Command (military formation)

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A command in military organization is a collection of units or a group of personnel under the control of a single officer. A command is usually a high-level formation, which is responsible to government or the one of the senior officers in charge of a nation's military. A command is sometimes led by a commander-in-chief.

1 Canadian Forces
2 British Military
3 United States Military
4 See also

[edit] Canadian Forces

Unlike the armed forces of Canada's closest allies—the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and New Zealand—the Canadian Forces is a single organization with a unified command structure.

Its operational elements of are Maritime Command (MARCOM), or the navy, Land Force Command (LFC) or the army, Air Command (AIRCOM), or the air force, Canada Command (CANCOM), responsible for all operations within Canada, Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM), responsible for operations outside of Canada, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), responsible for special forces, and Canadian Operational Support Command (CANOSCOM), responsible for providing combat support and combat service support. All of the commands fall under National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ).

The Canadian forces also has a number of smaller organizations which are not part of a command, including Reserve and National Survival, Canadian Forces Communications System (CFCS), and the now disbanded Canadian Forces Europe (CFE).

[edit] British Military

The branches of the Armed Forces of the Crown are organized into subordinate commands. Until recently, each branch has a "fighting" command and a second training and administrative command. This has changed on April 1st 2007.

[edit] Royal Navy

The Royal Navy has historically been split into several commands. There now remain only two commands, Fleet and Naval Home Command. It is planned that these two commands will soon amalgamate.

[edit] British Army

The modern British Army has three named commands: Land Command, which "owns" all front-line forces; The Adjutant General's Command, which provides training and administrative support in the UK; and the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland. GOC NI commands all forces deployed in Northern Ireland in support of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as part of Operation Banner. Forces under GOC NI will return to the other commands' control and it will close as BANNER is wound down as part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland and the garrison returns to "peacetime" levels.

[edit] Royal Air Force

Although the concept of a command dates back to the foundation of the Royal Air Force, the term command (as the name of a formation) was first used in purely RAF-context in 1936 when Bomber Command, Fighter Command, Coastal Command and Training Command were formed. Since that time the RAF has made considerable use of the term. Until early 2007, the RAF had two commands, Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command, which were co-located at RAF High Wycombe. On April 1, 2007, the two were merged to form the present Air Command.

[edit] Joint Operations

Whilst it is possible that a deployment could be entirely single-service and run by one of the "fighting" commands, in reality all operations are now run jointly by two or more of the services. To facilitate this, the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) has been established. This separate command is staffed by personnel from all three services and has operational command of most overseas operations, including in Iraq and Afganistan.

Commands are also the level at which a commander becomes "-in-Chief", as in "Commander-in-Chief Land Command" ("CINCLAND").

[edit] United States Military

In the United States Armed Forces, high-level joint collections of forces are organised as Unified Combatant Commands. In addition, both the US Army and the US Air Force subdivide their forces as Major Commands (or MAJCOM).