Editing Guide (section)

==Military guides==
[[Image:Jim Bridger.jpg|thumb|Famed [[mountain man]] [[Jim Bridger]] served as guide and army scout during the first [[Powder River Expedition]] in 1865 against the [[Sioux]] and [[Cheyenne]] in [[Dakota Territory|Dakota]] and [[Montana Territory|Montana Territories]].]]

Historically in areas where detailed maps were unavailable, guides with local knowledge were employed for scouting and advance leadership during military operations. In 18th century [[Europe]], the stricter organization of military resources led in various countries to the special training of guide officers who had the primary duty of finding, and if necessary establishing, routes for military units.<ref name=EB1911/>

===Guides regiments===
The genesis of the ''guides'' regiments may be found in a short-lived Corps of Guides formed by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] in Italy in 1796, which appears to have been a personal escort or bodyguard composed of men who knew the country.<ref name=EB1911/> Following the [[unification of Italy]] in 1860, the new national army included a cavalry regiment designated: [[Regiment "Cavalleggeri Guide"|Guides Regiment]].

In the [[Belgian Army]] the two [[Guides Regiment|guides regiments]], created respectively in 1833 and 1874, constituted part of the light cavalry and came to correspond to the [[List of army units called "guards"|guard]] cavalry of other nations.<ref name=EB1911/> Until the outbreak of World War I, they wore a distinctive uniform comprising a plumed [[Busby (military headdress)|busby]], green [[dolman]] braided in yellow, and crimson breeches. Mechanised in October 1937, both regiments formed armored battalions in the post World War II Belgian Army. Following a series of amalgamations the Belgian guides ceased to exist in 2011.

In the [[Swiss Army|Swiss army]] prior to 1914, the squadrons of guides acted as divisional cavalry. In this role these light cavalry units were called upon, on occasion, to lead columns and provide scouts.<ref name=EB1911/>

The [[Corps of Guides (British India)|Corps of Guides]] of the [[British Indian Army]] consisted of a unique combination of infantry companies and cavalry squadrons.<ref name=EB1911/> After World War I the infantry element was incorporated in the [[12th Frontier Force Regiment]] and the Guides Cavalry formed a separate regiment - the [[Guides Cavalry|10th Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force)]]. This unit still exists as the 2nd (Guides) Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment of the modern Army of Pakistan.

In drill, a ''guide'' is an officer or non-commissioned officer who regulates the direction and pace of movements.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Guide|volume=12|page=687|inline=1}}</ref>