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Soldier
File:German army soldiers stand at attention for the Georgian natinal anthem during Noble Partner 18 at Vaziani Training Area, Georgia.jpg
German army soldiers at Vaziani Training Area, Georgia, 15 August 2018.
Occupation
Occupation type
Profession
Activity sectors
Military
Specialty{{#statements:P1995}}
Description
CompetenciesPhysical
Stamina
Mindset
Fields of
employment
Armies and fireteams
Related jobs
Airman
Sailor
Marine
Commando

Template:Army units Template:Chain of Command

File:Maryland National Guard (17285160576).jpg

A U.S. soldier on riot control duty

File:315017 soldado.jpg

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 words, soldiers are military personnel that participate in ground, sea, air forces, or space forces commonly known as armies, navies, air forces, and space forces respectively.[1]

Etymology[]

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[]

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.

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] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) 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 and conscripted[]

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[]

File:Ghana Army Sergeant 2013.jpg

Female sergeant of the Ghana Army

According to the United Nations, 10–30% of all soldiers worldwide are women.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. "soldier - Dictionary Definition". Vocabulary.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19. {{cite web}}:
  2. 2.0 2.1 Mish, Frederick C., ed. (2004). "soldier". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 0-87779-809-5. https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersc00merr_6. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Harper, Douglas (2010). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 17 August 2010. {{cite web}}:
  4. "20-Year Retirement". Armytimes.com. Retrieved 8 March 2012. {{cite web}}:
  5. "#YouthStats: Armed Conflict". United Nations Office of Secretary General. {{cite web}}:

External links[]

  • Commons-logo.svg Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 64: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons

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