A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces) -- contrasting with irregular forces such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually consists of:
- a standing army, the permanent force of the regular army that is maintained under arms during peacetime.
- a military reserve force that can be mobilized when needed to expand the effectives of the regular army by complementing the standing army.
A regular army may be:
- a conscript army, including professionals, volunteers and also conscripts (presence of enforced conscription, including recruits for the standing army and also a compulsory reserve).
- a professional army, with no conscripts (absence of compulsory service, and presence of a voluntary reserve). It is not exactly the same as a standing army, as there exist standing armies both in the conscript and the professional models.
In the United Kingdom and in the United States the term regular army means the professional standing army, as different from reserves, National Guard, etc.
Read more about Regular Army: Bibliography
Famous quotes containing the words regular and/or army:
““I couldn’t afford to learn it,” said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. “I only took the regular course.”
“What was that?” inquired Alice.
“Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,” the Mock Turtle replied; “and then the different branches of Arithmetic—Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”
“I never heard of ‘Uglification,’” Alice ventured to say.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“The contention that a standing army and navy is the best security of peace is about as logical as the claim that the most peaceful citizen is he who goes about heavily armed. The experience of every-day life fully proves that the armed individual is invariably anxious to try his strength. The same is historically true of governments. Really peaceful countries do not waste life and energy in war preparations, with the result that peace is maintained.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)