A second-order Cyc collection. Each instance of military echelon is a collection of ModernMilitaryOrganizations that are of the same standard echelon (though not necesarily part of the same military branch, or even sub-organizations of the same country). Examples include platoon and military division.

Specializations of military echelon include the partially-overlapping collections U.S. Marine Corps echelon, U.S. Army echelon, and Iranian Army echelon.

To state that a military unit is of a particular echelon, use echelon of unit.