frontline troops
First combat units
Frontline troops are military personnel positioned at the forward edge of combat, directly engaged with or nearest to enemy forces.
The term emphasizes their exposure to immediate danger and their role as the first line of contact in battle: Frontline troops bore the brunt of the assault.
The phrase often carries connotations of sacrifice and hardship that rear-echelon personnel don't share.
- infantryGround combat troops
- combatArmed hostile engagement
- combat zoneActive military conflict area
- soldiersMilitary personnel who fight
- boots on the groundMilitary presence in area
battlefield · trenches · trench warfare · no man's land · warfare · assault · military · boots · deployed · advance · medic · artillery · barracks · patrol · enemy · squad · platoon · regiment
- assault troopsassault teams, stormtroopers, strike teams, first wave, raiding parties
- infantry unitsfoot soldiers, riflemen, platoon, squad, company
- expendable soldierscannon fodder, expendables, disposables, fresh meat, warm bodies
frontline troopsrear echelon
Non-combat support zone
rear guard · reserve forces · headquarters staff · home front · second line
frontline troopssupport staff
Workers aiding main operations
administrative staff · paper pushers · medical corps · clerks · pencil pushers
front, line, troop, fronts, lines, troops, frontal, frontage, frontward