What This Field Means
The kind of independently recognizable military identity represented by the record, such as a unit, command, formation, or task organization.
This answers the first identity question: what kind of separately recognizable military organization is this record claiming to represent? It helps distinguish a unit, command, formation, task organization, or commissioned command from a name fragment, office, asset, or alias.
How to Read It Correctly
Identity class is not the service branch, echelon, mission, or broad organization class. It describes why the subject has an independent organizational identity, not where it sits in the force structure.
Example
Unit, Command, Formation, Task organization, or Commissioned command.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[UnitIdentityClass]. Evidence-derived identity classification used during canonicalization. It is currently semi-controlled and more specific than the formal organization-class vocabulary.
The field currently stores evidence-derived phrases rather than a database-enforced menu. Use the narrowest supported identity description, and preserve uncertainty explicitly instead of forcing a confident class from the unit’s name alone.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | UnitIdentityClass |
| Column order | 5 |
| SQL data type | nvarchar(128) |
| Kind of information | Evidence-derived text |
| Cardinality | One stored value per Unit row. |
| Required | Yes |
| Database default | No database default |
| Key or relationship | None |
| Database check constraint | ([CurrentStatus]=N'Planned' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Status unknown' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Historical' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Inactive' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Current') |
| Live population | 9341 of 9341 Unit records (100%) |
| Distinct nonblank values in the live table | 178 |
| Live profile measured | September 2, 2026, 20:43 UTC |
Allowed Values and Definitions
No preset menu applies to this field. It stores an identifier, relationship, measurement, date, timestamp, or evidence-derived narrative. Valid content is governed by the SQL type, key relationship, nullability, retained evidence, and the field-specific recording rule above. A list of observed contents would be data, not a list of allowed options.
Missing, Unknown, and Conflicting Information
This column cannot be NULL in the Unit table. When the underlying fact is incomplete, the record must use an allowed explicit disposition or a supported evidence-derived statement. Required storage does not mean that every historical fact is known, and it never authorizes a guessed value.
Connections to Other Fields
- Command Status — Whether the organization has its own command identity and what kind of command it is.
- Unit Independence — Whether the unit acts as an independent command or as a subordinate part of another organization.
- Organization Class — The broad institutional form of the organization, such as a command, school, center, company, or defense agency.
- Native Unit Type — The exact type of organization used by its own service, including specialized terms that may not exist in other branches.
- Census Eligibility — Whether the record is counted as a distinct U.S. military unit rather than an alias, excluded organization, or non-unit.