Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equippedinfantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such asheavy infantry orline infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought asscouts,raiders, andskirmishers. These are loose formations that fight ahead of the main army to harass, delay, disrupt supply lines, engage the enemy's own skirmishing forces, and generally "soften up" an enemy before the main battle. Light infantrymen were also often responsible forscreening the main body of a military formation.
FollowingWorld War II, the term "light infantry" has evolved to include rapid-deployment units (includingcommando andairborne units) that emphasize speed and mobility over armor and firepower. Some units or battalions that historically held a skirmishing role retain their designation "light infantry" for the sake of tradition.
The concept of a skirmishing screen is a very old one and was already well-established inAncient Greece andRoman times in the form, for example, of the Greekpeltast andpsiloi, and the Romanvelites. As with the 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 ashoplite equipment grew lighter. It was that peltasts fought in open order as skirmishers that made them light infantry and that hoplites fought in the battle line in aphalanx formation that made them heavy infantry.[citation needed]
Early regular armies of the modern era frequently relied onirregulars to perform the duties of light infantry skirmishers. In particular, the French Army employed detachments of German and Balkan mercenaries to serve as patrols in the rough country until a permanent corps of MountainFusiliers (Fusiliers des Montagnes) was raised in the 1740s.[1] In the 17th century,dragoons were sometimes employed as the skirmishers of their day, asmounted infantrymen who rode into battle but dismounted to fight, giving them a mobility lacking to regular foot soldiers.[2]
In the 18th and 19th centuries mostinfantry regiments orbattalions had alight company as an integral part of their composition. Its members were often smaller, moreagile men with high shooting ability and capability of using initiative. They did not usually fight in disciplined ranks as did the ordinary infantry but often in widely dispersed groups, necessitating an understanding of skirmish warfare. They were expected to avoidmelee engagements unless necessary and would fight ahead of the mainline to harass the enemy before falling back to the main position.
During the period 1777–1781, theContinental Army of the United States adopted the British Army practice of seasonally drafting light infantry regiments as temporary units during active field operations, by combining existing light infantry companies detached from their parent regiments.
Light infantry sometimes carried lighter muskets than ordinary infantrymen while others carried rifles and worerifle green uniforms. These became designated asrifle regiments in Britain andJäger andSchützen (sharpshooter) regiments in German-speaking Europe. In France, during theNapoleonic Wars, light infantry were calledvoltigeurs andchasseurs and the sharpshooterstirailleurs. The Austrian army hadGrenzer regiments from the middle of the 18th century, who originally served as irregular militia skirmishers recruited from frontier areas. They were gradually absorbed into the line infantry becoming a hybrid type that proved successful against the French, to the extent that Napoleon recruited several units of Austrian army Grenzer to his own army after victory over Austria in 1809 compelled the Austrians to cede territories from which they were traditionally recruited. In Portugal, 1797, companies ofCaçadores (Hunters) were created in the Portuguese Army, and in 1808 led to the formation of independent "Caçador" battalions that became known for their ability to perform precision shooting at long distances.
Light infantry officers sometimes carriedmuskets orrifles, rather thanpistols, and theirswords were light curvedsabres; as opposed to the heavy, straighter swords of other infantry officers. Orders were sent bybugle orwhistle instead ofdrums (since the sound of a bugle carries further and it is difficult to move fast when carrying a drum). Some armies, including theBritish andFrench, recruited whole regiments (or converted existing ones) of light infantry. These were consideredelite units, since they required specialised training with emphasis onself-discipline, manoeuvre and initiative 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 due to advancements in weaponry and the distinctions between light and heavy infantry began to disappear. Essentially, all infantry became light infantry in operational practice. Some regiments retained the name and customs, but there was in effect little difference between them and other infantry regiments.
