Amilitary, also known collectively asarmed forces, is a heavilyarmed, highly organized force primarily intended forwarfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by asovereign state, with their members identifiable by a distinctmilitary uniform. They may consist of one or moremilitary branches such as anarmy,navy,air force,space force,marines, orcoast guard. The main task of a military is usually defined as defence of their state and its interests against external armed threats.
In broad usage, the terms "armed forces" and "military" are often synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include otherparamilitary forces such as armed police.
Countries by number of active soldiers (2009)
Beyond warfare, the military may be employed in additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned functions within the state, including internal security threats,crowd control, promotion ofpolitical agendas,emergency services and reconstruction, protectingcorporate economic interests, social ceremonies, and nationalhonour guards.[1]A nation's military may function as a discrete socialsubculture, with dedicated infrastructure such as military housing,schools, utilities,logistics,hospitals, legal services, food production, finance, and banking services.
Relief scene of Roman legionaries marching, from theColumn of Marcus Aurelius, Rome, Italy, 2nd century AD
The first recorded use of the word "military" in English, spelledmilitarie, was in 1582.[4] It comes from the Latinmilitaris (from Latinmiles'soldier') through French, but is of uncertain etymology, one suggestion being derived from*mil-it- – going in a body or mass.[5][6]
As a noun phrase, "the military" usually refers generally to a country's armed forces, or sometimes, more specifically, to the senior officers who command them.[4][7] In general, it refers to the physicality of armed forces, theirpersonnel,equipment, and the physical area which they occupy.
As an adjective, military originally referred only to soldiers and soldiering, but it broadened to apply to land forces in general, and anything to do with their profession.[4] The names of both theRoyal Military Academy (1741) andUnited States Military Academy (1802) reflect this. However, at about the time of theNapoleonic Wars,military began to be used in reference to armed forces as a whole, such as "military service", "military intelligence", and "military history". As such, it now connotes any activity performed by armed force personnel.[4]
Military history is often considered to be the history of all conflicts, not just the history of the state militaries. It differs somewhat from thehistory of war, with military history focusing on the people and institutions of war-making, while the history of war focuses on the evolution of war itself in the face of changing technology, governments, and geography.
Military history has a number of facets. One main facet is to learn from past accomplishments and mistakes, so as to more effectively wage war in the future. Another is to create a sense ofmilitary tradition, which is used to create cohesive military forces. Still, another is to learn to prevent wars more effectively. Human knowledge about the military is largely based on both recorded andoral history of military conflicts (war), their participatingarmies andnavies and, more recently,air forces.[8]
Despite the growing importance ofmilitary technology, military activity depends above all on people. For example, in 2000 the British Army declared: "Man is still the first weapon of war."[9]
Rank and role
The military organization is characterized by acommand hierarchy divided bymilitary rank, with ranks normally grouped (in descending order of authority) asofficers (e.g.colonel),non-commissioned officers (e.g.sergeant), and personnel at the lowest rank (e.g.private). While senior officers make strategic decisions, subordinated military personnel (soldiers,sailors,marines, orairmen) fulfil them. Although rank titles vary bymilitary branch and country, the rank hierarchy is common to all state armed forces worldwide.
Personnel may berecruited orconscripted, depending on the system chosen by the state. Most military personnel are males; the minority proportion of female personnel varies internationally (approximately 3% in India,[10] 10% in the UK,[11] 13% in Sweden,[12] 16% in the US,[13] and 27% in South Africa[14]). While two-thirds of states now recruit or conscript only adults, as of 2017 50 states still relied partly on children under the age of 18 (usually aged 16 or 17) to staff their armed forces.[15]
Whereas recruits who join asofficers tend to beupwardly-mobile,[16][17] most enlisted personnel have a childhood background of relativesocio-economic deprivation.[18][19][20] For example, after the US suspended conscription in 1973, "the military disproportionately attracted African American men, men from lower-status socioeconomic backgrounds, men who had been in nonacademic high school programs, and men whose high school grades tended to be low".[16] However, a study released in 2020 on the socio-economic backgrounds of U.S. Armed Forces personnel suggests that they are at parity or slightly higher than the civilian population with respect to socio-economic indicators such as parental income, parental wealth and cognitive abilities. The study found that technological, tactical, operational and doctrinal changes have led to a change in the demand for personnel. Furthermore, the study suggests that the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups are less likely to meet the requirements of the modern U.S. military.[21]
Obligations
The obligations of military employment are many. Full-time military employment normally requires a minimum period of service of several years; between two and six years is typical of armed forces in Australia, the UK and the US, for example, depending on role, branch, and rank.[22][23][24] Some armed forces allow a shortdischarge window, normally during training, when recruits may leave the armed force as of right.[25] Alternatively, part-time military employment, known asreserve service, allows a recruit to maintain a civilian job while training under military discipline at weekends; he or she may be called out todeploy on operations to supplement the full-time personnel complement. After leaving the armed forces, recruits may remain liable for compulsory return to full-time military employment in order to train ordeploy on operations.[25][24]
Military law introduces offences not recognized by civilian courts, such asabsence without leave (AWOL), desertion, political acts,malingering, behaving disrespectfully, and disobedience (see, for example,offences against military law in the United Kingdom).[26] Penalties range from a summaryreprimand to imprisonment for several years following acourt martial.[26] Certain rights are also restricted or suspended, including the freedom of association (e.g. union organizing) and freedom of speech (speaking to the media).[26] Military personnel in some countries have a right ofconscientious objection if they believe an order is immoral or unlawful, or cannot in good conscience carry it out.
