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سرية

English translation: Brigade - Contingent - Detachment

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Arabic term or phrase:سرية
English translation:Brigade - Contingent - Detachment
Entered by: Sami Khamou

16:15 Feb 5, 2004
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
/ (military)
Arabic term or phrase: سرية
The First Arab سرية in Afghanistan
Abdellatif Bouhid
Local time: 18:36
Brigade - Contingent - Detachment
Explanation:
Brigade - Contingent - Detachment
Selected response from:

Sami Khamou
Local time: 18:36
Grading comment
Thank you Sami, Musab, reem, Alaa. And thank you Stephen for that full course on military hierarchy. Eid Moubarak to all.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +6company
Musab Hayatli
4 +4Brigade - Contingent - Detachment
Sami Khamou
5 +3Military unit= company (basic tactical formation)
Stephen Franke
5 +2Squadron
reem nuseibeh
5 +1Possible reference to "Afghan Arab" mujahidiin
Stephen Franke
5Advance element or contingent
Stephen Franke
3 +1expedition or contingent
Alaa Zeineldine
2 +1all of the above
Alaa Zeineldine


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Squadron


Explanation:
This is the correct military word for "sirbah."

reem nuseibeh
Local time: 18:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alaa Zeineldine
12 mins

agree  AhmedAMS
69 days
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +6
ÓÑíÉ
company


Explanation:
This is the term used to refer to a group in an army for example. In Syria سرايا الدفاع was usually translated as Defence Companies, and in the Oxford Dictionary, a "Company" is defined as:

a subdivision of an infantry battalion, usu. commanded by a major or a captain.


Musab Hayatli
Local time: 22:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in pair: 44

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ahmed Ismail
3 mins

agree  Alaa Zeineldine
10 mins

agree  Joseph Samir: This is the equivalent mentioned in " The Unifying Military Dictionary"
2 hrs

agree  MIKayf (X)
7 hrs

agree  Dr. Wathib Jabouri: Part of a battalion, and is subdivided into plaroons.
15 hrs

agree  AhmedAMS
69 days
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
سرية
Brigade - Contingent - Detachment


Explanation:
Brigade - Contingent - Detachment

Sami Khamou
Local time: 18:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in pair: 564
Grading comment
Thank you Sami, Musab, reem, Alaa. And thank you Stephen for that full course on military hierarchy. Eid Moubarak to all.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Aisha Maniar: gievn the context of the Arabs in Afghanistan, the correct word would be "brigade"
2 mins
  -> Thank you Aisha

agree  Ahmed Ismail: like: Al-Quds Brigades
3 mins
  -> Thank you Ahmed

agree  Alaa Zeineldine: Brigade is found in several dictionaries, although I thought it is also a translation for لواء
10 mins
  -> Thank you Alaa

agree  AhmedAMS
69 days
  -> Thank you Ahmed
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Military unit= company (basic tactical formation)


Explanation:
Greetings.

That term means "company."

A company is a military formation that usually consists of infantry soldiers (or similar land forces).

An infantry company is a basic tactical "fire and maneuver" element for ground combat.

FYI, the chain progressing from smaller unit to next larger is thusly:

company (siriiyat_سرية =>

battalion (katiiba) كتيبة =>

brigade (fowj) فوج =>

regiment (luwa'لواء ) =>

regimental combat team (Arabic: jaHfil جحفل; this term is not used often for describing a US formation) =>

division (firqat فرقة) =>

corps (failiq = فيلق)

While airborne/airmobile/air assault units, commandos/rangers, and special forces units have some distinctive designations for their respective elements, the above names apply for the typical general military formations found in most Arab armies of the Middle East.

HTH.

Khair, in sha' Allah.

Regards,

Stephen H. Franke
San Pedro, California


    Field experience with Middle Eastern militaries
Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 15:36
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 240

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Abdelazim Abdelazim
3 hrs

agree  Alaa AHMED: A group rather than a unit. Kindly interchange translations of 'brigade' and 'regiment'
1 day 14 hrs

agree  AhmedAMS
69 days
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22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
سرية
all of the above


Explanation:
It seems that dictionaries tried all possible translations for سرية. It appears as squadron, battery (in connection with artilery), group, company, and brigade. On the other hand, I also thought that the translation was regiment, but I cannot find any evidence for this.

Unfortunately, you cannot use the Afghan armed forces as a context since the armies of interest are Arab armies. If this unit was sent under the auspices of UN peace-keeping forces, you might look up UN troop terminology if you can find them.

Alaa Zeineldine
Egypt
Local time: 00:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 431

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AhmedAMS
69 days
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49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Possible reference to "Afghan Arab" mujahidiin


Explanation:

Greetings again.

In view of that context of Afghanistan as the venue, this term may be a reference to a contingent of "Afghan Arab" paramilitary mujahidiin, rather than to a conventional military force.

The original writer may have been trying to label that "Afghan Arab" contingent with a title that would be familiar and likely seem comparable - in the minds of readers - to that of a conventional military formation.HTH.

Khair, in sha' Allah.

Stephen H. Franke
San Pedro, California

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Note added at 2004-02-05 19:45:28 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Greetings

Re that helpful context (pasted below for reference):

[ The context is volunteer arabs establishing their first presence in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet invasion. They were not organized in any sense of substantial and formal military hierarchy. ]

A more-common term I have seen in Arabic media and websites that refers to contingents of \"Afghan Arab\" mujahideen volunteers is \'keta\'ib\' (battalions or multitudes)

That term is often, and erroneously, translated in English media as (in a mentally-lazy generic term) = \"brigade\"

HTH.




    Field experience with Middle Eastern militaries
Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 15:36
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 240

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alaa AHMED: contingent may be OK alongside Afghan and Pakistani contingents
1 day 14 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
سرية
expedition or contingent


Explanation:
In the context of jihad, the word سرية may be used with an Islamic historical connotation. In the sirah there were two types of military campaigns, غزوة (ghazawah) and سرية (sariyah). The only difference being that a ghazawah is one in which the prophet (S) took part, and a sariyah is one which he sent out while he remained in Madinah.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs 38 mins (2004-02-05 19:54:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

pronounced ghazwah not ghazawah.

Alaa Zeineldine
Egypt
Local time: 00:36
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 431

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Stephen Franke: In that helpful context, the term "basic / small contingent" might well fit.
6 mins
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Advance element or contingent


Explanation:
Greetings again.

In that context (and matching that with Arabic media reporting on "Afghan Arab" mujahidiin volunteers operating in Chechnya), the most suitable equivalent English terms could include these choices:

o advance contingent

o advance party

o advance element

o lead detachment

o initial detachment

HTH.

Khair, in sha' Allah.

To my Moslem colleagues here, on the recent auspicious observance of Eid al-Adha al-Bumarak:

Eidkum s3iid عيدكم سعيد

Kul 3am wa entum bikhair كل عام وأنتم بخير


    Field experience; reports about "Afghan Arabs" in Chechnya
Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 15:36
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 240
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