Standard NATO symbol for an infantry brigade.

A brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army. A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy A regiment is a Military unit, composed of a variable number of Battalions – commanded by a Colonel. A battalion is a Military unit of around 500-1500 men usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel An army (from Latin Armata "act of arming" via Old French armée) in the broadest sense is the land-based Armed forces Usually, a brigade is a sub-component of a division, a larger unit consisting of two or more brigades; however, some brigades are classified as a separate brigade and operate independently from the traditional division structure. A division is a large Military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to thirty thousand soldiers A division is a large Military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to thirty thousand soldiers The typical NATO standard brigade consists of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 troops. The North Atlantic Treaty

A brigade's commanding officer is commonly a brigadier general, brigadier or colonel. The commanding officer ( CO) is the officer in command of a Military unit. Brigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General. This article refers to the military rank For the Doctor Who character known as the Brigadier see Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country In Imperial or Commonwealth forces, the brigadier was assisted by a brigade major who was chief of staff of the brigade. This article refers to the military rank For the Doctor Who character known as the Brigadier see Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. In the British Army, a Brigade Major is the Chief of Staff of a Brigade or equivalent sized formation The chief of staff is the chief aide to the Commander of larger military Formations and Units It is sometimes the case that the chief of staff is more directly

In the armies of colonial powers, such as the British Empire, brigades frequently garrisoned isolated colonial posts, and their commanders had substantial discretion and local authority. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power.

Origin

The brigade was invented as a tactical unit by the Swedish king and conqueror Gustavus Adolphus. For the other Swedish kings known as Gustavus Adolphus see Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden or Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden It was introduced during the Thirty Years' War to overcome the normal army structure, consisting of regiments. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. The term derives from Italian brigata or Old French brigare, meaning "company", which in turn derives from a Celtic root briga, which means "strife". Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family.

The so-called "brigada" was a mixed unit, comprising infantry, cavalry and normally artillery too, designated for a special task. The size of such "brigada" was a reinforced company up to two regiments. The "brigada" was the ancient form of the modern "task force". For the computer game see Joint Task Force (computer game. A task force (TF is a temporary unit or formation established to work

This was copied in France by General Turenne, who made it a permanent unit, requiring the creation in 1667 of a permanent rank of brigadier des armées du roi (literally translating to brigadier of the armies of the king). Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne Vicomte de Turenne, often called simply Turenne ( September 11 1611 &ndash July 27 1675) was The role of brigadier took over brigade command from the Colonel or the Mestre du camp, under the command of the Maréchal de camp (the original Field Marshal), who would in time be rebaptised Général de brigade. Field Marshal ( French: Maréchal de camp) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. For other meanings see Field Marshal (disambiguation Field marshal is a military officer rank

Individual armies

United Kingdom

In the British Army, the brigade has been the smallest tactical formation for more than two centuries, since regiments are either administrative groupings of battalions (in the infantry) or battalion-sized units (in the cavalry). The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy A regiment is a Military unit, composed of a variable number of Battalions – commanded by a Colonel. The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on A typical brigade may consist of approximately 5,500 personnel between two mechanised infantry battalions, an armored regiment, an armored artillery regiment, and other logistic and engineering units. The brigade is usually commanded by an officer holding the rank of Brigadier, who is referred to as the "Brigade Commander" (never the "commanding officer", which in the British Army is reserved for battalion-sized units).

In the Royal Artillery, "brigade" was also the term used for a battalion-sized unit until 1938, when "regiment" was adopted. The Royal Artillery, is the common name for the Royal Regiment of Artillery, is an Arm of the British Army. This was because, unlike infantry battalions and cavalry regiments, which were organic, artillery units consisted of individually numbered batteries which were "brigaded" together. In Military organizations an artillery battery is a unit of Guns mortars or Rockets so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield The commander of such a brigade was a Lieutenant-Colonel, who was referred to as the "commanding officer". Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies

