A military engagement is a
combat
Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...
between two forces, neither larger than a
division nor smaller than a
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
, in which each has an assigned or perceived
mission. An engagement begins when the attacking force initiates combat in pursuit of its mission, and ends when the attacker has accomplished the mission, or ceases to try to accomplish the mission, or when one or both sides receive sufficient
reinforcement
In Behaviorism, behavioral psychology, reinforcement refers to consequences that increase the likelihood of an organism's future behavior, typically in the presence of a particular ''Antecedent (behavioral psychology), antecedent stimulus''. Fo ...
s, thus initiating a new engagement.
As a tactical mission, the engagement is often a part of a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
. An engagement normally lasts one to two days; it may be as brief as a few hours and is rarely longer than five days. It is at this scale of combat that
tactical engagement ranges of weapons and support systems become important to the troops and their commanders.
[pp.65-66, Dupuy]
See also
*
Military campaign
A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from th ...
References
Sources
*
Dupuy, T.N. (Col. ret.), ''Understanding war: History and Theory of combat'', Leo Cooper, London, 1992
*
Simpkin, Richard, ''Race to the Swift: Thoughts on Twenty-first Century Warfare''. Foreword by
Donn A. Starry. London: Brassey's Defence, 1985. .
Military operations by type
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