regiment

1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment

A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - commanded by a colonel. Depending on the nation of origin and mission, a modern regiment may be similar to a brigade, in that both range in size from a few hundred to a 2,000 soldiers (3- to 7 standard companies), depending on the branch of service and method of organization. Regiments and/or brigades are generally grouped into divisions. The modern unit varies in size, scope and administrative role from nation to nation (and may not exist in some militaries), and sometimes even within the armed forces of the same nations.

Historical origin

The term came into use in Europe around the end of the 16th century, when armies evolved from a collection of retinues following knights to a more formally organized and permanent structure. At this time regiments were often named after their Colonel, and usually disbanded at the end of the campaign or war. At this time the Colonel and his regiment may recruit from and serve multiple countries over a period of time. Later it became the custom to name the regiment according to their precedence in the line of battle and to recruit from specified areas called cantons. The oldest currently existing regiment is the Swedish Life Guards, although the French claim that their 1st Infantry Regiment is older.^{[citation needed]}

In the 18th century brigades were formed as combined arms units (including infantry, cavalry and artillery) which were more effective than the old regiments. In many armies, brigades replaced regiments.

The regimental system

Standard NATO code for a friendly infantry regiment.

The regimental system is a method for organizing an army that is often contrasted to the continental system (so called because it was first adopted by European armies). In the continental system the division is the functional unit and its commander the authority for running all aspects of the formation: his staff train and administer soldiers, officers and commanders of subordinate units. Divisions are generally garrisoned together with and share the same facilities. A battalion Commanding Officer is just another level in the chain of command. Individuals are transferred into and out of divisions as required.

In a regimental system each regiment is responsible for recruitment, training, and administration; and also, each regiment is maintained permanently; therefore, the regiment will develop a unique esprit de corps due to its history, traditions, recruitment policy and/or function. The regiment is usually responsible for the recruitment and administration of a soldier throughout his military career. Depending upon the nation regiments may be combat units or administrative units or both.

Some regiments were given designated geographic areas to recruit from, and they usually incorporated that location in their regimental title. In other cases regiments would recruit from a particular age group within a nation (for example, Zulu Impis), a particular ethnic group (Gurkhas) or simply foreigners (the French Foreign Legion). In other cases new regiments have been raised to serve a new function within an army. Examples include Fusiliers, The Parachute Regiment (British Army) and the US Army 75th Ranger Regiment.

The benefits of the regimental system are weighed against such drawbacks as 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.

Another key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the key 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 colonel-in-chief (often a member of the royal family), a Colonel of the Regiment or "honorary colonel" who protects the traditions and interests of the regimental family and insists on the maintenance of high standards, battle honours (honours earned by one unit of an administrative regiment are shared by the whole regiment), ceremonial uniforms, cap badges, peculiarities of insignia, stable belts, and regimental marches and songs. The regiment usually has a traditional "home station", which is often a historic garrison 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.

Commonwealth army regiments

In the British Army and armies modelled on it (such as the Australian, the Canadian and the Indian army) the term regiment is used confusingly in two different ways: it can mean an administrative identity and grouping or a tactical unit. The modern British regimental system came about as a result of the 19th century Cardwell Reforms.

In the UK, until recently there existed a number of administrative "divisions" in the infantry that encompassed several regiments, such as the Guards Division, the former Scottish Division (now a single regiment), or the Light Division (now also compressed into a multi-battalion single regiment). The down-sizing and consolidation of British infantry regiments that began in the late 1950s and concluded in 2006 has resulted in a system of administrative regiments each with several battalions, a band, a common badge and uniform etc.

In other Commonwealth countries such as India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada 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 has expanded from four battalions in 1956 to its present strength of 20. More typically of Commonwealth armies with smaller establishments, in Australia there is but one administrative infantry regiment, the Royal Australian Regiment, consisting of all six regular infantry battalions in the Army.

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

British Army

See also: List of British Army regiments (1881), List of British Army regiments (1962), List of British Army Regiments (1994), and List of British Army Regiments (2008)

In the British Army, for most purposes, the regiment is the largest "permanent" organisational unit. Above regimental level, organisation is changed to meet the tasks at hand. Because of their permanent nature, many regiments have long histories, often going back for centuries; the oldest British regiment still in existence is the Honourable Artillery Company, established in 1537. The Royal Scots, formed in 1633, was the oldest infantry regiment. It now forms part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.^[1]

In the British regimental system the tactical regiment or battalion is the basic functional unit and its Commanding Officer more autonomous than in a continental system. 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.

Advantages and disadvantages

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 system exists, the regimental system is criticized 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. It is worth noting that the UK, for example, has never suffered a military coup, or even seriously faced the prospect of one - this could be attributed to the "tribal" nature of the regimental system, which makes it nearly impossible for a charismatic leader to command the loyalty of the entire army. Commonwealth-style regiments have proven their worth throughout history in war and through lengthy and difficult policing missions. 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 best function 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 where the prime role of the army is 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.

It should however be noted that a series of 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 and cavalry branches of the Army. These units comprise up to six of the former battalion that previously had separate regimental status. Only the Guards regiments retain their historic separate identities.

