Template:Infobox Military Unit/doc

Military unit infobox
A military unit infobox may be used to summarize information about an individual military unit or formation, such as a regiment or division..

The infobox should be added using the infobox military unit template, as shown below:

Note: When using parameters, avoid the ambiguous abbreviation "N/A", and instead use "unknown" or "none". All subjective or qualitative judgements and numerical quantities or statistics must be cited to a reliable source (see WP:MILMOS).


 * unit_name – the formal name of the unit.
 * image – optional – an image of the unit insignia (cap badges, tartan or colours), if available; other images may be used if this cannot be obtained. The image must be given in the form [[Image:Example.jpg|300px]] ; in particular, the thumb attribute must not be selected.
 * caption – optional – the text to be placed below the image.
 * dates – the period (usually in years) when the unit was active; alternately, the dates may be indicated by using one—or both—of the separate start_date and end_date parameters.
 * country – optional – if the unit is part of the armed forces of a sovereign state, the name of that state.
 * allegiance – optional – used to indicate the allegiance of units which are not part of the regular armed forces of a sovereign state; can usually be omitted otherwise. In the case of National Guard or Naval Militia units, the State of origin should be indicated.
 * branch – optional – the service branch, in militaries that have them; typically army, navy, air force, Army National Guard, etc.
 * type – optional – the general type of unit, e.g., cavalry, infantry, artillery, etc. More specific types (airborne infantry, light cavalry, etc.) may be given as appropriate.
 * role – optional – typical strategic or tactical use of unit, e.g., shock troop, special operations, mechanized infantry, ceremonial guard, etc.
 * size – optional – the size of the unit; this may include both average and lifetime figures, and should indicate equipment (planes, tanks, cannon, etc.) where applicable. For U.S. units, this should only include Organic elements, not Assigned or Attached elements.
 * command_structure – optional – the larger unit(s) of which the unit is a part. This should not be used to provide an exhaustive history of the unit, which is more appropriate in the article itself, for units existing over a long period.  For complicated cases, using the auxiliary command structure box may be appropriate.
 * garrison – optional – location of the unit's home base; this is generally applicable only to units in existence.
 * garrison_label – optional – the label to use for the garrison field (above).
 * nickname – optional – any commonly-used nicknames for the unit.
 * patron – optional – the patron the unit was named after; this is only applicable in armed forces where units are named after individuals.
 * motto – optional – the official unit motto (with translation, if necessary).
 * colors – optional – the unit colors; this may refer to either the actual colors used on the uniform, or to the colours of the unit.
 * colors_label – optional – the label to use for the colors field (above).
 * march – optional – the tune(s) commonly or officially played when the unit ceremonially marches; there may be several.
 * mascot – optional – any official or unofficial animal or character maintained by the unit.
 * equipment – optional – for units strongly associated with specific equipment or vehicles, such as tanks, artillery, or aircraft, a brief list of the notable types used by the unit; if the number of entries is large, it is recommended that this field not be used, and that the full list be given in the article text instead.
 * equipment_label – optional – the label to use for the equipment field (above).
 * battles – optional – any notable engagements in which the unit participated. The decision of what constitutes a notable engagement is left to the editors of the specific article.
 * battles_label – optional – the label to use for the battles field (above); this defaults to "Engagements" if left blank.
 * anniversaries – optional – any anniversaries that a unit celebrates.
 * decorations – optional – any decorations (such as the Presidential Unit Citation) that the unit as a whole has received.
 * battle_honours – optional – for units in countries that award some type of formal battle honours, the battle honours that the unit has received; while this may have some overlap with the battles field above, the two are not necessarily equivalent.
 * disbanded – optional – for units that have been disbanded, the dates and any other relevant notes regarding the disbanding.
 * flying_hours – optional – if the formation is an aerial one, the total hours flown.

Commander parameters:

The infobox allows for up to three current commanders to be specified; the exact roles or titles of these individuals should be specified via the corresponding label parameters.
 * commander1 – optional – a current commander of the unit; this can be the acting commander, the ceremonial commander, the chief of staff, or any other leader.
 * commander1_label – optional – the label to use for the field above; for historical reasons, this defaults to "Current commander" if left blank.
 * commander2 – optional – a second current commander of the unit; this can be the acting commander, the ceremonial commander, the chief of staff, or any other leader.
 * commander2_label – optional – the label to use for the field above; for historical reasons, this defaults to "Ceremonial chief" if left blank.
 * commander3 – optional – a third current commander of the unit; this can be the acting commander, the ceremonial commander, the chief of staff, or any other leader.
 * commander3_label – optional – the label to use for the field above; for historical reasons, this defaults to "Colonel of the Regiment" if left blank.
 * notable_commanders – optional – any notable former commanders of the unit; judgement of notability is left to individual article editors.

Insignia parameters:
 * identification_symbol – optional – the unit's identification symbol (such as a patch, tartan, or tactical identification flash).
 * identification_symbol_label – optional – the label to use for the identification symbol field (above).
 * identification_symbol_2 – optional – another identification symbol.
 * identification_symbol_2_label – optional – the label to use for the second identification symbol field (above).
 * identification_symbol_3 – optional – another identification symbol.
 * identification_symbol_3_label – optional – the label to use for the third identification symbol field (above).
 * identification_symbol_4 – optional – another identification symbol.
 * identification_symbol_4_label – optional – the label to use for the fourth identification symbol field (above).

Aircraft parameters:
 * aircraft_attack – optional – for aviation units, the attack aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_bomber – optional – for aviation units, the bomber aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_electronic – optional – for aviation units, the electronic warfare aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_fighter – optional – for aviation units, the fighter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter – optional – for aviation units, the helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter_attack – optional – for aviation units, the attack helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter_cargo – optional – for aviation units, the cargo helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter_multirole – optional – for aviation units, the multirole helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter_observation – optional – for aviation units, the observation helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter_trainer – optional – for aviation units, the trainer helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_helicopter_utility – optional – for aviation units, the utility helicopter aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_interceptor – optional – for aviation units, the interceptor aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_patrol – optional – for aviation units, the patrol aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_recon – optional – for aviation units, the reconnaissance aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_trainer – optional – for aviation units, the trainer aircraft flown by the unit.
 * aircraft_transport – optional – for aviation units, the transport aircraft flown by the unit.

Note that the various  fields above are intended for overriding the default labels on these fields as needed for particular countries or services; in most cases, however, the default value is sufficient, and the fields need not be included.