Personnel may be posted to bases in their home country or overseas, according to operational need, and may be deployed from those bases onexercises oroperations. During peacetime, when military personnel are generally stationed ingarrisons or other permanent military facilities, they conduct administrative tasks,training andeducation activities,technology maintenance,and recruitment.
Training
Finnish and American soldiers training together in arctic conditions inLapland, Finland, January 6–16, 2015
Initial training conditions recruits for the demands of military life, including preparedness to injure and kill other people, and to face mortal danger without fleeing. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process whichresocializes recruits for the unique nature of military demands.[citation needed] For example:
Individuality is suppressed (e.g. by shaving the head of new recruits, issuing uniforms, denying privacy, and prohibiting the use of first names);[27][28]
Daily routine is tightly controlled (e.g. recruits must make their beds, polish boots, and stack their clothes in a certain way, and mistakes are punished);[29][28]
Continuousstressors deplete psychological resistance to the demands of their instructors (e.g. depriving recruits of sleep, food, or shelter, shouting insults and giving orders intended to humiliate)[30][28][29]
Frequent punishments serve to condition group conformity and discourage poor performance;[28]
The disciplined drill instructor is presented as a role model of the ideal soldier.[31]
The next requirement comes as a fairly basic need for the military to identify possiblethreats it may be called upon to face. For this purpose, some of the commanding forces and other military, as well as often civilian personnel participate in identification of these threats. This is at once an organization, a system and a process collectively calledmilitary intelligence (MI). Areas of study in Military intelligence may include the operational environment, hostile, friendly and neutral forces, the civilian population in an area of combat operations, and other broader areas of interest.[32]
The difficulty in using military intelligence concepts and military intelligence methods is in the nature of thesecrecy of the information they seek, and theclandestine nature that intelligence operatives work in obtaining what may be plans for aconflict escalation,initiation of combat, or aninvasion.
An important part of the military intelligence role is the military analysis performed to assessmilitary capability of potential future aggressors, and provide combat modelling that helps to understand factors on which comparison of forces can be made. This helps to quantify and qualify such statements as: "China andIndia maintain the largest armed forces in the World" or that "theU.S. Military is considered to be the world's strongest".[33]
Guerrilla structure
Although some groups engaged in combat, such as militants orresistance movements, refer to themselves using military terminology, notably 'Army' or 'Front', none have had the structure of a national military to justify the reference, and usually have had to rely on support of outside national militaries. They also use these terms to conceal from the MI their true capabilities, and to impress potential ideological recruits.
Having military intelligence representatives participate in the execution of the national defence policy is important, because it becomes the first respondent and commentator on the policy expectedstrategic goal, compared to the realities ofidentified threats. When the intelligence reporting is compared to the policy, it becomes possible for the national leadership to consider allocating resources over and above the officers and their subordinates military pay, and the expense of maintaining military facilities and military support services for them.
Defense economics is the financial and monetary efforts made to resource and sustain militaries, and to financemilitary operations, including war.
The process of allocating resources is conducted by determining amilitary budget, which is administered by a military finance organization within the military. Military procurement is then authorized to purchase or contract provision of goods and services to the military, whether in peacetime at a permanent base, or in a combat zone from local population.