Armour

Armoured regiments in Canada since the end of the Second World War have usually been composed of one tactical regiment only. During the 1960s, three Canadian regiments had both Regular and Militia components which were disbanded shortly after Unification in 1968. Currently, one regiment is organized with two tactical regiments and Le 12e Régiment blindé du Canada and Le 12e Régiment blindé du Canada (Milice) are both part of the administrative regiment Le 12e Régiment blindé du Canada. The only administrative armoured regiment of the British Army that consists of more than one tactical regiment is the Royal Tank Regiment, which currently has two (1 and 2 RTR), and once had many more.

Artillery

All of a single 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, 10th Field Artillery 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.

Irish Army

Irish Army field artillery units are called regiments. They are divided into batteries and together form the Artillery Corps. At present there are two artillery regiments per brigade, one full-time regular regiment and one part-time reserve regiment. Irish Army Air Defence units are called batteries and collectively form a Regiment. Batteries are dispersed throughout the country and encompass both regular and reserve formations.

Infantry

Administrative infantry regiments are composed of one or more battalions. When a regiment has only one battalion, the battalion may have exactly the same name as the regiment. For example, The North Saskatchewan Regiment is the only battalion in the administrative regiment of the same name. When there is more than one battalion, they are distinguished by numbers, subsidiary titles or both. In Britain, every infantry battalion bears a number, even if it is the only remaining battalion in the regiment (in which case it is the 1st Battalion, with the exception of The Irish Regiment of Canada which has a 2nd Battalion only). Until after the Second World War, every regiment had at least two battalions. Traditionally, the regular battalions were the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the militia (later Special Reserve) battalion was the 3rd Battalion, and the Territorial Army battalions were the 4th Battalion and up. A few regiments had up to four regular battalions and more than one militia battalion, which skewed the numbering, but this was rare. For this reason, although the regular battalion today (if there is only one) will always be the 1st Battalion, the TA battalions may have non-consecutive numbers.

In practice, it is impossible to exercise all the administrative functions of a true regiment when the regiment consists of a single unit. Soldiers, and particularly officers, cannot spend a full career in one battalion. Thus in the Armoured Corps, the traditional administrative "regiment" tends to play more of a ceremonial role, while in practise, its members are administered by their corps or "branch" as in the Artillery. Thus soldiers and officers can serve in many different "regiments", changing hat badges without too much concern during their career. Indeed, in the artillery, all regiments wear the same badge.

Corps

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

United States Army regiments

See also: List of United States Marine Corps regiments and Category:Infantry divisions of the United States Army

The United States Army was also once organized into regiments, but in the 20th century the division became the tactical and administrative building block. Industrial management techniques were used to draft, assemble, equip, train and then employ huge masses of conscripted civilians in very short order, starting with minimal resources. A new system, the Combat Arms Regimental System, or CARS, was thus adopted to replace the old regimental system. CARS uses the Army's traditional regiments as parent organizations for historical purposes, but the primary building blocks of divisions and brigades became battalions. Each battalion carries an association with a parent regiment, even though the regimental organization no longer exists. In some brigades several numbered battalions carrying the same regimental association may still serve together, and tend to treat themselves as part of the traditional regiment when in fact they are independent battalions serving a brigade headquarters and not a regimental one.

There are, of course, exceptions to CARS, including the Armored Cavalry Regiments, The Old Guard, which is the Army's ceremonial unit at Fort Myer, VA that retained its historical title of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (sometimes referred to as a "short Regiment" since it has only one actual numbered battalion), and the 75th Ranger Regiment that was created in 1986.

Training, administration and even tactical employment was centred at divisional level. Many, but not all combat support and logistics was also concentrated at that level.

In the 21st century, the US Army began a program of "modularization", using the Brigade Combat Team as the basic building block for combat arms formations. The BCT can be an independent organization or grouped with other BCT's under divisional control. This system, however, still retains the historical regimental numbering system established under CARS for battalions.

United States Marine Corps Regiments

The USMC is divided into numbered regiments. Regardless of their purpose, Marine regiments are always referred to generically as "Marines" or "Marine Regiments" - never as "Marine Rifle Regiment" (the USMC does not use the terms infantry or infantryman, preferring rifle and rifleman instead) or "Marine Artillery Regiment." For example, a Marine would consider himself to be a member of the 12th Marines or the 10th Marines. All regiments in the Marine Corps are rifle units with the exception of the regular 10th, 11th, 12th Marines, and reserve 14th Marines which are artillery regiments. Marine Regiments are commanded by Colonels of Marines and are usually composed of three to five battalions.

Because the United States Marine Corps deploys in Marine Expeditionary Units or MEU's, a regiment may be deployed as the ground combat element of a Marine Expeditionary Brigade or MEB. When attached to the MEB the Regiment is reinforced and redesignated a Regimental Landing Team.

Russian Army

The Russian Army, and armies influenced by Russia, has regiments, which are composed of battalions (Russian: батальон, infantry or tank regiments), divisions (Russian: дивизион, artillery regiments) or squadrons (Russian: эскадрилья, aviation regiments). Land forces regiments also include support units - companies (Russian: рота) and/or platoons (Russian: взвод).

References

1. ^ These claims are contested on various points of precedence; see FAQ: Regiments, in general and especially: FAQ: Oldest Regiment in the British Army

See also

• Military unit
• Regiment of the North Pole is an old astronomy term, but a link to it is put here to avoid confusion.

Donate to Wikimedia