Irregular military
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Irregular military is any non-standard military, that is, distinct from that of the regular army. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used.
An irregular military organization is one which is not part of the regular army organization. Without standard military unit organization, various more general names are often used; such organizations may be called a "troop", "group", "unit", "column", "band", or "force".
Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular troops, irregular infantry and irregular cavalry.
Irregular warfare is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organizations. This involves avoiding large-scale combat, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit and run engagements.
See also
- Fifth column
- Mercenary
- Militia
- Paramilitary
- Resistance movement
- "Yank" Levy, teacher of the Home Guard and coauthor of the first practical book on Guerrilla Warfare
- Modern concepts
- Asymmetric warfare — Military theory that also includes regulars vs. irregulars
- Fourth generation warfare
- Guerrilla warfare
- Irregular warfare
- Low intensity conflict
- Unconventional warfare
- Violent non-state actors
