Infantry vs Guards vs Commandos
I'll start with the easy one first: Commandos. Commandos perform
special operations, with recce and raid missions being their
specialities. For example, 4 man LRRPs (long range recce patrols)
are dropped behind enemy lines and spend a few weeks running,
hiding, eating the local wildlife and reporting on enemy movements
before exfiltrating. Larger commando units might drop behind enemy
lines, creep up to an enemy installation like a supply base,
perform a lightning raid against the defenders, sabotage the place
with explosives, then exfiltrate before the enemy counterattacks.
Commandos do not fight en masse, but instead emphasize stealth and
mobility to complete missions. This means that they are more
lightly armed than infantry. They do not hold ground. They do not
perform defence missions. They do not form part of the "main
effort" of ground forces (i.e. they do not participate on the front
lines) unless absolutely required.
Infantry can perform a wide variety of missions. However, the bread
and butter missions for infantry are attack, defence and patrol
missions. Infantry perform frontal attacks against enemy positions,
particularly in areas like jungle or mountains where ONLY infantry
can operate. Infantry dig in on objectives and defend them against
attack. Infantry patrol territory in order to police and control
it, or to detect and disrupt enemy actions, especially with
ambushes. Infantry form part of the "main effort" of ground forces
(along with Armor, Combat Engineers and Artillery, with support
arms) and hold and push forward the front line. Infantry, more than
any other combat arm, fight en masse and rely on main strength to
complete missions. In the end, infantry win the war.
Guards (or Marines) are a cross between the two, in almost every
way. They fight en masse like infantry, but they are not numerous.
They are armed more heavily than commandos, but cannot stand up on
the front line against enemy armor and massed infantry. They are
more mobile than infantry, but not as mobile as commandos (they are
helimobile and amphibious, but not airborne). Their role is to
perform the missions that fall in between the two extremes I gave.
An example would be a large raid behind enemy lines against a
fortified objective. Another example would be
reconnaisance-in-force (RIF), which is scouting the enemy by
engaging him in a skirmish, seeing his response, then withdrawing.
Yet another example would be fighting a "guerilla war" behind enemy
lines, mounting ambushes all over the place and evading
counterattack. The last example would be creating a beachhead and
holding it until infantry arrive. It is a matter of debate whether
Guards inherit the good points or the bad points of both infantry
and commandos by being a jack of all trades.
Hope this clears things up.
PS: I am from infantry.
