Regiment

A regiment is a

In

By the end of the 17th century, infantry regiments in most European armies were permanent units, with approximately 800 men and commanded by a colonel.

During the modern era, the word "regiment" – much like "corps" – may have two somewhat divergent meanings, which refer to two distinct roles:

1. a front-line military formation; or
2. an administrative or ceremonial unit.

In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent

• smaller than a standard battalion, e.g. Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment;
• a battalion equivalent, e.g. 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment;
• a brigade equivalent, e.g.
  8th Marine Regiment (United States)
  ;
• several battalions, e.g.
  • 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and
  • Royal Regiment of Scotland; or
• an entire
  arm of service
  , e.g.
  • the Royal Australian Regiment includes all of the Australian Army's regular infantry (other than reserve and special forces units), and
  • the artillery units of the British Army are known collectively as the
    Royal Regiment of Artillery, which is sub-divided for operation purposes into field regiments
    .

In the 17th century, brigades were formed as units combining infantry, cavalry, and artillery that were more effective than the older, single-arms regiments; in many armies, brigades replaced regiments. Organisation and numbers did not follow any standardised pattern between or within armies during this period, with the only common factor being that each regiment had a single commander.^[5]

By the beginning of the 18th century, regiments in most European continental armies had evolved into permanent units with distinctive titles and uniforms, each under the command of a colonel. When at full strength, an infantry regiment normally comprised two field battalions of about 800 men each or 8–10 companies. In some armies, an independent regiment with fewer companies was labelled a demi-regiment.^[6] A cavalry regiment numbered 600 to 900 troopers, making up a single entity.^[7] On campaign, these numbers were soon reduced by casualties and detachments and it was sometimes necessary to amalgamate regiments or to withdraw them to a depot while recruits were obtained and trained.

With the widespread adoption of conscription in European armies during the nineteenth century, the regimental system underwent modification. Prior to World War I, an infantry regiment in the French, German, Russian, and other smaller armies would comprise four battalions, each with a full strength on mobilization of about 1,000 men. As far as possible, the separate battalions would be garrisoned in the same military district, so that the regiment could be mobilized and campaign as a 4,000 strong linked group of sub-units. A cavalry regiment by contrast made up a single entity of up to 1,000 troopers. A notable exception to this practice was the British line infantry system where the two regular battalions constituting a regiment alternated between "home" and "foreign" service and seldom came together as a single unit.

In the regimental system, each regiment is responsible for recruiting, training, and administration; each regiment is permanently maintained and therefore the regiment will develop its unique esprit de corps because of its unitary history, traditions, recruitment, and function. Usually, the regiment is responsible for recruiting and administering all of a soldier's military career. Depending upon the country, regiments can be either combat units or administrative units or both.

This is often contrasted to the "continental system" adopted by many armies. In the continental system, the division is the functional army unit, and its commander is the administrator of every aspect of the

Disadvantages of the regimental system are hazardous regimental competition, a lack of interchangeability between units of different regiments, and more pronounced "old boy networks" within the military that may hamper efficiency and fairness.

A key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the fundamental tactical building block. This flows historically from the colonial period, when battalions were widely dispersed and virtually autonomous, but is easily adapted to a number of different purposes. For example, a regiment might include different types of battalions (e.g. infantry or artillery) of different origins (e.g. regular or reserve).

Within the regimental system, soldiers, and usually officers, are always posted to a tactical unit of their own regiment whenever posted to field duty. In addition to combat units, other organizations are very much part of the regimental family: regimental training schools, serving members on "extra-regimental employment", regimental associations (retirees), bands and associated cadet groups. The aspects that an administrative regiment might have in common include a symbolic

that houses the regimental museum and regimental headquarters. The latter has a modest staff to support regimental committees and administer both the regular members and the association(s) of retired members.

Advantages and disadvantages

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The regimental system is generally admired for the

esprit de corps

it engenders in its units' members, but efforts to implement it in countries with a previously existing continental system usually do not succeed. The system presents difficulties for military planners, who must deal with the problems of trying to keep soldiers of a regiment together throughout their careers and of administering separate garrisons, training and mess facilities. The regimental community of serving and retired members often makes it very difficult for planners to restructure forces by moving, merging or re-purposing units.

