Military reserve

A military reserve, active reserve, reserve formation, or simply reserve, is a group of military personnel or units that is initially not committed to a battle by its commander, so that it remains available to address unforeseen situations or exploit sudden opportunities.[1] Reserves may be held back to defend against attack from other enemy forces, to be committed to the existing battle if the enemy exposes a vulnerability, or to serve as relief for troops already fighting. As reserves (especially in the defence) represent a "hedge against uncertainty", the size of the reserve depends on the level of uncertainty a commander has about the enemy's intentions.[2] Some of the different categories of military reserves are: tactical reserve, operational reserve, and strategic reserve.

A military reserve is different from a military reserve force, which is a military organization composed of military personnel (reservists) who maintain their military skills and readiness in a long-term part-time commitment to support their country if needed. Military reserve refers to specific trained pre-organized forces operating on an on-call basis from the main military force.[3]

Reserves at various levels

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Reserves are kept and employed at all levels, from a platoon held back from a company level engagement, to whole army corps consisting of armoured and mechanised divisions which are held in reserve with the purpose of exploiting a breakthrough or containing an enemy advance.[4][5] Typically what is a reserve for one headquarters is not the reserve for a higher headquarters (though depending on the setup they may be). So if one of a battalion's companies is held in reserve during a battle, the company is considered to be a reserve for the battalion but not for the brigade or the division, since it is committed to action in its parent battalion sector.

Employment

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Deciding where, how and especially when to employ reserves is a key command decision.[2] In the event of reserves being sent forward to exploit a breakthrough, some are typically held back to deal with a potential counterattack.[6] Alternatively, US Army doctrine states that a commander should reform another reserve after committing his existing reserve.[2] Reserves can also be employed to relieve troops in action, allowing those units to rest and regroup away from the front line.

Notable reserve units

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "reserve". DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c FM 3-0: Operations. Department of the Army. 2022. p. 6-39.
  3. ^ Wragg, David W. (1973). A Dictionary of Aviation (first ed.). Osprey. p. 223. ISBN 9780850451634.
  4. ^ Jääkärijoukkueen ja -ryhmän käsikirja 2018. Finnish Army. 2017. p. 115.
  5. ^ FM 100-2-1: The Soviet Army: Operations and Tactics. Department of the Army. 1984. pp. 4–2, 4–5, 4–7.
  6. ^ FM 100-2-1: The Soviet Army: Operations and Tactics. Department of the Army. 1984. p. 2-11.