A
detachment is also a term used in the
US Military aviation community.
As an example, I will use my friend Yurei. He works for the military as an "elite toaster repairman" (his words). His squadron received a request to create a detachment to go to the Persian Gulf. The Assistant Maintenance Officer (AMO) and the Maintenance Officer (MO) peruse a listing of available personnel. They pick and choose who would be on this new detachment, assisted by the detachment's Chief Petty Officer, the most senior enlisted person who is in charge of making sure things get done.
The squadron assigns one or two helicopters for the exclusive use of the detachment. From personal experience, it is the one the needs the most maintenance. In Yurei's case it is the one with evil gremlins living in the electronics.
The detachment gets assigned to a ship and separates itself from the squadron, in effect creating a mini detached squadron. The Officer in Charge (OIC) is the detachment's version of a Commanding Officer (CO). The helicopters, the crew and the equipment are trundled off to the ship, and they sail for the Persian Gulf.
Note that this whole process takes months to set up, months to whip the detachment into a cohesive unit, and four to six months of floating around. Yurei coined the apt phrase Evil Floating Vacation. Imagine being in the middle of a body of water with the dim possibility of an E2 fix every three weeks. Yes, war is hell.