What This Field Means
A broad comparison level that helps relate differently named organizations across the services.
This gives a cautious cross-service comparison band so users can browse organizations of roughly comparable organizational scope even when the services use different titles. It makes comparison possible without pretending the structures are identical.
How to Read It Correctly
Normalized scale does not rename the unit, predict an exact personnel strength, or assert that all units in one band are equivalent. The native echelon and type remain authoritative for service-specific meaning.
Example
Major formation, tactical formation, unit, or subunit.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[NormalizedUnitScale]. Required cross-service scale summary mapped to the Normalized scale band ontology. It supplements rather than replaces the native echelon.
Choose the controlled scale band from organizational scope, command level, and supported structure—not from the name alone. Preserve uncertainty when a specialized organization does not map cleanly.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | NormalizedUnitScale |
| Column order | 20 |
| SQL data type | nvarchar(128) |
| Kind of information | Ontology-controlled classification with a scalar Unit-table summary |
| Cardinality | Unit table: one scalar summary per row. Ontology dimension: multiple; time-varying: true. |
| 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 | 222 |
| Live profile measured | September 2, 2026, 20:43 UTC |
Allowed Values and Definitions
The complete active controlled vocabulary is listed below. The ontology is authoritative for normalized options. Narrative or legacy phrases found in the scalar Unit-table column are current data expressions, not additional approved options.
| Ontology property | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ontology dimension | Normalized scale band |
| Dimension number | 24 |
| Ontology definition | Strategic, theater, operational, major formation, tactical formation, unit, or subunit. |
| Ontology cardinality | multiple |
| Changes over time | Yes |
| Active controlled options | 12 |
| Canonical option | Code | Plain-language definition | Technical definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | unknown | The evidence reviewed so far does not establish a value. | No supported value is asserted; this is an evidentiary state, not a positive classification. |
| Not applicable | not-applicable | This question does not apply to this kind of unit or relationship. | The dimension is intentionally inapplicable to the subject type; it is not missing data. |
| Unresolved | unresolved | The unit is known, but the available evidence does not yet settle this particular point. | Confirms that resolution remains open after review without asserting a competing value. |
| Needs review | needs-review | The retained evidence needs additional review before a reliable value can be shown. | Places the assertion in a review-required disposition rather than accepting a substantive value. |
| Source conflict | source-conflict | Reliable sources disagree, so the guide preserves the disagreement instead of choosing one silently. | Records an unresolved conflict among retained sources and prevents false canonical certainty. |
| Strategic | strategic | A top-level organization operating across the national or global level. | Cross-service scale band for the highest strategic organizational scope. |
| Theater | theater | An organization responsible across a theater or similarly broad region. | Cross-service theater-level scale below strategic and above operational formations. |
| Operational | operational | An organization that plans or directs campaigns and major operations. | Cross-service operational-level scale between theater structures and major formations. |
| Major formation | major-formation | A large formation such as a division, wing, or comparable organization. | Normalized major-formation band used for cross-service comparison, independent of native title. |
| Tactical formation | tactical-formation | A formation organized to conduct tactical operations. | Cross-service tactical-formation band below major formation and above ordinary unit/subunit scales. |
| Unit | unit | A commonly recognized unit-level organization. | Normalized unit band used when the native echelon represents a complete unit rather than a subunit. |
| Subunit | subunit | A smaller organization operating within a larger unit. | Normalized subunit band for subordinate elements below the general unit scale. |
How the Live Unit Table Uses This Field
The scalar Unit-table column currently contains 222 distinct nonblank expressions. The 20 most frequently used expressions are shown below; these are evidence-derived or legacy contents, not extra controlled options.
| Observed live expression | Live Unit records |
|---|---|
| Institutional command or unit | 2344 |
| Squadron | 1029 |
| Individual ship command | 853 |
| Group | 685 |
| Battalion | 652 |
| Brigade | 538 |
| Detachment / element | 432 |
| Wing | 308 |
| Division | 273 |
| Regiment | 238 |
| Task organization | 198 |
| Center | 173 |
| Company | 157 |
| Command | 100 |
| Detachment | 99 |
| Team | 73 |
| Installation command | 73 |
| Company / battery | 72 |
| Corps | 60 |
| Company / battery / troop | 55 |
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.
The controlled uncertainty values are deliberately different: Unknown means evidence has not established a value; Unresolved means the question remains open after review; Needs review identifies work still requiring evaluation; Source conflict preserves disagreement among retained sources; and Not applicable means the dimension does not apply to the subject.
Connections to Other Fields
- Native Echelon — The unit level used by its own service, such as company, battalion, squadron, wing, fleet, or delta.
- Native Unit Type — The exact type of organization used by its own service, including specialized terms that may not exist in other branches.
- Organization Class — The broad institutional form of the organization, such as a command, school, center, company, or defense agency.
- Authorized Personnel — The number of positions the unit is officially designed or permitted to have.
- Subordinate Unit Count — The number of recognized subordinate unit records currently connected beneath this unit.