Irregular soldiers in Beauharnois, Quebec, 19th century

Irregular military refers to any non-standard military. Being defined by exclusion, there is a lot variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used. Download high resolution version (450x639, 48 KB)The Insurgents, at Beauharnois, Lower Canada (Québec), Katherine Jane Ellice, 1838. ... Download high resolution version (450x639, 48 KB)The Insurgents, at Beauharnois, Lower Canada (Québec), Katherine Jane Ellice, 1838. ... Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices and at least two murders by FLQ gunfire and three violent deaths by bombings. ...

An irregular military organization is military organization that not part of the standard official regular army organization. Without a standard military unit organization, various more general names are used; such organizations may also be called a "troop", "group", "unit", or "force". A nations army is its military, or more specifically, all of its land forces. ...

Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular troops, irregular infantry and irregular cavalry.

Irregular warfare is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organizations. This involves avoiding large-scale combats, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit and run engagements.

Other names for irregular military

The term "irregular military" describes the "how" and "what", but it's more common to focus on the "why". Bypassing the legitimate military and taking up arms is an extreme measure. The motivation for doing so is often used as the basis of the primary label for any irregular military. Different terms come in and out of fashion, based on political and emotional associations that develop. Here is a list of such terms, organized more-or-less oldest to latest. Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ...

• Militia -- civilians who are part-time soldiers
• Mercenary -- soldier for hire
• Rebel -- someone part of a rebellion or revolt, whether military or not
• Revolutionary -- someone part of a revolution, whether military or not
• Partisan -- someone part of a resistance movement; mostly WWII-era
• Commando -- soldier trained specifically in irregular military tactics, even if part of the regular army
• Rangers -- as a military term, similar to commandos; mostly US use.
• Paramilitary -- non-regular military with a claim to official status
• Guerrilla -- someone who uses low-level irregular military tactics
• Resistance fighter -- someone part of a resistance movement
• Freedom fighter -- irregular military motivated by higher goals -- very subjective
• Terrorist -- irregular military who target civilians; this term is sometimes used pejoratively.
• Insurgent -- a more modern alternate term for any of the above
• Unlawful combatant -- irregular military that aren't entitled to prisoner of war status when captured

Intense debates can build up over which of these terms to use when referring to a specific group. Using one term over another can imply either strong support or opposition for the cause being fought over. A militia is a group of citizens organized to provide paramilitary service. ... A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare primarily for private gain, usually with little regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ... A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... This article is about revolution in the sense of a drastic change. ... A revolutionary is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. ... Look up Revolution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article is about revolution in the sense of a drastic change. ... Partisan may refer to: Look up Partisan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ... A resistance movement is a group dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... The French Navy commando Jaubert storm the Alcyon in a mock assault. ... Official force name 75th Ranger Regiment Rangers Other names Airborne Rangers Army Rangers Task Force Ranger U.S. Army Rangers Branch U.S. Army Chain of Command USASOC Description Special Operations Force, rapidly deployable light infantry force. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... A paramilitary is a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion. ... Distinguish from the type of ape called a gorilla. ... Freedom fighter is a relativistic local term for those engaged in rebellion against an established government that is held to be oppressive and illegitimate. ... For historical and popular terms referring to violence (especially against civilians, whether prominent or not) that is insignificant in terms of military tactics but aimed at undermining morale, see Terrorism. ... An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority, by any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. ... Unlawful combatant (also illegal combatant or unprivileged combatant) describes a person who engages in combat without fulfilling the conditions that confer lawful combatant status according to the laws of war. ...

It is possible for a military to cross the line between regular and irregular. Isolated regular army units forced to operate without regular support for long periods of time can degrade into irregulars. As an irregular military becomes more successful, they may transition away from irregular, even to the point of becoming the new regular army if they win.

