Field army
The field army is that part of an army that consists predominantly of active units and carries the brunt of the battle in the field .
general description
Even in peacetime, a field army consists predominantly of immediately deployable units that are fully replenished in terms of personnel and material. Inactive units, which are only replenished by reservists in the event of mobilization and thus become active units, make up only a small part of the field army. The peace structure of the field army therefore largely corresponds to the structure of war. The troops of the field army bear the brunt of the fight and are preferably equipped for this purpose. In the historical context, the "standing army" is an organizational designation that is conceptually related to the field army in terms of the need for mobilization. With regard to the mobility of the field army, the line infantry is a historical name closely related to the field army.
To distinguish it from the field army, parts of the army that only grow up after mobilization by reservists or newly drafted troops or that take on local tasks, for example, as a substitute army , Landwehr , Home Army, Landsturm , Territorial Army , National Guard , Home Guard, Home Guard or Territorial Army . These parts of the army take on numerous tasks for the field army: these often include training and supply tasks, the organization of replacement , the testing of new weapon systems up to the field usability and maintaining the freedom of operation of the field army. The field army, on the other hand, focuses its forces primarily on fighting enemy troops. The field army conducts combat in modern armed forces in a mobile manner, while the mobility of the parts of the army listed above is far behind the possibilities of the field army. Typical is the separation into a fully present field army and a portion to be mobilized, especially in states with conscription .
etymology
Etymologically , the term “field army” reminds us that the troops are in the “field” (ie are in field use) and are involved in “ field battles ” or “ campaigns ”. Leaders of these troops standing in the field are often referred to as “ general ”.
Examples
In the historical connotation field army, for example, referred to in the provinces deployed troops Rome or, more generally, on campaigns contribute troops historical forces.
In the Wehrmacht , the field army refers to the units of the army that are used in the field . The other troops of the army were mostly counted as replacement army .
In the Bundeswehr , the field army formed the largest part of the army . The territorial army also existed as a separate organizational area. The for the most part fully present and fully motorized field army was integrated into the NATO command structure and should lead the battle mobile in the event of a defense . The territorial army to be mobilized in the event of a defense, however, was under national command and primarily took on territorial tasks in the defense areas to support the field army. Since the transfer of these territorial tasks to the armed forces base in 2001, the conceptual separation of field and territorial armies has largely become obsolete. Today's army largely corresponds conceptually to the earlier field army.