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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Naval Service and the Royal Air Force. As of 1 January 2024, the British Army comprises 75,166 regular full-time personnel, 4,062 Gurkhas, 26,244 volunteer reserve personnel and 4,557 "other personnel", for a total of 110,029.
The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.
The Royal Thai Armed Forces are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Thailand.
The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
Corps is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies greatly, but two to five divisions and anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 are the numbers stated by the US Department of Defense.
National service is the system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term national service comes from the United Kingdom's National Service Act 1939.
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal.
A military prison is a prison operated by a military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime. There are two types: penal and confinement-oriented, where captured enemy combatants are confined for military reasons until hostilities cease. Most militaries have some sort of military police unit operating at the divisional level or below to perform many of the same functions as civilian police, from traffic-control to the arrest of violent offenders and the supervision of detainees and prisoners of war.
Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, usually on a part-time basis. Unlike a military reserve force, an auxiliary force does not necessarily have the same degree of training or ranking structure as regular soldiers, and it may or may not be integrated into a fighting force. Some auxiliaries, however, are militias composed of former active duty military personnel and actually have better training and combat experience than their regular counterparts.
The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Commission and ship allocation under the WSA to Army, Navy or civilian needs were closely coordinated though Vice Admiral Emory S. Land who continued as head of the Maritime Commission while also heading the WSA.
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed forces, and they remain a reservist either voluntarily, or by obligation. In some countries such as Israel, Norway, Finland, Singapore, and Switzerland, reservists are conscripted soldiers who are called up for training and service when necessary.
A garrison ration is a type of military ration. Usually distinct from field rations, the term has varying meanings, but generally refers to either rations issued to personnel at a camp, installation, or other garrison; allowance allotted to personnel to purchase goods or rations sold in a garrison; the rations purchased with the aforementioned allowance; or a type of issued ration.
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A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve forces are generally considered part of a permanent standing body of armed forces, and allow a nation to reduce its peacetime military expenditures and maintain a force prepared for war. During peacetime, reservists typically serve part-time alongside a civilian job, although most reserve forces have a significant permanent full-time component as well. Reservists may be deployed for weeks or months-long missions during peacetime to support specific operations. During wartime, reservists may be kept in service for months or years at a time, although typically not for as long as active duty soldiers.
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the Territorial Force in 1908. Most of the regiments of the present Army Reserves Infantry, Artillery, Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units.
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The recent history of changes in women's roles includes having women in the military. Every country in the world permits the participation of women in the military, in one form or another. In 2018, only two countries conscripted women and men on the same formal conditions: Norway and Sweden. A few other countries have laws conscripting women into their armed forces, however with some difference such as service exemptions, length of service, and more. Some countries do not have conscription, but men and women may serve on a voluntary basis under equal conditions. Alenka Ermenc was the first female head of armed forces in any of the NATO member states, having served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces between 2018 and 2020.
The Demobilization of United States armed forces after the Second World War began with the defeat of Germany in May 1945 and continued through 1946. The United States had more than 12 million men and women in the armed forces at the end of World War II, of whom 7.6 million were stationed abroad. The American public demanded a rapid demobilization and soldiers protested the slowness of the process. Military personnel were returned to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. By June 30, 1947, the number of active duty soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in the armed forces had been reduced to 1,566,000.
Military conscription has never applied in Ireland. The Defence Forces are the armed forces of the Republic of Ireland, and serves as an all-volunteer military. Irish neutrality means Ireland has been neutral in international relations since the 1930s, though it has participated in several United Nations peacekeeping missions.
References
- ↑ Kohn, G. C. (2007). Dictionary of Wars. New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-8160-6577-6.
- ↑ Fitzpatrick, D. (2011). Conscription by Lottery in First World War Britain. The Historical Journal, 54(4), 1073-1103. doi:10.1017/S0018246X11000346
- ↑ United States War Department (1903). Regulations for the Army of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 15.
- ↑ United States Marine Corps (1914). Regulations for the United States Marine Corps. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 9.
- ↑ United States Navy Department (1913). Regulations for the Government of the United States Navy. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 21.
- ↑ UP (17 July 1953). "President Kills Army Discharge by Purchase". Madera Tribune . Vol. 62, no. 94. California Digital Newspaper Collection. p. 1. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ↑ "Defence Act 1954, section 75". Revised Acts. Dublin: Law Reform Commission. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ↑ "Discharge by Purchase". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 17 November 1953. HC Deb vol 520 c1557. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ↑ "Discharge by Purchase". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 17 November 2021. HC Deb vol 134 cc2040–8. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ↑ Park, H. (2017). Military Discharge and Social Inequality: Evidence from the Korean War. American Sociological Review, 82(1), 34-62. doi:10.1177/0003122416683262
- ↑ Burch, T. (2018). The Myth of Conscription by Purchase. War in History, 25(1), 56-81. doi:10.1177/0968344516631284
- ↑ Spiers, E. (2008). The British Army, Discharge by Purchase and the Question of the 'Long Service' Soldier, 1829-1847. The International History Review, 30(2), 273-294. doi:10.1080/07075332.2008.9641073
- ↑ Holmes, R. (2002). Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-653152-4.
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