military organization Military organization (American English , AE) or military organisation (British English , BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense pol ...

, the term ''muster'' is the process or event of accounting for members in a military unit. This practice of inspections led to the coining of the English idiom , meaning being sufficient. When a unit is created, it is "mustered in" and when it is disbanded, it is "mustered out". If a unit "musters" it is generally to take account of who is present and who is not. A muster roll is the list of members of a military unit, often including their rank and the dates they joined or left. A roll call is the reading aloud of the names on the muster roll and the responses, to determine who is present.

United Kingdom

In Tudor England, musters were periodic assessments of the availability of local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

to act as a defence force. To some extent, the system was an outdated remnant of the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

system where local lords had their own armies, which they provided for the King as required. The

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

have a tradition of performing a muster for the reigning monarch during a jubilee year. For the first time all three service branches were present at the same time during the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster, held in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

United States

Within the

United States Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

and the Army Reserve, muster is an annual event used for screening purposes of soldiers not otherwise required to perform any duties.Army Regulation 135–200, Active Duty for Missions, Projects, and Training for Reserve Component Soldiers, para. 3–6, Muster Drill, 13 June 1999.

References

Military terminology {{Mil-hist-stub