A field force in British, Indian Army and Tanzanian military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances,p.88 Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt and Hayes, Grace P. (1986). Dictionary of Military Terms: A Guide to the Language of Warfare and Military Institutions. The H. W. Wilson Company. usually for the length of a specific military campaign. It is used by other nations, but can have a different meaning.
United Kingdom
A field force would be created from the various units in an area of military operations and be named for the geographical area. Examples are: Kurram Field Force, 1878 Peshawar Valley Field Force, 1878 Kabul Field Force, 1879–1880 Kabul-Kandahar Field Force, 1880 Natal Field Force, 1881 Zhob Field Force, 1890 Mashonaland Field Force, 1896 Malakand Field Force, 1896 Tirah Field Force, 1897 West African Frontier Force, 1900
Australian
In Australia, a field force comprises the units required to meet operational commitments.
Canadian The Canadian Expeditionary Force was considered as a field force created to participate in World War I.
Other Canadian field forces in history include: Alberta Field Force, 1885https://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/12340 Northwest Field Force, 1885https://qormuseum.org/history/timeline-1856-1899/northwest-rebellion-1885/ Yukon Field Force, 1898–1900
United States
In the United States, during the Vietnam War the term came to stand for a corps-sized organization with other functions and responsibilities. To avoid confusion with the corps designations used by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and to allow for a flexible organization, MACV and General William Westmoreland developed the "field force" such as I Field Force and II Field Force. Unlike an Army corps, which had a size and structure fixed by Army doctrine, the field force could expand as needed and had other functions such as liaison with South Vietnamese and civil affairs functions and was flexible enough to have many subordinate units assigned to it.Eckhard, George S. Vietnam Studies: Command and Control 1950-1969. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1991 p. 53. Online
Police field forces In counterinsurgency type campaigns, select and specially trained units of police armed and equipped as light infantry have been designated as police field forces who perform paramilitary type patrols and ambushes whilst retaining their police powers in areas that were highly dangerous.p.Davies, Bruce & McKay, Gary The Men Who Persevered:The AATTV 2005 Bruce & Unwin
Police Field Forces, Paramilitary and Counter-Insurgency Units A
Royal Albanian Army 1928 - 1939 Royal Albanian Gendarmerie 1913 - 1939 Royal Border Guard (Albania) 1928 - 1939
Afghan Army Afghan Border Force Afghan National Civil Order Force 2006 - 2020 Defense of the Revolution 1978 - 1980 Sarandoy 1978 - 1992
Garde communale 1996 - 2012, (Algerian Civil War)
B
Bangladesh Ansar
Flemish Guard 1941 - 1944, (German occupation of Belgium during World War II) Walloon Guard 1941 - 1944
Byelorussian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (Byelorussian collaboration with Nazi Germany) 13th Belarusian Police (SD) Battalion 1943 -1944, (German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II) Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling 1944 only
Brazilian Army Military Police (Brazil) National Public Security Force Military Police of Acre State Military Police of Espirito Santo State Military Police of Goiás State Military Police of Minas Gerais State Military Police of Parana State Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State Military Police of São Paulo State Public Forces (Brazil) 1880s - 1960s
C
Paramilitary forces of China People's Armed Police
National Police of Colombia Directorate of Carabineers and Rural Security Mobile Carabinier Squadrons 1941 - 1945 German-Croatian Police 1941 - 1944
D
HIPO Corps 1944 - 1945 Lorenzen Group 1944 - 1945, (Denmark in World War II) E
Estonian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (German occupation of Estonia during World War II) 36th Estonian Police Battalion 1943 - 1944 (German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II) Schutzmannschaft Battalion 33
F
French National Police Special Brigades Groupe mobile de réserve 1941 -1944 Milice 1943 - 1944 Franc-Garde 1943 - 1944
G and H
British Army Gambia Regiment 1901 - 1958 Gambia Police Force Field Force,
Volkspolizei 1945 - 1990 Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft 1955 - 1990
Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) 1936 - 1945, (Police forces of Nazi Germany) Police Regiment Centre 1941 -1942 (Bandenbekampfung) Police Battalion 307 1941 - 1942 Police Battalion 316 1941 - 1942 Police Battalion 322 1941 - 1942 Police Regiment North 1941 - 1942 Police Regiment South 1941 - 1942 Police Battalion 45 1941 - 1942 Police Battalion 303 1941 - 1942 Police Battalion 314 1941 - 1942 Order Police battalions Police Battalion 306 1941 - 1942 Police Battalion 309 1941 - 1945 Police Battalion 320 1941 - 1942 Reserve Police Battalion 33 1941 - 1943 Reserve Police Battalion 101 1940 - 1943 SS Police Regiment Bozen 1943 - 1945 SS Police Regiment Brixen 1944 - 1945 Schutzmannschaft 1941 - 1945 Forest Protection Command 1939 - Schutzstaffel (SS) 1925 - 1945 1st SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945 2nd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943 3rd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943 4th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1943 5th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 6th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945 7th SS Police Regiment 1943 only 8th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945 9th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945 10th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 11th SS Police Regiment 1942 -1944 12th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 13th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 14th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 15th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 16th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 17th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 18th SS Mountain Police Regiment 1942 19th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 20th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 21st SS Police Regiment 1942 - 22nd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 23rd SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1945 24th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 25th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 26th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 1944 27th SS Police Regiment 1942 - 28th SS Police Regiment Todt 1942 - Allgemeine SS 1934 - 1945 Postschutz 1933 - 1945 Waffen-SS 1933 - 1945 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division 1939 - 1945 Kaminski Brigade 1941 - 1944 Zollgrenzschutz 1918 - 1945