On the eve of World War I, the British Army included seven light infantry regiments. These differed from other infantry only in maintaining such traditional distinctions as badges that included a bugle-horn, dark green home service helmets forfull dress, and a fast-stepping parade ground march.[3]
Today, the term "light" denotes units lacking heavy weapons and armor or with a reduced vehicle footprint as in opposition tomotorized infantry ormechanized infantry, both of which rely heavily on vehicles for both transport and for combat. Light infantry units lack the greater firepower, operational mobility, and protection of mechanized or armored units, but possess correspondingly greater tactical mobility and can execute missions in severely restrictive terrain and areas where weather makes vehicular mobility difficult.
Light infantry forces typically rely on their ability to operate under restrictive conditions, surprise, violence of action, training, stealth, field craft, and fitness levels of the individual soldiers to compensate for their reduced lethality. Despite the usage of the term "light", forces in a light unit actually normally carry heavier individual loads vis-à-vis other forces, because they must – due to their lack of vehicles – carry everything they require to fight, survive, and win.
Although some units are categorized as Air Assault Infantry, Airborne Infantry, Naval infantry or Marines, they also fall under the overall concept of light infantry. Light infantry forces are typically infantry forces intended for difficult terrains such as:
Light infantry has been used for example during theFalklands War in 1982. Both Argentina and the United Kingdom made heavy use of light infantry and its doctrines during the campaign, most notably the Argentine5th Naval Infantry Battalion (Argentina) and25th Infantry Regiment (Argentina) and the BritishParachute Regiment andRoyal Marines of3 Commando Brigade. Due to theFalkland Islands' rocky and mountainous terrain, the operations on the ground were only made possible with the use of light infantry; the terrain severely limited using mechanized infantry or armor. Additionally, the Falklands are islands with no bridges to mainland, thus deployment of vehicles and heavy weaponry was also limited by the difficulty and danger of sea transport and landing operations. These conditions led to the "Yomp" across the Falklands, in which Royal Marines and Paras yomped (and tabbed) with their equipment across the islands, covering 56 miles (90 km) in three days carrying 80-pound (36 kg) loads after disembarking from ships atSan Carlos onEast Falkland on 21 May 1982.
There are three light infantry brigades, (4ª Brigada de Infantaria Leve de Montanha, 11ª Brigada de Infantaria Leve and 12ª Brigada de Infantaria Leve Aeromóvel), and an airborne infantry brigade (Brigada de Infantaria Paraquedista). The 12º Light Infantry Brigade and the Airborne Infantry Brigade both belong to the Força de Ação Rápida Estratégica (Quick Strategic Action Force), which is composed of units capable of rapidly engaging in combat anywhere in Brazil.
Each of the three regular army regiments (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry,Royal Canadian Regiment andRoyal 22e Régiment) maintains their third battalion as light infantry capable in airborne, mountain, and amphibious operations, with varying degrees of capability. All reserve infantry units are classed as light infantry, all with varying degrees of capability.
Finnish infantry units are also known as Jäger (Finnish pl.Jääkärit, Swedish pl.Jägarna), a legacy of a Finnish volunteer Jäger battalion formed in Germany duringWorld War I to fight for the liberation of Finland from Russia.
TheChasseur designation was given to certain regiments of French light infantry (Chasseurs à pied) orlight cavalry (Chasseurs à cheval).
TheChasseurs à pied (light infantry) were originally recruited from hunters orwoodsmen. TheChasseurs à Pied, as themarksmen of the French army, were considered an elite.[4] The first unit raised wasJean Chrétien Fischer's Free Hunter Company in 1743. Early units were often a mix of cavalry and infantry. In 1776, allChasseurs units were re-organized into six battalions, each linked to a cavalry regiment (Chasseurs à cheval). In 1788, the link between infantry battalions and cavalry regiments was broken.
In 1793, theAncien Régime's Chasseur battalions were merged with volunteer battalions in new units called Light Infantryhalf-brigades (demi-brigades d’infanterie légère).[5] In 1803, the half-brigades were renamed regiments.[6] These units had three battalions of three regularChasseurs companies, one eliteCarabiniers company and one reconnaissancevoltigeurs company.
