garrison

Etymology

From Middle English garisoun, garysoun, from Old French garison, guarison, from guarir + -ison, ultimately of Germanic origin; thus a doublet of warison. Compare guard, ward; the modern meaning is influenced by (now obsolete) garnison.

noun

1. A permanent military post.
2. The troops stationed at such a post.
3. (allusive) Occupants.
   I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I ? Why didn’t I telephone ? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. … 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
4. (US, military, U.S. Space Force) A military unit, nominally headed by a colonel, equivalent to a USAF support wing, or an army regiment.

verb

1. To assign troops to a military post.
2. To convert into a military fort.
3. To occupy with troops.
   'Establishing a land bridge through Mariupol to Crimea would take tens of thousands of troops. So would garrisoning eastern Ukraine.', http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21615605-now-willing-use-russian-troops-more-or-less-openly-eastern-ukraine-vladimir-putin-has