In those armies where the continental system exists, the regimental system is criticised as parochial and as creating unnecessary rivalry between different regiments. The question is also raised as to whether it is healthy to develop soldiers more loyal to their regiment than to the military in general. Regiments recruited from areas of political ferment (such as Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Quebec, India, etc.), tend to perform particularly well because of the loyalty their members exhibit to the regiments. Generally, the regimental system is found to function best in countries with small-to medium-sized military forces where the problems of administering vast numbers of personnel are not as prevalent. The regimental system works particularly well in an environment in which the prime role of the army consists of small-scale police actions and counterinsurgency operations, requiring prolonged deployment away from home. In such a situation, co-ordination between regiments is rarely necessary, and the esprit de corps of the regiment provides an emotional substitute for the sense of public approval that an army receives at home. This is particularly relevant to British experience during the days of the empire, where the army was virtually continuously engaged in low-intensity conflict with insurgents, and full-scale warfare was the exception rather than the rule.

A regimental system, since it is decentralized and the regiments are independent from each other, prevents the army from staging a coup d'état. This is best exemplified by the British Army: since the formation of the United Kingdom, there have been no military takeovers.^[8][9]

A regimental system can also foster close links between the regiment and the community from which it is recruited. This sense of community 'ownership' over local regiments can be seen in the public outcry over recent regimental amalgamations in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, recruitment from a single community can lead to a concentrated and potentially devastating local impact if the regiment takes heavy casualties.

Further, the regimental system offers the advantage of grouping like units together for centralized administrative, training, and logistical purposes, thereby creating an "economies of scale" effect and its ensuing increased efficiency.

An illustrative example of this is the modular integration employed by the

In the British Army and armies modelled on it (such as the Australian, the New Zealand, the Canadian, the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Myanmar and the Indian armies), the term regiment is used in two different ways: it can mean an administrative identity and grouping, or a tactical unit. In the former Dominion of Newfoundland, "Regiment" was used to describe the entirety of the fighting armed forces, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

In the Commonwealth countries listed above, the large administrative regiment has been the normal practice for many years. In the case of India, "large regiments" of four to five battalions date from 1923 and, since the 1950s, many of these have expanded even further. As an example, the Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army has expanded from four battalions in 1956 to its present strength of 20, while, in the Pakistan Army, several regiments have over 50 battalions.

In Canada, the regiment is a formation of one or more units; existing almost exclusively for reasons of heritage, the continuance of battle honours and esprit de corps. The three regular force infantry regiments each consist of three regular force battalions of approximately 600 soldiers, in addition to one or more reserve battalions. Canadian battalions are employed tactically and administratively within brigade groups.

In Australia, there is but one administrative infantry regiment in the regular army: the Royal Australian Regiment, consisting of all seven regular infantry battalions in the Army. The Australian Army Reserve also has state-based infantry regiments which administer the reserve infantry battalions.

In Pakistan, the word regiment is an administrative grouping. While individual battalions may have different roles (for example different battalions of the Frontier Force Regiment may be mechanized infantry, paratroop infantry, or mountain troops), the regiment is considered to encompass all of them.

The modern British regimental system came about as a result of the 19th century Cardwell Reforms.

In the

In the British regimental system, the tactical regiment or battalion is the basic functional unit and its commanding officer more autonomous than in continental systems. Divisional and brigade commanders generally do not immerse themselves in the day-to-day functioning of a battalion – they can replace the commanding officer but will not micro-manage the unit. The regimental sergeant major is another key figure, responsible to the CO for unit discipline and the behaviour of the NCOs.

It should, however, be noted that amalgamations beginning in the late 1950s and ending in 2006 have diluted the British regimental system through the now almost universal adoption of "large regiments" for the infantry of the Army. As of 2014, only thirteen line infantry regiments survive, each comprising up to six of the former battalions that previously had separate regimental status. Only the five Guards regiments retain their historic separate identities. Similarly, as of 2015, only eight of the regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps (cavalry plus Royal Tank Regiments) survive.

