The Royal Australian Infantry Corps (RA Inf) is the parent corps for all infantry regiments of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

. It was established on 14 December 1948, with its Royal Corps status being conferred by His Majesty

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

. At her coronation in 1953,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

became Colonel-in-Chief of the corps. Major components of the RA Inf include the various battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment and the six state-based Australian infantry regiments, such as the

Royal New South Wales Regiment The Royal New South Wales Regiment (RNSWR) is a reserve infantry regiment of the Australian Army based in the state of New South Wales. Organisation The regiment currently consists of four battalions: * 1st/19th Battalion; * 2nd/17th Battalion; ...

. The various Regional Force Surveillance and Special Forces units of the Army are also part of the corps. The School of Infantry (SOI) is located at Singleton,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and forms part of the Combined Arms Training Centre. The "Head of Corps – Infantry" is usually a

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

and is the Honorary Colonel of the Royal Australian Regiment.

Role

The role of the Royal Australian Infantry is to seek out and close with the enemy, to kill or capture him, to seize and hold ground, to repel attack, by day or night, regardless of season, weather or terrain.

History

The Australian Infantry Corps was formed on 14 December 1948.

Organisation

Regiments

Regular Army Regiments

* Royal Australian Regiment ** 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment ** 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment **

3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade. 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen operational servi ...

5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally established in 1965 it would serve two tours of South Vietnam before it was linked with the 7th Battalion to form t ...

** 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment **

7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7 RAR) is a regular infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1965 as part of Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War and it eventually served two tours in Vietnam in ...

8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (8/9 RAR) is a motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally formed in 1973 by linking together both the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment. Over the n ...

State Regiments

* Royal Queensland Regiment **

9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment The 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment (9 RQR) is a Reserve light infantry battalion of the Australian Army, raised and based in the state of Queensland. It is part of the Royal Queensland Regiment and is currently attached to the 11th ...

** 25th/49th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment ** 31st/42nd Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment *

1st/19th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment The 1st/19th Battalion, The Royal New South Wales Regiment (1/19 RNSWR), is an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It is one of four battalions of the Royal New South Wales Regiment and is currently a Reserve unit attached to the 5th B ...

** 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment **

4th/3rd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment 4th/3rd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (4/3 RNSWR) is a Reserve light infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 4/3 RNSWR has been deployed on active service on many peacekeeping operations and exercises within Australia and around ...

41st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment The 41st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, (41 RNSWR), is an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. An Army Reserve unit, it is one of four battalions of the Royal New South Wales Regiment and is attached to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Di ...

* Royal Victoria Regiment **

5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment The 5th/6th Battalion ("5/6 RVR") is one of two battalions of the Royal Victoria Regiment, and is an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. The battalion traces its lineage back to many units that existed prior to Federation, as well as units ...

** 8th/7th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment *

Royal South Australia Regiment The Royal South Australia Regiment is a reserve regiment of the Australian Army consisting of a single battalion, the 10th/27th Battalion, part of the 9th Brigade. It was raised on 1 July 1960, as The South Australia Regiment. History The Regime ...

** 10th/27th Battalion, Royal South Australia Regiment *

Royal Western Australia Regiment The Royal Western Australia Regiment is a reserve infantry regiment of the Australian Army consisting of two battalions, the 11th/28th Battalion and the 16th Battalion. The regiment was raised in July 1960 as part of the reorganisation of the Aus ...

11th/28th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment The 11th/28th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment (11/28 RWAR) is a Reserve infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Located in Western Australia, it is one of the two battalions of the Royal Western Australia Regiment which forms the ...

16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment The 16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment (16 RWAR) is an Australian Army reserve infantry battalion located in Western Australia and one of the two battalions of the Royal Western Australia Regiment. The battalion was first formed d ...

Royal Tasmania Regiment The Royal Tasmania Regiment (RTR) is a Reserve infantry regiment within the Australian Army consisting of a single battalion. Formed in 1960 following a review of military formations in Australia, the Regiment can trace its lineage back to the l ...

** 12th/40th Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment

Training Regiments

* Sydney University Regiment * Melbourne University Regiment *

Queensland University Regiment Queensland University Regiment (QUR) is a training unit of the Australian Army Reserve. Based in Queensland, the regiment is currently assigned to the 8th Brigade. The regiment's history can be traced back to 1932 when the University Rifles was ...

Adelaide Universities Regiment Adelaide Universities Regiment (AUR) is an officer training unit of the Australian Army headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia. Currently AUR maintains a cadre staff of trained Regular and Reserve personnel who oversee and administer the tra ...

Western Australia University Regiment The Western Australian University Regiment (WAUR) is an Australian Army Reserve training unit for the 13th Brigade. Unit history The regiment was founded as the Perth University Regiment on 22 April 1949 to provide military training to univers ...

* University of New South Wales Regiment * Monash University Regiment

Regional Force Surveillance

* NORFORCE * Pilbara Regiment * Far North Queensland Regiment ** 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment

Special Forces

* Special Air Service Regiment * 1st Commando Regiment * 2nd Commando Regiment

School of Infantry

Commanders of the School of Infantry

Notes

References

* {{Authority control

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

Military units and formations established in 1948 Australian army units with royal patronage 1948 establishments in Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...