A pie chart showing global military expenditures by country for 2019, in US$ billions, according to SIPRI
Map of military expenditures as a percentage ofGDP by country, 2017[35][needs update]
History of military budgets by country
Capability development
Capability development, which is often referred to as the military 'strength', is arguably one of the most complex activities known to humanity; because it requires determining: strategic, operational, and tactical capability requirements to counter the identified threats; strategic,operational, and tactical doctrines by which the acquired capabilities will be used; identifying concepts, methods, and systems involved in executing the doctrines; creating design specifications for the manufacturers who would produce these in adequate quantity and quality for their use in combat; purchase the concepts, methods, and systems; create a forces structure that would use the concepts, methods, and systems most effectively and efficiently; integrate these concepts, methods, and systems into the force structure by providingmilitary education,training, andpractice that preferably resembles combat environment of intended use; createmilitary logistics systems to allow continued and uninterrupted performance ofmilitary organizations under combat conditions, including provision of health services to the personnel, and maintenance for the equipment; the services to assist recovery of wounded personnel, and repair of damaged equipment; and finally, post-conflictdemobilization, and disposal of war stocks surplus to peacetime requirements.
Development ofmilitary doctrine is perhaps the most important of all capability development activities, because it determines how military forces are used in conflicts, the concepts and methods used by the command to employ appropriately military skilled,armed andequipped personnel in achievement of the tangible goals and objectives of thewar,campaign,battle, engagement, and action.[36] The line between strategy and tactics is not easily blurred, although deciding which is being discussed had sometimes been a matter of personal judgement by some commentators, and military historians. The use of forces at the level of organization between strategic and tactical is calledoperational mobility.
A frontline Ukrainian soldier with an anti-drone rifle, which usesdirected energy to disable its target. The mainstream use ofdrone technology in theRussian invasion of Ukraine led to a need to research, develop and deploy effective counter-measures.[37]
Because most of the concepts and methods used by the military, and many of its systems are not found in commercial branches, much of the material is researched, designed, developed, and offered for inclusion inarsenals bymilitary science organizations within the overall structure of the military. Therefore, military scientists can be found interacting with all Arms and Services of the armed forces, and at all levels of the military hierarchy of command.
Although concerned with research intomilitary psychology, particularlycombat stress and how it affects troopmorale, often the bulk of military science activities is directed at military intelligence technology,military communications, and improvingmilitary capability through research. The design, development, and prototyping ofweapons, military support equipment, andmilitary technology in general, is also an area in which much effort is invested – it includes everything from global communication networks andaircraft carriers to paint and food.
Possessing military capability is not sufficient if this capability cannot be deployed for, and employed in combat operations. To achieve this,military logistics are used for thelogistics management and logistics planning of the forcesmilitary supply chain management, the consumables, and capital equipment of the troops.
These supply points are also used to providemilitary engineering services, such as the recovery of defective and derelict vehicles and weapons, maintenance of weapons in the field, the repair and field modification of weapons and equipment; and in peacetime, the life-extension programmes undertaken to allow continued use of equipment. One of the most important role of logistics is the supply ofmunitions as a primary type of consumable, their storage, anddisposal.
In combat
The primary reason for the existence of the military is to engage incombat, should it be required to do so by the national defence policy, and to win. This represents an organisational goal of any military, and the primary focus for military thought throughmilitary history. Howvictory is achieved, and what shape it assumes, is studied by most, if not all, military groups on three levels.
TheMaratha Navy, which is considered to be the foundation of the modernIndian Navy, often employed land and sea coordination tactics when attacking, which won them many battles against theMughals andPortuguese
Military strategy is the management of forces inwars andmilitary campaigns by acommander-in-chief, employing large military forces, either national and allied as a whole, or the component elements ofarmies,navies andair forces; such asarmy groups,naval fleets, and large numbers ofaircraft. Military strategy is a long-term projection of belligerents' policy, with a broad view of outcome implications, including outside the concerns of military command. Military strategy is more concerned with thesupply of war and planning, than management of field forces and combat between them. The scope of strategic military planning can span weeks, but is more often months or even years.[36]
The operational level is at a scale bigger than one where line of sight and the time of day are important, and smaller than the strategic level, where production and politics are considerations. Formations are of the operational level if they are able to conduct operations on their own, and are of sufficient size to be directly handled or have a significant impact at the strategic level. This concept was pioneered by theGerman army prior to and during theSecond World War. At this level, planning and duration of activities takes from one week to a month, and are executed byField Armies andArmy Corps and their naval and air equivalents.[36]
Military tactics concerns itself with the methods for engaging and defeating the enemy in direct combat. Military tactics are usually used by units over hours or days, and are focused on the specific tasks and objectives ofsquadrons,companies,battalions,regiments,brigades, anddivisions, and their naval and air force equivalents.[36]
One of the oldest military publications isThe Art of War, by theChinese philosopherSun Tzu.[38] Written in the 6th century BCE, the 13-chapter book is intended as military instruction, and not asmilitary theory, but has had a huge influence on Asian military doctrine, and from the late 19th century, on European and United Statesmilitary planning. It has even been used to formulate business tactics, and can even be applied in social and political areas.
