The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
The Canadian Armed Forces are the unified military forces of Canada, including land, sea, and air commands referred to as the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The CAF also operates several other commands, including the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, the Canadian Joint Operations Command, and the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.
The Canadian Army is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also responsible for the Army Reserve, the largest component of the Primary Reserve. The Army is headed by the concurrently held Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff, who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff. The Army is also supported by 3,000 civilian employees from the civil service.
The colonial militias in Canada were made up of various militias prior to Confederation in 1867. During the period of New France and Acadia, Newfoundland Colony, and Nova Scotia (1605–1763), these militias were made up of Canadiens, First Nations, British and Acadians. Traditionally, the Canadian Militia was the name used for the local sedentary militia regiments throughout the Canadas.
This is a table of the ranks and insignia of the Canadian Armed Forces. As the Canadian Armed Forces is officially bilingual, the French language ranks are presented following the English.
The minister of national defence is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the management and direction of all matters relating to the national defence of Canada.
The Militia Act of 1855 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the Province of Canada that permitted the formation of an "Active Militia", which was later subdivided into the Permanent Active Militia and the Non-Permanent Active Militia, and divided the province into 18 military districts.
Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, usually on a part-time basis. Unlike a military reserve force, an auxiliary force does not necessarily have the same degree of training or ranking structure as regular soldiers, and it may or may not be integrated into a fighting force. Some auxiliaries, however, are militias composed of former active duty military personnel and actually have better training and combat experience than their regular counterparts.
The Minister of Militia and Defence was the federal government minister in charge of the volunteer army units in Canada, the Canadian Militia.
The commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces exercises supreme command and control over Canada's military, the Canadian Armed Forces. Constitutionally, command-in-chief is vested in the Canadian monarch, presently King Charles III. Since the Letters Patent, 1947, were signed by King George VI, the governor general of Canada—presently Mary Simon—executes most of the duties of the sovereign, including in his role as commander-in-chief. Consequently, the governor general also uses the title Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces. By protocol, the title used within international contexts is Commander-in-Chief of Canada.
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship, the boarding of vessels during combat or capture of prize ships, and providing manpower for raiding ashore in support of the naval objectives. In most countries, the marines are an integral part of that state's navy.
The history of the Canadian Army, began when the title first came into official use in November 1940, during the Second World War, and is still used today. Although the official titles, Mobile Command, and later Land Force Command, were used from February 1968 to August 2011, "Canadian Army" continued to be unofficially used to refer to the ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces, much as it has been from Confederation in 1867 to the present. The term was often even used in official military publications, for example in recruiting literature and the official newspaper of the Canadian Forces, The Maple Leaf. On August 16, 2011, the title, "Canadian Army", was officially restored, once again bringing the official designation in line with common and historical usage.
Permanent Active Militia (PAM), also known as Permanent Force (PF), was the proper name of Canada's full-time professional land forces from 1855 to 1940, when it was reorganized into the Canadian Army. PAM was in effect Canada's standing army, consisting of one regular infantry regiment and two cavalry regiments in 1914.
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve forces are generally considered part of a permanent standing body of armed forces, and allow a nation to reduce its peacetime military expenditures and maintain a force prepared for war. During peacetime, reservists typically serve part-time alongside a civilian job, although most reserve forces have a significant permanent full-time component as well. Reservists may be deployed for weeks or months-long missions during peacetime to support specific operations. During wartime, reservists may be kept in service for months or years at a time, although typically not for as long as active duty soldiers.
The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Canada and post-confederated Canada, referred to as the active militias.
The Minister of the Naval Service (Canada) was the federal government minister charged with oversight of the Royal Canadian Navy.
The British Colonial Auxiliary Forces were the various military forces of Britain's colonial empire which were not considered part of the British military proper.
Canadian Mounted Rifles was part of the designation of several mounted infantry units in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
HMCS Queen Charlotte is a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division (NRD) located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Dubbed a stone frigate, HMCS Queen Charlotte is a land-based naval training establishment crewed by part-time sailors and also serves as a local recruitment centre for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). It is one of 24 naval reserve divisions located in major cities across Canada.
