brigade

A brigade is a large military unit made up of several battalions. A few thousand soldiers under one commander.

The army hierarchy runs upwards from section to platoon to company to battalion to brigade to division. Outside the army the word survives in the fire brigade, which is the standard British name for the fire service. It also has a mocking use for any group with strong opinions, so the health and safety brigade means people the speaker finds tiresome, and that use is always dismissive.