Effectiveness

While the morale, training and equipment of the individual irregular soldier can vary from very poor to excellent, irregulars are usually lacking the higher-level organizational training and equipment that is part of regular army. This usually makes irregulars poor at what regular armies focus on — main-line combat. Other things being equal, major battles between regulars and irregulars heavily favor the regulars.

However, irregulars can excel at many other combat duties besides main-line combat, such as scouting, skirmishing, harassing, pursuing, rear-guard actions, cutting supply, sabotage, raids, ambushes and underground resistance. Experienced irregulars often surpass the regular army in these functions. By avoiding formal battles, irregulars have sometimes harassed high quality armies to destruction, as in the Battle of Carrhae. Mixed reconaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ... See also the town of Battle, East Sussex, England Generally, a battle is an instance of combat between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... Hit-and-run tactics is a tactical doctrine where the purpose of the combat involved is not to seize control of territory, but to inflict damage on a target and immediately exit the area to avoid the enemys defense and/or retaliation. ... Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction. ... An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Battle of Carrhae was a decisive battle fought in the year 53 BC near the town of Carrhae (now the present-day ruins of Harran, Turkey) between the Roman Republic under the Roman general Crassus and the Parthian Empire under the Parthian general Surena. ...

Irregulars have a reputation for ruthlessness. Being outside the official army, they often don't see themselves bound by the laws of war. Beyond official supply lines, irregulars often supply themselves by confiscating civilian goods without compensation; this can be seen as pillaging. Operating without official support equipment, prisoners taken by irregulars might be killed when transportation isn't feasible; this can be seen as an atrocity. Over time, unrestrained irregulars can devolve into common bandits or roving death squads. The laws of war (Jus in bello) define the conduct and responsibilities of belligerent nations, neutral nations and individuals engaged in warfare, in relation to each other and to protected persons, usually meaning civilians. ... An atrocity (from the Latin atrox, atrocious, from Latin ater = matte black (as distinct from niger = shiny black)) is a term used to describe crimes ranging from an act committed against a single person to one committed against a population or ethnic group. ... A death squad is an extra-judicial group whose members execute or assassinate persons they believe to be politically unreliable or undesirable. ...

The total effect of irregulars is often underestimated. Since the military actions of irregulars are often small and unofficial, they are underreported or even overlooked. Even when engaged by regular armies, some military histories exclude all irregulars when counting friendly troops, but include irregulars in the count of enemy troops, making the odds seem much worse than they were. This may be accidental; counts of friendly troops often came from official regular army rolls that exclude unofficial forces, while enemy strength often came from visual estimates, where the distinction between regular and irregular were lost. If irregular forces overwhelm regulars, records of the defeat are often lost in the resulting chaos.

Use of large irregular forces featured heavily in wars such as the American Revolution, the Franco-Prussian War, the Russian Civil War, the Boer War, and especially the Eastern Front of World War II where hundreds of thousands of partisans fought on both sides. Ongoing conflicts in Africa such as the First and Second Congo Wars are fought almost entirely by irregular forces. Before the Revolution: The 13 colonies are in red, the pink area was claimed by Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and the orange region was claimed by Spain. ... The Franco-Prussian War (July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871) was fought between France and Prussia (backed by the North German Confederation) allied with the south German states of Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg. ... The Russian Civil War was fought between 1918 and 1922. ... Boer guerrillas during the Second Boer War There were two Boer wars, one from December 16, 1880-March 23, 1881 and the second from October 11, 1899-May 31, 1902 both between the British and the settlers of Dutch, French and German origin (called Boers, Afrikaners or Voortrekkers) in South... Eastern Front usually refers to either Eastern Front (WWI) Eastern Front (WWII) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... Partisan may refer to: Look up Partisan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and third most populous. ... The First Congo War was a conflict from late 1996 to 1997 in which Zairean President Mobutu Sésé Seko was overthrown by rebel forces backed by foreign powers such as Uganda and Rwanda. ... The Second Congo War was a conflict taking place largely in the territory of Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) that began in 1998 and officially ended in 2002. ...