I
Indonesian National Police Mobile Brigade Corps
Paramilitary forces of India Home Guard (India) National Security Guards 51 Special Action Group Railway Protection Force Special Protection Group Research and Analysis Wing Special Frontier Force Special Group (India) Central Armed Police Force Border Security Force Central Industrial Security Force Indo-Tibetan Border Police Indo-Tibetan Border Police (Water Wing) Sashastra Seema Bal Central Reserve Police Force Bastariya Battalion Commando Battalion for Resolute Action Indian Army Assam Rifles Rashtriya Rifles State Armed Police Forces Andhra Pradesh Police Greyhounds Jammu and Kashmir Police Special Operations Group Kerala Police Kerala Thunderbolts Mizoram Armed Police Odisha Police Special Operation Group (Odisha) Telangana Police Greyhounds (police) Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary West Bengal Police Counter Insurgency Force Eastern Frontier Rifles
Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran Border Guard Command (Iran)
Wolf Brigade (Iraq)
Royal Irish Constabulary 1822 - 1922 Auxiliary Division 1920 - 1922, (irish War of Independence) Black and Tans 1920 -1922, (Irish War of Independence) Garda Síochána (Irish Police) Criminal Investigation Department (Ireland) 1921 - 1923, (Irish Civil War)
Israel Police Israel Border Police
Blackshirts 1923 -1943 Battaglioni M 1941 - 1943 Black Brigades 1944 - 1945 Border Militia 1926 - 1943 Forestry Militia 1926 - 1948 Maritime Artillery Militia 1939 - 1943 Port Militia 1924 -
J and K
Kenya Police General Service Unit (Mau Mau Uprising) Administration Police L
Royal Lao Police 1955 - 1975 Directorate of National Coordination 1960 - 1965, (Laotian Civil War)
Latvian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1944, (German occupation of Latvia during World War II)
Lithuanian TDA Battalion 1941 only, (German occupation of Lithuania during World War II) Lithuanian Auxiliary Police 1941 - 1945 (German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II) 10th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1941 - 1945 256th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1943 - 1944 258th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1944 only 259th Lithuanian Police Battalion 1944 only M
Royal Malaysian Police General Operations Force (Malayan Emergency) Senoi Praaq Marine Operations Force (Malayan Emergency) Mandatory Palestine British Gendarmerie 1922 - 1926 Special Night Squads 1938 - 1939
Mauritius Police Force Special Mobile Force
Mexican Army Rurales
Moldovan Police Special Forces Brigade "Fulger"
Myanmar Army Border Guard Forces Myanmar Police Force Border Guard Police
N
Namibian Police Force Special Field Force
Nigerian Police Force Nigerian Mobile Police Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
Statspolitiet 1941 - 1945, (German occupation of Norway)
O and P
Civil Armed Forces - (Paramilitary forces of Pakistan) Frontier Corps Frontier Corps Balochistan (North) Kurram Militia Zhob Militia Frontier Corps Balochistan (South) Chagai Militia Dalbandin Rifles Kharan Rifles Taftan Rifles Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) Bajaur Scouts Bara Rifles Chitral Scouts Dir Scouts Khyber Rifles Mahsud Scouts Mohmand Rifles Orakzai Scouts Shawal Rifles Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South) Kurram Militia Zhob Militia Frontier Constabulary Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts Pakistan Rangers Punjab Rangers Sindh Rangers Pakistan Army Pakistan Coast Guard National Guard (Pakistan) Janbaz Force Mujahid Force Pakistan Levies Balochistan Levies Dir Levies Malakand Levies Pakistan Navy Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Former Paramilitary Forces Azad Kashmir Regular Force 1947 - 1972 Federal Security Force (Pakistan) 1972 - 1977 Gilgit Scouts 1913 - 1975 Khasadar 1892 - 2019 Mehran Force 1942 - 1995
National Police of Peru Sinchis - Internal conflict in Peru
Philippine National Police Special Action Force
Provincial organization of volunteers and civil defence
Q and R
British South African Police 1889 - 1980 Police Anti-Terrorist Unit 1966 - 1980, (Rhodesian Bush War) 1964 - 1979 Police Support Unit INTAF 1962 - 1979 Grey's Scouts 1975 - 1986, (Rhodesian Bush War) 1964 - 1979 Guard Force (Rhodesia) 1976 - 1980 Security Force Auxiliaries 1978 - 1979 (Rhodesian Bush War 1964 - 1979
Internal Troops of Russia 1991 - 2016 Rus (special forces) 1994 -2008 Vityaz (MVD) 1991 - 2008 Zubr (special police force)
S
Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Police Field Force
South African Army Commando System (South Africa)
Republic of Vietnam National Police 1955 - 1975 Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force 1966 - 1975, (Vietnam War) Republic of Vietnam River and Coastal Police 1965 - 1975, (Vietnam War)
South West African Police 1920 - 1990 Koevoet 1979 - 1989
Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka) Sri Lanka Civil Security Force Sri Lanka Coast Guard Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force (Sri Lankan Civil War)
Syrian Special Mission Forces
T
Police Field Force (Zanzibar Revolution)
Royal Thai Police Border Patrol Police Thahan Phran Village Scouts Volunteer Defense Corps (Thailand)
Gendarmerie General Command Village guard system
U
National Guard of Ukraine
V
Swiss Guard
Vanuatu Police Force Vanuatu Mobile Force
Vietnam People's Public Security Mobile Police Command
W, X and Y Z
Zimbabwe Republic Police Police Support Unit
See also List of gendarmeries