A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official
armed forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...
), contrasting with
irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular
militias,
private armies,
mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following:
* a
standing army, the permanent force of the regular army that is maintained
under arms during peacetime.
* a
military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional ma ...
that can be mobilized when needed to expand the effectiveness 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), is not exactly the same as a standing army, as there are standing armies both in the conscript and the professional models.
In the United Kingdom and the United States, the term ''Regular Army'' means the professional standing active duty army, as different from the reserve component: the
Army Reserve (formerly the
Territorial Army) in the United Kingdom and the
U.S. Army Reserve and the
Army National Guard in the United States.
Bibliography
* Woodward, David. ''Armies of the world, 1854–1914''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, cop. 1978.
Types of military forces
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