In Napoléon'sImperial Guard, many units used names linked to light infantry:
The Napoleonic light infantry regiments existed until 1854, but there were very few differences between them and theline infantry regiments, so the 25 remaining light infantry regiments were transformed to line infantry in 1854.
Although the traditions of these different branches of the French Army are very different, there is still a tendency to confuse one with the other. For example, when World War I veteranLéon Weil died, the AFP press agency stated that he was a member of the 5th "Regiment de Chasseurs Alpins". It was in fact the 5th Bataillon.
The Indian Army of 1914 included ten regiments with "Light Infantry" in their titles. These were the:
Most of these regiments lost their separate identity as a result of extensive amalgamations in 1922. The modern Indian Army retains theMaratha Light Infantry and theSikh Light Infantry.
Of the 28 infantry regiments of the modern Indian Army, the following ten are designated as "Rifles". They are distinguished by their black rank badges, black buttons on their service and ceremonial uniforms and a beret in a darker shade of green than other regiments. Two paramilitary forces—theAssam Rifles and theEastern Frontier Rifles—also follow the traditions of a rifle regiment.
The Irish famously employed "Cethernacht" or Kern as light infantry. These usually made up the bulk of Gaelic and even later Anglo Norman Irish armies during the Middle Ages to renaissance era's. Traditionally armed with javelins and swords while wearing no armour, in later periods they were equipped with caliver muskets while still using little to no armour. They were notably effective while employed in tandem with heavily armed "Galloglaich" or anglicised Gallowglass. They could provide effective support to heavily armed troops as well as endlessly harassing enemies in difficult terrain.Today, all infantry battalions of the Irish Army are light infantry soldiers.
Most of the states of the Italian peninsula had their own units of skirmishers beforeItalian unification. One of the few that survived it were theSardinianBersaglieri, who were formed in 1836. They became some of the most iconic soldiers inItalian Army and were its "quick reaction force". TheAlpini are the Italian Army's elite mountain troops, founded in 1875. Although they may not seem a true "light infantry" unit, (they were assigned their own artillery, carried double load of everything, and had a slower marching pace of 45 steps per minute), the Alpini were trained as jagers and skirmishers, introducing the use of skis and climbing training for all of their recruits. Those two corps still exist today, but in recent years the Bersaglieri have become amechanised infantry unit, working closely with armoured units, and up until the mid-1990s had their own tank and artillery units. Other units that can be classified as light infantry are:
The modern Myanmar Army is reported to have a total of 10 units designated as a "Light Infantry Division" and 20 units designated as "Military Operation Command". Two units are mostly similar in term of organisational structure. One of the main differences is that LIDs are mostly numbered in double digits like 11, 22, 33, 44 whereas MOCs are numbered sequelly. Both commands 10battalions. While not that obvious, one of the main difference in term of organisational structure is that LIDs' 10 battalions are all Light Infantry whereas for MOC, it's 7 Infantry Battalions (Motorised) and 3 Infantry Battalions (Mechanised). Both have an intermediate layer between the Battalions and Division HQ calledTactical Operation Command. A TOC is a unit that commands up to 3 battalions. Essentially, LIDs are made up of 3 TOC and 1 battalion under HQ as reserve whereas MOCs are made up of 2 TOC (Motorised) and 1 TOC (Mechanised) with an IB (Motorised) under HQ as reserve. As for the command structure, LIDs are directly answerable to the Commander in Chief of Army whereas MOCs are subordinate to their respective Regional Military Command. As for unit patches, LIDs have their own division patches where MOCs do not have distinctive patches and wear RMC's patch instead.[9] LIDs in Burmese are called ခြေမြန်တပ်မဌာနချုပ် (တမခ) whereas MOCs are called စစ်ဆင်ရေးကွပ်ကဲမှုဌာနချုပ် (စကခ). Both Light Infantry Divisions and MOCs have an officer rankedBrigadier General as their General Officer Commanding,Colonel as Second in Command andLieutenant Colonel as Division Chief of Staff (informally Division G/A/Q).
