Legal Definitions - regular army

The term regular army refers to a nation's permanent, professional, and full-time ground military force. These soldiers are career service members who are continuously trained, equipped, and ready for deployment, distinguishing them from reserve forces, national guards, or temporary militias.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a country facing a sudden international crisis that requires immediate military intervention. The government would likely dispatch units from its regular army to respond. These soldiers are full-time professionals, already trained and equipped for combat, and are available for deployment without needing to be called up from civilian life or undergo extensive preparatory training.

  This illustrates the term because the regular army represents the standing, always-ready component of a nation's defense, capable of rapid response due to its professional, full-time nature.

• During peacetime, a nation's military bases are continuously staffed and operational. The personnel conducting daily training exercises, maintaining equipment, and managing logistics on these bases are typically members of the regular army. They are salaried employees whose primary occupation is military service, ensuring the ongoing readiness and functioning of the armed forces.

  This example highlights that the regular army is a permanent institution, with its members dedicated solely to military duties, even when not engaged in active conflict, providing a constant state of preparedness.

• Consider a scenario where a country has both a regular army and a National Guard. While National Guard members often have civilian jobs and train part-time, the soldiers of the regular army live and work on military installations full-time. If a major natural disaster occurs, both might be called upon, but the regular army units are typically the first line of defense and response due to their constant availability and professional status.

  This demonstrates the distinction of the regular army as the core, professional, and continuously available military force, separate from part-time or reserve components.