Overview

These fields explain why an organization is treated as a real unit or command and what evidence supports its organizational standing.

How These Fields Work Together

Identity classification, permanence, independence, command standing, census admission, and constitutional or authorizing evidence.

Each field answers a separate question. A value in one field must not be copied into another merely because the concepts are related. Open each field below for its full meaning, storage contract, allowed values, uncertainty rules, examples, and connections to the rest of the unit record.

Fields in This Category

Unit Identity Class

The kind of independently recognizable military identity represented by the record, such as a unit, command, formation, or task organization.

Unit Permanence

Whether the organization was standing, provisional, temporary, task-organized, or known only for a particular historical period.

Unit Independence

Whether the unit acts as an independent command or as a subordinate part of another organization.

Command Status

Whether the organization has its own command identity and what kind of command it is.

Census Eligibility

Whether the record is counted as a distinct U.S. military unit rather than an alias, excluded organization, or non-unit.

Authorizing Authority

The department, service, command, law, order, or official body that established or recognized the organization.

Authorization Document

The official order, directive, roster, law, or other record that supports the unit’s creation or recognition.

Constitution Status

What is known about how the unit was constituted, organized, activated, commissioned, or otherwise formally brought into being.