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The term combat service support (or CSS) is utilized by numerous military organizations throughout the world to describe entities that provide direct and indirect sustainment services to the groups that engage (or are potentially to be engaged) in
Former Defence Secretary
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 ...
.
United Kingdom
Former Defence Secretary Philip Hammond
Philip Hammond, Baron Hammond of Runnymede (born 4 December 1955) is a British politician and life peer who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019 and Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, having previously served as Defence ...
has described the United Kingdom's armed forces as having "teeth", units that are trained and equipped for actual fighting, that cannot function without an able, innovative "tail", units providing assistance such as logistical and transport capabilities. Specific groups involved in the U.K. armed forces include the Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace.
On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...
and Royal Logistic Corps
The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army.
History
The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps:
* Royal Engine ...
.
United States
In the United States, the term combat service support has been phased-out in favor of the term "sustainment." but the mission remains the same; to manage the logistics supply chain and provide all materiel, maintenance, transportation, health services, personnel services and other services required by the warfighting units to permit those units to accomplish their missions in combat. The US Army accomplishes this mission through the use of Sustainment Brigades at division and Echelon-Above-Division. The traditional combat service support branches in the US Army include Acquisition Corps, theAdjutant General's Corps
The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services, named for the Adjutant-General to the Forces (now the Commander Home Command). As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 peop ...
, the Finance Corps
The United States Army Finance Corps is a combat service support (CSS) branch of the United States Army. The Finance Corps traces its foundation to 16 June 1775, when the Second Continental Congress established the office of Paymaster-General of ...
, the Logistics Corps, the Ordnance Corps, the Quartermaster Corps
Following is a list of quartermaster corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties:
* Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army
* Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...
, and the Transportation Corps
The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army. It is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. It is one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Qu ...
.
See also Sustainment Brigades in the United States Army.
Australia
Within the Australian Army, combat service support is provided to combat elements at various levels: first line (organic to battalion or regimental level), second line (at brigade level), and third line (at formation or higher). Thus, for example an infantry unit such as the5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
The 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) was a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally established in 1965 it would serve two tours of South Vietnam before it was linked with the 7th Battalion, Royal A ...
will include a logistics company which fills supply, transportation and maintenance functions, while a combat brigade, such as the 7th Brigade, will be supported by a combat service support battalion such as the 7th Combat Service Support Battalion. At formation level, a CSS brigade – the 17th Sustainment Brigade – will provide health, signals, catering, transport, and other service support requirements.
See also
* Branches of the U.S. Army *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 ...
* Combat support
* Logistics
Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
* Military logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement, supply, and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:
* Design, development, Milita ...
* Military organization
Military organization (American English , AE) or military organisation (British English , BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense pol ...
* Principles of sustainment
* U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System
* U.S. Army Regimental System
The United States Army Regimental System (USARS) is an organizational and classification system used by the United States Army. It was established in 1981 to replace the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) to provide each soldier with contin ...
References
Military units and formations by type {{Mil-unit-stub