What This Field Means
The physical or operational environments in which the unit performs its work.
This identifies the environments in which the unit operates or produces effects: land, maritime surface, subsurface, air, space, cyberspace, information, or the electromagnetic spectrum. Multi-domain organizations can legitimately have several values.
How to Read It Correctly
Domain is not service branch, physical location, mission function, or area of responsibility. An Army organization may operate in cyberspace; a Navy organization may produce effects in the air domain.
Example
Land, air, maritime surface, subsurface, space, cyberspace, or information.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[WarfightingDomain]. Required domain summary related to the many-valued Warfighting domain ontology. Multi-domain organizations may legitimately require more than one value.
Use each controlled domain value that evidence supports and retain the applicable period when the unit’s role changed. Do not assign every domain touched indirectly by the broader force.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | WarfightingDomain |
| Column order | 32 |
| 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 | 615 |
| 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 | Warfighting domain |
| Dimension number | 29 |
| Ontology definition | Land, maritime, air, space, cyberspace, information, electromagnetic spectrum, or supported domain. |
| Ontology cardinality | multiple |
| Changes over time | Yes |
| Active controlled options | 14 |
| 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. |
| Land | land | Land identifies operations or effects occurring primarily on the earth’s land surface. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'land' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Maritime surface | maritime-surface | Maritime surface identifies operations or effects on seas, oceans, littoral waters, and the surface maritime environment. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'maritime-surface' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Subsurface | subsurface | Subsurface identifies operations or effects below the surface of the maritime environment. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'subsurface' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Air | air | Air identifies operations or effects conducted through the atmosphere by aircraft and related systems. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'air' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Space | space | Space identifies operations or effects involving the space environment and space-based capabilities. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'space' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Cyberspace | cyberspace | Cyberspace identifies operations or effects in and through interconnected information-technology networks and systems. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'cyberspace' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Information | information | Information identifies activities and effects directed at information, audiences, decision-making, and the information environment. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'information' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Electromagnetic spectrum | electromagnetic-spectrum | Electromagnetic spectrum identifies operations or effects that depend on controlling, using, protecting, sensing, or attacking access to electromagnetic energy. | Controlled warfighting-domain code 'electromagnetic-spectrum' in ontology Dimension 29. Domain is many-valued and time-varying and classifies the operating or effects environment rather than service ownership or physical location. |
| Another supported domain | another-supported-domain | Another supported domain is used only when authoritative evidence establishes an operating domain not represented by the named standard choices. | Controlled catch-all code 'another-supported-domain' in ontology Dimension 29. Use requires explicit source support; recurring concepts should receive a separately defined extension rather than accumulating as unexplained catch-all data. |
How the Live Unit Table Uses This Field
The scalar Unit-table column currently contains 615 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 |
|---|---|
| Maritime | 3518 |
| Land | 2919 |
| Air | 1200 |
| Joint | 214 |
| Multi-domain expeditionary | 132 |
| Joint / multi-domain | 82 |
| Space | 66 |
| Aviation | 29 |
| Multi-domain | 27 |
| Land, maritime, and air supporting arms | 24 |
| Medical | 21 |
| Institutional | 19 |
| Maritime / amphibious | 18 |
| Land and maritime amphibious | 16 |
| Marine aviation | 16 |
| Institutional support | 15 |
| Support | 14 |
| Cyberspace | 13 |
| Land and amphibious operations | 12 |
| Maritime logistics support | 12 |
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
- Mission Function — The principal work the unit is organized or documented to perform.
- Capability Set — The military effects or services the unit can provide, which may span several different mission areas.
- Armed Service — The branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to which the unit belongs, or whether it is joint.
- Operating Location — A place where the unit is operating, deployed, detached, or rotating, which may be different from its home station.
- Area of Responsibility — The geographic area or assigned function for which the unit or command is responsible.