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Subject: What is the real strength of the infantry of tomorrow?
Yimmy    12/14/2006 6:07:02 PM
Recently I have heard a lot about the Australian infantry and the Canadian infantry from Australians and Canadians alike, and I was pondering over what our infantry was now strength wise. What with all the recent amalgamations, and the rather outdated nature of the army web-site, what will we have in 2007? As best I know, regular regiment and battalion wise we have as follows, (I am not counting TA, where realisticaly a battalion is equal to a lone company to plug holes in the regular force): The Rifles - 5 Battalions The Royal Regiment of Scottland - 5 Battalions The Royal Irish Regiment - 4 Battalions The Parachute Regiment - 3 Battalions The Mercian Regiment - 3 Battalions The Yorkshire Regiment - 3 Battalions The Royal Gurkha Rifles - 2 Battalions The Duke of Lancasters Regiment - 2 Battalions The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment - 2 Battalions The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers - 2 Battalions The Royal Anglian Regiment - 2 Battalions The Royal Welsh Regiment - 2 Battalions The Welsh Guards - 1 Battalion The Coldstream Guards - 1 Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment - 1 Battalion The Scots Gaurds - 1 Battalion The Irish Guards - 1 Battalion The Grenadier Guards - 1 Battalion I would welcome it if anyone could correct any mistakes in my list. Also, I don't suppose anyone knows the break down of light-role / mechanised / armoured infantry? We still have a fair few single and double battalion regiments on the books. I am sure it will not be liked by many, but I can well see more ammalgamations and streamlining in the future.
 
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neutralizer       12/15/2006 2:59:09 AM
Dig back into MoD web site and you'll find the announced total that there will be after the completion of the current changes.  IIRC its 36 regular bns.  This excludes RM and SF including 1 Para.  Given that there's only 7 combined arms bdes this is a lot of infantry by world standards.
 
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interestedamateur       12/15/2006 5:11:09 AM
Yimmy this is the correct list after FAS:
 
The Rifles - 5 Battalions
The Royal Regiment of Scottland - 5 Battalions
The Royal Irish Regiment - 1 Battalion
The Parachute Regiment - 2 Battalions (+ 1 Special Forecs)
The Mercian Regiment - 3 Battalions
The Yorkshire Regiment - 3 Battalions
The Royal Gurkha Rifles - 2 Battalions
The Duke of Lancasters Regiment - 2 Battalions
The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment - 2 Battalions
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers - 2 Battalions
The Royal Anglian Regiment - 2 Battalions
The Royal Welsh Regiment - 2 Battalions
The Welsh Guards - 1 Battalion
The Coldstream Guards - 1 Battalion 
The Scots Gaurds - 1 Battalion
The Irish Guards - 1 Battalion
The Grenadier Guards - 1 Battalion
Staffordshire Regt will no longer exist.
 
40, 32, 45 Royal Marine Commando's (Btn equivalent).
 
Neutralizer is quite correct - the British Army compares well in strength compared to other forces. For example:
 
French - 20 Battalions (although they are much larger with 16 platoons each)
Australia - 8 battalions after army expansion
Canada - 9 battalions
Italy - 27 battalions
Germany - 25 battalions (hard to count so only approximate figure).
 
On the other hand India has 425+ battalions not including paramilitary!
 
 
 
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interestedamateur       12/15/2006 5:24:12 AM
"I would welcome it if anyone could correct any mistakes in my list. Also, I don't suppose anyone knows the break down of light-role / mechanised / armoured infantry?"
Theoretically it will be 8 armd infantry, 6 mechanised, 22 light role (inc 2 para). Rumours on Arsse though have it that this may change though (with more Armd Inf units pooling their Warriors).

"We still have a fair few single and double battalion regiments on the books. I am sure it will not be liked by many, but I can well see more amalgamations and streamlining in the future."
 
You're probably correct although the Guards Regiments have friends in high places of course. Gossip has it that it was the Royal Regt of Fusiliers that prevented the amalgamation with PWRR and RAR. These smaller regiments may be able to hold out for a while, but they may find, for instance, that many of the best officers and soldiers start going for The Rifles, which can offer potential troops more opportunities either as Armd Inf, Light Role Inf, Cdo Inf and Mechanised infantry. This may cause the smaller regiments to consider merger purely in order to be able to compete.
 
BTW in my previous post it should have been 42 Cdo - not 32!
 
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Yimmy       12/15/2006 6:25:39 AM
If I were to try for the regular army as an officer after university I would want 1 Battalion The Rifles.

As for the guards, I don't see why we can't just have something akin to "The Footguards Regiment", with each current regiment taking the place of a battalion.


 
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interestedamateur       12/15/2006 7:38:32 AM
Yes you can see the benefits Yimmy. A few years in the commando's as a single young Lieutenant driving around in speed boats and helicopters and having adventure with no wife to tie you down. But then to really rise in the ranks, you'll need experience of Mech and Armd Inf, and The Rifles offers that to you as well.
 
Ref the Guards I think you're right. I miss the glamour that goes with the old regiments, and units such as the Grenadiers
have a glorious history smashing Napoleon's Imperial Guard at La Haye Sainte for example. However FAS offers so many more opportunities in terms of gaining experience and for a more settled existence as soldiers begin to hit their late 20's and start to think of families.
 
 
 
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