MILITARY UNITS.

ARMOURED CAVALRY UNITS.

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities. Firepower is normally provided by a large-calibre main gun in a rotating turret and secondary machine guns, while heavy armour and all-terrain mobility provide protection for the tank and its crew, allowing it to perform all primary tasks of the armoured troops on the battlefield.[1]

ANTITANK UNITS.

Anti-tank refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. The most common anti-tank systems include artillery with a high muzzle velocity, missiles (such as wire-guided HEAT), various autocannons firing penetrating ammunition, and anti-tank mines.
In the area of anti-tank warfare, three terms are often used: "mobility kill", "firepower kill", and "catastrophic kill". In a mobility kill (M-kill), the vehicle loses its ability to move, for example, by breaking a tank track; the target is then immobile but may retain full use of its weapons and still be able to fight to some extent. A firepower kill (F-kill) is some loss of the vehicle's ability to fire its weapons. M-kills and F-kills may be complete or partial, the latter corresponding to reductions in a target's ability to move or fire. A catastrophic kill (K-kill) removes the tank's ability to fight completely; this may entail complete destruction of the tank or disabling the weapon system(s) or crew.

INFANTERY.

The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the armed forces, and consists of soldiers who predominantly fight on foot; an infantry soldier is an infantryman. Infantry units are the only types of land forces that can occupy and hold positions, and therefore have the most physically demanding training in the army, emphasizing physical fitness, physical strength, and aggressive character due to non-reliance on technology that augments marching all of which are required due to the primary role of the infantry to engage in ground combat.
Infantry can be distinguished from other types of soldiers: cavalry, tanks, technicians such as armourer and signaller. Nonetheless basic infantry skills are fundamental to the training of any soldier, and soldiers of any branch of an army are expected to serve as auxiliary infantry (i.e. patrol and fight on foot) when necessary.

MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY.

Mountain guns are artillery pieces designed for use during mountain combat. They are similar to infantry support guns, and are generally capable of being broken down into smaller loads (for transport by horse, human, mule, tractor, and/or truck). Due to their ability to be broken down into smaller "packages", they are sometimes referred to as pack guns or pack howitzers.

ARMOURED ARTILLERY.

Self-propelled artillery (also called mobile artillery or locomotive artillery) vehicles are a way of giving mobility to artillery. Within the term are covered Self-propelled guns (or howitzers) and rocket artillery. They are high mobility vehicles, usually based on caterpillar track carrying either a large howitzer or other field gun or alternatively a mortar or some form of rocket or missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield.
In the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct fire vehicles such as assault guns and tank destroyers. These have been heavily armoured vehicles, the former providing close fire-support for infantry and the latter acting as specialized anti-tank vehicles.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY.

A self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon (SPAA, also self-propelled air defense, SPAD, or self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, SPAAG) is an anti-aircraft gun or surface-to-air missile launcher mounted on a mobile vehicle chassis. The Russian equivalent of SPAAG is ZSU, for zenitnaya samokhodnaya ustanovka, ("anti-aircraft self-propelled mount").
Specific weapon systems include machine guns, autocannon, larger guns, or missiles, and some mount both guns and longer-ranged missiles. Platforms used include both trucks and heavier armored fighting vehicles such as APCs and tanks, which add protection from aircraft, artillery, and small arms fire for front line deployment.

ARMOURED ENGINEERS.

Combat engineering is a combat service support role of using the knowledge, tools and techniques of engineering by troops in peace and war, but specifically in combat. A combat engineer, in many armies also called pioneer or sapper, is a military specialist in using the tools and techniques of engineering under combat conditions, who may perform any of a variety of tasks.
Such tasks typically include fortification, bridge and road construction or destruction, laying or clearing landmines, neutralization of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and general engineering tasks under fire. More generally speaking, the combat engineer's tasks involve facilitating movement and support of friendly forces while impeding that of the enemy.

RECONNAISSANCE WHEELED ARMOURED UNITS.

