Introduction The Vic formation is a formation devised for military aircraft and first used during the First World War. It has three or sometimes more aircraft fly in close formation with the leader at the apex and the rest of the flight en echelon to the left and the right, the whole resembling the letter… Read More
Introduction A rearguard or rear security is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an army. Even more generally, a rearguard action may refer idiomatically to… Read More
Introduction A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the kill zone of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defended fortification, or a rearguard, to be expended to save… Read More
Introduction The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. In naval warfare the van is the advance ship, or fleet, that will… Read More
Introduction A diamond formation is a formation of four or more aircraft, soldiers on horseback, players in a team sport, etc., wherein the elements of the group adopt a diamond, or kite, shape. Aircraft As few as four aircraft can establish the formation and conventionally the largest number is sixteen, in “tight formation”: 1, 2,… Read More
Introduction The oblique order (also known as the ‘declined flank’) is a military tactic whereby an attacking army focuses its forces to attack a single enemy flank. The force commander concentrates the majority of their strength on one flank and uses the remainder to fix the enemy line. This allows a commander with weaker or… Read More
Introduction An echelon formation is a (usually military) formation in which its units are arranged diagonally. Each unit is stationed behind and to the right (a “right echelon”), or behind and to the left (“left echelon”), of the unit ahead. The name of the formation comes from the French word échelon, meaning a rung of… Read More
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