A march battalion (french: Bataillon de Marche, , it, Battaglione di marcia or ) is a military unit comprising replacement and support personnel, usually for a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

-sized formation. The term rear echelon – especially in the armies of the UK and other Commonwealth countries – refers to units serving analogous functions, at military formations of any size. These have included, during the early 20th Century, the replacement depots of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, which supported larger formations, such as

field armies A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and withi ...

(or "numbered armies"),

army group An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...

s or entire

military theater In warfare, a theater or theatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress. A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations. T ...

s. A march battalion, in the narrowest and original sense of the term, is a temporary unit made up of assorted replacement personnel destined for the regular battalions of an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment or brigade. March battalions were intended to maintain

military discipline Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

and give personnel a command structure while they were being transferred to operational duties and/or during a transitional period. In the broader sense, a march battalion may be a standing unit that includes both

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

- or

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

-sized detachments of reserve or replacement personnel, prior to individuals receiving a specific field posting, as well as similar-sized support units, such as a

headquarters company A headquarters unit is a specialised military unit formed around the headquarters of a commanding officer and the requirements of that position. As such, a headquarters unit is always a component of a larger unit. Examples include: * headquarters ...

, military police, field security and/or guard detachments and units from service/logistics corps (such as

field kitchen A field kitchen is a mobile kitchen, mobile canteens or food truck used primarily by militaries to provide warm food to the troops near the frontline or in temporary encampments. Description The first field kitchens were carried in four-wh ...

s).

History

In the French Army, in which they originated, ''Bataillons de Marche'' derived their name from the fact that they were initially temporary units that followed the main body of a parent infantry regiment, on foot, in a rapid

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

. Such battalions were usually formed at a

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

regimental depot The regimental depot of a regiment is its home base for recruiting and training. It is also where soldiers and officers awaiting discharge or postings are based and where injured soldiers return to full fitness after discharge from hospital b ...

or mobilization center, to gather late-comers, raw recruits and/or personnel transferred from other regiments, after a regiment had left for the front. They sometimes included small units made up of irregulars/auxiliaries (such as ''tabor''s from French colonies in North Africa). March

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s were used extensively by many European armies from the early 19th Century onwards, including those of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, Germany, Poland, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. During the later stages of World War II, as the strength of the German ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

'' was increasingly depleted, march battalions became improvized combat units, with an average strength of 800–1,000 personnel in three to five companies, as well as a small headquarters company and a field kitchen. Their equipment often consisted only of small arms (e.g. rifles) and some machine guns. The nature of modern conflicts, the change from conscript to professional armies, as well as innovations in the field of

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, make the march battalion seemingly mostly obsolete.

History

See also