The Guards and Parachute Division is an administrative unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

responsible for the training and administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the Parachute Regiment. The division is responsible for providing two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s for

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion (Armenia), Honour Guard Battalion of the Mi ...

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces i ...

(plus five incremental companies); although the guards are most associated with ceremony, they are nevertheless operational infantry battalions, and as such perform all the various roles of infantry.

History

As part of the

Future Soldier Future Soldier was a multi-nation military project launched by the United States and its allies in the late 1990s. Superiority to enemy ground forces will be achieved by equipping the average ground-based combat soldier with an integrated set ...

reforms of the Army announced by the government in March 2021, the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

was to be reorganised, with the intention of bringing all infantry regiments under the administration of a division of infantry. As part of this, the

Guards Division The Guards Division was an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the training and administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the London Guards reserve battalion. The Guards Division was responsible for providing tw ...

, which was the administrative organisation responsible for the regiments of foot guards, was to be expanded to also assume responsibility for the Parachute Regiment, which had previously been an independent formation. The new division, to be named as the Guards and Parachute Division, was stood up on 30 September 2022.

Current units

The division as stood up incorporates a total of ten infantry battalions - eight of these are part of the regular army, while the other two form part of the

Army Reserve Army Reserve refers to a land-based military reserve force, including: *Army Reserve (Ireland) *Army Reserve (United Kingdom) *Australian Army Reserve *Canadian Army Reserve * New Zealand Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve *United States Navy ...

. In addition, there are five incremental companies which form integral parts of their parent regiments and whose primary task is

: *1st Battalion,

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

*Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards *1st Battalion,

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

*No. 7 Company, Coldstream Guards *1st Battalion,

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

*F Company, Scots Guards *1st Battalion,

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

*No. 9 Company, Irish Guards *No. 12 Company, Irish Guards *1st Battalion,

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment The 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), is a special forces battalion of the British Army's Parachute Regiment. Along with various other regiments and corps from across the British Armed Forces, it is part of Special Forces Support Gr ...

2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment The Second Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), is a formation of the Parachute Regiment, part of the British Army, and subordinate unit within 16th Air Assault Brigade. 2 PARA is an airborne light infantry battalion capable of a wide rang ...

* 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment *1st Battalion, The Rangers *1st Battalion,

London Guards The London Guards is an administrative formation within the British Army comprising the reserve companies of the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots and Irish Guards. On formation, these companies drew their personnel from the London Regiment, which ...

* 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment Another element of Future Soldier saw the formation of a new unit, The Rangers - as part of its formation, it was announced that each of its four battalions would be assigned to one of the divisions of infantry. This saw the 1st Battalion (formerly the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion,

The Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) is the senior and only current Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (formerly five) and two reserve battalions, plus an incremental company, each f ...

) assigned to the Guards and Parachute Division. One of the platoons of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment is manned exclusively by soldiers drawn from either the foot guards or the Household Cavalry.

Bands

Each of the regiments that form part of the Guards and Parachute Division has a regimental band - these come under the control of the

Royal Corps of Army Music The Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM, widely known by its former acronym CAMUS) is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music. History The formation of the Corps of Army Music was triggered by a defen ...

, but form part of each unit's regimental family. *

Band of the Grenadier Guards The Band of the Grenadier Guards is the military band of the Grenadier Guards, which is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was raised between 1660 with first a drum and 1665, when a fife was added. History The birth of the Grenadie ...

Band of the Coldstream Guards The Band of the Coldstream Guards is one of the oldest and best known bands in the British Army, having been officially formed on 16 May 1785 under the command of Major C F Eley. History The band of the Coldstream Guards was officially formed u ...

Band of the Scots Guards The Band of the Scots Guards is one of five bands in the Foot Guards Regiments in the Household Division which primarily guards the British monarch. The band is based at Wellington Barracks in St James's, London, which is the same place as ...

Band of the Irish Guards Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Band of the Welsh Guards Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

* Band of the Parachute Regiment

Notes

References

{{British Infantry Infantry divisions of the United Kingdom