Two major works on tactics come from the late Roman period:Taktike Theoria byAelianus Tacticus, andDe Re Militari ('On military matters') byVegetius.Taktike Theoria examined Greek military tactics, and was most influential in theByzantine world and during theGolden Age of Islam.
De Re Militari formed the basis of European military tactics until the late 17th century. Perhaps its most enduring maxim isIgitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum (let he who desires peace prepare for war).
Due to the changing nature of combat with the introduction ofartillery in the EuropeanMiddle Ages, and infantry firearms in theRenaissance, attempts were made to define and identify those strategies,grand tactics, and tactics that would produce a victory more often than that achieved by the Romans in praying to the gods before the battle.
strategy forms the plan of the War, and to this end it links together the series of acts which are to lead to the final decision, that is to say, it makes the plans for the separate campaigns and regulates the combats to be fought in each.[41]
A major development ininfantry tactics came with the increased use oftrench warfare in the 19th and 20th centuries. This was mainly employed inWorld War I in theGallipoli campaign, and theWestern Front. Trench warfare often turned to a stalemate, only broken by a large loss of life, because, in order to attack an enemy entrenchment, soldiers had to run through an exposed 'no man's land' under heavy fire from their opposing entrenched enemy.
As with any occupation, since ancient times, the military has been distinguished from other members of the society by their tools: theweapons andmilitary equipment used in combat. WhenStone Age humans first tookflint to tip thespear, it was the first example ofapplying technology to improve the weapon. Since then, the advances made by human societies, and that of weapons, has been closely linked. Stone weapons gave way toBronze Age andIron Age weapons such asswords andshields. With each technological change was realized some tangible increase in military capability, such as through greater effectiveness of a sharper edge in defeatingarmour, orimproved density of materials used in manufacture of weapons.
Onland, the first significant technological advance in warfare was the development of ranged weapons, notably thesling and later thebow and arrow. The next significant advance came with thedomestication of the horses and mastering ofequestrianism, creatingcavalry and allowing for faster military advances and better logistics. Possibly the most significant advancement was thewheel, a staple of transportation, starting with thechariot and eventuallysiege engines. The bow was manufactured in increasingly larger and more powerful versions to increase both the weapon range and armour penetration performance, developing intocomposite bows,recurve bows,longbows, andcrossbows. These proved particularly useful during the rise of cavalry, as horsemen encased in ever-more sophisticatedarmour came to dominate the battlefield.
Inmedieval China,gunpowder had been invented, and was increasingly used by the military in combat. The use of gunpowder in the earlyvase-like mortars in Europe, and advanced versions of the longbow and crossbow with armour-piercingarrowheads, put an end to the dominance of the armoured knight. Gunpowder resulted in the development and fielding of themusket, which could be used effectively with little training. In time, the successors to muskets andcannons, in the form ofrifles andartillery, would become core battlefield technology.
As the speed of technological advances accelerated in civilian applications, so too did military and warfare becomeindustrialized. The newly inventedmachine gun andrepeating rifle redefinedfirepower on the battlefield, and, in part, explains the high casualty rates of theAmerican Civil War and the decline of melee combat in warfare. The next breakthrough was the conversion of artillery parks from themuzzle-loading guns, to quickerbreech-loading guns with recoiling barrels that allowed quicker aimed fire and use of a shield. The widespread introduction of low smoke (smokeless) propellant powders since the 1880s also allowed for a great improvement of artillery ranges. The development of breech loading had the greatest effect onnaval warfare for the first time since the Middle Ages, altering the way weapons are mounted onwarships.Naval tactics were divorced from the reliance onsails with the invention of theinternal combustion. A further advance in military naval technology was thesubmarine and thetorpedo.
DuringWorld War I, the need to break the deadlock of trench warfare saw the rapid development of many new technologies, particularlytanks.Military aviation was extensively used, andbombers became decisive in many battles ofWorld War II, which marked the most frantic period of weapons development in history. Many new designs, and concepts were used in combat, and all existing technologies of warfare were improved between 1939 and 1945.
During World War II, significant advances were made inmilitary communications through increased use of radio, military intelligence through use of theradar, and inmilitary medicine through use ofpenicillin, while in the air, the guidedmissile,jet aircraft, andhelicopters were seen for the first time. Perhaps the most infamous of all military technologies was the creation ofnuclear weapons, although the exact effects of itsradiation were unknown until the early 1950s. Far greater use ofmilitary vehicles had finally eliminated the cavalry from the militaryforce structure.After World War II, with the onset of theCold War, the constant technological development of new weapons was institutionalized, as participants engaged in a constantarms race in capability development. This constant state of weapons development continues into the present.Main battle tanks, and other heavy equipment such asarmoured fighting vehicles,military aircraft, andships, are characteristic to organized military forces.
