18 Light Regiment
| 18 Light Regiment | |
|---|---|
 
|
|
| Active | January 1977 to Present |
| Country |
 South Africa
|
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Airborne Artillery |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of |
South African Army Artillery Formation Army Conventional Reserve |
| Motto(s) | Primus Inter Pares (First Among Equals) |
| Equipment | 120 millimetres (4.7 in) Mortars |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Maj S Clark |
| Honorary Colonel | Colonel G. C. Olivier |
18 Light Regiment is an airborne artillery regiment of the South African Artillery and a former regimental unit within 44 Parachute Brigade. It was created for the purposes of supporting paratroopers during air assault operations. The first Commanding Officer was appointed on 15 November 1977 (Colonel G.C. Olivier from 7 Medium Regiment)
In March 1978 the convening of the first orders group took place under the leadership of Colonel Oliver with the outcome being the creation of the Leadership Group and a Training Program for Officers and Non Commissioned Officers. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit.
Took place 13 November to 8 December 1978 at the Army Battle School at Lohatla. At the time the unit consisted of one Battery and a Regimental Headquarters. The regiment's initial intake consisted of the Operation Savannah veterans of 141 Battery of 14 Field Regiment and 41 Battery of 4 Field Regiment. None of the troops allocated to the unit were parachute qualified.
During 1979 the regiment secured the recruitment of a Signals Officer and a Regimental Sergeant Major.
The regiment was better positioned for its second training camp ‘Exercise Blinkspies 2’ (Shining Spear 2) which was held from 25 October 1979 to 24 November 1979. The Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Constand Viljoen, visited the unit during this exercise.
1980 saw the take on of new members from the training units. The regiment at this stage consisted of 181 Battery and one troop (half a battery – equivalent of four mortars) from 182 Battery.
Nine new candidate officers emerged from the efforts of training programmes initiated in 1978 and as a result leadership shortages were addressed.
The first batch of parachute qualified gunners also transferred to the regiment in December 1980.
On the 25th of May 1981 Colonel Jan Breytenbach, then the Officer Commanding of 44 Parachute Brigade, visited the regiment and the future Airborne strategy and role of 18 Light Regiment was highlighted as support to the newly formed 44 Parachute Brigade, with Artillery Firepower during Airborne Operations, or any other Operations of the Brigade.
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