Regiment
| Military organization | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Typical units | Typical numbers | Typical commander |
| fireteam | 3–4 | corporal |
|
squad/ section |
8–12 | sergeant |
| platoon | 15–30 | lieutenant |
| company | 80–150 | captain/major |
|
battalion/ cohort |
300–800 | lieutenant colonel |
|
regiment/ brigade |
2,000–4,000 |
colonel/ brigadier general |
|
division/ legion |
10,000–15,000 | major general |
| corps | 20,000–40,000 | lieutenant general |
| field army | 80,000+ | general |
| army group | 2+ field armies |
field marshal/ five-star general |
|
region/ theater |
4+ army groups | Six-star rank |
A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country and the arm of service.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord of the soldiers.
By the 17th century, a full-strength regiment was usually about a thousand personnel, and was usually 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:
In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, similarly-sized operational units. However, these non-regimental units tend to be short-lived; and regiments have tended to retain their traditional responsibilities for ceremonial duties, the recruitment of volunteers, induction of new recruits, individual morale and esprit de corps, and administrative roles (such as pay).
A regiment may consequently be a variety of sizes:
The French term régiment is considered to have entered military usage in Europe at the end of the 16th century, when armies evolved from collections of retinues who followed knights, to formally organised, permanent military forces. At that time, regiments were usually named after their commanding colonels, and disbanded at the end of the campaign or war; the colonel and his regiment might recruit from and serve several monarchs or countries. Later, it was customary to name the regiment by its precedence in the line of battle, and to recruit from specific places, called cantons. The oldest regiments which still exist, and their dates of establishment, include the Spanish 9th Light Infantry Regiment “Soria” (originally the Tercio de Nápoles) (1505), Swedish Life Guards (1521), the British Honourable Artillery Company (1537) and the King's Own Immemorial Regiment of Spain, first established in 1248 during the conquest of Seville by King Ferdinand the Saint.
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Wikipedia