Soldier - Wikipedia Soldier From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search One who serves as part of an organized military force For other uses, see Soldier (disambiguation). For broader coverage of this topic, see Military personnel. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Soldier" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Soldier U.S. Army soldier WCAP, by CPT Nathaniel Garcia Occupation Occupation type Profession Activity sectors Military Description Competencies Physical Stamina Mindset Fields of employment Armies and fireteams Related jobs Airman Sailor Marine Commando v t e Army units and organization Subordinated element Fireteam ●  Squad / Crew  ●●  Platoon / Troop / Flight ●●●  Unit Company / Squadron / Battery |  Battalion / Cohort ||  Regiment  |||   Formation Brigade / Group / Wing x  Division / Legion xx  Corps xxx  Command Field army / Command xxxx  Army group / Front xxxxx  Region / Theater XXXXXX  Temporary Detachment Patrol Task force Brigade group Flying column Field force Combat command Battlegroup Regimental combat team Comparative military ranks in English Armies / Marines Navies / Coast guards Air forces / Space forces Commissioned officers Field marshal or General of the army Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force General Admiral Air chief marshal Lieutenant general Vice admiral Air marshal Major general Rear admiral Air vice-marshal Brigadier or brigadier general Commodore Air commodore Colonel Captain Group captain Lieutenant colonel Commander Wing commander Major or commandant Lieutenant commander Squadron leader Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant Lieutenant or first lieutenant Lieutenant junior grade or sub-lieutenant Flying officer Second lieutenant Ensign or midshipman Pilot officer Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet Enlisted grades Warrant officer or sergeant major Warrant officer or chief petty officer Warrant officer Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant Corporal or bombardier Leading seaman Corporal Private or gunner or trooper Seaman Aircraftman or airman or aviator v t e A U.S. soldier on riot control duty Mexican soldier manning a vehicle-mounted machine gun A soldier is one who fights as part of a military. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. In other definition, soldiers are military personnel that participate in ground, sea, or air forces, commonly known as armies, navies, and air forces, respectively.[1] Contents 1 Etymology 2 Occupational designations 3 Other terms 4 Career soldiers and conscripts 4.1 Women as soldiers 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Etymology[edit] The word soldier derives from the Middle English word soudeour, from Old French soudeer or soudeour, meaning mercenary, from soudee, meaning shilling's worth or wage, from sou or soud, shilling.[2] The word is also related to the Medieval Latin soldarius, meaning soldier (literally, "one having pay").[3] These words ultimately derive from the Late Latin word solidus, referring to an Ancient Roman coin used in the Byzantine Empire.[2][3] Occupational designations[edit] In most armies use of the word "soldier" has taken on a more general meaning due to the increasing specialization of military occupations that require different areas of knowledge and skill-sets. As a result, "soldiers" are referred to by names or ranks which reflect an individual's military occupation specialty arm, service, or branch of military employment, their type of unit, or operational employment or technical use such as: trooper, tanker (a member of tank crew), commando, dragoon, infantryman, guardian, artilleryman, paratrooper, grenadier, ranger, sniper, engineer, sapper, craftsman, signaller, medic, or a gunner. Other terms[edit] In many countries soldiers serving in specific occupations are referred to by terms other than their occupational name. For example, military police personnel in the British Army are known as "red caps" because of the colour of their caps (and berets). Infantry are sometimes called "grunts" (in the United States Army) or "squaddies" (in the British Army), while U.S. Army artillery crews, or "gunners," are sometimes referred to as "redlegs", from the service branch color for artillery.[citation needed] U.S. soldiers are often called "G.I.s" (short for the term "General Issue"). French Marine Infantry are called marsouins (French: porpoises) because of their amphibious role.[citation needed] Military units in most armies have nicknames of this type, arising either from items of distinctive uniform, some historical connotation or rivalry between branches or regiments. Career soldiers and conscripts[edit] Some soldiers, such as conscripts or draftees, serve a single limited term. Others choose to serve until retirement; then they receive a pension and other benefits. In the United States, military members can retire after 20 years.[4] In other countries, the term of service is 30 years, hence the term "30-year man". Women as soldiers[edit] Female sergeant of the Ghana Army According to the United Nations, 10–30% of all soldiers worldwide are women. 70–90% are men.[5] See also[edit] Airman Marine Sailor Military ranks References[edit] ^ "soldier - Dictionary Definition". Vocabulary.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020. ^ a b Mish, Frederick C., ed. (2004). "soldier". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 0-87779-809-5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas (2010). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 17 August 2010. ^ "20-Year Retirement". Armytimes.com. Retrieved 8 March 2012. ^ "#YouthStats: Armed Conflict". United Nations Office of Secretary General. External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Soldiers Look up soldier in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Media related to Soldier at Wikimedia Commons Authority control GND: 4055409-0 LCCN: sh85124554 NARA: 10642821 NDL: 00562631 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soldier&oldid=996477676" Categories: Soldiers Military specialisms Military life Combat occupations Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from August 2011 All articles needing additional references Use dmy dates from April 2020 Articles containing Middle English (1100-1500)-language text Articles containing Old French (842-ca. 1400)-language text Articles containing Latin-language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2016 Articles containing French-language text Articles with unsourced statements from October 2011 Commons link from Wikidata Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NARA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Languages العربية Asturianu Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎ Български བོད་ཡིག Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Cebuano Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deitsch Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Gaeilge Gàidhlig Galego 한국어 Hausa Հայերեն Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ Қазақша Kiswahili Kreyòl ayisyen Kurdî Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Lingála Magyar Malagasy मराठी Bahasa Melayu Монгол Nederlands नेपाली 日本語 Norsk bokmål Norsk nynorsk Tok Pisin Polski Português Română Runa Simi Русский Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog తెలుగు ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Walon 吴语 ייִדיש 粵語 Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 26 December 2020, at 21:08 (UTC). 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