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regiments for reserves batallions for reg force?

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1911CoLt45

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Hey guys

As the title states, how does this work in the way of calling what what.  After a company is it a battalion or a regiment.  I know lots of  reserve units with the title regiment even if there isn't a regiments worth of personal in it.  Can some one explain?  I have been searching around and have been unable to find an answer.

I do understand that armour units are called different things as well,, as well as the other trades arty ect.
 
Simple, some infantry regiments have one battalion, some have two, some have more.  It's not either/or.
 
So when for example the Grey and Simcoe foresters are called a Regiment are they really a Battalion?  Cause really their only 2 companies. 
 
Thanks for the clarification Mike.  So why do they call it  a regiment then?  any ideas?
 
A regular force infantry company belongs to a battalion, which usually has three rifle companies, a combat service support company and a headquarters/combat support company.  That battalion is both the administrative home of all the soldiers serving in it but also a tactical entity that can manoeuvre on the battlefield.

Each of the nine regular force infantry battalions come from one of the three Regiments: RCR, R22eR or PPCLI. Each of those regiments has three battalions who wear the same capbadge and share the same traditions (but there are little quirks here and there both from recent history and from the murky past of Unification when the earth was still cooling). They also serve as a way to manage the careers of the members of the infantry.  Those regiments are not, however, tactical entities that would manoeuvre on the battlefield under "regimental control." The battalions belong in real-time to one of the three Canadian Mechanized Brigade Groups which have a mixture of infantry, armour, artillery , engineers, service support, signals/HQ and MPs.  The Commanding Officers of the infantry battalions report to their Brigade Commander.  I admit up front that I am glossing over some complexities but I hope you get the picture.

In the reserves, however, each Regiment is generally one "battalion", although in practice most muster a single company with a HQ element. There are some Regiments in the Reserves, I think, that have more than one "battalion" in another location.  Those 2nd battalions have COs but, yet again, tend to be company strength.  I believe that the Reserve structure is a bit of a hold-over from WW2.

Be warned - there are pages upon pages of threads on this site about reserve structure/restructure and why a reserve regiment/battalion has a single company.  :worms:  Tread not there, lest the wyrm take you!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks Tango.  I had a pretty good overall picture of the CF army units and what not, it just threw me for a bit of a double take when I saw regiments.  Thanks for the update. 

cheers
 
1911CoLt45 said:
Thanks for the clarification Mike.  So why do they call it  a regiment then?  any ideas?

Primarily it is because Regiments have traditionally been the basic organizational structure within the infantry (regardless of the number of battalions authorized). It also means we don't have to formally rename it when circumstances require that a Regiment with one battalion increases in size, i.e., to two battalions or more.  For example, during the Second World War, many Reserve (then "Militia" to be more correct) regiments were mobilized to go overseas.  In each case it was the "1st Battalion" that went overseas and a newly formed "2nd Battalion" remained in Canada for domestic duties and to continue recruiting.

In short, accept it as one of those 'things' about army organization.  Next you'll have to wrap your head around the fact that in the infantry a "regiment" can consist of multiple battalions, while in the armour and artillery a "regiment" is the equivalent unit size to an infantry battalion.
 
Indeed indeed. 

Thanks again guys

Ill let the BMOQ curriculum do the rest of the "education" this summer. 


Cheers
 
Suggested reading:  http://army.ca/wiki/index.php/The_Regiment
 
MCG said:
Suggested reading:  army.ca/wiki/index.php/The_Regiment

General Statistics - 1911CoLt45
Total Posts: 64 posts
Total Topics Started: 21 topics
1911CoLt45 starts a new thread at every third post, rather than doing even cursory research on his own. I can't imagine that changing.
 
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