Units designated as "Light Infantry Divisions" are
Military Operation Commands:
Units designated as "Military Operation Commands" are
Since No. (11) Light Infantry Division has already been reformed, No. (11) Military Operation Command was not formed
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Portuguese light infantry soldiers were known ascaçadores (literally "huntsmen"). Initially organized as a light company in each of the line infantry regiments, thecaçadores were later organized as independent battalions. They constituted the elite light infantry of thePortuguese Army during thePeninsular War, being considered by theDuke of Wellington as the "fighting cocks of his army". They wore distinctive brown uniforms as an early form ofcamouflage.
Thecaçadores units were disbanded by the Army reorganization of 1911, but were recreated in 1926 as high readiness units, responsible for defending the border and other strategic points of the Country until the line units could be mobilized. In the 1950s, the designationcaçadores started to be also given to the expeditionary provisional light infantry battalions and independent companies responsible for reinforcing theoverseas territories garrisons. These units constituted the bulk of the Portuguese forces engaged in the several theatres of thePortuguese Overseas War, from 1961 to 1975.Colonial troops with this title also existed, being recruited among both Portuguese European settlers and from indigenous populations. In the 1950s, thePortuguese Air Force formed a unit ofparatroopers calledcaçadores paraquedistas ("parachutist hunters"). Additional battalions ofcaçadores paraquedistas were later created inAngola,Mozambique andPortuguese Guinea. At the beginning of the 1960s, Portuguese Army raisedspecial forces companies of that were namedcaçadores especiais (special huntsmen). Thecaçadores especiais wore a brown beret in the colour of the uniforms of thecaçadores of the Peninsular War. These units were later abolished and the brown beret started to be used by most of the units of the Portuguese Army.
In 1975, the designation "caçadores" was discontinued in thePortuguese Armed Forces. All former units ofcaçadores were redesigned as "infantry". Currently, every infantry soldier of the Portuguese Army is known asatirador. Today, the Portuguese Army uses the designation "light infantry" as a generic collective classification of the Paratroopers, Commandos and Special Operations troops, while the remaining infantry is classified as "motorized/mechanized infantry".
TheRhodesian Light Infantry was a regular regiment of the Rhodesian Army, unique in having the traditions of light infantry while serving as a modernCommando regiment.
TheImperial Russian Army, which was heavily influenced by the Prussian and Austrian military systems, included fifty Jäger oryegerskii [егерский] regiments in its organisation by 1812, including theEgersky Guards Regiment. They were mostly united with line infantry regiments in 1833, when almost all Russian infantry began to receive the same training; including skirmishing. At the same timestrelkovyi [стрелковый] battalions were introduced. These undertook light infantry functions when the skirmishing skills of line infantry were insufficient.
Historically the Spanish infantry included several battalions of light infantry that were designated asCazadores. These units were incorporated into the ordinary infantry following army reorganization in the early 1930s. Until 2006 the modern Spanish Army maintained a Brigada de Cazadores de Montaña "Aragón I" (Mountain Huntsmen Brigade "Aragón I")
TheBritish Army first experimented with light infantry in theFrench and Indian War, to counter the tactics used by the French-alliedNative Americans. Along with secondment of regular infantry, several specialised units were raised (includingRogers' Rangers and the80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot), though most if not all had been disbanded by the middle of the 1760s. From 1770, all regular battalions were required to designate one of their ten companies a "Light Company", though their training in skirmishing was poor and inconsistent.
