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Abillet is a living-quarters to which asoldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier.
Soldiers are generally billeted inbarracks orgarrisons when not on combat duty, although in some armies soldiers with families are permitted to maintain a home off-post. Used for a building, the termbillet is more commonly used in British English;United States standard terms arequarters,barracks,Single (Soldier) Housing orFamily Housing.
Originally, a billet (from Frenchbillet) was a note, commonly used in the 18th and early 19th centuries as a "billet of invitation". In this sense, the term was used to denote an order issued to a soldier entitling him to quarters with a certain person. From this meaning, the word billet came to be loosely used of the quarters thus obtained.[1] The division of troops to organize their billeting was known ascantoning.[2] Repeated petitions against the practice of billeting, starting in the 16th century, culminated in its outlawing in 1689 as an extension of a section of thePetition of Right 1628.[3]
During wartime, civilians who have beenevacuated from a city in danger of attack are billetted in communal shelters or in the homes of individuals. The practice of billeting evacuees was widespread inBritain duringWorld War II, particularly during theBlitz when children and other non-essential persons in major cities weresent to rural areas for safety.
In European countries since the formation of regular forces, theQuartermaster was an occupation and a rank of the individuals responsible for the provision of sleeping quarters and other provisions for regular time troops.Train ticket are called 'Billet' in many French influenced parts of the world including Eastern Europe. Overnight transport by train was very common for soldiers and on the Billet, the number indicating the location of the quarters would be specified. Later, during times of over-surging troops, more troops would be assigned to a train than its regular housing capacity. Thus, only those with a Billet would be assigned to a room or quarter. Hence, the two became synonymous.
One of the majorgrievances of theAmerican colonists against theBritish government which led to theAmerican Revolutionary War was thequartering of soldiers incivilian homes. As a result, theThird Amendment to the United States Constitution provides restrictions on the manner in which theFederal government of the United States may require civilians to provide housing for American soldiers.
Billet can mean a specificpersonnel position, assignment, orduty station which may be filled by one person, most commonly used by theUnited States Navy, theUnited States Marine Corps, and theUnited States Coast Guard.[4] Every person reporting aboard a ship or shore installation in the naval services is assigned a billet according to the unitwatch, quarter and station bill, which shows the duties, stations and billet assignments for all crew members.[5]
Billet can also refer to the position and weapons of the members of a unit. For example, the billets of afireteam include a fireteam leader (M16), a rifleman (M16), an automatic rifleman (M249), and a grenadier (M16 withM203 grenade launcher).
In North America,billet families offer room and board tojunior ice hockey players (or under-20 athletes from other sports, such assoccer) who leave home to join elite teams in other towns. Coaches are often involved with matching a player to a billet family. The objective of a billet family is to provide a "home away from home" for young players during the season. However, fears overchild safety in amateur sports in Canada drastically curtailed billeting practice. Many places do not billet,[6] while other clubs through their provincial sports' bodies have instituted mandatorycriminal record checks for all involved in amateur sports, including coaches, volunteers and anyone over eighteen years of age from the host family.[7][8]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Billet".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 934.Authority control databases: National |
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