A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a lieutenant colonel or a colonel. Several battalions are grouped to form a regiment or a brigade.
The nomenclature varies by nationality and by branch of arms, for instance, some armies organize their infantry into battalions, but call battalion-sized cavalry, reconnaissance, or tank units a squadron or a regiment instead. There may even be subtle distinctions within a nation's branches of arms, such as a distinction between a tank battalion and an armored squadron, depending on how the unit's operational role is perceived to fit into the army's historical organization.
A battalion is generally the smallest military unit capable of independent operations (i.e., not attached to a higher command), although many armies have smaller units that are self-sustaining. The battalion is usually part of a regiment, brigade, or group, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalion will ordinarily be homogeneous with respect to type (e.g., an infantry battalion or a tank battalion), although there are many exceptions. Every battalion will also include some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company.
The term is Italian in origin, appearing as battaglione. The French changed the spelling to bataillon, whereupon it directly entered into German.
Read more about Battalion: British Army, Canadian Army, Colombian Army, Dutch Army, Swiss Army
Other articles related to "battalion, battalions":
1804, while stationed in England, a second battalion of the 59th Foot was raised ... The 1st Battalion sailed in the following year for the Cape of Good Hope, while the 2nd Battalion was to remain on garrison duty in England, Ireland and the Channel Islands until 1808 ...
... The result was a two-battalion Royal Sussex Regiment where the 35th Foot became the 1st Battalion and the 107th became the 2nd Battalion ... It was not common for both battalions of a regiment to be stationed in the same place at the same time, (one exception being the ill-fated 24th Regiment of Foot during the Zulu War) ...
... It took up duties in the south of the canal zone with two battalions, the 1st Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) and 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling ... It was joined by 1st Battalion, The Border Regiment, soon afterwards ... Again at a strength of two battalions, 1st Buffs being joined by 1st Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment, it arrived in April 1953 and was soon deployed in Kenya's Rift Valley ...
9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 7th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment 9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment 7th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment 39th Machine Gun Company 39th Supply ...
... The 7th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1914 as part of the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, the battalion was completely recruited from Victoria and formed the 2nd Brigade, 1st ... The battalion served during the Gallipoli campaign where it had the distinction of having four of its members awarded the Victoria Cross ...