Light_infantry

For regiments in the British Army, see The Light Infantry and The Rifles.

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. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight formations that were the core of large battles. Light infantry often fought in close co-ordination with heavy infantry, where they could screen the heavy infantry from harassing fire, and the heavy infantry could intervene to protect the light infantry from attacks of enemy heavy infantry or cavalry. Heavy infantry originally had heavier arms and more armour than light infantry, but this distinction was lost as the use of armour declined and gunpowder weapons became standardized.

History of the light infantry

Antiquity

The concept of a skirmishing screen is a very old one and was already well-established by Greek and Roman times in the form, for example, of the Greek peltast and the Roman velites. As with so called \'light infantry\' of later periods, the term more adequately describes the role of such infantry rather than the actual weight of their equipment. Peltast equipment for example grew steadily heavier at the same time as hoplite equipment grew lighter. It was the fact that peltasts fought in open order as skirmishers that made them light infantry, and that hoplites fought in the battle line as a phalanx that made them heavy infantry.

Modern age

Regular armies usually relied on irregulars to perform the duties of light infantry skirmishers. Later, the dragoons of the 17th century were the light infantry skirmishers of their day – lightly-armed and armoured infantrymen who rode into battle but dismounted to fight.

In the 18th and 19th centuries most infantry battalions had a light company. Its members were usually smaller, agile men capable of using their initiative, since they did not always fight in disciplined ranks as did the ordinary infantry but often in widely dispersed groups. They were also often chosen for their shooting ability and sometimes carried lighter muskets than ordinary infantrymen. Some light infantry units carried rifles instead of muskets, and wore rifle green uniforms; they became designated as rifle regiments in Britain and Jäger regiments in German speaking Europe. In France, during the Napoleonic Wars, light infantry were called voltigeurs and the sharpshooters tirailleurs.

Unusually, light infantry officers sometimes carried muskets as well and their swords were lighter and curved sabres; as opposed to the heavy, straighter swords of other infantry officers. Orders were sent by bugle or whistle instead of drum (since the sound of a bugle carries further and it is difficult to move fast when carrying a drum). Some armies, including the British and French, converted whole regiments into light infantry. These were sometimes considered elite units, since they required more training and self-discipline to carry out the roles of light infantry as well as those of ordinary infantry.

By the late 19th century the concept of fighting in formation was on the wane and the distinctions between light and heavy infantry began to disappear. Essentially, all infantry became light infantry in practice. Some regiments retained the name and customs, but there was in effect no difference between them and other infantry regiments.

During 2004 and 2007 a number of amalgamations took place in the British Army, following an earlier series that dated back to 1958. The aim of this most recent round was to produce a more flexible fighting force to combat the threats of today, much removed from those of the Cold War; which ended in the early 1990s. Most of the regiments in existence prior to 1958 have now been disbanded (such as the Cameronians) or have been restructured into numbered battalions of larger regiments. This process has affected all of the historic light infantry regiments (see below). The reorganised infantry branch incorporates different battalions with the specialised roles of infantry; light, Air assault (or Airborne), armoured, mechanised and commando support, within a reduced number of large regiments such as the Rifles.

• British Light Infantry Regiments (prior to the amalgamations between 1958 and 2006)
  • Duke of Cornwall\'s Light Infantry
  • Durham Light Infantry
  • Highland Light Infantry
  • King\'s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
  • King\'s Shropshire Light Infantry
  • Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
  • Somerset Light Infantry
  • The Light Infantry
  • Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry
  • Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry
• British Rifle Regiments
  • King\'s Royal Rifle Corps
  • The Rifle Brigade
  • The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
  • Royal Irish Rifles/Royal Ulster Rifles
  • Royal Green Jackets
  • The Rifles (only regiment of those listed above now having a separate existence)

Light infantry today

“Light” Infantry has by the original NATO-classification often been units lacking “heavy” anti-armour capacity, only equipped with LAW, systems like M72 LAW and AT4. However, recent technological developments have somewhat blurred that scale.

Today, the term "light" refers not to the lower amount of equipment (and hence weight) that light infantry have to carry, but to the fact that they have fewer and lighter organic assets, e.g. vehicles, mortars, artillery, and anti tank weapons compared to armoured infantry (who use armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs)). In fact because of the lack of organic transport, light infantry may well have to carry heavier loads than fully mechanised infantry. This lack of equipment means that they have less firepower but are much easier to deploy. Light infantry are used where it would not be possible, desirable or cost effective to deploy AFVs and have the advantage that they can be deployed around the world in days (instead of the weeks it would take for a mechanized infantry unit). Example types include :

• Airborne or paratroops/paratroopers, such as the 82nd Airborne Division (United States) and Britain\'s Parachute Regiment
• seaborne or ship-based units, such as the United States Marine Corps\' MEU(SOC) or the Royal Marines.
• Air assault (meaning air-mobile) infantry units, which use helicopters for transportation to and from missions such as the British 16th Air Assault Brigade or the American 101st Airborne Division.
• Special Operations units such as US Army\'s Rangers, Canada\'s Canadian Special Operations Regiment(CSOR), and Britain\'s Special Forces Support Group.
• infantry intended for difficult terrain such as mountains (see 10th Mountain Division/1st Marines) or jungle.
• motorised infantry (i.e. using unarmoured vehicles such as trucks).
• internal security or paramilitary troops.
• troops involved in Guerilla or counter Guerilla warfare.
• home defence or militia.

Note that in some armies Light Infantry are usually considered as an elite, but in other countries they may be considered inferior due to their lack of equipment.

See also

• Light Infantry Reunited
• British Light Infantry Regiments
• Roman infantry tactics, strategy and battle formations
• Skirmishers and light infantry during the Napoleonic Wars
• 256th Infantry Brigade
• 1st Marine Infantry Regiment
• The Partisan in War, a treatise on light infantry tactics written by Colonel Andreas Emmerich in 1789.
• Jegerkompaniet (Eng: Ranger Coy)

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