Many armies use different regimental systems. The United States Army, among others, uses the parent regiment system.
In this system, adopted in 1957 under the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), regiments are simply there to preserve units' lineage, and few regiments actually are complete organizations. The few remaining complete regiments, which actually retain the designation "regiment", are the Armored Cavalry Regiments, the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Rather, the regiments are split into battalions (infantry, usually three) or squadrons (cavalry, usually three or more). Artillery can be split into battalions, batteries, or other units, depending on the type. These battalions are the actual combat units. For example, West Point is garrisoned by the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry. However, the actual unit, the "1st Infantry", technically does not exist in military unit terms.
This system has been adopted only recently (about 1953) by the U.S. Army. Before then, it used the traditional regimental system, where regiments were actual combat units. This change can be viewed in the following examples:
Read more about Parent Regiment: Order of Battle: 1862 US Army, Order of Battle: 2000 US Army, Parent Units in Other Forces
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