Editing Troop

{{Short description|Military formation size}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Refimprove|date=October 2008}}
{{Army units}}

[[File:K Troop 9th Cavalry detail.jpg|thumb|K Troop, [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|9th U.S. Cavalry]]]]

A '''troop''' is a [[military]] [[sub-subunit]], originally a small formation of [[cavalry]], subordinate to a [[Squadron (cavalry)|squadron]]. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the [[infantry]] [[section (military unit)|section]] or [[platoon]]. Exceptions are the [[US Cavalry]] and the [[King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery]] where a troop is a subunit comparable to an infantry [[Company (military unit)|company]] or [[artillery battery]]. Historically the remainder of the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] used the term ''troop'' in the same manner but they eventually aligned with the rest of the [[Royal Regiment of Artillery]] in referring to troops as subordinate to artillery batteries.

''Troops'' is often used to refer to the other members of one's company or cause, but because of its military connotations, it conveys a particularly altruistic type of dedicated worker. Traditionally, ''troops'' refers to the soldiers in a military.

A cavalry soldier of [[Private (rank)|private rank]] is called a "[[trooper (rank)|trooper]]" in many [[The Commonwealth|Commonwealth]] armies (abbreviated "Tpr", not to be confused with "trouper").  

A related sense of the term, ''troops'' refers to members of the military collectively, as in "the troops"; see [[Troop (disambiguation)]].

== Troops in various forces ==
Today, a troop is defined differently in different armed forces.

In the [[Australian Army]] a troop is the equivalent of a platoon sized element in units of certain corps, those being:<ref>{{cite book |last=Jobson |first=Christopher |title=Looking Forward, Looking Back: Customs and Traditions of the Australian Army |year=2009 |publisher=Big Sky Publishing |location=Wavell Heights, Queensland |isbn=9780980325164 |page=93}}</ref>

* [[Australian Army Aviation]]
* [[Royal Australian Armoured Corps]]
* [[Royal Australian Corps of Signals]]
* [[Royal Australian Corps of Transport]]
* [[Royal Australian Engineers]]
* [[Royal Australian Survey Corps]] (now disbanded)
* [[Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery]] 
* [[SASR|Special Air Service Regiment (SASR)]]

The SASR is the only unit in the [[Royal Australian Infantry Corps]] to use the term ''troop'' to refer to its platoon-size elements. SASR troops are also unusual as they are commanded by a captain—most troop or platoon-sized elements are commanded by a lieutenant. In most cases, units which refer to platoon sized elements as troops refer to company-sized elements as squadrons and battalion-sized elements as regiments (regiments in the [[Royal Australian Artillery|RAA]] use the term '[[Artillery battery|battery]]' for company-sized elements). Privates in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps and SASR hold the rank "trooper", however this is not the case for any other corps or units, which use the term ''troops''.<ref>Jobson 2009, p. 15.</ref>

[[File:IWM-ARMY-TRAINING-6-16-Lanchester-armoured-car.jpg|thumb|[[12th Royal Lancers]] on manoeuvres]]

In the [[British Army]] the definition of a troop varies by [[corps]].

* [[Household Cavalry]] and [[Royal Armoured Corps]]: Three or four [[armoured fighting vehicle]]s commanded by a [[subaltern (rank)|subaltern]], i.e. effectively the same level element as an infantry platoon. A unit of two to four guns or launchers, or an equivalent headquarters unit.
* [[Royal Artillery]]: A half-battery. In the [[Royal Horse Artillery]], a troop used to be the equivalent to a battery in other artillery units.
* [[Royal Engineers]], [[Royal Corps of Signals]], [[Royal Logistic Corps]], [[Special Air Service]], and [[Honourable Artillery Company]] (and formerly the [[Royal Corps of Transport]]): A unit equivalent in size to a platoon in other corps, divided into sections or patrols. The Royal Engineers and Royal Corps of Signals used platoons instead until after World War II.

Other Army corps do not use the term.

In the [[Royal Marines]], a troop is the equivalent to an Army platoon; a carryover from the organisation of the [[British Commandos]] in World War II.

In the [[Canadian Army]], a troop is the equivalent of a platoon within the armoured, artillery, engineer, and signals branches.  Two to four troops comprise the main elements of a squadron.

In the [[United States Army]], in the cavalry branch, a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry company, commanded by a captain and consisting of three or four platoons, and are called a troop within a regiment. Companies were renamed troops in 1883.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.25thida.com/4thcav.html |title=4th Cavalry Regiment |access-date=2009-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212113148/http://www.25thida.com/4thcav.html |archive-date=2009-12-12 }}</ref> In some instances, an infantry company may be titled as a "troop" due to its presence in a cavalry squadron; this is typically the case for the [[Dismounted reconnaissance troop|dismounted reconnaissance troop (DRT)]] of a [[RSTA squadron]], in which an infantry company-sized element is part of a cavalry-branched squadron.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Headquarters |first=Department of the Army |date=November 2010 |title=Dismounted Reconnaissance Troop |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/attp/attp3-20-97.pdf |website=Global Security}}</ref> 

==Troops in civilian organizations==
In the United States, [[State police (United States)|state police]] forces are often regionally divided into troops. This usage came from these organizations modelling themselves on the US Army, and especially the [[United States Cavalry|older cavalry]] units. For this same reason the state police and highway patrol personnel of most states are known as "troopers" rather than "officers".

In [[Scouting]], a [[scout troop]] is a unit made up of scouts or [[Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting|guides]] from the same locality under a [[Scout Leader|leader]]. In the case of Guides, the term "company" is used more often, and was used by [[Robert Baden-Powell|the founder]] in his first books about guiding.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Military units and formations by size]]