army vs military

Question

0 I'm sorry. This may sound stupid. But I feel that military and army are often used interchangable though army, strictly speaking, means ground infantry.02br02br00My husband is in the military/army.02br02br00Thanks in advance. 0-

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

0It's not at all stupid. One of the definitions of "military" really does restrict it to the army. The broader definition is that armed forces in general.02br
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00As a former officer in the U.S. Navy, I do say that I was "in the military." I had a friend who was very pedantic about this. He'd say "Oh, you were in the Army?" to point out my "mistake."02br
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00I see no reason to think that army means "ground infantry" any more than I see "military" must mean only "army." The U.S. Army has helicopters, tanks, cavalry (which doesn't mean horses any more) and many other facets of being besides ground infantry forces02br
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00My husband is in the military can mean he's in any branch of the armed forces. My husand is in the army can mean he does many things other than being an infantryman. 0-

New2grammar · Answer

0GG, I had to read your reply several times and referred to the dictionary to understand what you mean. Hopefully I get it right One more thing, is an infantryman the same as a soldier? Sorry, my knowledge of military is very limited. I'm having difficulty undertanding ground infantry itself. 0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0Using my favorite online reference, 05000:02br
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00Main Entry: 01sup^00202sup00military02br
00Function: 01i00noun02i02br
00Inflected Form(s): 01i00plural02i00 00military00 01i00also02i00 00mil·i·tar·ies02br
00Date: 1709 02br
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00101b00:02b00 military persons00; 01i00especially02i00 01b00:02b00 army officers 01font00THIS IS THE RESTRICTED VERSION - ARMY ONLY02font02br
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00201b00:02b00 05100 01font00THIS IS THE GENERAL VERSION - ALL ARMED FORCES02font02br
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00Main Entry: 00armed forces02br
00Function: 01i00noun plural02i02br
01b00:02b00 the combined military, naval, and air forces of a nation —called also 01i00armed services02i00 02br
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00 And here's Army: 001 a01b00:02b00 a large organized body of armed personnel trained for war especially on land00 00b01b00:02b00 a unit capable of independent action and consisting usually of a headquarters, two or more corps, and auxiliary troops00 00c01i00often capitalized02i00 01b00:02b00 the complete military organization of a nation for land warfare02br
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00I don't know why you thought that army, strictly speaking, referred only the infantry, but you can see that it does say "especially on land" so perhaps that confused you.02br
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00A soldier is anyone who serves in the amry. It doesn't matter what his or her job is. 02br
0230hrefhttp://www.m-w.comcwww.m-w.com241hrefhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armed+forcescarmed forces

New2grammar · Answer

0I'm sorry. I still fail to understand infantry and a lot of military terms.02br
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00Let me tell you what I know and you can correct me if I'm wrong.02br
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00A soldier can be a person who does paperwork on an army base, filing, coordinating missions, etc, meaning he/she may never go to any battlefield.02br
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01b00infantry02b00 n. , pl. -tries . The 01b00branch of an army02b00 made up of units trained to fight on foot. Soldiers armed and trained 01b00to fight on foot02b00: The general.02br
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00A infantry is a person in the army who fights in battles. 02br
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00So what do you call a person who is in the air forces. As far as I understand, army and air forces are two different military bodies. 02br
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00Thanks in advance.0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0A01b00n02b00 infantry01b00man02b00 would fight on foot - not from a tank, yes.02br
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00An infantry is the entire group of people, not the one person.02br
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00Yes, in the US, the Air Force is a seperate branch of the armed forces, as is the Navy, and the Marines. People who serve in those branches are airmen, sailors, or Marines. It's a bit confusing because the Navy also has quite a few planes, so you can be an airman in the Navy as well. However, you can also be a sailor who has never seen the ocean if you are not assigned to a ship and perform other duties at navy bases that are on the interior of the country. There are some distinctions made as well between the officers and the enlisted - you don't refer to a naval officer as a sailor, really. But I wouldn't worry about those things right now.0-

RayH · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10So what do you call a person who is in the air forces. As far as I understand, army and air forces are two different military bodies. 12blockquote

10Note that this answer applies only to the U. S. military and to 01i00everyday02i00 usage, 01i00not02i00 to the technical differences among and within the various branches of the military.02br
00A member of the Army is a soldier.02br
00A member of the Navy is sailor.02br
00A member of the Marine Corp is a marine.02br
00A member of the Air Force is an airman.0-

New2grammar · Answer

0 Thank you, GG and RayH. 0-

Anonymous · Answer

People in the Air Force called Airmen

Anonymous · Answer

New2grammarA soldier can be a person who does paperwork on an army base, filing, coordinating missions, etc, meaning he/she may never go to any battlefield.

Yes. A soldier is a member of an army, regardless of their, particular job within it.

New2grammarinfantry n. , pl. -tries . The branch of an army made up of units trained to fight on foot. Soldiers armed and trained to fight on foot:

Infantry is not limited to armies. Although most infantry are part of armies, some are not. The section of the article at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry#Other_infantry explains more.

New2grammarA infantry is a person in the army who fights in battles.

This is poorly-worded. It would be better as, "An infantryman is a person in armed forces who fights mainly on foot."

You can gain a better understanding of what the word infantry means, at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry

Anonymous · Answer

New2grammarI'm sorry. This may sound stupid. But I feel that military and army are often used interchangable though army, strictly speaking, means ground infantry.

No, it's not just infantry. It means a kind of armed force that is mainly for fighting on land. The article here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army should help you to understand more.

New2grammarMy husband is in the military/army.

The practice of saying "the military" to mean armed forces in general, seems to be an American thing in particular.

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