U.S. Army soldiers with modern equipment. The soldier on the right is using alaser designator to observe and mark targets, while the soldier on the far left is using aradio to coordinatefire support.
The most significant technological developments that influenced combat have been guided missiles, which can be used by all branches of the armed services. More recently,information technology, and its use insurveillance, including space-based reconnaissance systems, have played an increasing role in military operations. The impact ofinformation warfare, which focuses on attacking command communication systems, and military databases, has been coupled with the use of robotic systems in combat, such asunmanned combat aerial vehicles andunmanned ground vehicles.
Recently, there has also been a particular focus towards the use ofrenewable fuels for running military vehicles on. Unlike fossil fuels, renewable fuels can be produced in any country, creating a strategic advantage. The U.S. military has committed itself to have 50% of its energy consumption come from alternative sources.[42]
For much ofmilitary history, the armed forces were considered to be for use by the heads of their societies, until recently, thecrowned heads of states. In a democracy or other political system run in the public interest, it is apublic force.
The relationship between the military and thesociety it serves is a complicated and ever-evolving one. Much depends on the nature of the society itself, and whether it sees the military as important, as for example in time of threat or war, or a burdensome expense typified by defence cuts in time of peace.
One difficult matter in the relation between military and society is control and transparency. In some countries, limited information on military operations and budgeting is accessible for the public. However, transparency in the military sector is crucial to fightcorruption. This showed the Government Defence Anti-corruption IndexTransparency International UK published in 2013.[43]
Militaries often function associeties within societies, by having their own military communities,economies,education,medicine, and other aspects of a functioningcivilian society. A military is not limited to nations in of itself, as manyprivate military companies (or PMCs) can be used or hired by organizations and figures as security, escort, or other means of protection where police, agencies, or militaries are absent or not trusted.
Militarist ideology is thesociety'ssocial attitude of being best served, or being a beneficiary of agovernment, or guided by concepts embodied in the militaryculture, doctrine, system, orleaders.
Most nations have separatemilitary laws which regulate conduct in war and during peacetime. An early exponent wasHugo Grotius, whoseOn the Law of War and Peace (1625) had a major impact of the humanitarian approach to warfare development. His theme was echoed byGustavus Adolphus.
Ethics of warfare have developed since 1945, to create constraints on the military treatment of prisoners and civilians, primarily by theGeneva Conventions; but rarely apply to use of the military forces as internal security troops during times of political conflict that results in popular protests and incitement topopular uprising.
Military actions are sometimes argued to be justified by furthering a humanitarian cause, such asdisaster relief operations to defend refugees; such actions are calledmilitary humanism.
^Jordan, David; Kiras, James D.; Lonsdale, David J.; Speller, Ian; Tuck, Christopher; Walton, C. Dale (2016).Understanding Modern Warfare (Second ed.).Cambridge University Press. p. 66.ISBN978-1107134195.
^Morillo, Stephen, F. Pavkovic, Michael (2006).What is Military History? (1 ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 2,6–7.ISBN0-7456-3390-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Where are child soldiers?".Child Soldiers International. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved8 December 2017.
^abSegal, D R; et al. (1998). "The all-volunteer force in the 1970s".Social Science Quarterly.72 (2):390–411.JSTOR42863796.
^Bachman, Jerald G.; Segal, David R.; Freedman-Doan, Peter; O'Malley, Patrick M. (2000). "Who chooses military service? Correlates of propensity and enlistment in the U.S. Armed Forces".Military Psychology.12 (1):1–30.doi:10.1207/s15327876mp1201_1.S2CID143845150.
^Asoni, Andrea; Gilli, Andrea; Gilli, Mauro; Sanandaji, Tino (30 January 2020). "A mercenary army of the poor? Technological change and the demographic composition of the post-9/11 U.S. military".Journal of Strategic Studies.45 (4):568–614.doi:10.1080/01402390.2019.1692660.ISSN0140-2390.S2CID213899510.
^Grossman, Dave (2009).On killing : the psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society (Rev. ed.). New York: Little, Brown and Co.ISBN978-0-316-04093-8.OCLC427757599.
^Faris, John H. (16 September 2016). "The Impact of Basic Combat Training: The Role of the Drill Sergeant in the All-Volunteer Army".Armed Forces & Society.2 (1):115–127.doi:10.1177/0095327x7500200108.S2CID145213941.
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