Militarily, reconnaissance is the active seeking to determine a foe's intentions by collecting and gathering information about an enemy's composition and capabilities along with pertinent environmental conditions, via direct observation, usually by scouts or military intelligence soldiers especially trained in critical surveillance

TANK (ARMOURED VEHICLE).

A self-propelled anti-tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle designed specifically to engage enemy armor forces, and not produced for an infantry support role. Most have been traditionally defined and produced as a tank like vehicle with only light armor and capable of a higher transit speed, usually possessing high maneuverability whose main gun is not turret mounted and so cannot rotate horizontally.

AMPHIBIOUS MECHANIZED INFANTRY.

Amphibious warfare is the utilization of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain. In this modern era amphibious warfare persists in the form of commando insertion by fast patrol boats, zodiacs and mini-submersibles.
In the modern era of warfare, an amphibious landing of infantry troops on a beachhead is the most complex of all military maneuvers. The undertaking requires an intricate coordination of numerous military specialties, including air power, naval gunfire, naval transport, logistical planning, specialized equipment, land warfare, tactics, and extensive training in the nuances of this maneuver for all personnel involved.

MECHANIZED INFANTRY.

Mechanized infantry (or "mech infantry") are infantry equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs), or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force).
Mechanized infantry are distinguished from motorized infantry, who are transported to battle by trucks or motor vehicles, in that their vehicles provide a degree of protection from hostile fire, as opposed to "soft-skinned" wheeled vehicles (trucks or jeeps). Most APCs and IFVs are fully tracked, or are all-wheel drive vehicles (6×6 or 8×8), for mobility across rough ground. The support weapons for mechanized infantry are also provided with motorized transport, or are built directly into combat vehicles, in order to keep pace with the mechanized infantry in combat. For units equipped with most types of APC or any type of IFV, fire support weapons such as machine guns, autocannons, small-bore direct-fire howitzers, and even anti-tank guided missiles are often mounted directly on the infantry's own transport vehicles.

AIRMOBILE INFANTRY.

An Air Assault is a tactical or operational manoeuvre of an infantry unit airlifted by helicopters, usually to fulfil an aerial envelopment role in a larger ground operation plan. The role of the assaulting force is rarely to immediately engage and destroy enemy forces, but rather to seize and hold key terrain. In addition to regular infantry training, these units usually receive training in rappelling and air transportation, and their equipment is sometimes designed or field modified to allow better transportation in helicopters. Due to the transport load restrictions of helicopters, air assault forces are usually light infantry though light tracked armored fighting vehicles like the Russian BMD-1, German Wiesel 1 and Swedish Bv206 designed to fit the heavy lift helicopters which enable assaulting forces to combine air mobility with a degree of ground mechanisation. Invariably the assaulting troops are highly dependent on aerial fire support provided by escorting armed helicopters or fixed wing aircraf

PARATROOPERS.

Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.
Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land. It is one of the three types of "forced entry" strategic techniques for entering a theater of war. The other two are by land and sea. This ability to enter the battle from different locations allows paratroopers to evade fortifications that are in place to prevent attack from a specific direction, and the possible use of paratroopers forces an army to spread their defenses to protect other areas which would normally be safe by virtue of the geography. (Another common use for paratroopers is to establish an airhead.)

MOUNTAIN INFANTRY.

The US has a distinguished history in mountain warfare, the 10th Mountain Division served in the Alps in WWII. The modern US military has several shortcomings in this area. Pakistani and Indian veterans of Kashmir who have attended the US Army Mountain Warfare School in Vermont and the US Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) in Bridgeport, California have noted that while the US Military has excellent mountaineers, their Mountain Warfare skills fall short of expectations, [2]. The Marine Corps at the Mountain Warfare Training Center (6700ft - 14000ft) conducts individual skills and survival training as well as Marine Air/Ground Task Force MAGTF collective training as part of PTP for OEF-bound units. The U.S. Army does not conduct collective training in mountain warfare; it focuses more on individual survival training rather than high-altitude combat. [3]. These deficits were seen most glaringly during Operation Anaconda.