Armoured regiments in Canada since the end of the Second World War have usually consisted of a single tactical regiment. During the 1960s, three Canadian regiments had both regular and militia components, which were disbanded shortly after unification in 1968. Currently, one regiment is organised with two tactical regiments, 12^e Régiment blindé du Canada and 12^e Régiment blindé du Canada (Milice) are both part of the administrative regiment 12^e Régiment blindé du Canada.

One administrative armoured regiment of the British Army consisted of more than one tactical regiment. The Royal Tank Regiment until 2014 had two (1 and 2 RTR), and once had many more. They were all amalgamated into a single regiment.

All of a nation's artillery units are considered part of a single administrative regiment, but there are typically several tactical artillery regiments. They are designated by numbers, names or both. For example, the tactical regiments 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, 7th Toronto Regiment, RCA and many others are part of the single administrative regiment The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. In Britain, the Royal Regiment of Artillery works in the same way.

Administrative

The British Army also has battalion-sized tactical regiments of the Royal Engineers, Royal Corps of Signals, Army Air Corps, Royal Logistic Corps, and Royal Military Police.

Upon its inception, the Indian Army inherited the British Army's organisational structure, which is still maintained today. Therefore, like its predecessor, an Indian infantry regiment's responsibility is not to undertake field operations but to provide battalions and well-trained personnel to the field formations. As such, it is common to find battalions of the same regiment spread across several brigades, divisions, corps, commands, and even theatres. Like its British and Commonwealth counterparts, troops enlisted within the regiment are immensely loyal, take great pride in the regiment to which they are assigned, and generally spend their entire career within the regiment.

Most Indian Army infantry regiments recruit based on certain selection criteria, such as region (for example, the Assam Regiment), caste/community (Jat Regiment), or religion (Sikh Regiment). Most regiments continue the heritage of regiments raised under the British Raj, but some have been raised after independence, some of which have specialised in border defence, in particular the Ladakh Scouts, the Arunachal Scouts, and the Sikkim Scouts.

Over the years there have been fears that troops' allegiance lay more with their regiments and the regions/castes/communities/religions from which they were recruited, as opposed to the Indian union as a whole. Thus some "all India" or "all class" regiments have been created, which recruit troops from all over India, regardless of region, caste, community, or religion: such as the Brigade of the Guards (which later converted to the mechanised infantry profile) and the Parachute Regiment.

The Indian Army has many regiments, majority of them infantry, with single-battalion cavalry and artillery regiments. These are a legacy of the British Indian army during the years when the British ruled India before 15 August 1947. Each infantry regiment may have one or more battalions, while cavalry, armour and artillery regiments are single-battalion formations. There are regimental headquarters (called as a centre) for each regiment.

Each regiment of infantry is commanded by a colonel and assisted by a lieutenant colonel.^[12]

The Irish Army field artillery units are called regiments. They are divided into batteries and together the regiments form the Artillery Corps. Air Defence units are organised as a single regiment with individual batteries stationed around the country.

The Philippine Army currently has 3 regiments dedicated to special operations under the AFP Special Operations Command. They specialized in direct action, jungle warfare, urban warfare, special reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, psychological warfare, counter-terrorism, mass base and sniping operations against hostile positions depending on the situation of a certain place.

The Scout Rangers, known officially as the First Scout Ranger Regiment, specializes in anti-guerrilla jungle warfare, raids, ambushes, close quarters combat, urban warfare and sabotage. It was formed on November 25, 1950, under the command of former AFP Vice Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary

The Special Forces Regiment (Airborne) is a special forces unit of the Philippine Army. It is based on and continually trains with its American counterpart, the

The Light Reaction Regiment is the premier counter-terrorist unit of the Philippine Army. It was formerly known as the Light Reaction Battalion and Light Reaction Company. Due to its specialization in counter-terrorism operations and its formation with the assistance of American advisers, the Light Reaction Regiment has been sometimes referred to as the Philippines'

