What This Field Means
How the unit is connected to another command—assigned, allocated, attached, supporting, or supported.
This describes how the unit is related to another command or force: assigned, allocated, attached, supporting, supported, or another formally evidenced relationship. It helps readers understand why a unit appeared under a particular headquarters.
How to Read It Correctly
Assignment status is not command authority and not simple physical presence. An attached unit can be under specified operational control while remaining administratively assigned elsewhere.
Example
Attached for a mission does not mean permanently assigned.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[AssignmentStatus]. Required assignment-relationship summary mapped to the Assignment relationship ontology. The relationship is formally time-varying and many-valued.
Select the controlled relationship supported by the source and preserve the two parties, authority, dates, and operational context in the relationship record. The scalar Unit field is only a summary.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | AssignmentStatus |
| Column order | 35 |
| 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 | 944 |
| 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 | Assignment relationship |
| Dimension number | 18 |
| Ontology definition | Assigned, allocated, attached, supporting, supported, or another formal assignment status. |
| Ontology cardinality | multiple |
| Changes over time | Yes |
| Active controlled options | 11 |
| 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. |
| Assigned | assigned | The unit is formally placed under another organization for an established relationship. | Formal assignment relationship; normally more enduring than attachment and separately effective-dated. |
| Allocated | allocated | The unit is made available for planning or employment without necessarily changing permanent assignment. | Formal allocation relationship used to make forces available for a specified authority, period, or plan. |
| Attached | attached | The unit is temporarily placed with another organization for support or control. | Attachment relationship that changes employment without automatically transferring permanent administrative ownership. |
| Supporting | supporting | The unit provides support to another supported command or force. | Relationship role identifying the supporting organization under an evidenced support arrangement. |
| Supported | supported | The unit or command receives prioritized support from another organization. | Relationship role identifying the supported organization under an evidenced support arrangement. |
| Another formally evidenced assignment | another-formally-evidenced-assignment | Another formally evidenced assignment is used when authoritative evidence establishes an assignment relationship not represented by assigned, allocated, attached, supporting, or supported. | Controlled catch-all code 'another-formally-evidenced-assignment' in ontology Dimension 18. 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 944 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 |
|---|---|
| Organic / established | 5987 |
| Official historical source assertion | 985 |
| Official historical roster assignment | 320 |
| Assigned | 263 |
| Source-period identity established | 259 |
| Historical assignment | 229 |
| Independent or agency root | 42 |
| Historical assignment unresolved | 41 |
| Official source assignment | 38 |
| Not applicable | 24 |
| Source-period squadron identity established | 10 |
| Current organic company | 10 |
| Historical source assignment; complete hierarchy unresolved | 7 |
| Source-period detachment identity established | 7 |
| Source-period embarked law-enforcement assignment | 7 |
| Current assignment | 7 |
| Historical OIF source-period task organization | 7 |
| Provisional / source-period | 7 |
| Historical temporary task organization | 6 |
| Source-period Navy recruiting activity | 6 |
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
- Administrative Command — The service-side organization responsible for administration, readiness, personnel, training, and support.
- Operational Command — The command directing or employing the unit for an operation, deployment, exercise, or assigned mission.
- Command Authority — The kind of authority one commander or command has over the unit for a particular purpose.
- Operational Context — The operation, campaign, exercise, contingency, or standing plan in which a command relationship or unit activity applies.
- Attached Composition — Organizations temporarily placed with the unit for support, control, or a particular mission.