Queensland University Regiment

Queensland University Regiment
Cap badge of the Queensland University Regiment
Active	1932 – present
Country	Australia
Branch	Army Reserve
Type	Training Establishment
Role	Army Reserve Officer Training
Part of	11th Brigade
Garrison/HQ	St Lucia
Colours	Slate Grey and Scarlet
March	"Pour Bacchus"
Commanders
Honorary Colonel	Major General Dennis Luttrell AO, RFD, ED

Queensland University Regiment (QUR) is a training unit of the Australian Army Reserve. Based in Queensland, the regiment is currently assigned to the 11th Brigade. The regiment's history can be traced back to 1932 when the University Rifles was formed. During World War II, the regiment's predecessor unit did not serve overseas, but many of its personnel were deployed as part of the 7th Brigade or within units of the Second Australian Imperial Force. After the war, the regiment was formed under its current designation. Since then, its size has fluctuated as its role has changed. Currently, it is responsible for providing training for Reserve officer cadets, officers and soldiers.

The regiment is headquartered at the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus in Brisbane. Staffed by a cadre of Regular Army personnel, it is tasked with training officers and soldiers of the Army Reserve and currently provides pre-appointment training for officer cadets for 11th Brigade units, as well as promotion courses for all Reserve officers up to the rank of major. The regiment also provides driver training, and response force and high readiness courses for 11th Brigade soldiers.

The regiment has a sub-unit, known as the North Queensland Company (NQC), which is based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. QUR is spread across three main locations and currently consists of the following sub-units:

QUR conducts field training at the Enoggera Close Training Area (ECTA), Greenbank Training Area (GBTA), Wide Bay Training Area (WBTA), High Range Training Area (HRTA) and Canungra.

QUR was initially formed in 1932 as the "University Rifles" by two UQ graduates – Captain Thomas Fry and Lieutenant James Mahoney – who were officers of the Citizens Military Forces. Fry had been serving in the 9th/15th Battalion (the Oxley Regiment) and Mahoney had served in the 26th Battalion (the Logan and Albert Regiment). Previously university students had to complete their compulsory military training other units of the Citizens Military Forces, and the university had a long tradition of its members serving in the military. The University of Queensland was unable to raise enough men to form an entire unit, with its total strength only several hundred men. As a consequence in 1933 university sub-units were attached to existing militia units, with the first platoon attached to the 9th/15th Battalion (Moreton and Oxley Regiment). In 1935, the 9th/15th was delinked and the university platoon became part of the 9th Battalion. The following year the detachment was raised to two platoons and the 9th Battalion was linked with the 49th Battalion; they subsequently remained linked until 1941.