units or sub-units, such as artillery and engineers, and logistic units. Historically, such brigades have been called brigade-groups. On operations, a brigade may comprise both organic elements and attached elements, including some temporarily attached for a specific task.

The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a colonel (O-6) although in some cases a brigadier general (O-7) may assume command. A brigade combat team contains combat support and combat service support units necessary to sustain its operations. BCTs contain organic artillery training and support, received from the parent division artillery (DIVARTY). There are four types of brigade combat teams: infantry, Stryker, armored, and mobile.

Currently, the U.S. Army is structured around the brigade combat team. In this program, divisions that previously had not deployed individual brigades due to a lack of integral support have now been restructured. The 1st Armored Division, 25th Infantry Division, etc. now can deploy one or more BCTs anywhere in the world. These BCTs are intended to be able to stand on their own, like a division in miniature. The soldiers assigned to a BCT will stay at their assignment for three years; this is intended to bolster readiness and improve unit cohesion.

Marching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady walking forward in either rhythmic or route-step time; and, typically, it refers to overland movements on foot of military troops and units under field orders. Marching is often performed to march music and is typically associated with military and civilian ceremonial parades. It is a major part of military basic training in most countries and usually involves a system of drill commands. It can also be used as a general term to describe a protest in which protestors move such as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a watershed moment in the civil rights movement.

A sotnia (Ukrainian and Russian: сотня, lit. 'a hundred', Croatian: satnija) was a military unit and administrative division in some Slavic countries.

Sotnia, deriving back to 1248, has been used in a variety of contexts in both Ukraine and Russia to this day. It is a helpful word to create short names for groups including the Nebesna Sotnia and Terek Wolf Sotnia, stating that these groups do include 100–150 persons.