Historical reliance on irregulars

In the dawn of civilization, all military forces were irregular. Regular armies grew slowly from personal bodyguards or elite militia. In Ancient warfare, most civilized nations relied heavily on irregulars to augment their small regular army. Even in advanced civilizations, the irregulars commonly outnumbered the regular army. Sometimes entire tribal armies of irregulars were brought in from internal native or neighboring cultures, especially ones that still had an active hunting tradition to provide the basic training of irregulars. The regulars would only provide the core military in the major battles; irregulars would provide all other combat duties. Notable examples of regulars relying on irregulars include auxiliary legions of Germanic tribes in the Roman Empire, Cossack regiments in Imperial Russia, and Native American forces in the far west of the Confederate States of America. Ancient warfare is war as conducted from the beginnings of history to the end of the ancient period. ... The term Germanic tribes applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Danville, Virginia April 3–April 10, 1865 Largest city New Orleans...

One could attribute the disastrous defeat of the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to the lack of supporting irregular forces; only a few squadrons of irregular light cavalry accompanied the invasion of Germany when normally the number of foederati legions would equal the regular legions; however, since irregulars won that battle, there are few surviving details. During the decline of the Roman Empire, irregulars made up an ever increasing proportion of the Roman military. At the end, there was little difference between the Roman military and the barbarians across the borders. Throughout history, most civilizations eventually fell to "barbarians", that is, irregular military forces, with minimal historical details. In the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9), an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius (also known in German as Hermann), the son of Segimerus of the Cherusci, ambushed and wiped out three Legions of unsuspecting Roman allies. ... Foederatus early in the history of the Roman Republic identified one of the tribes bound by treaty (foedus), who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship (civitas) but were expected to provide a contingent of fighting men when trouble arose. ... Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or degree of polish with the speaker or writer employing the term. ...

As the spread of industrialism dried up the traditional source of irregulars, nations were forced take over the duties of the irregulars using specially trained regular army units. Examples are the light infantry in the British Army. By the modern age, all regular military are trained to also perform the actions previously left to irregulars. Traditionally light infantry (or skirmishers) were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

See also

• Velites — Irregular infantry in the army of the Roman Republic
• Minutemen — American irregular troops during the American Revolution
• Bashi-bazouk — Irregular mounted mercenary in the Ottoman Empire
• Franc-tireur — French irregular forces during the Franco-Prussian War
• Pindari — 18th century irregular horsemen in India
• Impi — Zulu military that also employed irregular tactics
• Asymmetric warfare — Military theory that also includes regulars vs. irregulars

Velites were a class of light infantry in the army of the Roman Republic, The Velites (pronounced well-ih-tays) were skirmishers, armed with a short sword (Gladius) and several javelins. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century) The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) was the republican government of the city of Rome and its territories from 510 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, which sometimes placed at 44 BC the year of Caesar... Lexington Minuteman representing John Parker Minutemen is a name given to members of the militia of the American Colonies, who would be ready for battle in a minutes notice. ... A bashi-bazouk (in Turkish başıbozuk, meaning one with an unsound mind) was an irregular, mounted, unpaid mercenary soldier of the Ottoman army. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (Ottoman Turkish for the Eternal State) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Constantinople (Ä°stanbul) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... Franc-tireur is an informal term for an armed fighter who, if captured, is not entitled to prisoner of war status. ... Pindari is a word of uncertain origin, applied to the irregular horsemen who accompanied the Maratha armies in central India during the 18th century when the Mughal Empire was breaking up. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... An Impi was a Zulu warband. ... Find the perfect zulu language course at http://www. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

References

• Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Epitoma rei militaris
• Dr. Thomas M. Huber, Compound Warfare: An Anthology
• Clifford J. Rogers, Military Technical Revolution debate among historians
• John M. Gates, US Army & Irregular Warfare
• Harold P. Ford, CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes 1962-1968