Dedicated rifle and light infantry regiments began to be formed or converted in theNapoleonic Wars, to counter the FrenchChasseurs. A new battalion of the60th Royal Americans (later theKing's Royal Rifle Corps) was raised in 1797, and an "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" (later the 95th Rifles and then theRifle Brigade) in 1800. Both were equipped with green jackets andBaker rifles. Some extant regiments began to be designated "Light Infantry" at this point, receiving skirmishing training but generally still equipped with red coats and muskets. In thePeninsular War, a Light Brigade and later aLight Division were formed, at some points incorporating PortugueseCaçadores. By theCrimean War, rifles had become universal and tactics had substantially changed. This meant that the distinctions between light and line infantry were effectively limited to details such as name, a rapid march of 140 steps per minute, buglers instead of drummers and fifers, a parade drill which involved carrying rifles parallel to the ground ("at the trail") and dark greencloth helmets instead of dark blue. Light infantry badges always incorporated bugle horns as a central feature.[11]
In theSecond World War, the use of light infantry was revived in what became theBritish Commandos and theParachute Regiment. Because of the nature of their role and deployment, they were more lightly equipped than most infantry battalions. The Parachute Regiment has survived to this day, while theRoyal Marine Commandos are directly descended from those units formed in the Second World War.
Most of the old light infantry and rifle regiments were administratively grouped in a new Light Division in 1968. The British Army ordered regimental amalgamations in1957,1966,1990 and2003.The Rifles (the largest infantry regiment in the British Army) was formed in 2007 from the amalgamation of the regiments of the Light Division. The Rifles maintain the traditional quick parade march of all British light infantry, theRifle Brigade's "rifle green"No 1 dress with blackened buttons and black leather belts, and many other traditions and "golden threads" of its parent regiments. The only rifle regiment not to become part of the Rifles was theRoyal Gurkha Rifles. Following a series of amalgamations and one disbandment, none of the historic Light Infantry regiments now survive as separate entities within the modern British Army.
Today, "Light role infantry" is a designation that can be applied to an infantry battalion of any regiment. Light role infantry are not (by default) equipped with armoured vehicles (unlikeArmoured Infantry orMechanised Infantry).
In 1780, GeneralGeorge Washington published anorder of battle which included a corps of light infantry, under the command ofGeneral Lafayette.[12] The light infantry participated in several major battles of thesouthern states in 1781, including theBattle of Yorktown. The entireContinental Army was dismissed after the war, with all regiments disbanded in 1784.[13]
In 1808, theUnited States Army created its firstRegiment of Riflemen. During theWar of 1812 three more Rifle Regiments were raised but disbanded after the war. The Rifle Regiment was disbanded in 1821.
In theMexican–American War ColonelJefferson Davis created and led theMississippi Rifles.
Riflemen were listed as separate to infantry up to theAmerican Civil War.[14]
During the Civil War, Sharpshooter regiments were raised in the North with several companies being raised by individual states for their own regiments.[15]
In the early years of World War 2 the US military saw the need for light forces. They designated the 82nd Division as the82nd Airborne Division and reactivated the 101st division as the101st Airborne Division in 1942.[16][17] In 1943, the United States formed the 10th Light Division (Alpine), re-designated as the10th Mountain Division in 1944.[18]
In the 1980s, the United States Army increased light forces to address contingencies and increased threats requiring a more deployable force able to operate in restrictive environments for limited periods. At its height, this included the6th Infantry Division (light),7th Infantry Division (light),10th Mountain Division (light infantry),25th Infantry Division, and the75th Ranger Regiment.Operation Just Cause is often cited as proof of concept. Almost 30,000 U.S. Forces, mostly light, deployed toPanama within a 48-hour period to execute combat operations. On 30 September 1985, the 29th Infantry Division (Maryland and Virginia Army National Guard) was reactivated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia as the only light Infantry Division in the US Army's reserve components.
In 1983, GeneralJohn A. Wickham Jr.,Chief of Staff of the United States Army, announced the creation of five light infantry divisions to increase the U.S. Army's ability to deploy quickly.[19] These included the7th Infantry Division,25th Infantry Division,6th Infantry Division,10th Mountain Division, as well as the29th Infantry Division of theArmy National Guard.[20]
In 2022 The US Army reactivated the 11th Airborne Division by reflagging two infantry brigades from the 25th Infantry division. Its mission is to conduct infantry operations in the Arctic.
Similar types of unit
