Company (land forces)

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In general military usage, a company is a small army or naval infantry unit. It is usually commanded by a captain or major; the latter is especially common in Commonwealth countries and in U.S. special operations forces.

A typical combat arms company has 100-200 personnel at full strength. Combat support and combat service support companies may be of this size, although those composed of highly specialized technical personnel (e.g., medical, intelligence) may have a much smaller number of people.

Combat arms companies are not intended to be able to conduct independent operations for any appreciable time; they have very limited logistical support. They are typically subordinate to a battalion, or, especially when specialized (e.g., combat engineer, intelligence), to a brigade.

Certain arms of service have different names for a company-sized unit. Cavalry units are called troop (cavalry); the term is not consistently applied to the armored, mechanized, and helicopter-borne successors to horse cavalry.

Company-sized units in artillery are called batteries.