Canadian Forces Land Force Command

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(Redirected from Canadian Army)

Template:Canadian Army Canadian Forces Land Force Command (LFC) is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Armed Forces. LFC maintains bases across Canada and is responsible for the largest component of the Canadian Forces Reserves — the Army Reserve, often referred to as the "militia".

LFC is the descendant of the Canadian Army which was the name of Canada's land forces from 1940 until February 1, 1968. At the time of unification all army units were placed under Force Mobile Command (FMC) with the name being changed to Land Force Command in a 1990s reorganization of the Canadian Forces.

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History

The Canadian Army evolved from the various British garrison forces on the North American continent in the 1800s. Upon Confederation of Canada in 1867, the ground forces in Canada were referred to as the Militia. Eventually, a Permanent Active Militia was designated, being the regular army of Canada (regular in the sense that they were full time professional soldiers) and the Non-Permanent Active Militia (or reserves, part time soldiers who had vocations in the civilian world who trained on evenings, weekends, and for short periods in the summer months).


In 1914, the Canadian Expeditionary Force was created in response to a call by the United Kingdom for soldiers after the start of the First World War. The CEF was a separate entity from the Permanent Active Militia (by now also known as the Permanent Force, or PF) and the NPAM. Regiments and other units of the Militia were not mobilized, but rather transferred personnel to the CEF for overseas employment. The CEF was disbanded after the First World War.

Canada's land forces underwent two major organziational changes between the world wars; in 1920 the pre-war regiments were all renamed, several organizational corps were created mirroring corps in the British Army, and new ones like the Canadian Machine Gun Corps (not to be confused with the wartime corps of the same name) were created. The new regiments all perpetuated the history of the wartime CEF, and when Battle Honours were granted many years later, were permitted to adopt those battle honours.

In 1936, the CMGC was abolished and the Militia again underwent dramatic reorganizations, with three types of infantry regiments being created (rifle, machine gun, and tank). Many regiments were disbanded or amalgamated.

In 1939, the Canadian Active Service Force was mobilized; similar to the CEF, this was a mobilization of prewar PF and NPAM units, who retained their traditional titles. In 1940, the land forces of Canada were retitled. The CASF became the Canadian Army (Overseas), the Permanent Force became the Canadian Army (Active) and the NPAM became the Canadian Army (Reserve). The Canadian Army (Overseas) ceased to exist after the Second World War. A new Canadian Armoured Corps was created and many infantry regiments were reroled to fight in tanks. The veterinary corps was disbanded in 1940 as mechanization was completed and all cavalry units eventually converted to armour or armoured car regiments.

Following unification of the armed forces in the late 1960s, the army was again retitled to become Force Mobile Command, with both a regular and a reserve component. The reserve component readopted the historic title Militia.

In the late 1980s, after reorganisation of the three services into distinct "elements", with the naval and air components returning to uniforms roughly comparable to the former RCN and RCAF, Force Mobile Command became Land Force Command, retaining a slightly-modified version of the unified "CF Green" uniform. Towards the end of the 20th Century, the term "Army" became once again unofficially used to refer to Canada's land forces, both Regular and Reserve.

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Army bases and training centres

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Regiments of the Regular Force

Image:PPCLI.JPG Canadian army regiments are strongly rooted in the traditions and history of the British Army. Battle honours displayed by these regiments often date back to colonial times. Many regiments originated as Canadian detachments of British parent regiments and as Canadian colonial militia, resulting in a variety of colourful and historically familiar names.

Units of the regular force are divided so that two-thirds are anglophone units and one-third are francophone.

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Armoured

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Artillery

  • 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
  • 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
  • 5e Régiment d'artillerie légère du Canada
  • 4th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
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Combat Engineers

  • 1 Combat Engineer Regiment
  • 2 Combat Engineer Regiment
  • 4 Engineer Support Regiment
  • 5 Combat Engineer Regiment
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Infantry

Between 1953 and 1971, the regular Canadian infantry consisted of seven regiments, each of two battalions (except the Royal 22e Régiment, which had three, and the Canadian Airborne Regiment, which was divided into three "commandos"). The three present regular infantry regiments were augmented by two battalions each of the Canadian Guards, the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. After 1971, the regular force battalions of the QOR and the Black Watch were dissolved (their Militia battalions remained in Toronto and Montreal, respectively) with their personnel distributed between the RCR and PPCLI, while the Canadian Guards were disbanded. In the 1990s, the Canadian Airborne Regiment was also disbanded.

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Special forces

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Structure

See Article Structure of the Canadian Army.

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Equipment

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Vehicles

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Weapons

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Rank structure

Template:Main Comparison of ranking structure available at Ranks and insignia of NATO. Not shown are the various appointment badges for specialist positions such as master gunner, drum major, etc. Many ranks are associated with specific appointments; for example a regimental sergeant major is usually a chief warrant officer. The title of master corporal also, technically, refers to an appointment and not a rank.

Template:Ranks and Insignia of NATO/Army/BlankTemplate:Ranks and Insignia of NATO/Army/Canada
  • 1 Honorary/War time rank.
Template:Ranks and Insignia of NATO Armies/OR/BlankTemplate:Ranks and Insignia of NATO Armies/OR/Canada
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Battles involving the Canadian army

The Canadian Army has participated in the following campaigns as a combatant:

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External links


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Publications

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See also

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