The regiments (

The Artillery Regiment was used to provide fire support, but differed depending on whether it was part of a Motorised Rifle Division or Tank Division. The artillery regiment of an MRD consisted of three battalions of eighteen 2S3 Akatsiyas each and a battalion of eighteen BM-21 Grads, numbering just under 1,300 personnel total, while a TD artillery regiment had one less battalion of 2S3s and a little over one thousand personnel total. This was the standard model by the late 1980s, however not all artillery regiments had yet to conformed to it and one or more of the battalions might have used older weapon systems like the D-30 howitzer. Each regiment was led by a command control battery and included an artillery reconnaissance battery, motor transport company, maintenance company, regimental medical point, chemical protection platoon and supply and service platoon.^[17]

An Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment was an important part of a motor rifle division or

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Historically, the

Many more additional regiments of the United States Volunteers were recruited from each state during the American Civil War according to General Orders No. 15., War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, May 4, 1861:

The President of the United States having called for a Volunteer Force to aid in the enforcement of the laws and the suppression of insurrection, and to consist of thirty-nine regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry, making a minimum aggregate of (34,506) thirty-four thousand five hundred and six officers and enlisted men, and a maximum aggregate of (42,034) forty two thousand and thirty-four officers and enlisted men, the following plan of organization has been adopted, and is directed to be printed for general information.

In 1890, the number of companies in a regiment was reduced from the traditional ten to only eight, as the end of the Indian Wars became evident and troop reductions became in order. However, in 1898 as the war with Spain began, a three-battalion, 12-company structure was effected. This expanded regimental structure produced units, proportionally roughly the same approximate size as the single battalion, ten-company regiments of the Civil War. (For example: 101 officers and enlisted men per company, and a 36-member regimental headquarters, with 1,046 per typical Union Army infantry regiment in 1861, vs. 112 officers and enlisted men per company, and the same 36-member regimental headquarters, with 1,380 per regiment in a typical U.S. Army infantry regiment in 1898.) After the short war the Army reduced the size of companies, battalions, and regiments by about 30% under demobilization. However, the number of companies and battalions per regiment remained at 12 and three, respectively.

Until 1917, under its traditional triangular organizational plan, infantry regiments were organized into brigades of three regiments, with three infantry brigades (for a total of nine infantry regiments), along with one brigade each of cavalry and field artillery constituting a division. In 1917 the Army adopted the square division organizational plan, which massively increased the size of units from the company through corps, more than tripling, or nearly quadrupling, the number of troops per unit. (From 1915 to 1917, the authorized strength of rifle companies increased from 76 officers and enlisted men to 256, and infantry regiments grew from 959 to 3,720.)

The "square division" consisted of two infantry brigades of two infantry regiments each, with each regiment containing a regimental headquarters company, a machinegun company, a supply company, and 12 rifle companies organized into three battalions of four rifle companies each. (The single machine gun company reported directly to regimental headquarters.) The division also contained an artillery brigade of three regiments and three separate combat service support regiments: engineer, quartermaster, and medical.

The Army reorganized in preparation for the Second World War by effecting its triangular division organizational structure in 1939. Under this plan, divisional brigades were eliminated and the division consisted of three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment, styled as "Division Artillery", but usually consisting of battalions of the same regiment. The infantry regiments still contained three battalions; there were now "headquarters and headquarters" companies (HHCs) not only at the regimental-level but in each battalion as well. The battalions still contained four "line" companies, but instead of four rifle companies, now had three rifle companies and a heavy weapons company (containing machine guns and mortars). The regiment's machine gun company became an anti-tank company, the supply company became the service company, and a cannon company and a medical detachment were added to the regiment. In 1942 the Army began organizing armored divisions into combat commands, which grouped armor, armored infantry, and armored field artillery battalions into three tactical groups within the division without regard to regimental affiliation. However, armored regiment designations were retained for lineage and heraldic purposes.

As the United States Army transformed after the Korean War for potential combat against a nuclear-armed Warsaw Pact, changes began in 1956 to transform infantry regiments into

By 1965, the Army had eliminated the regiment (replaced by the brigade) under the

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The historical background of the use of regiments in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is contained within USMC: A Complete History^[22] and a summary of that information follows:

From the American Revolution until 1913 it was common practice for USMC detachments (both ship-based, and shore-based) to be combined to form provisional units. Most often these formations took the form of provisional

Look up regiment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up regimentation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Demi-brigade
• Military organization
• Regimental combat team
• Regimental depot
• Regimental police