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It seems to me that from all I've seen of various Star Trek shows, Federation (or Earth) does not seem to have ANY combat military personnel/branches aside from Space Navy (aka StarFleet). No Marines for taking the beach(planet)-heads, no combat armor/infantry for ground combat, no dedicated small fighter-class spacecraft (away shuttles don't count).

I haven't watched any DS9 yet at all so the above impression could be wrong.

Is that really true, or do any of Star Trek shows or movies exhibit existence of non-naval combat military branches, especially as pertaining to ground combat?

If not, is there an in-Universe explanation for their lack?

Books/games are out of scope.

Specialized branches (Judicial, medial, Time Police, Intelligence) are out of scope.

Non-Earth species-specific forces are not really in-scope - I only care either about Earth military or Federation-wide ones.

UPDATE: I'm mostly interested in Federation era, e.g. post-Enterprise timelines.

In the Star Trek episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday", Kirk and Capt. John Christopher had this exchange after Christopher was beamed aboard Enterprise.

CHRISTOPHER: Must have taken quite a lot to build a ship like this.

KIRK: There are only twelve like it in the fleet.

CHRISTOPHER: I see. Did the Navy...

KIRK: We're a combined service, Captain.

So the armed forces, such as they are, operate under a single command structure, which is Starfleet.

Enterprise introduced M.A.C.O. (Military Assault Command Operations). They were a United Earth military organization that existed prior to Starfleet and had more advanced weapons and technology. A detachment was assigned to the Enterprise NX-01 for its mission to the Delphic Expanse.

Section 31 almost fits the description, but they're not strictly military. They fit more under intelligence, but have been likened to the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order.

They are introduced late in DS9 (and make appearances in ENT), so I'll add spoilers for my reasoning in case you haven't heard of them yet:

Basically, they're the ones who deal with threats to the Federation that no one knows about or wants to think about:

• Their existence is not officially acknowledged or denied.


• They create the virus that targets the Founders.


• They even prepare for a possible coming war against the Romulans for after the Dominion is dealt with.

At least by the time the events of Season 4 of Deep Space 9 are occurring it's quite clear there are no other military "options" available on earth.

In the episode Homefront the Federation President allows for a brief State of Emergency (Martial Law) on Earth, which is administered by Starfleet personnel.

Admiral Leyton, imploring the Federation President Jaresh-Inyo to decree a State of Emergency claimed:

"We've been preparing for something like this for a long time; we have
stockpiles of phaser rifles, personal force fields, photon grenades,
enough to equip an entire army ..."

Star Trek DS9, Season 4, Episode 11 Homefront

The inference therefore is there is no military available at all on earth, or presumably nearby earth and such matters are up to the discretion of the Federation, and to be fulfilled by the Starfleet.

Aside from the aforementioned Section 31, there is the Federation Naval Patrol, although not strictly military, their mission is to "ensure security and explore oceans of member worlds." Mentioned only once in Voyager episode Thirty Days.

In DS9 S6 E11, Waltz, the Defiant is ordered to protect a "troop convoy". According to major Kira, this convoy is "completely unprotected" and "there are over 30 thousand Federation troops in that convoy". I don't think Starfleet personnel is normally referred to as "troops", and the way they are transported doesn't sound very Starfleet either. It isn't explained in any further detail, but it does sound to me like they're soldiers specialized in fighting on a planet's surface, rather than starship crewmen.

DS9 also features small fighter-class spacecraft, by the way.