Canada

The Canadian Forces currently has 3 Regular Force Brigade Groups, known as Canadian Mechanized Brigade Groups: 1 CMBG, 2 CMBG, and 5e GBMC, the primarily French Canadian Brigade Group. Land Force Command ( LFC) is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Forces. 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1CMBG is a Canadian Forces Brigade group that is part of Land Forces Western Area of the Canadian Army. 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG is a Canadian Forces brigade group that is part of Land Forces Central Area of the Canadian army 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group ( French: 5e Groupe-brigade mécanisé du Canada (5CMBG is a Canadian Forces brigade group that is part of Land Forces Quebec These CMBGs are each composed of two mechanized infantry battalions, one light infantry battalion, one armoured regiment, one mechanized artillery regiment, one engineer regiment, one combat service and support (CSS) battalion, and one Military Police platoon. Co-located with each CMBG is a Field Ambulance, a General Service Battalion, and a Tactical Helicopter Squadron. Regular Force CMBG strengths are 5,000 personnel^[1]. Canada also has 10 Primary Reserve Brigades (Canadian Brigade Group), 31 CBG through 39 CBG, and 41 CBG. The CBG formations are for administrative purposes and, as such, are not deployable

United States

In the United States Army, a brigade is smaller than a division and roughly equal to or a little larger than a regiment. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. A division is a large Military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to thirty thousand soldiers A regiment is a Military unit, composed of a variable number of Battalions – commanded by a Colonel. Strength typically ranges from 1,500 to 4,000 personnel. Army brigades formerly contained two or more and typically five regiments, during the American Civil War, but this structure is now considered obsolete. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South U. S. Army Combat Brigades are formed into Brigade Combat Teams which contain combat elements and their support units. The brigade combat team (BCT is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the US Army.

In the United States Marine Corps, brigades are only formed for certain missions. Unlike the United States Army, the Marines have intact regimental structures. A Marine brigade is formed only for special expeditionary duty, for which it is outfitted like a smaller Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). A Marine Expeditionary Force or MEF (formerly known as a Marine Amphibious Force) is the largest component of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. For example, TF TARAWA (2d MEB) during the Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign. For the computer game see Joint Task Force (computer game. A task force (TF is a temporary unit or formation established to work The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign

The Brigade Commander is usually a colonel, although a lieutenant colonel can be selected for brigade command in lieu of an available colonel. Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies A typical tour of duty for this assignment is twenty four to thirty six months.

A brigade commander enjoys an appreciably sized headquarters and staff to assist him or her in commanding the brigade and its subordinate battalion units. The typical staff includes:

• a brigade executive officer, usually a lieutenant colonel
• a brigade command sergeant major
• a personnel officer (S1), usually a major
• an intelligence officer (S2), usually a major
• an operations officer (S3), usually a lieutenant colonel
• a logistics officer (S4), usually a major
• a communications officer (S6), usually a major
• a medical officer, usually a major
• a Judge Advocate General (legal) officer, usually a major
• a brigade chaplain, usually a major

In addition, the headquarters will include additional junior staff officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted support personnel in the occupational specialities of the staff sections; these personnel will ordinarily be assigned to the brigade's headquarters and headquarters company. While executive officer literally refers to a person responsible for the performance of duties involved in running an Organization, the exact meaning of the role is variable A Sergeant Major is a rank or appointment in many militaries around the world Major is a Military rank the use of which varies according to country A military staff is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commander and subordinate units A military staff is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commander and subordinate units Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG, can refer to the judicial arm of any of the United States Armed Forces including the Air Force A chaplain is typically a Priest, Pastor, ordained Deacon, Rabbi, Imam or other member of the Clergy serving a group of A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer) also known as an NCO or Noncom, is an enlisted member of an Armed force An enlisted rank in the Military of the United States is any rank below a commissioned officer. In United States Army units a headquarters and headquarters company is a company sized Military unit, found at the Battalion level and

Sources and references

• Nouveau Larousse illustré (undated, early 20th century; in French)

See also

• Artillery brigade
• Military organization
• Brigade Combat Team (United States)