Combat arms
Combat arms (or fighting arms in non-American parlance) are troops within national armed forces who participate in direct tactical ground combat. In general, they are units that carry or employ weapons, such as infantry, cavalry, and artillery units. The use of multiple combat arms in mutually supporting ways is known as combined arms. In some armies, notably the British Army and Canadian Army, artillery and combat engineer units are categorized as combat support, while in others, such as the U.S. Army, they are considered part of the combat arms. Armored troops constitute a combat arm in name, although many have histories derived from cavalry units. Artillery is included as a combat arm primarily based on the history of employing cannons in close combat, and later in the anti-tank role until the advent of anti-tank guided missiles. The inclusion of special forces in some armed forces as a separate combat arm is often doctrinal because the troops of special forces units are essentially specialized infantry, often with historical links to ordinary light infantry units. British Commonwealth Forces In some Commonwealth Countries, the combat arms in the Army are: Infantry Armoured Artillery Combat Engineers Combat Aviation Field Air Defence Field Air Defence is considered in the artillery branch in Canada, also all aviation assets are part of the RCAF not the Army. United States Army Currently, U.S. Army organizational doctrine uses the classification "Maneuver, Fires and Effects" (MFE) to group the combat arms branches, and four other branches, into Maneuver, Fires, Maneuver Support, and Special Operations Forces functional areas. The "classic" combat arms were infantry, artillery, and cavalry, defined as those branches of the army with the primary mission of engaging in armed combat with an enemy force. In the U.S. Army, the following branches were traditionally classified from 1968 until 2001 as the combat arms: Infantry (1775) Field Artillery (Artillery 1775 / Re-designated Field Artillery 1968) Air Defense Artillery (Created 1968) Armor including Armored Cavalry, Light Cavalry, and formerly, Air Cavalry (Cavalry 1776 / Re-designated Armor 1950) The Artillery Branch included coast artillery until it became a separate branch in 1907. The Coast Artillery also included the anti-aircraft artillery, from 1920, until its disestablishment in 1950. Anti-aircraft artillery then remained under the Artillery Branch until 1968 when it became a separate branch designated as the Air Defense Artillery Branch and the Artillery Branch was re-designated as the Field Artillery Branch. The Cavalry Branch was officially subsumed by the Armor Branch in 1950, although many units continued to have a "cavalry" designation. Since 2001, U.S. Army doctrine has included combat aviation, special operations, and combat engineer forces into the combat arms classification. Army Aviation (e.g., Attack Helicopter and Air Cavalry units) (1983) Until the creation of the Army Aviation Branch in 1983, different branches of the Army were proponent branches for specific aircraft mission/type/model aircraft. For example, UH-1 and UH-60 assault helicopters fell under the Infantry Branch, UH-1 and UH-60 MEDEVAC units were Medical Service Corps, cargo aircraft units, such as the