An order of battle (often abbreviated as ORBAT, OOB, or OB) is an organizational tool used by military intelligence to list and analyze enemy military units. In United States Army practice, an order of battle should relate what an American unit might be expected to encounter while on field operations. Orders of battle analyze enemy units, personnel, and equipment. Military intelligence (abbreviated MI, int. ... US Army Seal The United States Army is the branch of the United States armed forces that has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...

The United States Army breaks down an order of battle entry by the following factors:

• Composition: the command structure and organization of headquarters and subunits
• Disposition: geographical locations of unit headquarters and subunits
• Strength
• Training
• Tactics used by the enemy unit
• Logistics: how the enemy unit obtains its supplies
• Combat Effectiveness
• Electronic Technical Data
• Miscellaneous
  • Personalities
  • Unit history
  • Uniforms and insignia

The collection of order-of-battle data is the responsibility of the unit commander, through the G-2/J-2 (intelligence) section. An U.S. Army military intelligence group maintains an Order of Battle Section. Tactics is the collective name for methods of winning a small-scale conflict, performing an optimization, etc. ... It has been suggested that Logistics Overview be merged into this article or section. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...

The rule of thumb used by American military intelligence is that each unit should follow enemy subunits two echelons down: that is, a division should monitor enemy battalion, a brigade should monitor enemy companies, and a battalion should monitor enemy platoons. General George S. Patton was one of the first to recommend this practice. Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO code In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... // US Army In the United States military, infantry companies are usually made up of three rifle platoons and a heavy weapons platoon; tank companies are usually made up of three tank platoons and a command element. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO code In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... See also Platoon (movie) and platoon (automobile) for the concept for reducing traffic congestion. ... George S. Patton, Jr. ...

The term is also used by historians and war gamers to list the organization and unit structure of both sides in a battle.

The British Army and UK forces use ORBAT to describe the structure of both friendly and enemy forces. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

See also

• List of orders of battle.